In 18th- and 19th-century Europe (and colonial culture in the Americas), dancing was used to make social connections and impress members of one’s class. ‘Dance and Sociability’ offers detailed descriptions of the social context for European dance among the upper classes during this period, including a thought-provoking article on how to define “grace.”
Dancing for Fun, Dancing as a Social Grace Read More »
Great artists express their identities through their art, yet many artists are forced to live in a society that does not accept their true identity. ‘Passing Fancy: Beauty in a Moment of Chaos,’ from Sonnambula, an ensemble of violins, viols, and keyboard, explores works by a range of such societal outcasts from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Sleepwalkers, Outcasts, Beauty, Chaos Read More »
New recordings of Bach’s ‘Saint Matthew Passion’ continue to come at us apace. The latest, from the Bay Area’s Cantata Collective, is highlighted by stellar vocal soloists and by Nicholas McGegan’s emotionally subtle conducting.
Cantata Collective Delivers the Latest ‘St. Matthew Passion’ Read More »
Letter to the Editor: ‘It’s sort of a compliment that the current re-structuring of the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra is taken as a paradigm for the decline in early-music studies in higher education…I see HBCO returning to its roots in a necessary and salutary way.’
Praise for Harvard Baroque Returning to Its Roots Read More »
Searching for music actually linked to the late-14th c. ‘Canterbury Tales,’ Elisabeth Ellison found almost none. So she searched the archives and found dance tunes and sacred works that Geoffrey Chaucer and his pilgrims may have heard in their own day.
Music to Accompany the Canterbury Tales Read More »
