Years ago, the immortal David Warren admitted to the guilty pleasure of enjoying the Christmas Mass of Jakub Jan Ryba (1765 – 1815), amidst the austerities of Lent. The occasion serves to illustrate the true value of asceticism, the purpose of which is not so much to have us forego what is good, as toContinue reading “Hail, Master!”
Tag Archives: Music
The Soul’s Only Hope
Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. Matthew 10:34 St. Augustine reminds us that true peace is not the absence of conflict, but the tranquility of order. So long as disorder remains in the world—that is, so long as sin governs souls—peaceContinue reading “The Soul’s Only Hope”
Fire, Spirit, and Life
These are the qualities W. A. Mozart discerned in the compositions of a man known to the world as Il Boemo (the Bohemian). In his music, Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) was able to channel this fire and spirit into musical forms of exquisite beauty. In his life, alas, those same fires seemed to burn in lessContinue reading “Fire, Spirit, and Life”
The Heavenly Round
Addressing our Creator, the poet marvels at the order with which he has “tuned” the heavens and the earth: Thou tun’st this World below, the Spheres above,Who in the Heavenly Round to their own Music move. For his part, the composer demonstrates the ability of music, fashioned by a creature made in the image ofContinue reading “The Heavenly Round”
Unwinding Unwisdom
An old and erroneous nugget of unwisdom has it that the English word tedium originates from the Latin Te Deum—the Church’s hymn of thanksgiving, attributed to St. Ambrose of Milan, rehearsing on earth the divine praises we hope one day to sing in heaven. To those who have difficulty sitting through a sermon or sacredContinue reading “Unwinding Unwisdom”
Free Samples of Perfection
If Dear Reader is like Little Clovis, he may never have heard of Leopold Koželuch (1747-1818). Born Jan Antonín Koželuh, in a town outside of Prague, like many Bohemians of the time he Germanized his surname; and he adopted the Christian name Leopold to distinguish himself from his cousin, also a musician, and also aContinue reading “Free Samples of Perfection”
Finding Free Music
Crucial as the lending library is to the maintenance and advancement of civilization (though like any institution it is eminently corruptible), there is something to be said for the physical possession books of one’s very own. When it comes to music, some have similar notions about vinyl. Reactionary as I tend to be, and despiteContinue reading “Finding Free Music”
The Spirit of Haydn
It’s easy to imagine that I have a lot in common with Helmut Müller-Brühl (1933-2012). A student of philosophy and theology as well as musicology, he seems to have shared a similar set of interests, though with the difference that he did so much more about it! I happened to discover this blessed soul earlyContinue reading “The Spirit of Haydn”
(Not) Butchering Beethoven
Arthur Schoonderwoerd is an accomplished pianist and conductor of the French classical ensemble Christofori. As with many of my favorite musicians, he and his colleagues play on period instruments, and otherwise strive to recapture the way the music they play would have sounded at the time it was composed. Perusing Schoonderwoerd’s recordings of Mozart andContinue reading “(Not) Butchering Beethoven”
Representing Reality
Luigi Boccherini never published this composition during his life, calling it “absolutely useless, even ridiculous, outside Spain, because the audience cannot hope to understand its significance, nor the performers to play it as it should be played.” I’m pretty sure Bremer Barockorchester is outside of Spain, but they pour their hearts into this rendition ofContinue reading “Representing Reality”
"His Tongue shall Speak Judgment" 