Guillaume de Machaut: the gaps in his biography
Our knowledge of history is limited by the accident of what kind of documentation exists. Even for recent people and …Read the Rest
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Second thoughts on the ophicleide
I wrote earlier about the ophicleide mainly to introduce a humorous poem. I later received a stern reprimand from a …Read the Rest
Francesca Caccini, the first woman operatic composer
Today we find nothing unusual about women becoming professional musicians. Women play every imaginable instrument. They conduct orchestras, choruses, and …Read the Rest
Live vs recorded music
Discussion of the relative merits of live and recorded music probably started as soon as recordings became widely available. As …Read the Rest
Vienna, 1800: signs of the coming distinction between classical and popular music
The polarization of the musical public into classical music and popular music during the opening decades of the nineteenth century …Read the Rest
Tension and resolution, or, an odd musical alarm clock
In tonal music (that is, the majority of what we listen to), each chord has a function. One chord, the …Read the Rest
The birth of the popular music industry
In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, a rigid social stratification arose when the ruling classes began to patronize music …Read the Rest
The buccin: a dragon-headed trombone
In the early nineteenth century, some French and Belgian instrument makers manufacturered a fanciful adaptation of the trombone known as …Read the Rest
Trombone vs bull
This article, copied from the September 23, 1841 issue of the [Pittsfield, Massachusetts] Sun speaks for itself: Trombone vs. Bull.–The …Read the Rest
An ear for music
Lest anyone doubts that Rossini’s music was once deemed contemptible by lovers of classical music, English publisher Vincent Novello visited …Read the Rest
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