Music

. A Musical Offering When Bach arrived at Sanssouci, King Frederick said, “Sir, you must be tired. My fortepianos may help to revive you. Please, come play.” While Bach was busy at the keys, the king presented him a tease: “My dear Herr Bach, I’m wondering if you could do...

. Christmas Medley performed by Jeff Eardley . . Absent Friends The Christmas lights are twinkling on the houses all around. All we need’s a frosting and some snow upon the ground. But as this old year rattles on, and crashes to its end, It’s time to raise a glass...

. Author/Composer’s Note: The noël, Il est Né le Divin Enfant (“He is Born, the Divine Christ Child”) is one of the most beloved and beautiful French carols to have crossed into the English-speaking world. For Christmas this year I have taken the opportunity to compose a new piano arrangement...

. Whence Come You, Shepherdess? . Translator's Note: “D’où Viens-tu, Bergère” was one of a number of old songs and carols from the French region of Périgord collected by Emmanuel Casse and Eugène Chaminade and published in Les Vieilles Chansons Patoises du Périgord (Old Songs in the Vernacular of the...

. Fugal Harmonies Softly chanted serpentinous neumes, melodic levitation, heavenbound, monotonal meditative sound; a capella in medieval rooms. Then Bach, delighting in the past, exhumes archaic modes. His complex fugues expound Fibonacci forms; the sacred ground from which all propagates, unfolds and blooms. God creates the world with subtle rhyme:...

. It Was Only a Winter’s Tale based on David Essex's classic 1982 Christmas song The nights are ever short and growing cold; the front door lies ajar from when you left one evening, though your reasons were untold, and in the time between I’ve been bereft. Your footprints have...

. Pythagoras, Man of Music Pythagoras was of mathematical mind. No matter where he went, he’d often find Relationships to numbers. For example, The clangorous peal of blacksmith hammers’ metal On metal gave him cause to train his ear. That different weights made different tones was clear. He tested weighted...

. . Music by Jeff Eardley . . The Return to Ithaca by Brian Yapko This shall not be forever, This life spent on the sea. __I’m going to find my one true love And joined again we’ll be. I’ll risk the howling tempest With sails high on the mast,...

. Revolution Puckish Schoenberg, bored with Bach now assaults the tonic scale, pounding (his a frontal shock), on Mozart's coffin, a modernist nail. He scans the twelve established tones, then briskly rolls the musical dice, overturning melody’s throne, emancipating dissonance. What’s he doing, anyway? Has he made a radical break...

. The Navy by Paul Fort (1872-1960) translated by Joshua C. Frank We find them all again in brief In little loves that last one day, Every joy and care and grief Of loves that shall forever stay— The sailor’s fate and our distress, And that of all our little...

. Paths —Inspired by “Is Mod Se Jaate Hain” (see below) by Gulzar from the film: Aandhi, 1975 Sheer multitudes of paths diverge from here— Some are jet setters, some meander slowly— Which one among these paths should I draw near? Promising fame and fortune, some paths steer Me towards...

. Ode to the Cello Fingered strings upon the cello Vibrate by the moving bow. Autumn tones in red and yellow Echo from the to and fro Through the eight-shaped box’s hollow, Out the narrow, curving holes. Oaken humming sounds must follow Movements of the bow that rolls. Violins sing...

. Village Home after George Enescu's Orchestral Suite no. 3, “Villageoise” Along the tree-lined lane he walks at dusk; What brought him here, he cannot now remember. The chilling breeze, the scent of pine and musk, Suggest a tranquil eve in late September. He saunters slowly, with a sense of...

. Writers of the Purple Sage What happened to the music? The writers of the West? The legends of the cowboys? The songs I loved the best? The outlaws and the posse? Please tell me where they went? The ones who shared their stories of their will and testament. I...

. A Madrigal Setting Music composed by James A. Tweedie for William Shakespeare's "Come Away" from Twelfth Night. Words by William Shakespeare are below. . . Come away, come away, death, __And in sad cypress let me be laid. Fly away, fly away, breath; __I am slain by a fair...

. A Deeper Scaly Screed "'Rich Men North of Richmond' is a passionate screed against the state of the country sung by Oliver Anthony, who identifies as a farmer living off the grid with his three dogs in Farmville, Virginia." ---Joseph Hudak, “Right-Wing Influencers Just Found Their Favorite New Country...

. . Tucson Sunday Morning Chorus: Tucson Sunday morning, See the sage brush come alive. Gold upon the Rincons, Catalina mountain sides. Saguaro in the desert Lift their silent arms in prayer. The mission bell is tolling, My stage will soon be rolling, But my dreams will still be there....

. Ghost in This House "I don’t mind staying in, there’s another ghost here. He sits down in your chair, and he shines with your light, And he lays down his head on your pillow at night.“ —lyrics from “Ghost in This House” by Hugh Prestwood A cherished lover doesn’t...

. The Heavy Launch of the Siegfried Idyll The landing offered just the space required for Wagner and the band that he had hired to play the idyl Cosima inspired, the mother of young Siegfried, whom he’d sired. The able men there present were quite tired from long rehearsal, yet...

. To Music Oh, Music, wherein lies your wondrous power To pierce the barren heart and open wide Joy's floodgate in the soul, that from inside Fresh streams may flow that make the desert flower? By what strange force do your strains overwhelm The soul beneath great cataracts that surge...

. Bach's Amazing Journey In the autumn of 1705, when Johann Sebastian Bach was 20, he set out to travel over 275 miles (each way) on foot from Arnstadt, Thuringia, in the heart of what is now Germany, to Lübeck, near the Baltic coast. He undertook this extraordinary journey in...

. On the Musical Language of Poetry In Defense of the Classical Style . by A.J. Illingworth The historical connection between music and poetry is no secret. Homer, in the first line of the Iliad, instructs his muse with the word ἄειδε, “sing!” which itself is connected to the root...

. Hymn I met Him on that Sunday afternoon I trod the Kentish cobbles through the streets Of Rochester past dwellings in the gloom Of fog laced with the waft of teashop treats. I entered the cathedral with a heart As heavy as its chilly walls of stone. I heard the organ stir and choir start To launch the lilt of Heaven’s work of art. That sabbath, seeds of...

. . The Shroud of Death The shroud of death’s night-shadow fled Before the dawning light of day; Unveiling tombs wherein the dead In grave and solemn stillness lay. And earth-life voices stirred the air With gentle breeze and creak of limb. And morning reached a garden where The birds...

. "The Lark in the Morning" is a traditional Irish song performed on classical guitar by poet and professional musician Jeff Eardley: . . Jeff Eardley lives in the heart of England near to the Peak District National Park and is a local musician playing guitar, mandolin and piano steeped in...

. The Piano Student Glissandos flow like rivers from the keys, One by one, you slide with practiced skill And let us hear some hidden melodies, Delighting in these notes that lift and thrill. When you play Bach or other masterpieces, Interpreting in ways that give a new Shape to...

. Modernism and the Murder of the People’s Poetry and Art In Response to “Poetry Died 100 Years Ago this Month” by Matthew Walther in the New York Times . by Phillip Whidden First, let’s have a sonnet about the difficulty imposed by Modernism as regards literature: . A Sonnet about...

. "Instructions Set in Bone" by Peter Lillios was first published by the Society of Classical Poets here. Now songwriter Joseph DeNatale has created a version with adapted lyrics below. . . Instructions Set in Bone (Music Lyrics) With my own knife, by my own hand, I carve these words...

. Look Up and See the Music Psalm 19:1 In winter, when the atmosphere is still And cold, and when the nighttime sky is clear, The stars and planets, fire and ice, blast chill- Blazed, hot-white light so bright as to seem near. No “Twinkle, twinkle little star,” for in...

. Burns Night is when Scotland's most important bard, Robert Burns (1759-1796), is celebrated, usually with the recitation of Burns' poems, the eating of haggis, and the drinking of whiskey. It occurs on January 25, Burns' birthday. Poet Jeff Eardley has composed a rendition of the song "Auld Lang Syne,"...

. WEF, Davos, ‘23—A Modern Reply after “Endless Pleasure, Endless Love”* Endless hooey, endless snow, We’re exposed to here below. Ever on their riches leaning, Our tormentors strew their lies; While their true intentions screening, They blow smoke into our eyes. . *from the libretto, for Handel’s oratorio Semele, by...

. On Attending a Holiday Ensemble with My Wife We’re gathered in a colleague’s home, Invited to this performance; Watching musicians’ fingers roam, I’m taken to when providence Crossed mine with Dr. Miller’s part, He not just wakening my muse, Stirring a love of every art--- But off to concerts...

. A Christmas medley by poet Jeff Eardley: . . Jeff Eardley lives in the heart of England near to the Peak District National Park and is a local musician playing guitar, mandolin and piano steeped in the music of America, including the likes of Ry Cooder, Paul Simon, and...

. Vom Himmel Hoch by Martin Luther (1483-1546) translation by James A. Tweedie 1. From highest heaven I here befall To bring a good news tale to all. So much I want this tale to bring To tell it I will gladly sing. 2. A little child this day is...

. The Tartini Tones Combination tones generated by violins of good quality can be easily heard, affecting the perception of the intervals. The harmonic content of the dyad is enriched by the combination tones and this is positively perceived by the listeners. —Giovanni Cecchi, University of Florence Italian Tribune, November...

. Nessun Dorma after the Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni  The aria "Nessun Dorma" was played for Donald and Melania Trump's first dance at their wedding in 2005. No sleep tonight.  The city will not sleep.And you too, princess, in your chilly suite,Go to the window, look...

. A contextual note: The American patriot Thomas Payne wrote "The Liberty Tree" early in the American Revolution; it was published in the Pennsylvania Magazine in July 1775. Payne wrote the song to be sung to the tune "The Gods of Greece." I was unable to find the tune, and...

. Guitar by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Translated by Joshua C. Frank Gastibelza, the rifleman coming to town, Sang loud and clear: “Has someone seen Doña Sabina around, Someone from here? O villagers, sing and dance, go have your fill While the night gains! The wind that comes flying around every...

. Carcassonne by Gustave Nadaud (1820-1893) Translated by Joshua C. Frank “At sixty years, I’m getting old, And I’ve been working all my days Not being able to behold Fulfillment of my wishing gaze. I see that life on earth is filled With perfect happiness for none. My wish, it...

. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition  Although this mad world’s headed for perdition, Don’t cower or wring hands with misery. Spines straight, my friends! Choose gumption and ambition Just like the World War II song that says we “Should Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!” When faith...