Category Musical Passion
Canon Go-Round
About eighteen months ago I bought and downloaded some sheet music for Pachelbel’s ubiquitous Canon in D. I remember writing a post about my early exploration of the piece when first I downloaded it, so I looked it up just now. The post was optimistic – I thought I would be able to work up […]
Milestones and Legends
Well I’m late to my own birthday party. I launched Musical Me three years ago Friday, on October 14, 2013. As this chronicle – now approaching 500 posts – attests, my musical journey has been fulfilling in all the ways I hoped it might, though it’s true that my posts over the past year have […]
Make Something; Make Music
I’ve realized that music is paving my way into being a middle aged human. Don’t worry – I’m not jumping the gun – at barely forty I’d like to think I’m not there quite yet! But I’ve touched on this journey before – the music of my youth was the music of my God. I […]
Tzigane: Ravel and French Impressionism
Maurice Ravel was a French composer living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, regarded as one of the greatest ever to come out of France. He was also a classically trained pianist, though he apparently never distinguished himself on the instrument. I learned more about him yesterday reading Wikipedia as I listened to […]
Joy – Getting to the Point
Teacher continued to hammer musicality yesterday in our lesson – I’m working this Seitz concerto hard, and it’s time to let the relentless pursuit of mechanics go and just feel the music. There’s so much tough stuff going on in this piece that it’s hard for me to do that. I want every note to […]
Carter and a Kora
Regina Carter is a violinist, classically trained, who has become famous for her overall talent and her innovative musical explorations. I’ve known of her for a while. She tours widely – in fact she’ll be playing with the Grant Park Symphony down at the Pritzker Pavilion here in Chicago this weekend, a program of Duke […]
Perlman at the Opera House
I’m going to see Itzhak Perlman – the recital is 9 months away – April 23 – but, as I told my partners in the excursion, the best violinist in the world has to plan ahead. He will be 71 years old at the time of the show. He’s playing the Civic Opera House, home […]
Learn, Teach
I don’t have a lesson today – Teacher is away at an Irish fiddle camp in one of the Carolinas (I can’t ever keep the Carolinas straight – apologies to the good people who call them home). I was interested in her preparation for the expedition – she has been playing her fiddle for the […]
Ryan Libel 