Hearing With New Ears?

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog.
Sometimes before I go to an orchestra concert, I think to myself, “I should listen to a recording of the pieces on the program before I go, so that I can better appreciate the music when I’m hearing it live.” But actually I tend to reject the idea, though, because [...]

A Lucky Day for Detroit!

Cross-posted at the Detroit Symphony Blog, because I am so famous and in demand!
If you’re superstitious, you probably already have your lucky rabbit’s foot or some such charm or talisman at the ready, tomorrow being Friday the 13th and all. I would say that tomorrow is a very lucky day for Detroit, though. [...]

Your Questions Answered, vol. 2!

Ian from Australia wrote in asking about a popular song based on a melody from an organ concerto by Camille Saint-Saëns. He had heard the pop song before he heard the classical work it was based on, and was trying to find out who recorded the song.
I’m happy to report that Miss Music Nerd’s Musical [...]

A Classical Riot!

One of my favorite stories from music history concerns the audience reaction at the première of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), which was given in Paris on this day in 1913 by the Ballets Russes. (I mentioned the piece during my May Day Spring Celebration post at the beginning [...]

Happy Birthday, György!

NaBloPoMo Day 28!
I was just reading the Composers Datebook (like a good little Music Nerd ) and I noticed that today is the birthday of György Ligeti (1923-2006), one of my favorite composers. (I seem to have a fondness for Hungarian composers — I wrote about another one earlier this month!) Whether you’ve heard [...]

A Little Housekeeping

NaBloPoMo Day 27!
I found out recently that the audio hosting site I had been using isn’t working anymore. It might come back at some point, but for the moment there are licensing issues to deal with. It’s too bad, because I was hosting my own music with them, so licensing really wasn’t an issue for [...]

Diseases of the Great Composers!

NaBloPoMo Day 25!
It’s pretty nice having one’s own in-house physician. McDoc tells me when it’s time to use my inhaler (sometimes I don’t notice I’m wheezing before he does), when I need to go to the doctor for antibiotics (it’s generally looked down upon for a doc to write prescriptions for family members) and when [...]

Mahler’s 9th, part 3: Getting Gotten

NaBloPoMo Day 22!
You know, I have a confession to make: I thought it would be pretty easy to capture my experience of hearing Mahler’s 9th last Sunday; after all, it hit me like a velvet anvil — something you don’t soon forget! And I didn’t expect my review to become a series — I thought [...]

Mahler’s 9th, part 2: Floating Motives

NaBloPoMo Day 21!
Yesterday I gave a bit of history and background about Mahler and his 9th (including the rather important role his music has played in my life! ). Today I have a few reflections on the piece, which I heard performed by the DSO this past Sunday.
Hearing a live orchestral performance brings [...]

Mahler’s 9th, Part 1: A Little Background [to the] Music

NaBloPoMo Day 20!
My first real date with McDoc (which, I told him, was not a date, just as our two previous dates had also not been, I said, because I was status-post-heartbreak, courtesy of Mr. Wrong-but-I-was-the-last-to-realize-it, and I “wasn’t ready”… aren’t I lucky that he was so persistent? ) consisted of dinner at a [...]