Music I Love: Love Music

June 1, 2011

A message from Josh: The joys of serendipity.  The other day, listening to the car radio while driving to my college campus to teach, I heard a piece by Richard Wagner that I have loved for a long time:  “A Siegfried Idyll.” I’d like to share some thoughts about it with you. Wagner has been [...]

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Happy 70th, Bob Dylan!

May 23, 2011

The sound of his voice has been compared to “hog calling,” described as an abrasive whine.  Pop critic Stephen Holden once wrote that “his voice jerked upward in a spasmodic shriek, as though he had just sucked in a mouthful of helium. Weird half-yodels, yips, cracked sobs and gravelly mutterings embellished every other phrase.” And [...]

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What Can Music Do? One Magical Musical Moment in Gaza

May 6, 2011

Back in the 1950′s the U.S. State Department sent jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and others to Russia during the Cold War.  The idea was that American music could break down barriers and open Russia up to Western influences.  In retrospect, that idealistic plan may ultimately have been successful! This past week, on May [...]

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J.S. Bach and His Cello Suites: A Transcendent Voice for the Good in Life

April 16, 2011

One of the liveliest public radio programs on music that we regularly listen to is John Schaefer’s “Soundcheck.”  His curiosity about all kinds of music seems infinite and his appreciation is highly infectious. A recent show really caught our ear when Schaefer interviewed a pop music critic from Canada, Eric Sidlin, who grew up knowing very [...]

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The Music Never Stopped

March 21, 2011

Hello again from Josh and Lynne.  We want to apologize for our long hiatus between posts.  We have been deeply affected by some very sad personal events, specifically serious illnesses and deaths in our close family, all happening within a relatively short time.  Thankfully, our family bands together in trouble as well as joy.  And, yes, [...]

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