A New Musical Aesthetic for New Sexual Times

Most people today seem to care less and less about whether other people are straight, gay, transgender, or transsexual. Perhaps the growing acceptance of same-sex marriage is one factor behind the trend. Another could be the growing public affection for certain gay...

Music from the Coronations of the Tsars

My father was born in Russia in 1903. He actually saw Tsar Nicolas II and his family once or twice. They would take the Trans-Siberian Railway to vacation in Kostroma province and step out onto the train platform in Galich, my dad’s home town, to greet the people. My...

A Field Guide to Cadences

All evenings of classical music end eventually – even most performances of Meistersinger. But after the final notes have died away, why not ask this question before you grab your coat and head for the exit? How did that piece of music end?Unless you were...