Friday Performance Pick – 487

ruth-crawford-seeger

Seeger, Music for Small Orchestra Like many other women composers, Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) is receiving renewed attention. She achieved some recognition in her lifetime as a talented composer, but it was short-lived, partly no doubt because of her untimely death. She studied at the … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 475

fillmore-music-house

Fillmore, The Klaxon Marches are not uniquely American, but they seem to go hand-in-hand with our expressions of patriotism. If asked to name two composers of marches, I suspect almost everyone would immediately think of John Philip Sousa and then struggle to come up with … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 448

christmas-world-war-ii

Kent, I’ll Be Home for Christmas First recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” expressed the desire of U.S. Soldiers in World War II to be back home. The song’s enormous popularity soon took it well beyond that original context, and … Read more

Friday Performance Pick – 435

amy-beach

Beach, Romance This week we feature a short character piece by the American pianist and composer Amy Beach (1867-1944). But unlike other women composers before her, notably Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, Beach established her reputation as a composer with large-scale works: primarily her Mass … Read more

The Galax Fiddle Festival

It was good to get out to a festival. True, last fall we enjoyed Bethania’s Walnut Festival, held in an historical Moravian village next to our neighborhood. Also, we rejoiced in a traditional, low-tech fall carnival up in King, North Carolina, filled with old-fashioned rides, … Read more