Mozart, 35. Mendelssohn, 38. Schumann, 46. And how about others not so famous: Pergolesi, 26. Lili Boulanger, 24. And composer/organist Jehan Alain, 29. All of these musicians tragically died young, and the numbers listed after the names are the ages at which these artists died. And while he was not as young as the musicians listed… Read More The good die young
Say, do you know that expression, “an albatross around your neck?” It comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” in which a sailor who shoots a friendly albatross is forced to wear its carcass around his neck as punishment I probably would have never thought this expression could be used in… Read More Sheet music albatross
I just discovered a fascinating book, called Sacred Space, Sacred Sound: The acoustic mysteries of holy places by Susan Elizabeth Hale, with a foreward by Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect. It is available on Amazon. She described her experience at Salisbury Cathedral: “When the organ reached its crescendo, it seemed it was going to erupt through… Read More Sound in sacred spaces
This week was the annual visit of Carey Beebe, who takes care of all the harpsichords in Hawaii on his way back home to Australia from the Carmel Bach Festival. He not only tuned the two harpsichords in my condo (Zuckermann and Neupert) among others here in Hawaii, but also the Cammack harpsichord at the Lutheran… Read More Magic from the harpsichord man
If you had asked me which hymns are on my “Unfavorites” list, I would have to include “Jesus loves me,” the hymn whose lyrics were written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827-1915) with a melody by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816-1868). I guess this hymn is on my “Unfavorites” list because I’ve had to play it countless number… Read More Jesus loves me —a song for the dying
So while the weekend has not quite arrived yet, it is the beginning of two crazy, busy weekends where I will play NINE services in just TWO weekends! As I write this, I’m in fact on the way to Honolulu International Airport to pick up Maui organist Clayton Logue who will be my houseguest and… Read More Nine services in two weekends!
Last night I attended a board meeting of Early Music Hawaii whose 2015-2016 season will be called “Musica Poetica,” after the first concert which will be held on Saturday, September 19 at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. The season brochure I designed a week ago is already expected back from the printshop, but I thought I’d… Read More Musica Poetica
Even though the use of the organ in some churches is passé, there still seems to be a need for organists in others. And it seems that organists are on their way of going the way of the dodo bird, or the dinosaur. So when an organist goes on vacation, or needs to have surgery,… Read More Desperately. Seeking. Organists!
Anyone want to play chamber music with me? As some of you saw on my Facebook page, I now have TWO harpsichords and one pipe organ in my apartment, and I was so fortunate that my houseguest, Jason Anderson was here to receive the new baby harpsichord while I was at work. That was because apparently… Read More Chamber music, anyone?
In my last post, I mentioned my houseguest, Jason Anderson, the second director of the Seattle Compline Choir. You may recall from a previous post that Jason wrote his doctoral dissertation on the life and works of composer Peter Hallock and became his caregiver in his last days. Jason also took over as executor of his estate when… Read More Buried treasure