Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tone Poem Tuesday

An interesting piece today that I had forgotten about, by American composer Frederick Shepherd Converse. Converse lived from 1871 to 1940, and he was a fairly prolific composer who wrote in a late-Romantic style, not unlike Richard Strauss, but his … Continue reading

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On Memorial Day

An annual reposting of some things pertaining to Memorial Day. First, a remembrance of a soldier I never knew. Fifteen years ago I wrote the following on Memorial Day, and I wanted to revisit it. It’s about the Vietnam Veteran … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back! I have a longer piece in the works for The Geekiverse, but for now, here is John Williams leading a pretty good music … Continue reading

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Tone Poem Tuesday

In honor of yesterday’s 40th anniversary of the major eruption of Mt. St. Helens, a musical work devoted to that very mountain. Alan Hovhaness was an American composer of Armenian descent, and he was very prolific, eventually producing over 500 … Continue reading

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“Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” Mt. St. Helens, 40 years later

The anniversary is something of a misnomer. Mt. St. Helens, a mountain in the volcanic Cascade Range in southwestern Washington State, was always thought to be on the verge of significant volcanic activity, and one day when I was in … Continue reading

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Something for Thursday

I haven’t seen the movie since the year it came out–1998, I believe–but Shakespeare In Love has always boasted one of my favorite filmscores, composed by Stephen Warbeck. Looking over Warbeck’s filmography, it turns out that Shakespeare In Love is … Continue reading

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Tone Poem Tuesday

Wow, am I stretching the idea of a tone poem to the breaking point today. This isn’t even an entire work, just an excerpt from one…and it’s not even a complete excerpt, just a part of the excerpt! Let me … Continue reading

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From the books: THE HIGH KING

Today, a passage from one of many books that my mother required me to read in moments when my behavior wasn’t the best. Actually, though–this isn’t from one of those books, but a book downstream in the series that she … Continue reading

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Tone Poem Tuesday

Film music fans often notice how frequently their favorite composers are tasked with writing wonderful music for movies that really aren’t very good. Jerry Goldsmith in particular seems to have made a career of suffering this fate; the poor guy … Continue reading

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May the Fourth, and so on and so on….

It’s May 4, otherwise known as Star Wars Day! Because “May the Fourth be with you!” I don’t have any major new thoughts to offer today, but here’s a bit of music.

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