Category Musical Passion
Happy Farmer
Robert Schumann is the latest great to end up in my burgeoning repertoire – his tune Happy Farmer is the second to last piece in Suzuki Book 1. Yesterday in my lesson Teacher introduced me to the first three lines or so, and I thought we were going to stop, but we just kept plowing […]
Impact
As I stepped out to drop the trash down the chute yesterday afternoon I ran into our neighbor across the hall, a generally nice veteran in his 80s who of course mentioned my violin playing. He has complained to me before about noises on our floor, so I know he can be a bit sensitive […]
The Macdonald Viola
Antonio Stradivari is known for his violins, but he also produced other stringed instruments. The 1719 Macdonald Viola is one of only ten complete extant violas by the master luthier, and the only one in playable condition from his Golden Period – apparently the Russian government owns the other one and it has fallen into […]
All Strings and No Strangers
While in Austin last weekend I was privileged to be hosted by a delightful couple I’ve known for probably two years now. They are magnanimous people who’ve never met a stranger, and I understand they get a good number of visitors; they like it that way. I felt like part of their family – they […]
Playing and the Berimbau
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art descended from African slaves. Inherent to the art is the use of music and dance; it was practiced and developed in secret, and the presence of music helped it appear to the powers that be that it was part of a harmless ceremony. Music is such a part of […]
My Danny Boy
Yesterday’s post concluded with the promise that I was going to try to “pick out” Danny Boy on my violin. I’ve done exactly that with some other songs I’ve wanted to play – Ode to Joy, It Is Well with My Soul, and Oh Holy Night. But in all of those cases it was a […]
Danny Boy
Who doesn’t love the old Irish tune Danny Boy? The most visceral rendition I’ve heard was actually live – I was privileged to be able to see renowned Irish flutist Sir James Galway play the classic with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra way back in high school. Galway brought the house down. I’m always interested to […]
Girls Girls Girls
This morning my thoughts are turning to folksy women – Tracy Chapman and The Indigo Girls. The artists were significant to me when I was a young adult, and I still very much enjoy their voices and their style of music. It occurs to me that I know nothing about what they’ve been up to […]
A Debutante at 100
This is my 100th post on Musical Me, happening on the five month anniversary of the blog’s creation. To mark the moment, I’ve finally decided to come out about this project, so welcome to you! I do not blog about blogging – this is a first. But on the occasion of my 100th post, retrospection […]
The Vieuxtemps Guarneri
The Vieuxtemps Guarneri is a 1741 instrument that recently found a new home with premier violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. The new, unnamed owner of the instrument worked out a deal with Meyers whereby it is on loan to her for the rest of the musician’s life – one of the conditions on which she made […]
Ryan Libel 