Category Archives: On Music

I used to feature Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite here yearly, but a few years ago I added the entire ballet. And here it is, featuring the ballet and orchestra of the National Opera of the Ukraine. This is an utterly gorgeous performance. This … Continue reading →

Today, some Christmas-based classical music! We’ll start with an older favorite, the “Carol Symphony” by Victor Hely-Hutchinson: Next is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Christmas Overture”. This is one of those “performances while distancing” that abounded in the high days of the COVID … Continue reading →

It’s always interesting to see what loves we carry forward that our parents gave us, and which we don’t share with them. My mother loved musicals; she grew up with the great musicals of 1950s and 1960s Hollywood (my father … Continue reading →

“The snow turned into rain….” Yup, I feature this every year, because I love it as a song and because thematically it really does capture something of a “dark side” to Christmas. There is always a sense of, “Is this … Continue reading →

We’re a week out now. The night is mustering, the longest night is approaching…but so, too, is light. In many ways. This is generally when I start posting my favorites each year, the repeat selections that live in my heart. … Continue reading →

OK, let’s go down a geeky rabbit hole! Today I’m posting a Christmas selection, if I can find one, from every singer who has ever performed the theme song to a James Bond movie! We’ll start with the glorious Shirley … Continue reading →

I don’t know what the first Christmas song I ever learned was, but I’ll bet it was “Jingle Bells”. This song is such a basic old chestnut of the season that you wouldn’t think a lot could be musically wrung … Continue reading →

I’ve had a really busy day, so I’ll just keep it short and sweet. This one needs no introduction whatsoever, right?  

Speaking of my friend Robert John Guttke, he also loved the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams’s eternally-fascinating blend of modern symphonic sounds and instrumental writing, combined with his fascination with English folksong and melodies dating back to the … Continue reading →