Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Harvard biologist tackles evolution of culture in a monumental essay. Captivating throughout. "Rich and seemingly boundless as the creative arts seem to be, each is filtered through the narrow biological channels of human cognition"
Ever wondered what it is that makes a theme tune especially heroic and uplifting? Whether you listen to Star Wars, Superman or 2001: A Space Odyssey, you'll hear the "perfect fifth". Why? Well, to answer that requires some physics
Composed by the Captain himself. Handed down by Magic Band member Moris Tepper. "You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling then you have something that is fur bearing"
Has any musician ever written like this about the creative process? Here, Muhly arranges works by Byrd and Gibbon, and composes a concerto after Webern: "My brain tries to turn 12-tone music into post-Wagnerian tonal harmonies"
Copyright law can make it insanely difficult for even the composer to get recordings of his own new work, especially when scored for orchestra. But repeated listening is essential, for learning how a piece of music works in practice
Or so says this professional pianist. There are only tricky moments. For example, a few bars in the 2nd movement of Schumann's Fantasie op. 17, which undid even Horowitz. But if you analyse them well ahead of time, you'll be OK
A small question, in the great scheme of things, but answered here with great precision and elegance. Probably yes, because modern steel strings are otherwise less expressive than pre-war gut
No jaw-dropping conclusions, but lots of interesting detail about use and appreciation of music across cultures. Complex melodies perceived as sad, simple ones as happy
Music captures our attention by toying with expected associations, enticing us to predict what note will come next, then confronting us with our prediction errors
Musicologist tells how dream about Bartok gave him new conceptual framework for analysing classical composition
How classical music developed through written notation, the record, and the re-mix
