“I am concerned with making something new – realities – as it were: what imbeciles call ‘Impressionism.’”- Claude Debussy The music of Claude Debussy is an acquired taste. While some listeners adore the blurred harmonies and the haziness that results from a lack of structure, others frown on his music as being either lazy […]
Read more "D – What’s the Big Deal About Debussy?"The year was 1952. A hush fell over the crowd as the infamous composer, John Cage, stepped into the concert. The crowd held their collective breath as he sat at the piano. And then…nothing. John Cage sat in silence for precisely four minutes and thirty-three seconds (thus the name of this notorious piece – […]
Read more "Listening – The Key Ingredient to Prayer"We all have certain “creature comforts” which bring us exquisite peace and relaxation. Mine include closing the cover of a really good book for the last time, holding a steaming mug of fragrant hot tea, and listening to Claude Debussy’s Clair de lune. Debussy was only 25 years old when he composed this piece […]
Read more "The Soft Sorrow of Beautiful Things"Tears still sting my eyes each time I play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for the students in my Fine Arts classes, and their response is inevitable: “That is beautiful… what does it mean?” The answer, of course, is as complex as the human experience itself. Good music becomes our traveling companion through the journey of life, […]
Read more "Moonlit Journey: Beethoven, the “Moonlight Sonata,” & Me"