Staggered Canon

Wthen historians look back at the various projects associated with this blog, today's exhibit will not be among the most important or impressive in terms of inspiration or effort. But, today's project is certainly right on brand, inspired as it is by a technological happenstance which lit up my own interest. We'll get right to it.

Geographical Fun

About a week ago, a musically-minded Facebook friend posted that seeing Trinidad on a map always makes him think of....well, I only had to get that far to think I knew what he was thinking about. Though I was wrong! He was observing that the shape of the island of Trinidad reminds him of Gru's airship in Despicable Me...which is a connection I would never have made for a variety of reasons. (Someone has posted about this on Reddit as well.) Here's a quick comparison to see what you think:

So, that's not what I was thinking. But if you've spent much time around choruses, you might well guess that hearing "Trinidad" makes me think of THIS:

Joyful Morning with Bach (and Schumann...and Yo-Yo Ma)

Last night, the violinist in a chamber music trio I coach was a no-show at rehearsal. The cellist, pianist, and I gamely worked on their assigned music for most of the time with me sometimes singing the violin part (eek!) or playing it up high on the piano. But there was a point when I thought it might be fun to try something different. I asked each student what solo music they were working on. The cellist (about 12 or 13, I think) said she was learning the [very famous] Prelude from Bach's first cello suite. This reminded me that last year, in a very similar situation, I'd mentioned to a very young Bach-playing cellist that Robert Schumann had written piano accompaniments for all the Bach suites. So, on the spur of the moment then, I pulled up the music from IMSLP and we played a little of it together, but she was only ready to play about 10-12 bars.

Chant noir

Here is an unusual musical creation from a few weeks ago (with video added today):

Happy Birthday from The Alcotts

My official 20th year of blogging began on February 24th, although I failed to post on the 19th Anniversary this year. (I promise I won't forget next year when it's the 20th!) It's been a very busy winter, but a few days off means I'm finally back with new stuff to share.