It’s easy to learn a language when your feet are on the ground. For the first time in many visits to Croatia, my hit-and-miss efforts to grasp the language are bearing fruit. Croatian has just enough similarities to Russian to have tripped me up in … Read more
Telemann, Sonata for Bassoon in F Minor Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) tends to be grouped with his famous contemporaries Handel and J. S. Bach. Four years their senior, he would outlive both—Handel by 9 years and Bach by 17. The three represent in many ways … Read more
Inwardly, quietly, I jump up and down when our group walks out of the Milenij Hotel into the bright sunshine. We are beginning our initial walking tour of Opatija, a literal coastal paradise more gorgeous than any brochure photo could ever be. To enter into … Read more
Mahler, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a friend who dismissed Gustav Mahler’s music as too emotional. Or perhaps he said it was too personal. It is both highly emotional and intensely personal, although I think … Read more
Carol will be speaking Saturday at the online conference of the Circe Institute. The conference theme is “Teaching in Place: Education Like Your Child Belongs.” The conference runs from Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, April 26-27. Circe explains the topic this way: What if education … Read more
Hefti, Li’l Darlin’ Neal Hefti (1922-2008) was born and raised in Nebraska. He took up the trumpet and, while still in high school, began arranging for the Nat Towles band. Towles’ band was one of the territory bands that played a significant role in spreading … Read more
That’s pretty much my life right now: irises and essays. Writing, writing, writing. Gazing out at the explosions of spring. And a lot of packing and unpacking. Spring 2024 is a swirl of commitments–a whirlwind I got myself into. Everything seemed “doable” when it was … Read more
Mendelssohn, Hebrides Overture Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) traveled to England in 1829. His journey included a tour of the Scottish Highlands, and there, on the Hebrides islands, he was inspired to sketch out what would become his Hebrides Overture. Among the Hebrides, Fingal’s Cave lies on … Read more
Standing with a dozen others outside the main administration building, Cooke Hall, on the campus of Highlands Latin School, I watched as swaths of thick clouds chugged past, as if daring us earthlings to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. Before us, out on the … Read more
Brahms, Paganini Variations The theme of Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 has inspired numerous composers to craft a set of variations based on it. In this series, we have already featured the variations of Rachmaninov, Liszt, Lutoslavksi, and Fazil Say. But I don’t think we can … Read more
