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1. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is arguably the greatest Finnish composer there has ever been, and perhaps one of the best examples of late Romanticism you can find. 2. He started picking out melodies on the family piano at age 5, but it wasn't until he too
Was the unofficial national anthem of the United States lifted from a couple different sources? Consider the following: In 1906 a trio of Irish songwriters scored a minor vaudeville hit with the song "When Mose with his Nose Leads the Band." An eighteen
My interest in musical oddities dates back to high school, when I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to invent an original instrument. The closest I ever came was an alarm clock that could almost play do-re-mi on command. I say almost because it st
It's much more common for rock groups to try their hand at classical pieces. ELP, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Spinal Tap, Van Halen, Deep Purple, Rainbow, the list goes on and on. Some of you might even recall another On Music post in which I showed how Sting re-a
Some of you loyal readers may recall Ransom's cool post many moons ago about memorizing the periodic
Some of the most famous Christmas songs are actually written by people who don't even celebrate Christmas!
For those who don't yet know Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), I envy you because you're about to be introduced to one of the most stupendous, complicated, arousing pieces of music ever penned. If you're like me, you might just
Ransom broke new ground a couple weeks ago with his, shall we say, colorful Big D. With one mighty post, he flushed away taboos, opening up new avenues for us to write about. So, with a nod to the big R, here's one on vomit, particularly rock stars who've
Thanks for all the positive feedback to my first vlog post. You'll definitely be seeing more vids in the near future. Meanwhile, to answer those who've requested CD/mp3 recommendations: a good place to start is the complete recordings of all Bach's solo v
Everyone knows that Beethoven wrote some of his most famous music after he'd already gone deaf. But guess what? He wasn't the only one. Here are 5 others you should know: Like Bach, William Boyce (1711-1779) made his living as a church keyboardist, but wa
I've never met anyone who doesn't like to cut loose in the shower. Actually, I retract—my grandfather Mervin didn't like to sing in the shower, but that's only because he could carry a tune about as well as he could carry a hippopotamus. But outside
I'm nearly certain I've invented something original here and wanted to share it for two reasons: a) how many times do you really get to be self-congratulatory in life, eh? And b) if I'm wrong, and someone else has already coined this phrase, I'm hoping on
Everyone loves a hum-able tune, a memorable melody. For a melody to worm its way into our memories, it usually needs to be short. It's like advertising in a way: If you wanted to promote a new film, you'd put up a billboard with an image and something lik
I thought I'd end the week's ON MUSIC posts by combining one last one with my usual Friday feature. For those who enjoyed the new feature, don't worry, they'll be making periodic appearances in the ensuing weeks. In the meantime, here are a bunch of words
Earlier this week, I introduced you to the woodwinds via a wonderful Mozart piece, yet one which didn't include one very important instrument: the flute. So I thought I'd spend the entire post today making amends. Of course, the flute (and its predecessor
In our first installment of ON MUSIC, we fluttered hi and low through the brass section of the orchestra, but never really got to know the French Horn, my very favorite in the section. Developed in England as a hunting horn around 1650, the modern-day Fre
I'm thrilled at how you've already taken to the ON MUSIC feature! Lots of great comments yesterday, which I'll take into consideration going forward, especially the request to feature 20th century music. Today I'm digging out the Berlioz, however. The mo