Happy birthday, George

February 23, 2023

Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) enjoyed a long and successful career, during which he produced no fewer than forty-two operas, twenty-nine oratorios, and sixteen organ concerti, along with numerous other compositions. When he died in London at the age of seventy-four, more than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, and his remains were interred in Westminster Abbey.

Handel composed this Bell Sinfonia in 1738 as part of his opera Saul.


Today’s cultural moment

July 14, 2022


Today’s cultural moment

June 2, 2022


Musical offering for Good Friday

April 15, 2022


Happy birthday, George

February 23, 2022

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed the oratorio Solomon in 1748, and the sinfonia that introduces the third act, “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,” became one of his greatest hits. Originally scored for oboes and strings, the piece has been adapted to any number of instruments and combinations of instruments, including some instruments that did not exist in the eighteenth century when the piece was composed. Here it is in a version for harp, an instrument that has been with us since Biblical times. 


Happy birthday, George

February 23, 2021

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed the Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749 for King George II, to celebrate the signing of the treaty that ended the War of the Austrian Succession. Here is the fourth movement from the suite.


Musical offering for Christmas Day

December 25, 2020


It takes a village

December 23, 2020

Of all the many versions of the Hallelujah Chorus with subtitles I’ve seen, this one, performed by residents of Quinhagak, Alaska, is my favorite, the cringe-inducing misplaced apostrophes notwithstanding.


Today’s cultural moment

July 14, 2020


Musical offering for Easter Sunday

April 12, 2020


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