Category Musical Passion
Four Years/Life Uncomplicated
Not a day goes by that I don’t consider my gratitude for my musical pursuit. Even on days I don’t practice, I see the violin case out of the corner of my eye and smile. Nearly always, I’ve got one of the pieces in my repertoire playing on repeat in my head. And, though not […]
Triumph: Schumann 2
Robert Schumann wrote four symphonies; until Saturday night I’d listened to none of them. Since I have tickets for a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in less than three weeks that includes the second of the four, I’ve started doing my homework – Saturday night I listened to a performance by the great Vienna […]
Taste of Ravel
I’ve been digging into the music of Maurice Ravel a bit more in anticipation of a Perlman recital we’re attending toward the end of April. In addition to works by Beethoven, Vivaldi, and Schumann, Perlman will play Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in G Major. The piece is clearly influenced by Jazz, […]
Reading up on Carmen
This coming Friday we’re off to the opera with some friends – the renowned Lyric of Chicago’s current production of the Bizet classic Carmen. Though I’ve never been to the Lyric before, and I have seen very little opera otherwise, I do know that it’s best to learn plenty before going. So this morning I’ve […]
A Conductor at 100
Ed Simons has conducted the Rockland Symphony since he founded it – in 1952. He turned 100 on February 1 and is considered the oldest living conductor. His career in music began as a young child when his father exposed him to classical greats. He took up the violin at age 9, and has been […]
Corelli and Reading Ahead
Arcangelo Corelli was a violinist and composer of the Baroque era, born in 1653. He was active in Italy from an early age, and did much to enhance the prominence of the violin. Wikipedia also reports that his work was instrumental in formalizing the sonata form, and in bringing harmony to violin music. It seems […]
Times Gone By – New Year’s 500
Happy New Year! WordPress informs me that this is my 500th post on Musical Me – a milestone, which, when coupled with the New Year, has me thinking big. As I reminisce about 2016, I can’t help but conclude that it was indeed a pretty big year for me personally. I completed my first […]
Composing While Female
Recently I went to a performance of the Chicago Sinfonietta, an organization that was created in the 1980s to inject some diversity into the classical music scene in Chicago. While I’ve long wished that the world of the music I love best were more representative of the breadth of humanity and applaud intentional efforts to […]
Sountrack for a Revolution
Yesterday my organization held a screening of the great PBS film Sountrack for a Revolution, which documents the music of the civil rights movement in the American 1960s. It’s produced by Danny Glover and features many civil rights activists telling their stories of nonviolent protest in service of an end to racial discrimination. I am […]
What’s a Canon, Again?
I continue to practice Pachelbel’s Canon in D daily – it’s really fun for me to play. Though I’ve always found the piece to be beautiful, I’ve never worn it out for myself (I think others have, but they are not in my living room!). I need plenty of practice with the whole thing, but […]
Ryan Libel 