Friday, October 19, 2007

A few links of interest

Sometimes friends and family send me links to something interesting. As my brother knows better than anybody, these e-mails have a tendency to sit in my inbox for months until I get around to reading/watching/listening to them. But eventually, I almost always do!

From friend AN, last April: Joshua Bell becomes a street musician - does anybody notice? A fine subject for debate with all your friends. One argument to be made is that when performing, context matters, and not in a superficial way. Another is that perhaps there are other things that go into making a world-famous violinist in addition to skill. And there's nothing wrong with that, although perhaps it's a rude awakening for the violinist.

From my dad, last April: Chanticleer commissions a composite mass. I heard a bit of this in my friend AS's car. I wasn't blown away, but as we saw above, context matters. I'd love to hear a live performance.

From MA, a counter-tenor who sang with Cappella Clausura last year, from last May: Translations of popular hymns for the hard of hearing, by the hard of hearing. Also known as The Importance of Diction.

And finally, from this month, from my dad: New chant manuscript discovered at Harvard. It's 800 years old!

1 comment: