Christmas posts on Musicology for Everyone
Now that we have finished observing Thanksgiving, it’s the right time to start thinking forward to Christmas. I have some …Read the Rest
Reprise: five early posts
I started this blog more than two years ago. Since then, I have learned a lot about blogging and what …Read the Rest
Serpent, ophicleide, bombardon: the tuba’s forerunners
The tuba is the youngest regular member of the orchestra. Quite a bit of orchestral music is older, and it …Read the Rest
The first woman to compose operas: Francesca Caccini
Until very recently, music was a man’s career. Women could be singers, but rarely anything more. Francesca Caccini became well …Read the Rest
Autumn Leaves, words by Johnny Mercer
“Autumn Leaves” has its origin in French popular song. In 1950, the head of Capital Records music publishing division, Mickey …Read the Rest
Edward Mack, prolific composer of Civil War marches
Of the 412 marches related to the Civil War in the Library of Congress Civil War Sheet Music Collection, 26 …Read the Rest
American shaped notes tune books and the fasola tradition
When William Little and William Smith published The Easy Instructor (Philadelphia 1801), they started a spate of shaped notes tune …Read the Rest
What becomes of new music for orchestra?
The most recent concert of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra featured the world premiere of Queen Anne’s Revenge by Mark O’Connor. …Read the Rest
Learning to play the trombone: French and Anglo-American teaching
A tradition of trombone teaching reaching back to the early days of the Paris Conservatory culminated in a method by …Read the Rest
The quest for a national anthem: Civil War edition
The Star Spangled Banner became the legal national anthem of the United States in 1931, the first time any song …Read the Rest
