Author Archives: Scott Foglesong

Davies Symphony Hall. Increasingly a home away from home. I perform solo on the stage regularly throughout the season in my capacity as pre-concert lecturer and I also enjoy excellent seats during weeks in which I’m either lecturing or have … Continue reading →

Camelot. I suffered from a nasty case of mononucleosis over the summer of 1965, when I was eleven years old. Our family doctor had misdiagnosed the ailment and was worried that I had something a lot more exotic—just what, he … Continue reading →

Bach. My musical culture is broad, to say the least. I know a lot of music and my sphere keeps expanding all the time. But I always come home to Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer who defines a league of … Continue reading →

A. Grade inflation is a fact of academic life these days, exacerbated by a generation of students who have been raised to think that they are unfailingly extraordinary. Everybody wins, and even when they don’t it’s spun into a good … Continue reading →

I have completed 48 hours without a cat. It’s been a long time since I was catless. I’m out of practice. But I’ll adapt. Sixteen years of living with an 8-pound furball has produced a set of still-active conditioned reflexes. … Continue reading →

A sweet and abiding relationship is about to come to an end — my sixteen years with my great little kitty April. Tomorrow morning I take her to her vet to have her put down. It hasn’t been an easy … Continue reading →

Of late my projects have required me to revive some old records, both the vinyl LP and shellac 78 RPM variety. Funny how I thought I was through with all that as each medium died out—open-reel tapes first, then vinyl … Continue reading →

I have a penchant for exploring composers previously unknown to me. Not absolutely all of them, I should hasten to add. For some odd reason I invariably give a pass to some guy with a doctorate from Columbia who focuses … Continue reading →

A recent article by Michael Lavorgna on the Stereophile web site caught my eye. Reflections on the Audiophile Image opens by wondering whatever happened to the idea of high-end audio as cool, just the thing for one’s bachelor pad, the … Continue reading →

Western music has seen some momentous occurrences. The gradual development of polyphony. Secular music first acquiring parity with the sacred variety, then going on to outdistance it by a significant margin. Instrumental music’s evolution from the bandstand into a full-fledged … Continue reading →