Musicology for Everyone

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Fun classical music trivia: a tabloid view of famous composers
Anecdotes

Fun classical music trivia: a tabloid view of famous composers

How can I prove that we call classical music isn’t stuffy and highbrow? Composers and performers of earlier generations were …Read the Rest

Moses Asch, Harry Smith, and the <i>Anthology of American Folk Music</i>
American popular music

Moses Asch, Harry Smith, and the Anthology of American Folk Music

A dreamer and an eccentric, working together, turned the American music industry on its ear. They issued a revolutionary recorded …Read the Rest

Duke Ellington’s music: how did he do it?
American popular music

Duke Ellington’s music: how did he do it?

Duke Ellington was hardly a composer at all in the traditional sense. For centuries, both “classical” and “popular” composers had …Read the Rest

A one-man band like no other: James Morrison
American popular music

A one-man band like no other: James Morrison

Historically the one-man band has been a form of low entertainment with one person playing multiple instruments at once. It …Read the Rest

Theodore von La Hache: a leading composer of Confederate songs
Civil War music

Theodore von La Hache: a leading composer of Confederate songs

I had never heard of Theodore von La Hache until recently, but he is a fascinating figure in American musical …Read the Rest