Vivaldi: The Four Seasons It’s summer in Texas. Beneath the blazing sun’s relentless heat, men and flocks are sweltering, pines are scorched. No, that’s not actually my prose. It’s taken from the Sonnet that accompanies Vivaldi’s Concerto “Summer” from The Four Seasons. It’s presumed that … Read more
Bach: St. John Passion, Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen Today being Good Friday, it seems appropriate to turn to the Passion story. It has been a fertile field for music and art. Bach wrote two Passions. His St. John Passion was composed in 1724, … Read more
J.S. Bach: “Die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht” from “Coffee Cantata,” BWV 211 Bach spent his last 27 years (1723-1750) in Leipzig writing mostly sacred music. As Kapellmeister of the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church), he was expected to compose new works for the church. In contrast, … Read more
Handel: Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6, No. 1 The concerto grosso is a Baroque compositional form that pits a small group of instrumentalists against a larger orchestra. The term came into use with works by Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), and the form was adopted … Read more
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in D minor, K. 141 1685 was a good year for composers. Bach was born that year in Eisenach, just a couple of hours away (in today’s terms) from Halle where Handel had been born the month prior. These two giants of … Read more
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos are among his most popular works. The dedication page to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt from 1721 when Bach was Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold in Köthen. The premier performance would … Read more
We’ve been talking lately a lot about stories here in the Professor Carol office. Living in a small Cowboy town provides me a with wealth of stories, the same kind of stories I grew up with in the Virginia mountains. Here, however, the topics involve … Read more