Tag Archives: Ludwig van Beethoven

Emerson String Quartet’s Modern Age

Posted on July 23, 2014 by

The Emerson String Quartet kicked off Toronto Summer Music with a concert tonight. I’m sure some people were there to hear Beethoven’s Op 95 quartet, many more to hear Schubert’s “Death & the Maiden” quartet, while comparatively few were there … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Opera, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Songs in the key of F Mayor

Posted on November 7, 2013 by

Meaning is where you find it. Toronto’s mayor is bigger than ever.  He was always large, but now he’s becoming an international icon.  If he wanted it, I’m sure a reality TV show could follow His Worship and his brother … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal ruminations & essays, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Political Beethoven: time for truth

Posted on August 13, 2013 by

Do modern times sometimes upset you? seeking to escape? It’s a nerdy question naturally.  If you’re alive, you’re in modern times, no matter how preoccupied you allow yourself to become, lost in a video-game, biography, opera DVD, soap opera… (you … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Music and musicology, Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Bridal grooming

Posted on June 21, 2013 by

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to play keyboard (organ + piano) at a wedding.  I said yes enthusiastically, even though I haven’t done this in quite awhile.  While I play the organ at my church from time … Continue reading →

Posted in Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Spirituality & Religion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Above the clouds

Posted on August 10, 2012 by

Last weekend John Terauds used the occasion of the Simcoe Day holiday to celebrate the quintessential Torontonian composer, Godfrey Ridout. It reminds me of a time long ago, when I took a course taught by two giants at the Faculty … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Posted on July 26, 2012 by

Is it a competition?  To some extent. Both Richard Wagner & Claude Debussy used the metaphor of the circus acrobat to describe the virtuoso dynamic with an appreciative audience.  Whether we’re speaking of singers or instrumentalists, there is an implicit … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From C to shining C

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

No this isn’t about Pavarotti or tenors. Today I finally closed the circle on Beethoven’s sonatas.  I’d played thirty-one of his thirty-two in a sequence following the first two posts I made, after hearing about Stewart Goodyear’s Beethoven Marathon. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment