This week I finished re-reading The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz, the best biography I’ve read of the group that defined music, culture, and style in the Sixties: the era I grew up in. I’ve read several other bios in the past, both of the band and of the
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Dead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Baroque Interlude β Flute Partita in A minor, BWV 1013 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Greetings Folks, please move the slider to 3:06 to hear the transcribed Bach Partita. π
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Baroque Interlude β Rheinberger β Abendlied
Abendlied (Evening song), Op. 69/3, is a sacred motet by Josef Rheinberger for a six-part mixed choir (SSATTB). It has been regarded as his best-known sacred composition.[1] He wrote the first version in 1855 at the age of 15. The text is a verse from the biblical narration of the
Continue readingwmtc: reflections on a year of piano lessons by a dedicated (and untalented) student
The covid lockdown began on March 17, 2020. On March 20, I began piano lessons. I took piano lessons from age 6-10, before switching to violin (a mistake), then quitting. I later resumed piano lessons as a teenager — a very positive experience that ended when I left home for
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Choral Interlude β Stanford: Eight Part-songs, Op.119 β The Bluebird
The lake lay Blue, below the hill. O’er it, as I looked, there flew across the water Cold and still, a bird, Whose wings were palest blue. The sky above was blue at last. The sky beneath me blue in blue A moment, ere the bird had passed. It caught
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: janis, her life and music
As a teenager and in my early 20s, I was somewhat obsessed with Janis Joplin. I read all the available biographies of her, and took any opportunity to see footage of her legendary performances. I never lost my fascination; I’ve continued to love Janis’ music throughout my life. Reading Janis:
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Baroque Interlude β J S Bach Cantata- β(Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir)β BWV 29
The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Bachkantaten) consist of at least 209 surviving works. As far as is known, Johann Sebastian Bach’s earliest surviving cantatas date from 1707, the year he moved to MΓΌhlhausen (although he may have begun composing them at his previous post at Arnstadt). Most
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Brennan, 77, elegant wordsmith, musician, courageous trade unionist
Brian Brennan, elegant wordsmith, storyteller, professional musician and brave leader of the strike at the Calgary Herald in 1999 and 2000, died yesterday. He was 77. For many years at the Herald, Brian specialized in writing obituaries, each a polished gem of a few hundred words. Often they celebrated the
Continue readingScripturient: The Godzilla Soundtracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDeU42u2s2Y Akira Ifukube. If you’re not an aficionado of Japanese film or a follower of Japanese symphonic music, his name won’t be familiar. But for millions of kaiju fans around the world, he is a legend. He composed the music and soundtracks for many of the Godzilla films, as well
Continue readingwmtc: listening to joni: #17 and final: shine
Shine, 2007 Shine is Joni’s most recent, and likely final, studio album. She came out of retirement in 2007 to release the album, nine years after her previous Taming the Tiger. Shine, which was also re-issued on vinyl in 2020, is a themed collection: the lyrics focus on environmental destruction and endless
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Friday Choral Interlude β Ave Generosa β Gjeilo
Learning this piece for choir. Much more challenging because we have to Zoom it, but I think we’re making some progress.
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: THE MUSIC BETWEEN US: Memoir of a Bedside Musician
I am always fascinated by stories of personal transformation. How does anyone achieve redemption, wisdom, grace and meaning after experiencing or witnessing prolonged suffering? I’m especially interested when those stories come from caregivers. Steve Litwer is a volunteer guitarist for patients in hospice care. His book, The Music Between
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