Month: December 2021

Inevitably, as another year comes to an end, there comes a time for reflection and for resolutions, for looking back as well as dead ahead. Personally, the passage of time doesn’t frighten or concern me, nor does getting older. What is important is spending my time on worthwhile things. Earlier this year I came across… Continue reading One Must Live Every Note

Writing a post with a title like that on the darkest day of the year might seem coolly ironic, but I do mean it quite sincerely. After all, from now on it will only get brighter with each passing day. The days and weeks before Christmas are typically packed with musical events this year, as… Continue reading Let There Be Light

The title of this post is an approximate translation of the first line of one of Sweden’s most well-known Lucia hymns, sung up and down the country by choirs young and old on and around December 13th. Saint Lucia of Syracuse, or at least the actual Saint Lucy’s Day, seems to be mostly venerated in… Continue reading O, Radiant Elfin Saint

Quoting, sampling, remixing existing music is commonplace in various popular genres but, generally, not nearly as commonplace in orchestral, choral or chamber music. There are of course exceptions, as with most things, but in general this practice is absent in and around various forms of art music. One fairly recent exception is German-British composer and… Continue reading A Tale Told By an Idiot