We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
In how many ways can we live, today, like kings of olden times? For one, we don't need a court orchestra to keep our ears stimulated, altho that would be pleasant for sure.
My house radio music has always been WQXR (live streamed or sometimes regular radio), but on the Cape I discovered Chatham's Cape Classical 107.5. They are at least as enjoyable as WQXR and they also live stream. OK, I do CDs also, but only radio introduces me to music I haven't heard before.
My perennial question to my readers is this: How do I get live-streamed music to go through my fancy speakers? Or is streamed music of such lousy quality that it doesn't matter?
What about a Bluetooth audio receiver? I don't know how those work.
Mr. Vanderleun found this excellent recording of the haunting anthem Not Dark Yet from Dylan's 1997 Time Out of Mind album. Was it that long ago? Sheesh, the time is runnin' away.
A commenter on Youtube:
This guy has reached me intensively in every stage of my life..Been with him since I was in hs, and now I'm a senior citizen. hearing this song as I face less than what was behind.
We recently heard a performance of Bach's St. John Passion, with the same small-size choir that Bach had (but with far better voices now, for sure), and with the original instruments. Bach pretty much always bitched about the lousy choirs he had to work with. Bitched about the musicians too.
Loveliest live music I have heard in a while and, even though you know the story by heart, and when Pilate asks Jesus Was ist Wahrheit? you get a chill. Pilate was a good guy, really.
Bach wrote St. John Passion in 1774 to be performed on Good Friday. The experts say it is as close as Bach got to operatic music. It was designed as an entire Lutheran church service, with a break between Part 1 and Part 2 for a homily. Some of the choruses were familiar German hymns. It's a shame to perform it outside a church.
As with all ambitious and complex music like this, it takes me more than 3 hearings to begin to get it.
A question to which I cannot find an answer is whether Bach wrote the notes for the recitative sections, especially by Evangelist, or whether they are singer's choice. Can a reader find out?
Below, St. John Passion with a larger choir and orchestra than Bach had. Why did Gardiner use an organ instead of a harpsichord in this performance?
Our now-retired pastor was always attentive to angels in our midst. Angels, with the meaning of messengers with holy messages. You can also always wonder about Christ in the Stranger’s Guise.
"The American Fotoplayer is a type of instrument that was specially designed to make music and sound effects for silent films. Here, Joe Rinaudo shows off all the (literal) bells and whistles that make this such an impressive piece of machinery."
The old Appalachian tunes borrowed lines from each other. That's how both Old Joe Clark and Cotton-Eyed Joe happened to die from a toothache in the heel.
Cotton-eye used to be more common. It's usually a blindness in one eye caused by a retinal detachment.