It’s “Title Season.” Well, everything has a season. So why not titles? Let me explain. During these weeks, I’m wrestling with the need to submit many titles for upcoming programs, mostly talks at educational conferences or lectures for future Smithsonian Journeys tours. Now, perhaps you … Read more
Bach, French Suite No. 2 in C Minor I want to close out our discussion of the Baroque suite with the granddaddy of them all. As with many of the genres and styles of the Baroque era, J.S. Bach represents the culmination. Keep in mind … Read more
Do you have this problem? Every summer I construct a beautiful list of all I hope to accomplish. The list bulges with practical tasks, personal goals, and artistic dreams. The problem with my list? Much of it doesn’t get done. Some items never get started. … Read more
Peterson, 8 Bar Boogie Blues And now for something completely different. Yes, we’ve featured things other than “classical” music in this series—an occasional folk song (more to come) and some jazz. It may seem like a divergence, but it’s a small one. The various music genres … Read more
My granddaughter just brought me a platter of invisible cookies. When I asked her what kind, she beamed: “48 Cookies!” Then she offered to “peel them” for me. Gobbling them down, I proclaimed their tastiness. “I put onions in them, grandma.” Does this exchange represent … Read more
Handel, Suite No. 5 in E Major (HWV 430) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) wrote a total of 22 keyboard suites. Eight of those are grouped together and referred to as the eight great suites (HWV 426-433). We looked at some late Renaissance precursors to the suite … Read more
A few months ago while sailing the Arabian Sea, I was engrossed in a conversation with a new friend about music on the Amazon River. What kind of music? Western Classical music. Panos Karan had given an extraordinary piano recital the night before. It was … Read more
Praetorius, Dance Suite from Terpsichore After galliards and pairs of court dances, like pavan-galliard and pavan-salterello, you might ask what composers would think of next. The answer naturally was to come up with bigger combinations of court dances that could be linked together in some … Read more
My husband always tells me, “Write about whatever’s on your mind.” Okay, I’ll follow his advice for this week’s post. This short article has stayed on my mind for several days, although not necessarily for a happy reason. The subject is a good one. A … Read more
Byrd, Pavan and Galliard a6 If you liked the galliard from last week’s pick, you may want to dig a little deeper into the late Renaissance court dances. The galliard was frequently paired with a pavan as in this week’s selection by the English composer … Read more