Missing Miscellanea

This is the first time I have missed putting up a Friday Miscellanea in years and years. My apologies! I had a major struggle getting my internet service reconnected after moving houses. But now I am…

Friday Miscellanea

Has the Friday Miscellanea, embroiled as we all are in the virus crisis, been sadly lacking in the whimsical lately? Why yes, yes it has. * * * Over at the On An Overgrown Path blog is an excellent …

I've Been Unpublished

I got the strangest email the other day from Blogger. The subject line read: "Your post titled "Friday Miscellanea" has been unpublished" Okaaaay. Which one? There are hundreds o…

Friday Miscellanea

I'll get back to the new Gandelsman album on the weekend, but for now here is the usual Friday Miscellanea. First up, The Guardian has a preview of the Proms with  ‘We hear things no one else not…

Friday Miscellanea

I don't read The Economist very often, but they have a very interesting article on the prevalence of English in popular songs on Spotify:  What Spotify data show about the decline of English . It…

Friday Miscellanea

For those who are especially obsessed with The Beatles or the electric bass, here is just the bass track from Abbey Road: * * * Way back when I was a graduate student in musicology I went to a confer…

Friday Miscellanea

Friday is when we put up the funnest stuff, like this performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on baroque lute: I once heard Jakob Lindberg play "Across the Universe" on baro…

Friday Miscellanea

Here is an odd little ad from Advertising Standards Canada: Now is this valid aesthetic criticism or just a cheap shot? Is there any reason it can't be both? I'm reminded of that fantastic sc…

And a little Bach

I'm always discovering new stuff on YouTube, despite their new algorithm which seems designed to force you to listen to a weird miscellanea of pop music no matter what! I recently discovered this…

Friday Miscellanea

I don't usually do obituaries here, and I won't now, but I do want to mention that George Crumb just passed away at 92 years:  How George Crumb became one of America's most surprisingly c…

Friday MIscellanea

This is the centenary of the birth of English composer Malcolm Arnold who wrote a rather nice guitar concerto for Julian Bream. The New York Times has a tribute: The Hilarious, Heartbreaking Life and…

Musical Art tout simple!

I saw this too late to include in this week's miscellanea, but it is well worth a look: Finding Hope At the Concert Hall: A recent recital at Lincoln Center was a victory over the tribalism of id…

Friday Miscellanea

As everyone knows, Austrians are just a bit more effervescent than Germans. Here to prove it are two divas with a Christmas message from a Columbian beach. Courtesy of Norman Lebrecht who titles it &…