Articles
Friday Performance Pick – 86
Trabaci, Gagliarda Seconda detta la Scabrosetta Maybe you played the recorder at some point in your life or watched your kids learn to play one while studying the rudiments of music. Its popularity possibly owes something to the fact that it can be made rather cheaply. … Read more
A Record Farewell
We’re purging our record collection. The LPs are lined up against several walls. That’s what happens when you put two music Ph.D.’s of our age into the same late marriage. We’ve found someone to buy the collection. The purchase price is miniscule but we’re lucky … Read more
Friday Performance Pick – 85
Gabrieli, Canzon septimi toni Giovanni Gabrieli was appointed principal organist at Saint Mark’s in Venice from 1585. The next year he succeeded his uncle Andrea Gabrieli as principal composer at Saint Mark’s. He held both post until his death in 1612. Saint Mark’s exerted a strong influence … Read more
Reflecting on Recent Days
For this week’s post, I intended to return to the topic of Beauty as one of the three Transcendentals. But events of the past week have bumped me off that course. I needn’t tell you what occupies the front page of the newspapers here in … Read more
Friday Performance Pick – 84
Copland, Appalachian Spring We have been through a series of posts recently on 20th-century American music, but we need to consider Aaron Copland (1900-1990) before moving on. Copland filled his works with evocations of America, using folk tunes, hymns, and American dance rhythms. But he didn’t … Read more
The Buttonhole is the Key
We are learning how to button buttons in our household. Granddaughter Patti’s Hello-Kitty pajamas have buttons, so this skill is now relevant. Plus, we want to surprise her momma once Patti learns how. We’re pairing the unveiling of “button-mastery” with Patti’s first public recitation of … Read more
Friday Performance Pick – 83
George Frederick Root, The Battle Cry of Freedom With the Fourth of July upon us, we should listen to something patriotic. America has produced numerous patriotic songs, but “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (also known as “Rally Round the Flag”) strikes me as one of the … Read more
Balthasar on Beauty
In framing my talks on “Beauty” for this year’s conference season, I’ve profited from the wise and provocative words of the Swiss theologian Hans Ur von Balthasar (1905-1988). Balthasar wrote copiously about beauty in his bountiful output, including a massive seven-part work known as The … Read more
Friday Performance Pick – 82
Joplin, Elite Syncopations You may know the music of Scott Joplin (c. 1868-1917) from the movie The Sting, especially if you who are old enough to remember 1973. Joshua Rifkin and William Bolcom revived Joplin’s music around 1970. But for some years before then, most people would … Read more