Monthly Archives: April 2016
Book Four
Suzuki Book Four arrived yesterday – I ripped the CD into iTunes but have yet to listen. I hope to get to that tonight after I get home from a long day at work. The book opens with some tonalization exercises, including the well-known Brahms Lullaby, which looks totally approachable. Teacher hasn’t spent a lot […]
To Shun the Heaven?
I have listened to Rufus Wainwright’s new album all the way through just once – on Monday as I ran on the lakefront. While not giddy with anticipation, I have been interested to see what the singer/songwriter came up with on this occasion of the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death; the album, released a […]
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
The legendary megastar Prince left us behind yesterday, as he so often did with his groundbreaking, extraordinarily prolific career in music. He was a true revolutionary, one of the musicians who defined Pop, while at the same time infusing our hyper-produced recording scene with a refreshing blend of authentic, innovative, artistic and beautiful music – […]
Bach’s Cello Suite #3
The Bach Cello Suites are some of the most well-known and loved compositions for cello ever written. Though composed prior to 1720 (the provenance is not as great as most of Bach’s work), their popularity is a decidedly 20th century innovation – we owe their existence in the modern cello canon to Pablo Casals. While […]
The Chicago Community Chorus
Chicago has a number of community choirs – I’ve written before about experiences with a couple of them over the years, most of which are organized for and by people who just love to sing; many take up donations for some charity or another. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a performance of […]
Magnificent
My week away was magnificent, but devoid of music of any kind. I was in New York, and occasionally I thought about the palpable lack of music in my environment, mostly Chelsea and the lower west side. “Not even a street musician?” No, not even a street musician. The closest I got to music was […]
Ryan Libel 