As I noted when it first arrived, I have needed a new case since my father-in-law shipped me my violin. I did a lot of searching and finally found one I liked, but it was on backorder, so it has taken a while for it to come. I didn’t need a particularly high-end super impact-resistant, […]
As I’ve been listening to some of the best violin concertos in the world, I’ve recently been cultivating a passion for Beethoven’s – Opus 61. The first time I noticed it I had just fallen for Tchaikovsky’s, and something about Beethoven’s seemed less spectacular. I don’t feel that way anymore – the themes in Beethoven […]
Chicago fine violin dealer Bein and Fushi is one of the pre-eminent sellers of high-end violins in the world. I have not visited the store, on South Michigan Avenue, but I would like to soon. An outgrowth of the shop is The Stradivari Society. The Society acts as a broker between talented young musicians and […]
A supremely busy week has me just getting around to noting something wonderful. Twinkle Twinkle notwithstanding, I have begun to play my first classical piece of music – a Bach Minuet. When I started down the violin road, people would ask me, “Are you going to play fiddle or violin.” The answer is violin. I […]
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on Music and Morality, opening with a quote by Roger Scruton, “To suggest that people who live with a metric pulse as a constant background to their thoughts and movements are living in the same way, with the same kind of attention and the same pattern of […]
A friend posted a Buzzfeed photo set on my Facebook Timeline yesterday – it’s a stroll through the desolate remains of Joyland – the amusement park we Wichitans of the last half of the 20th century grew up knowing best. Though out of commission since at least 2006, the park’s remains still exist to instill […]
Growing up, few songs moved me as much as The Great Hymn of the Faith It Is Well with My Soul. The head pastor of the church I grew up in had a near obsession with the hymn – though we always had a music minister in the church, the pastor often led the congregation […]
I love a renaissance human. Vanessa Mae, world famous violinist, is also an Olympic athlete. She is the lone qualifier from the country of Thailand, in Alpine Skiing, and for the Olympics she is competing as Vanessa Vanakom, her Thai father’s family name. I have to confess to not knowing Vanessa Mae before seeing her […]
The Lipinski Stradivarius has been recovered. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports two of three people involved in the heist are in custody. The New York Times identifies them as Universal Knowledge Allah and Salah Ibin Jones. Jones is identified as the primary suspect; he was also convicted about 15 years ago for the theft of […]
I’ve written before about the joys of high rise living, worrying about the neighbors, and a desire to keep the peace as it pertains to subjecting people to the undeniably problematic sounds of a beginner playing the violin. Happily, our units do a pretty good job of soundproofing, but still, violins are made to be […]
Ryan Libel 