Tag: music

The Speed of Sound and Civilization

Li Fan, an expert in baroque and early music, recently returned to playing the modern violin. It was a bigger adjustment than she expected, especially given her dynamic career in violin before taking up early music, and the experience prompted her to consider many things about the change of pace in music, culture, and life…


The Great Waltz (1938)

Strauss (Fernand Gravey) loves music and has made it his life’s ambition. However, reality is cruel and he has to sit in the office and work for his boss in order to make a living. But with the help of his girlfriend, Porty (Luise Rainer), who has become his strongest support, Strauss comes to the…


‘La Cenerentola’: A Witty Retelling of Cinderella

Once upon a time lived a girl called Angelina. Her wicked stepfather and stepsisters treated her as a servant and called her “Cenerentola”—”Cinderella.” One day, she met a prince. He loved her and she loved him. They married and lived happily ever after. This is the story of Cinderella, or, rather, a witty retelling of…


A Kid for the Wild

A playlist of 11 ecology music videos. The majority of songs are by the late singer-songwriter-poet Walkin’ Jim Stoltz who hiked over 28,000 miles through the wilderness. Songs about habitats, rivers, buffalo, pikas, bears, trees, prairie dogs, and bugs. …


Baroque Christmas in Rome

This film is only available in the United States because of territorial licensing. Works for Christmas by Marc-Antoine Charpentier & Giacomo Carissimi …


The Healing Power of Music and Performing Arts

People will tell you how much happier and energized they feel after they have watched an incredible performance. Chinese medicine has a theory that may explain how the performing arts can be healing and nurturing to human life. The human body is an open system, so everything we see and hear may affect our health….


Christmas Oratorio

This film is only available in the United States because of territorial licensing. Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio …


Not a Usual Holiday Classic: Bach’s ‘Brandenburg Concertos’

We’re now enjoying the winter holiday season, the time of the year to be with loved ones, feel goodwill toward all, and go to a festive concert or two. For many weeks already, there has been a nice selection of concerts or performances to choose from, such as George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” or Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s…


Jimmie Rodgers: The Railroad Brakeman Who Became the First Star of Country Music

From 1890 to 1930, the small town of Meridian, Mississippi, was a bustling stop along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Meridian’s main attraction was the former McLemore Plantation, a destination railroad workers took note of while traveling the route for the first time. Nestled in rural Mississippi, the plantation was set against a forest of…


The Sound of War and Music

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic. Lindbergh flew 33 1/2 hours straight, covering 3,600 miles from Long Island to Paris. The wheels had hardly touched down in Paris before the world launched into a chorus of praise for the American pilot, and no form of…