Mapping the Musical Genome: The Wagner Family
Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was the manliest man in a manly world of manly composers! Creator of theatrical and musical dramas lasting the better part of eternit... Continue Reading...
Interlude
How Stravinsky Was Inspired by Ragtime
We associate ragtime music with performers and composers such as Scott Joplin, confined by their poverty and marginality to the US. What we may not realize is h... Continue Reading...
The Beauty of Counterpoint
Often, the point of interest in the music isn’t the melody but what’s going on underneath. I recently attended a performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, bu... Continue Reading...
How Inspiration Strikes
Composers tend to be a peculiar lot, particularly as it pertains to the best and most conducive circumstances in which they compose their best music. Of course,... Continue Reading...
Mapping the Musical Genome: The Bach Family
'Young Bach' as Konzertmeister in 1715 by J. E. Rentsch, the Elder.
Johann Sebastian Bach was part of an extensive Saxon-Thuringian family that produced an un... Continue Reading...
Music and Nature: Birds
For music and nature, birds are the natural – they sing! Or, rather, we hear their communication as singing. A friend in Hong Kong trains birds to sing, playing... Continue Reading...
Music and Nature: Bugs
Bugs and music – hmm, not as common as birds, but then when you start to think about it, they start to creep up on you. Probably the first piece of bug music yo... Continue Reading...
Music and Nature: Animals
Animals in music occur in everything from children’s pieces to great serious works. Their rhythm in the world is something that a composer can take up and devel... Continue Reading...