Mozart died at 35 having composed over 600 compositions. I circle that age, 35, over and over again until I fear the pen will rip through the page. Why that number means more to me than the number of compositions underscores a simple reality about learning: we can’t stop ourselves from connecting. This is what […]
In “Laudate Dominum,” one of Mozart’s most exquisite vocal solos, the consistent impossibility of alteration shines through and the result is a work of art of which even Socrates would approve.
When It Comes Out Just Right: On the Crystalline Perfection of Mozart’s Laudate Dominum Read More »
The Brandenburg Concertos present a lovely combination of variety and unity – and this is what makes them so meaningful.
Distinctions and categories to guide listening and learning
Editor’s note: This essay is part of our series of monthly reflections on important works of music. Every month we’ll bring you a new post just like this one. Thanks to Lindsey Brigham for spearheading this project.
Living in Light of Fantasy: On Max Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy” Read More »
Editor’s note: This essay is part of our series of monthly reflections on important works of music. Every month we’ll bring you a new post just like this one. Thanks to Lindsey Brigham for spearheading this project.
This morning, my four students and I strolled leisurely through a biographical sketch of J.S. Bach, narrated back some of the astounding details of his life (20 children!), and then spent ten minutes listening to one of his concertos. It was a peaceful and soul-filling way to begin our day. As the last note ended,
Britten’s “This Little Babe” offers poetic and musical metaphors that rouse our wonder at the Incarnation’s paradoxes–particularly the paradox that our warfare with sin and Satan testifies to our peace with this God-man.
Incarnation as Alarum: Benjamin Britten’s “This Little Babe” Read More »
A maze of mismatched tables and chairs hosts a dozen simultaneous conversations. Some folks hunch forward, both elbows on the table, in fervent discussion; others lean back in the chairs, the better to illustrate their talk with expansive gesturing. On the tabletops, in hands, and (every now and again) spilled out onto the floor are
3 Mistaken Assumptions About Classical Music (through the Lens of Vivaldi’s “La Follia”) Read More »
How His “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand” Captures the Post-War Struggle for Hope
Some musical works, especially classical ones, resemble Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield Ball: they require a formal introduction for proper acquaintance (and woe betide the Mr. Collins who thinks otherwise). But other works, like other people, welcome strangers. It is sometimes possible to love a person before you learn his name and to understand a
The Music in the Water: How Bedrich Smetana’s “The Moldau” Makes Us More Human Read More »
Editor’s note: Welcome to the first post in a new series of monthly reflections on important works of music. Every fourth Monday of the month we’ll bring you a new post just like this one. Thanks to Lindsey Brigham for spearheading this project.
