For many, this time of year brings to mind
George Frideric Handel's masterpiece
"Messiah" - a three part oratorio for orchestra, chorus and soloists.
For many,
the holiday season has not begun until the local Messiah Sing-Along. (
Need a score to sing along? It's always a good idea to check the Choral Public Domain Library! And before you go, make sure you're ready with a handy - and hilarious -
quiz!) But the Messiah narrative has much less to do with that omnipresent, tacit, eponymous character and much more to do with the shared and often painful condition of the human family and our attempts to understand and commune with the universe. Director Claus Guth has staged the oratorio using a setting that mirrors that experience: a funeral.
[Clips of that performance within.] [more inside]
posted by greekphilosophy
on Dec 22, 2009 -
19 comments
The Doctor of Music. "
A General History of Music From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period, Volume IV", written by the English musician and historian Dr.
Charles Burney (1726-1814) was published in 1789. Its first volume, completed in 1776, was the first History of music ever published. The fourth volume is of particular interest as it discusses the state of music in Burney's own lifetime. He observed the music, and musicians that he wrote about first hand. In fact, Burney was close friends with composers such as Haydn and Handel, he even played violin in Handel's orchestra, and lived with Dr. Thomas Arne for two years in London, as his apprentice. The fourth volume, to Dr. Charles Burney, was the most interesting as he preferred the music of the current time, finding no interest in "
antiquarianism." In the main link, the entire volume -- in facsimile -- is available to readers. Burney also translated
Pietro Metastasio's
Memoirs. Also:
The Burney Collection of Newspapers at the British Library. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Jun 19, 2005 -
6 comments
