Author Archives: Scott Foglesong

On a recent retreat I took, the Buddhist scholar Andrew Olendzki (head of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies) gave a presentation on the Pali Canon, which is the scriptural canon of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Pali Canon is … Continue reading →

We’re living in a time in which performance practice is all the rage, and has been for some time. However, the ‘practice’ isn’t as historical as a lot of people would have us believe. In fact, there’s very little that’s … Continue reading →

Perhaps it’s best to ix-nay on the CD reviews for a while and talk about something considerably more important. The Buddha stated repeatedly that in all his long teaching career he taught one thing and one thing only: suffering and … Continue reading →

When I was at Peabody for my undergraduate work, most recordings of early music were of the “Masterpieces of Music Before 1750” variety–that is to say, lifeless, sanctimonious performances by scholarly types, who gave one the impression that European music … Continue reading →

In the midst of a lot of depressing news about the recording industry, there are a few bright lights. We are living in a time when no fewer than *three* complete recordings of the Bach cantatas are underway. The Ton … Continue reading →

I’ve been very pleased to see the early stereo RCA recordings being re-released in modern digital format. All of them were made on high-quality tape, multichannel, supervised by the finest engineers around in those days. There was a lot of … Continue reading →

Of late Elgar has been entering the radar of my musical environment. I never paid all that much attention to him before–oh, I knew the Enigma Variations. Friends of mine would play the ‘Cello Concerto and I’ve accompanied them. And … Continue reading →

Hienrich Schütz is one of those composers you read about in history texts, or experience in music history classes, but often he doesn’t seem to become a real composer who is part of your regular living experience. Well, at least … Continue reading →

I finally broke down and got the Rene Jacobs recording of the Christmas Oratorio; it’s been winking at me for a while. It marks my fourth Christmas Oratorio recording–and I have two that I really cherish (Gardiner/English Baroque, and Herreweghe.) … Continue reading →

It should come as no surprise to most of my friends and students that I’m a fairly avid record collector. I’m curious about a lot of different music, and I want to get to know it. Recordings are often the … Continue reading →