Music History Monday

“The Garden State” (having been born in Brooklyn, New York, I grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey, just northeast of 75° latitude and 40° longitude December 12 is a crazy day in American jazz and po...

12 Dec 202217min

Here We Go Again . . . It has come to pass. I have been writing these Music History Monday posts for long enough that Monday dates and events have begun to repeat. And as a result, December 5, whic...

5 Dec 202226min

Aaron Copland (1900-1990) in 1933 We mark the New York premiere on November 28, 1925 – 97 years ago today – of Aaron Copland’s Music for the Theater, at a League of Composer’s concert conducted by ...

28 Nov 202225min

Henry Purcell (1659-1695), portrait by John Closterman, circa 1695 We mark the death on November 21, 1695 – 327 years ago today – of the English composer and organist Henry Purcell, in London. He l...

21 Nov 202223min

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847), drawn by her Husband Wilhelm Hensel (1794-1861) in 1829, the year they were married We mark the birth on November 14, 1805 – 217 years ago today – of the Germa...

14 Nov 202219min

Joan Sutherland (1926-2010) in make up for her role as Lucia di Lammermoor in Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor; at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, circa 1965 We mark the birth on...

7 Nov 202216min

Before moving forward, the title of this post – “The Grandmother of All Drop Parties!” – demands an explanation-slash-definition. Naked woman (center) frolicking in a casket beneath the stage at ...

31 Okt 202214min

George Crumb (1929-2022) Before moving on to Carl Ruggles, the featured composer of today’s post, we would offer the warmest of happy birthdays to one of the most brilliant composers of the twentie...

24 Okt 202220min