Category Archives: On Music

Tuesday Tones

Continuing our look back at the classical music of one hundred years ago, we have a work for solo piano that was written in 1925. Henry Cowell lived from 1897 to 1965, and he was a largely self-taught composer and … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

In times like this I often turn to optimistic art that reminds me that the world doesn’t have to be the way it is, and that it won’t always be like this. In that spirit, here is “Another Day of … Continue reading

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Tuesday Tones

I was trying to come up with a theme for this month’s Tuesday selections, since themed groupings are fun and this month is good because it has five Tuesdays instead of the usual four. (Actually, come to think of it, … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday (IMF edition)

If not for Monty Norman and John Barry’s work on the James Bond Theme, the most famous theme for an action-packed spy series would almost certainly be Lalo Schifrin’s theme to Mission: Impossible. Schifrin passed away today at the age … Continue reading

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Tuesday Tones

Lou Harrison (1917-2003) was a prominent 20th century voice in American music, as well as gay art. He explored homosexual themes in his work, which was strongly modernist to the point of being avant-garde at times. He was heavily influenced … Continue reading

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Remembering James Horner (1953-2015)

(This is a repost of what I wrote when composer James Horner died ten years ago, very prematurely, in a plane crash. Apparently Horner had been an amateur, hobbyist pilot. My relationship with his music through the years was complicated, … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

Given how highly I value this song, I’m surprised to see that I haven’t featured it much in this space. It’s a song about homesickness, written by Scottish master Dougie MacLean, and it’s one of his biggest hits and signature … Continue reading

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Tuesday Tones

An old favorite, in two ways: first, because the music is obviously amazing, and second, because the accompanying animation is also amazing. Here is Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as performed and animated for the Disney film Fantasia 2000.

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Tuesday Tones

Continuing my exploration of queerness in music for this Pride Month, I turn to composer Wendy Carlos, a great transgender artist who is a notable late-20th century pioneer in electronic music. Carlos was born in 1939 as Walter Carlos, but … Continue reading

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A musical offering….

Any accounting of the greatest composers of the Baroque era would include, as a short list, the names of J.S. Bach, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, and George Frideric Handel. We’re talking about Handel briefly today, partly because of his immense … Continue reading

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