I intended to write about something totally different–children’s-book illustrators, to be specific. But that will have to wait. Right now I’m upset about corn. Yesterday, in one of our nicest grocery stores (Sprouts), I got mad. The free-standing table holding ears of corn was abuzz … Read more
Buxtehude, Sonata in A minor In 1705, the 20-year-old Bach walked from Arnstadt to Lübeck, a distance of about 250 miles. He went to listen to the famed organist Dieterich Buxtehude. It was a good enough reason to secure a one-month leave from his post … Read more
Springtime is concert time. Where? Right in your neighborhood, and at minimal or no cost. In cities and towns across the country, local high school bands, choirs, and orchestras are staging their spring concerts. Some junior highs schedule such performances as well. If you are … Read more
Balakirev, Islamey In the previous post in this series, I mentioned that Panos Karan had impressed us in two ways. The first, discussed last week, concerned his work taking Western classical music to the remotest points on the globe. The second involved his ambitious programming. … Read more
Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2 (1st movement) Two years ago Professor Carol was lecturing on a ship sailing from Singapore to Dubai. We struck up a friendship with one of the entertainers, concert pianist Panos Karan. Outside of being an agreeable companion on the ship … Read more
Even after all these years, William Ernest Henley’s Invictus remains the one poem memorized in school that won’t leave my mind. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it being there. But, seriously, why has it lingered while so many others left? Partly I know the … Read more
Gesualdo, Tenebrae Factae Sunt It’s Good Friday. Our selection for this week is, I think, an astonishing work beautifully performed and recorded. Before you read on, listen to the music and read the text. Better yet, listen twice (as I always recommend), especially if you … Read more
Let me take you back to the place where I became acquainted with Haydn’s Seven Last Words on the Cross (Die Sieben Letzen Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze). Picture, if you will, a low-ceilinged room in a slightly musky academic building. For many decades, this … Read more
For Holy Week, we offer six paintings for your contemplation. (Click to enlarge.) Johannes Vermeer: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (c. 1654) Luca Giordano: Christ Cleansing the Temple (17th century) Juan de Juanes: The Last Supper (16th century) Johannes Oertel: Going … Read more
Pange lingua Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. In many churches that have a Maundy Thursday liturgy, you will hear (or perhaps sing) the hymn Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). The Gregorian melody associated with the … Read more