I have long known who Mischa Elman was: one of the great violinists of the last century (1891–1967). But only last month did I finally manage to listen to him. He is dead, of course. But there are available recordings of his playing that date back to the 1920s. These are a bit scratchy, . . . . Continue Reading »
In a glass case at Mozart’s birthplace in Salzburg is a small wax doll. Its eyes look demurely downward, it wears a crown several times the size of its head, and it is clad in a richly embroidered garment that looks like nothing so much as a sumptuous eighteenth-century ball gown. This is . . . . Continue Reading »
There was a time when the Church shaped Western high art, particularly art music, as distinct from folk or pop music. That era has been over for centuries, yet the impetus for composers to engage with spirituality has endured. There has been no shortage of scholars in recent decades endeavoring to . . . . Continue Reading »
Richard Brake, headmaster of St. Francis Classical Catholic Academy, joins the podcast to discuss Classical schools. Continue Reading »
The great composers knew how to build with sound, from the simplest tunes to works fit for cathedrals. Tune in and I think you’ll see what I mean. Continue Reading »
Frank La Rocca's Mass of the Americas is breaking records in the music world, which jointly manifests the importance of beautiful liturgies. Continue Reading »
Though I would not dare deviate from Bach’s Passions for Good Friday music listening, I cannot think of a more appropriate recording than Honeck’s “Larghetto for Orchestra” for Holy Saturday. Continue Reading »
In the Missa Solemnis, Beethoven’s titanic subjectivity seems chastened by suffering and transformed by his engagement with the graced objectivity of liturgical text and tradition. Continue Reading »
Going to a concert, like going to church or a nice restaurant or traveling on a plane or an overnight train, once meant dressing up and looking your best. We had been taught that dressing up showed respect—and classical music evoked special respect. This had little to do with how much one . . . . Continue Reading »
The piano is the instrument of expressive individualism; the harpsichord is the instrument of a vibrant, discursive life of the mind. Continue Reading »
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