“Christ on the Mount of Olives”: Beethoven’s Passion Oratorio
In 1802 Ludwig van Beethoven was gradually going deaf—a condition which would become complete about ten years later. While taking a rest in the countryside, he wrote…
Tomaso Albinoni: The Quiet Master of Italian Baroque Music
In the annals of classical music, it’s an odd fate to be best known for a work which one didn’t actually write. But such is the case…
Dieterich Buxtehude, Music, & the Experience of Life
Our experience of classical music has become rather abstract, detached, and academic. When the great composers were active, music was closely interwoven with everyday life. Music was…
Hector Berlioz and the Art of Musical Storytelling
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) is celebrated for expanding the orchestra, revolutionizing musical form, and giving a new exalted role to program music—that is, instrumental music that tells a…
“Maestro” and the Misuse of Culture
Writers for the movies, I have found, don’t seem to know how to deal with the arts as a dramatic subject. Perhaps due to a lack genuine…
Leroy Anderson: Musical Genius in Miniature
What would the Christmas season be without Sleigh Ride, the beloved orchestral chestnut by Leroy Anderson? It’s one of those festive selections endlessly piped into our ears on…
On Seeking a Cultural Model in the Past
Man is a historical and a cultural being. He is not merely a performer of functions, nor does he exist by chance in a fleeting and detached…
Spiritual Renewal and Modern Choral Music
One of the most interesting phenomena in modern “classical” music (or, if you will, “serious” or “art” music) from the end of the 20th century to today has…
Music and the Enlightenment
Some of the most profound changes ever to befall Western art music happened in the middle of the 18th century, around the time of the death of Johann…
Nadia Boulanger and the Transcendent Meaning of Music
“Music seems to exist in and of itself, like a temple built around your soul.” The story of music in the twentieth century would have been very…
The Music of Maurice Duruflé
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) is a unique case in the history of music: There are few other instances of a composer being considered a significant creator despite composing…
The Power of Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites”
The Metropolitan Opera’s series of High Definition (HD) broadcasts, transmitting opera performances live into movie theaters around the world, has been a bright spot on the cultural…
The Drama of Western Music
When thinking or writing about Western classical music, we are so often concerned with touting its brilliance and greatness that we seldom place it in context with…
Mozart the Romanticist
In an essay titled “The Wild and Terrible Mozart,” Stephen Klugewicz reflected on the dark, demonic and awe-inspiring sides of Mozart’s music, often ignored in popular depictions…
J.S Bach and the Musical Mind
“To strip human nature until its divine attributes are made clear, to inform ordinary activities with spiritual fervor, to give wings of eternity to that which is…