The Making of a Course – Part Three
January
24th,
2013
Today I ran out of luck. After twenty years of recording courses and never having so much as a sniffle, I woke up this morning with the grandmother of all head colds. I got through the day thanks to the indulgence of my incredible crew, enough Sudafed to start a meth lab, and about 10…
The Making of a Course – Part Two
January
23rd,
2013
[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pictured above: inappropriate piano recital etiquette"][/caption] We will begin a full recording schedule tomorrow (Thursday). Preliminaries today: making friends with the piano, technical rehearsal, catching up with colleagues and crew. One of the things that makes this course special is that instead of using pre-recorded musical examples, our musical examples will…
The Making of a Course – Part One
January
21st,
2013
In 1999, The Teaching Company/Great Courses began using teleprompters. Up to that point, all the instructors had worked from notes, as we do in the classroom. The result was – as it always is when one works from outline – uneven: grammar can slip, ideas are repeated, the speaker resorts to “um”, and “anyway”, and…
The String Quartet at a Time of War: Béla Bartók, String Quartet No. 6
January
18th,
2013
Bartók’s String Quartet No. 6 was written in early 1939, at a very dark time in his personal life and in history. Some background. Adolf Hitler came to power when he was appointed German Chancellor – the head of the government – on January 30, 1933. The fools that arranged Hitler’s appointment did so because…
The Lies We Tell
January
14th,
2013
Oh the little white lies we tell, purposely or not. From the tiniest exaggeration to the most outrageous whopper, it would seem to be human nature to stretch the truth. The examples are endless. “The Check is in the mail.” “No, those pants do not make your butt look big.” “I never got your…
The String Quartet in a Time of War: Pavel Haas, String Quartet No. 3
January
2nd,
2013
In March of 1936, Nazi Germany reoccupied the demilitarized Rhineland and by doing so abrogated the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact. The remilitarization of the Rhineland was driven by domestic politics, not unlike our own invasion of Iraq: Hitler needed to shore up his relationship with the army leadership and his right-wing power…
Who Benefits? Who Profits?
December
27th,
2012
So here we are. It’s almost 2013: roughly one-eighth of the way through the twenty-first century. The music of the twentieth century, which seemed so contemporary but a few years ago, is now the music of the last century. Which brings up a painful fact, one that I am frequently called on the carpet over,…
Viva la Fanfare!
July
20th,
2012
Ah, the Olympic medal ceremony. Young athletes stand proudly on the winners’ platform while in the background the flag of the gold medalist’s country is hoisted to the stirring sounds of her national anthem. During the summer games in Beijing in 2008, the home town fans had a lot to cheer about: they saw their…
Bedtime Music: Soothing Classical Pieces for Kids of Any Age
June
8th,
2012
Ah, bedtime. The kids’ teeth are brushed; their pj’s are on; the book has been read, and then read again. They have been kissed goodnight. At which point begins THE BIG STALL. “I’m hungry”; “I’m thirsty”; “I need to go to the bathroom”; “I need to call my broker”; etc. Dead Euro-composers to the rescue! …
Ludwig van Beethoven, Commencement Address, Salzburg A & M, May 22, 1825
May
18th,
2012
[caption id="attachment_312" align="alignright" width="279"] Ludwig van Beethoven, Commencement Address, Salzburg A & M (Art & Music) May 22, 1825[/caption] I am honored to be with you today, although it might have occurred to someone at A & M to front me the money for the trip from Vienna. Generally speaking, I don’t do freebies, which…