Beyond the Ghetto: Music & Ministry in Senior Communities
The provision of pastoral care in senior living communities (Seniorenzentren) in today’s Germany presents its own challenges. Nursing homes and community care facilities are often on the…
Jonathan Leshnoff’s Violin Concerto No. 2
In his memoir A Republic, If You Can Keep It, United States Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch argued that legal documents should be written so that the…
Glory to Dido! The Operas of Hector Berlioz
“They are finally going to play my music.” —Hector Berlioz, on his deathbed. Though Hector Berlioz’s operas are still little known today—even to the opera-going public,…
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…
Crying to the Lord: Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”
During the season of Lent, Christians are called to the act of repentance. Like a lot of spiritual practices, repentance is approached in a variety of ways…
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…
Evita Laments Eternal Love—and Answers Sin with Mercy
“Thought I needed the numbers on my side / Thought the more that loved me, the more loved I’d be / But such things cannot be multiplied.”[1]…
A Conductor at Twilight: Michael Tilson Thomas’ Last Days at the Podium
Last week I called the San Francisco Symphony box office to switch dates for a subscription ticket with a conflict: Sunday’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9,…
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…
Arthur Foote and the Cult of the Restrained in Art
Nestled in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the “Boston Six” composers rest in quiet obscurity. This “Second New England School,” as they are often called,…
Dissonant Qualities of Form: The Music of Ligeti, Messiaen, Strauss and Arvo Pärt
Reflection on the essence of music can take many forms. From reflection on the nature of particular musical forms, formal interpretations of composition, and the experience of…