Category Archives: On Music

Tuesday Tones

First, watch this new video of mine, which explains why we’re featuring the work in the one below it: Now, watch this. It’s good! I’ve never seen a performance like this before.

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Something for Thursday

Last week we watched Say Anything, which has been one of my favorite movies ever since it hit me between the eyes when I saw it in spring 1989 when it came out. To this day I consider it the best … Continue reading

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Tuesday Tones

Today, a piece I really don’t like. But it is one of the best-known pieces of classical music ever composed, and last week–on the 7th, actually–marked the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. And as performances of a piece I … Continue reading

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Op. 72

An offering for Roger! And what an Opus 72 it is. Actually, the entire opera is Beethoven’s Opus 72 (it’s the only opera he wrote), but we’ll just present the Overture here. The entire opera is well worth hearing, if … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday (Friday edition)

Oops. I had this picked and ready to post yesterday. I just…didn’t. Hey, whaddaya gonna do. Anyway, here’s Buddy Rich on drums with a big band playing some Count Basie: it’s “One O’Clock Jump”. This is amazing stuff!

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Tuesday Tones

Busy and hectic and not a lot of time for writing, so here’s Franz von Suppe, but with one of his great overtures transcribed for wind ensemble.

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Something for Thursday

In memoriam for Roberta Flack:

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Tuesday Tones

I’m growing more and more attracted to the abstract, I’ve found. I think part of this comes from the greatly-increased amount of time we’ve been spending in art galleries and museums, particularly the Buffalo AKG Museum, with its amazing collection … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

It’s always struck me as a shame that as the trumpet became a fully chromatic instrument in the 1800s, with the invention of valves, it still languished in the back of the orchestra, getting few opportunities for feature solo work. … Continue reading

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Tuesday Tones

Here’s a piece I heard last week on my drive home from work. I was immediately transfixed by its color and energy, to the point that I sat in my car in the driveway while it finished. The composer is … Continue reading

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