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Tag Archives: Music
Tone Poem Tuesday
I have a two-fer today, because I couldn’t decide between these two selections and I figured, since they do kind of go together, why not just use both? Music for percussion only tends to be somewhat of a novelty, which … Continue reading
Tone Poem Tuesday
Caroline Shaw is a composer, singer, and violinist who has emerged as one of the bright new voices in classical music. She has already won the Pulitzer Prize for one of her works, and she has composed a lot of … Continue reading
Tone Poem Tuesday
A very modern work today, by Canadian composer Cassandra Miller. Duet for Cello and Orchestra is almost avant-garde in its conception: a solo cello plays the same droning two notes, a perfect fifth apart, through the entire work, marking the time … Continue reading
Tone Poem Tuesday
Here’s an interesting piece! I didn’t realize this was even available online until a few weeks ago when I looked up the composer by name. Linda Robbins Coleman is a composer, conductor, and teacher from Iowa whose symphonic poem Journeys was … Continue reading
Composer Focus: Jean Sibelius (part two)
Returning to Sibelius! The land of Karelia is a region in northern Europe that currently comprises sections of Eastern Finland, and Northwestern Russia. Like Alsace-Lorraine between France and Germany, Karelia is a land that has been disputed for centuries, and … Continue reading
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Composer Focus: Jean Sibelius (part one)
So here’s something new I’ll be trying for a bit, based on my experience in 2020. I wrote a lot last year about Ludwig van Beethoven, which was fitting since 2020 marked his 250th birthday. I don’t plan to focus … Continue reading
2021 in the Books: Beethoven, Merlin, and the Hardy Boys meet Veronica Mars
Here’s some of my recent reading! :: Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary by John Clubbe is simply superb. I wanted to get this one done in time to blog about it during 2020, but getting it done this year is fine. While … Continue reading
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Tagged 2021 reading, books, Comics, Fantasy, Music
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The Ninth: One Symphony to Rule Them All
I’ll have one more Beethoven-related post to wrap this all up, which will mainly be a linkage piece; this post will serve as my main Grand Finale, though. And where else to end with Beethoven’s juggernaut of a masterpiece, … Continue reading
Beethovens Choral Fantasia: or, What Happens When You’re An Immortal Composer Who Needs a Piece for Piano, Vocal Soloists, Chorus, and Orchestra
Now here’s a very unusual work indeed: a single-movement piece, roughly 25 minutes long, that features orchestra, solo piano, vocal soloists, and a chorus. Why would Beethoven have written such an oddly structured piece? Most likely, I figured, he wrote … Continue reading
Close Encounters of the Beethoven Kind
I was fortunate in my music-making days to get to actually play Beethoven on three different occasions. The first came via my piano teacher in high school, a lovely old woman named Margaret Hooker. She lived alone in a nice-sized … Continue reading
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Tagged Beethoven at 250, Music
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