Monthly Archives: March 2013

The Journey

Yesterday morning I put the finishing touches on the eighth and last lecture for a forthcoming class on choral music at the Fromm Institute. My Fromm classes are particularly special to me, being as they are broad overviews of music … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Journey

Monster Mash

I finally got around to watching Steven Spieberg’s Lincoln, with Daniel Day-Lewis. As is my usual practice, I waited until it was available on home video. What with the advent of big, hi-res flat-screen televisions and Blu-Ray, I’m less inclined … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Monster Mash

Nothing Special

Listen and look, I said. Listen, look, and absorb. There are no wrong answers. Everybody plays. My students were encountering Haydn’s Symphony No. 43 in E-flat Major ‘Mercury’ for the first time. This being a relatively advanced class, I had … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Nothing Special

Musicianly OCD

It’s re-emergence into the sunlight after the gloom of a failed marriage or sustained illness. It’s a freshly-made butterfly gently fluttering its moistly glittering wings in the morning glow. It’s the heaven-sent moment when the car alarm down the street … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Musicianly OCD

Garden

One needn’t be Sherlock Holmes to observe that musical cultures move around. Yesterday’s hot-tamale locale is today’s cold potato, as the creative energy leaps about, like lightning, from place to place over time. No Mozarts or Beethovens walk the streets … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Garden

Disconnect

I can’t recall the number of times I have been gobsmacked by some commentator’s authoritative statement that turns out, upon further consideration, to be poppycock. Music critics are particularly prone to conjuring up such moonshine. Consider the doleful practice of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Disconnect

It Matters

Each generation has to learn anew, as we long-term teachers know only too well. Thus we answer the same basic questions over and over again as one generation gives way to the next. It’s a music theory class! So why … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on It Matters