Herewith, the results of the pseudo-aria contest. Though, really, since I couldn’t pick any one entry, it’s more like the caucus-race in Alice in Wonderland, in which everybody has won, and all must have prizes. Anyway, the winners are: “Come vergine”: simile aria from a baroque opera by Handel, in which the hero (countertenor) compares […]
This post from Bitch. Ph.D. is making me rethink my decision not to have children: Saturday, we were running an errand and I was flipping around the radio and came upon a broadcast of the Met’s production of La Boheme. Pseudonymous kid: Wait! Stop. That music is beautiful.Me: Do you like it?Pseudonymous kid: Yes, let’s […]
A fascinating article from Scientific American on what your brain does when you listen to music (quite a lot, and not just in any one location, apparently). Some of the findings: Even a little training can quickly alter the brain’s reactions. … Just as some training increases the number of cells that respond to a […]
Today I helped someone track down information about a University of Virginia alumnus who came here in the 1850s and who was known by his middle name, which, of course, wasn’t listed in full in the University catalogues. But after much searching I found him nonetheless. By the time I was done answering that question, […]
First, some links. Found somewhere in the blogosphere but I forget where, damn it: a guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments. In case you wondered what a transverse flute, a shawm, a rebec, or a crumhorn looked (and sounded) like. I’m having early-instrument envy again. Lynn Sislo offers Vivaldi and Dvorak recommendations. [runs to library’s […]
I’ve been exploring this fascinating site dedicated to "La Folia," a 16th-century dance tune that half the composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries borrowed and used for variations (Corelli, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and Bach, to name a few) — as well as, surprisingly, quite a few recent composers as well. In addition to the tons […]
It’s kind of ironic that I don’t post about music more often, especially given the title of this weblog. I initially thought that amongst the academia posts and the day-to-day stuff and the thoughts about poetry, I’d also be writing posts about music. But I always end up feeling like I don’t have the language […]
Wouldn’t "The Independent Scholars" be a great name for a band? Not a rock band, but an early-music band that plays dance hits of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (I am a Renaissance person, after all.) Like the Folger Consort or the Newberry Consort, only maybe with more bawdy songs. (And on period instruments; I’m […]
After this season, ChevronTexaco will no longer be sponsoring the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts, and it’s still uncertain whether other funding sources will come through. Which is a great pity. I’ve only recently started listening to the radio broadcasts, but I love being able to hear an entire performance from my living room, […]