Music History Monday: Whoa
October
1st,
2018
When it comes to a date-oriented blog like this one, there are days and then there are days. Over the two-plus years since I began this post, I have found that most days offer up one or two major (or semi-major) events in music history. These are the good days, the easy days to write…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 – 9, transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt
September
26th,
2018
This is a long piece. Its length is a function of intersecting thematic lines: a number of topics we’ve been discussing on the site – tempo and metronome markings in general; tempo and metronome markings in Beethoven’s symphonies; the piano, pianists, and the virtuosity of Franz Liszt (in particular) – all intersect in this post.…
Music History Monday: The Colonel
September
24th,
2018
Let us contemplate the word “colonel.” No, we’re not talking about a discreet unit of corn, “k-e-r-n-a-l”; rather, we’re talking about the military rank and honorific of “colonel”: “c-o-l-o-n-e-l.” The word itself is of Italian origin; its root is the word colonna, which means “column”; in this case, as in a “column of soldiers”. By…
Exploring the Dissonant C-sharp in Beethoven’s “Eroica”
September
21st,
2018
Patreon patron, Mr. Sullivan, recently asked the following question: “In several of your courses you have also referred to the C# in the Eroica as implying a modulation to G minor. I have never understood that statement. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me about that?” Mr. Sullivan refers to a (dissonant!) C-sharp…
Further adventures in Paradise
September
20th,
2018
On “stage” with the ASQ Last week I wrote about the Apollo Academy, a wonderful four-day retreat at a facility called “Ratna Ling” located in the coastal mountains of Northern California’s Sonoma County. The Academy – the brainchild of a surgeon and cellist named Bill Moores - focuses on “mind/body synchronization that enhances mental and…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Tempo and Metronome Marks
September
18th,
2018
Maelzel Metronome My recommendation last week of John Eliot Gardiner’s complete recording of Beethoven’s symphonies elicited a series of really wonderful comments. When, in the course of responding to those comments I rather offhandedly recommended that Otto Klemperer’s recordings of Beethoven’s symphonies (made circa 1961 for EMI) be allowed to fade into obscurity (or a…
Music History Monday: I Don’t Know About You But I’ve Always Wondered About That
September
17th,
2018
The Savoy Plaza Hotel in 1937 Today we mark a technological event that came and went with hardly a murmur. It was 87 years ago today – on September 17, 1931 – that the RCA Victor Company demonstrated the first long-playing (or “LP”) record to rotate at 33-1/3 rpm (or “rounds per minute”). The demonstration…
Talking Royalties on the Habeas Humor Podcast
September
13th,
2018
I joined Charone Frankel's “Habeas Humor” podcast to talk about music royalties and licensing from my perspective as a composer and as a content producer for The Great Courses. Listen to the standard version for free, or hear the full, “director's cut”, podcast on her Patreon channel. My own Patreon patrons will also be able…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: John Eliot Gardiner
September
12th,
2018
John Eliot Gardiner In the course of answering a question last week, I invoked my affection for certain period instrument recordings, particularly those of John Eliot Gardiner. I’d like to flesh that answer out and in doing so say why. The debate over “historically informed performances” (HIP) (or “authentic performances” or “period instrument performances”) is…
Reporting from the Apollo Academy and Ratna Ling
September
11th,
2018
Ratna Ling Lodge ExteriorLodge InteriorLodge Interior I returned on Sunday, September 9 from a four-day retreat called the “Apollo Academy for Health and Humanism.” It was held at a magnificent facility called “Ratna Ling” in the coastal mountains of northern Sonoma County, about three miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The following is going…