Day 6: Christina Rossetti/Gustav Holst – “In The Bleak Midwinter” Snow and sleet came to Pittsburgh today, and that reminds me of the classic Christmas hymn, “In The Bleak Midwinter.” The Gustav Holst setting was a Christmas Eve tradition with … Continue reading
The Grammy Nominations are out! Tomorrow I’ll comb through and comment on all the goodness, but for now, here’s a pdf of the raw data! Classical Grammy Nominations Let’s keep in touch! Follow MMN on Twitter! Like MMN on Facebook!
Day 5: The Specials – “Nelson Mandela” I was out running errands today when I got the news that Nelson Mandela had died. Whenever I hear his name, I hear the unaccompanied voices at the beginning of this song: It … Continue reading
Day 4: Benjamin Britten, “This Little Babe” from A Ceremony of Carols A Ceremony of Carols by English composer Benjamin Britten is a well-loved and frequently-performed choral work for the Christmas season, scored for treble voices (women, girls, or boys) … Continue reading
Day 3: Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson, “Christmas Time Is Here” I’m one of those purists who laments what I call “Christmas creep,” that is, the marketing blitz in the U.S. that seems to start a little earlier every year. … Continue reading
Day 2: J.S. Bach, Chorale Prelude on “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” BWV 645 Sleepers, Awake! That was a hard instruction for McDoc and me to follow this morning, since it was the first morning back to work after … Continue reading
Day 1: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” Happy December, Music Nerds! I hope all you U.S.-based music nerds had a lovely Thanksgiving. I know I have a few extra calories to work off, but it was worth it! I’ve decided … Continue reading
Opera is a funny thing. It’s expensive to produce, and the stories are often some combination of outlandish, maudlin, silly, and implausible. Patrons get all gussied up and brave traffic and parking challenges in order to sit for several hours … Continue reading
Greetings music nerds! I’m excited to announce that I will once again be attending the Grammy Awards as the Community Blogger for Classical Music. It’ll be my 5th year serving in this capacity, and I’m looking forward to seeing my … Continue reading
And Happy Passover to everyone still celebrating! A few years ago when I began my church organist job in Boston, I started a tradition of making a Badge of Completion to share with everyone involved in the church marathon that … Continue reading