From Our Blog
Posted on February 6, 2020
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When Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands briefly acknowledged his victory in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with the dedication, 'this is to music first, always,' he was making a claim that most viewers would have found unobjectionable. Laurence's hopefulness notwithstanding, the real position of music in the 2019 Eurovision Grand Finale on 18 May 2019 in Tel Aviv was more troubling than secure.
Posted on August 6, 2019
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How should music reference works deal with jazz in the era of multi-genre freelancing? Back in November 1983, when I asked Stanley Sadie, series editor for Grove Dictionaries of Music, if he'd ever thought of having a New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, jazz seemed to be a reasonably coherent genre with a connected succession of styles. Maybe I was just being young, naive, ignorant. Or maybe the notion of jazz as something coherent hadn't yet started to completely unravel, even though all sorts of challenges were nipping at it, especially as the fusions emerged (jazz-rock, jazz-funk, and so forth).
Posted on April 30, 2019
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Best known as the composer of Candide and West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein had an immensely versatile career. Born on August 25, 1918, Bernstein's career spanned decades, leaving a lasting impression through his work as a conductor, composer, and music educator.
Posted on August 25, 2018
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At a speed few can fathom, nationalism has become the dirtiest word in all of European cultural politics. Embraced by the right and rising populism, nationalism seemingly poses a threat to the very being of Europe. Nationalists proudly proclaim a euroscepticism that places the sovereignty of self over community.
Posted on July 5, 2018
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The historical record of women making music extends back as far as the earliest histories and artifacts of musical performance. For example, artwork from Ancient Greece and Rome suggest that women's choruses were featured in rituals and festivals. And throughout Chinese imperial history the courts, civil and military officials and wealthy households employed women to sing, dance, and play musical instruments.
Posted on March 8, 2018
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The harp is an ancient instrument found in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and tunings in musical cultures throughout the world. In the West, the harp has been used to accompany singing in religious rituals and court music.
Posted on March 30, 2017
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Whether you dub accordion music annoying or enticing, you cannot deny the instrument's persistence. The earliest version of the accordion emerged in the early 1800's and one can still find it on many street corners today. Certain universities, museums, and soloists have assisted in the accordion's longevity.
Posted on February 16, 2017
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Of all the responses to Bob Dylan's Nobel, my favorite comes from Leonard Cohen, who likened it to 'pinning a medal on Mount Everest.' It's a brilliant line, pure Cohen'all dignity and poise, yet with an acid barb. Not only is Everest in no need of a medal, the attempt to fix one to its impassive torso (imagine the puny pin bending back on first contact) is metaphorically all too apt for the Nobel committee's current quandary.
Posted on November 3, 2016
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Have you ever wanted to control sound waves? Or spook your friends with an eerie melody? If you answered yes, check out OUP's instrument of the month, the theremin.
Posted on October 11, 2016
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You might associate the recorder with memories of a second grade classroom and sounds vaguely resembling the tune of 'Three Blind Mice' or 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' While the recorder has become a popular instrument in music education, it also has an extensive and interesting history.
Posted on September 8, 2016
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You take out the scratched up Beatles' Abbey Road LP from its musty slipcover, cue it onto the turntable, and broadcast it to the small, rural area surrounding your college campus. It's 5:00 AM, you're the only one in the booth, and you ask yourself: is anyone listening? Does what I'm doing matter? Little do you know, as you speak into the microphone introducing 'Here Comes the Sun' (as the sun is literally rising), you are part of a long history of college radio. But how is college radio relevant today?
Posted on August 18, 2016
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Tuba, trumpet, trombone...which one should you pick up this fall? Read below to learn what makes the trombone the right choice, and to find out a little more about this bass instrument's long history.
Posted on August 9, 2016
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The bass guitar is often thought to be a poor musician's double bass or a poor musician's guitar. Nonetheless, luthiers and performers have explored its expressive possibilities within a wide range of musical styles and performance traditions, some of which we chart below.
Posted on July 19, 2016
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The simple design and intuitive process of the maracas have made it a familiar favorite around the world, but may often lead to an underestimation of its value in creating variety of rhythmic expression.
Posted on June 21, 2016
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Spectacle at its grandest has long been crucial to the Eurovision Song Contest's projection of its own importance for Europe and, increasingly in the past two decades, a unified Europe's position in the world. Each year's competition outstrips that of the year before, as song styles multiply and nations are added to the spectacle of nation competing against nation with the hope of representing Europe musically to the world.
Posted on May 19, 2016
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Any American can recognize the opening notes of "Stars and Stripes Forever" and that most essential instrument of the American marching band -- the sousaphone. How did this 30 pound beauty come to be? Despite its relative youth, the sousaphone has an extensive (and sometimes controversial) history.
Posted on May 5, 2016
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The organ is a complex, powerful instrument. Its history is involved and wide-ranging, and throughout the years it has commanded respect as it leaves its listeners in awe. To celebrate the organ, we compiled a list of 10 facts you may or may not know about this magnificent instrument.
Posted on April 19, 2016
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In honor of April Fools' Day, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2016 Grove Music Spoof Article Contest.
Posted on April 1, 2016
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This month's spotlight instrument is particularly important to me; I played the flute for ten years as an adolescent and continue to have a soft spot for it. From long practices at high school band camp to dressy solo performances at the Colburn School where I studied on weekends, the flute was a dear and constant companion. Here are a few reasons I'll always prefer it.
Posted on March 1, 2016
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How does one grapple with music research in the digital age? What are the changes and challenges therein? On 23 June 2015, a group of distinguished academics and editors came together for a panel discussion on 'Referencing music in the twenty-first century: Encyclopedias of the past, present, and future' at a conference organized by the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centers (IAML) and the International Musicological Society (IMS).
Posted on February 16, 2016
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Sometimes mistaken for the trumpet, a near relation, the cornet has had a fascinating and diverse history. Popular from military and jazz bands to the 19th century European stage, the cornet has had a home in the American music scene for generations of musicians and music styles.
Posted on February 11, 2016
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It's that time of year again! We invite you to submit your entry for Grove Music's Spoof Article Contest, and as usual the winning entry will be announced on April Fool's Day. Spoof articles have been part of Grove's history for several decades; it seems that our authors have always had an inclination toward humor.
Posted on January 19, 2016
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Handbells aren't just ringing for the Salvation Army this holiday season. If you've ever tuned in to a holiday music special, you've probably seen a handbell choir playing the Christmas standards. Handbells have been a part of the holiday landscape for hundreds of years.
Posted on December 24, 2015
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To celebrate what would have been Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday this December, we've put together an infographic of just a few of his accomplishments.
Posted on December 10, 2015
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Sturdy idiophone ubiquitous among dress shoe-wearing cultures. Rising to prominence during 15th century England, the shoehorn has today become one of the most widely used instruments in the world. This notoriety had lead many scholars to suggest that the shoehorn stands as Britain's crowning contribution to contemporary music culture.
Posted on November 10, 2015
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Depending on your tastes, bagpipes are primal and evocative, or crude and abrasive. Adore or despise them, they are ubiquitous across the city centers of Scotland (for tourists or locals?). In anticipation of St Andrews Day, and your Robert Burns poetry readings with a certain woodwind accompaniment, here are 10 facts you may not have known about the history of the bagpipes.
Posted on November 3, 2015
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Although there are several different bell-shaped brass instruments, from trumpets to tubas, it's the French horn that people are talking about when they mention 'the horn'. Known for its deep yet high-ranging sound, the French horn is an indispensable part of any orchestra or concert band.
Posted on October 20, 2015
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This year, 2015, has been quite a year for Cuba. Starting in January with President Obama's announcement that the United States and Cuba will re-establish diplomatic and economic relations, followed by Pope Francis's visit to the island earlier this month, Cuba has been under the global spotlight.
Posted on October 6, 2015
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The steel drum originated in the late 1930s on the island of Trinidad and was played as part of a steel band, a percussion ensemble contrived by lower-class rebellious teens. Learn more about the steel drum's complex history, development, and current form with our 10 fun facts.
Posted on August 27, 2015
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Although often overlooked, the piccolo is an important part of the woodwind instrument family. This high-pitched petite woodwind packs a huge punch. Historically, the piccolo had no keys and was an instrument of its own kind.
Posted on July 7, 2015
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The first time I held a mandolin was at a rehearsal for Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. In the second act, the Don is trying to seduce the maid Zerlina by singing a serenade under her mistress' window (the canzonetta 'Deh, vieni alla finestra').
Posted on June 16, 2015
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The negotiation of sameness and difference seemingly moved to Central Europe again with the 60th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Vienna, which took as its motto 'Building Bridges.' Austria became the host of the 2015 Eurovision after the sensational victory at the 2014 ESC in Copenhagen by Conchita Wurst, whose winning entry, 'Rise like a Phoenix,' ascended to continent-wide popularity as an anthem for the diversity of sexual identity.
Posted on June 2, 2015
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Julius Eastman (27 October 1940-28 May 1990)'composer, pianist, vocalist, improviser, conductor, actor, choreographer, and dancer'has left a musical legacy worthy of special attention. Now is a prime moment to attend to Eastman and his work, as we recognize and honor the loss of this significant musical figure just twenty-five years ago from today.
Posted on May 28, 2015
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Distinguished musicians Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846) and Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) established a long-standing tradition of playing the double bass that was carried on into the 20th and 21st centuries. From the 1500s, this deep-toned string instrument has made its way from European orchestras to today's popular music to retain a more natural acoustic sound in performances.
Posted on May 29, 2015
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Since 1873, Grove Music has expanded from one piece of hardbound reference detailing the work and lives of musicians to becoming a powerful online encyclopedic database that serves to educate the world about music. George Grove, founder of the Grove dictionaries, was motivated by the lack of music reference works available to scholars and music professionals.
Posted on May 7, 2015
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Since emerging at the beginning of the 20th century, jazz music has been a staple in American culture. Historians are not clear on when exactly jazz was born or who first started playing it, but it can be agreed upon that New Orleans, Louisiana is the First City of Jazz.
Posted on April 14, 2015
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'Blurred Lines' and Thicke's overwhelming success have been eclipsed by the popularity of the recent federal court case, in which a jury decided that its creators infringed upon the copyright of Marvin Gaye's 1977 Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, 'Got to Give It Up.'
Posted on March 26, 2015
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Even though the harp is Ireland's national symbol, the fiddle is the most commonly played instrument in traditional Irish music. Its ornamental melodies are more relaxed than the classical violin and improvisation is encouraged. The fiddle has survived generational changes from its start as a low-class instrument popular among the poor.
Posted on March 12, 2015
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In 2005, Ms magazine published a conversation between pop singer Lesley Gore and Kathleen Hanna of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Hanna opened with a striking statement: 'First time I heard your voice,' she said, 'I went and bought everything of yours ' trying to imitate you but find my own style.'
Posted on February 28, 2015
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Popular music is much more than mere entertainment'it helps us make sense of who we are or who we hope to be. Although music is but one of pop culture's media outlets, our tendency to embody and take ownership of sound'whether through our headphones, MP3 downloads, dancing, or singing'often makes it difficult to separate our personal connection to popular music from the cultural context in which it was created.
Posted on February 26, 2015
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The Harp is a string instrument of very ancient lineage that is synonymous with classical music and cupid's lyre. Over the years, the harp has morphed from its primitive hunting bow shape to its modern day use in corporate branding. Across the globe, each culture has its own variation of this whimsical soft-sounding instrument. Check out these ten fun facts about the harp.
Posted on February 14, 2015
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The neat thing about the voice is that, while we don't usually change the material, the shape is very flexible, and we can manipulate it to change our timbre. Overtone singing like Hefele's takes an element of vocal sound and turns it into a new sort of instrument, inverting the typical relationship between instrument and timbre.
Posted on January 22, 2015
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Like other Jewish musicians in later times, among them Ernest Bloch, Darius Milhaud, and Leonard Bernstein, Rossi confronted the problems, in his own time, of preserving his Jewish identity in a non-Jewish environment and of communicating with Jews and Christians in such a way as to be understood and appreciated by both.
Posted on May 21, 2015
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Near to Salamone Rossi's time, and working at the Mantuan court, is the harpist Abramino dall'Arpa. His story illustrates the unrelenting pressure brought on Jews to convert and, at the same time, Abramino's refusal to do so.
Posted on February 5, 2015
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As a Jewish musician working for the Mantuan court, and competing for the favors that its Christian musicians and composers hoped to gain, it was only inevitable for Rossi to have been considered an intruder.
Posted on January 20, 2015
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As the holiday season is upon us, we thought we would recognize a tradition often lost in the hustle and bustle: Festivus. We've compiled our favorite, slightly more obscure seasonal tunes to wish you all a very merry Festivus season.
Posted on December 23, 2014
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The musical version of little orphan Annie ' as distinct from her original, cartoon incarnation ' was born a fully formed ten-year-old in 1977, and she quickly became an icon of girlhood.
Posted on December 20, 2014
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The ringing sound of sleigh bells is all too familiar around this time of the year. It's the official siren signaling in the winter season. While a well-known signature staple on sleighs, Santa suits and reindeer, jingle bells haven't always been associated with Christmas. They do much more than just ring in holiday cheer.
Posted on December 18, 2014
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What is a keytar, anyway? Well, along with being (to me) the coolest electronic instrument ever, it's a midi controller-sometimes-synthesizer that you can wear over your shoulder like a guitar.
Posted on November 25, 2014
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With that familiar chill in the air signaling winter's imminent arrival, it's time again to indulge our craving for Christmas music by singers ranging from Frank Sinatra to Mariah Carey. But first, let's take a step back and explore the history of Christmas music with the following facts.
Posted on December 25, 2014
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Today we're here to talk about the word 'bae' and the ways in which it's used in hip hop lyrics. 'Bae' is another way of saying babe or baby (though some say it can also function as an acronym for the phrase 'before anyone else'). Here are some examples.
Posted on November 20, 2014
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By introducing 'art music' into the synagogue Rossi was asking for trouble. He is said by Leon Modena (d. 1648), the person who encouraged him to write his Hebrew songs, to have 'worked and labored to add from his secular to his sacred works'; 'secular' meaning Gentile compositions.
Posted on November 6, 2014
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What in this galaxy is waterphone? You've might have not seen one, but if you've watched a horror or science fiction movie, chances are you've heard the eerie sounds of the waterphone. With Halloween around the corner and a spooky soundtrack required, I toured through Grove Music Online to learn more about the monolithic, acoustic instrument.
Posted on October 30, 2014
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In celebration of tonight's Latin Grammy Awards, I delved into Grove Music Online to learn more about distinct musical styles and traditions of Latin American countries. Colombia's principal musical style is the cumbia, with its related genres porro and vallenato.
Posted on November 20, 2014
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We have all experienced the effect music can have on our emotions and state of mind. We have felt our spirit lift when a happy song comes on the radio, or a pinging sense of nostalgia when we hear the songs of our childhood. While this link between music and emotion has long been a part of human life, only in recent decades have we had the technology and foundational knowledge to understand music's effect on our brains in concrete terms.
Posted on October 23, 2014
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Posted on August 26, 2014
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What do we know of Salamone Rossi's family? His father was named Bonaiuto Azaria de' Rossi (d. 1578): he composed Me'or einayim (Light of the Eyes). Rossi had a brother, Emanuele (Menaḥem), and a sister, Europe, who, like him, was a musician.
Posted on August 19, 2014
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There are many cases of musicians with homonymic names, including jazz performers Bill Evans (pianist, 1929-1980) and Bill Evans (saxophonist, 1958-), and composers John Adams and John Luther Adams. In the following paragraphs, I discuss musical examples by artists comprising three such pairs.
Posted on August 5, 2014
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Meet the woman behind Grove Music Online, Anna-Lise Santella. We snagged a bit of Anna-Lise's time to sit down with her and find out more about her own musical passions and research.
Posted on August 21, 2014
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American composer and self-proclaimed 'bad boy of music' George Antheil was born today 114 years ago in Trenton, New Jersey. His most well-known piece is Ballet m¨canique, which was premiered in Paris in 1926
Posted on July 8, 2014
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Since joining the Grove Music editorial team, Meghann Wilhoite has been a consistent contributor to the OUPblog. Over the years she has shared her knowledge and insights on topics ranging from football and opera to Monteverdi and Bob Dylan, so we thought it was about time to get to know her a bit better.
Posted on July 1, 2014
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Ever wondered what goes into scoring film music? Is the music written during filming? Or is it all added after the film is finished? Regular OUPblog contributor Scott Huntington recently spoke with film composer Joe Kraemer about his compositional process, providing an inside look at what it's like to score music for an independent film.
Posted on June 26, 2014
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Music today is usually categorized by the genre to which it most stylistically relates. A quick scroll through the iTunes genres sections reveals the familiar categories, among them Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Country, Classical, and Alternative. Songs or musical compilations today seem to have a readily apparent identity.
Posted on June 10, 2014
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By Melanie Zeck Perhaps Ernest Hemingway knew best when he claimed that Josephine Baker was the 'most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will.' Indeed, Josephine Baker was sensational--as an African American coming of age in the 1920s, she took Paris by storm in La Revue N¨gre and relished a career in entertainment that spanned fifty years. On what would be her 108th birthday, Baker's fans on both sides of the Atlantic still celebrate her legendary charisma.
Posted on June 3, 2014
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Wednesday, 28 May marks the 33rd anniversary of Mary Lou William's death. Mary Lou Williams, an African-American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and contemporary of both Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne, is often overlooked as a key contributor to the jazz movement of the 20th century.
Posted on May 28, 2014
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By Scott Huntington You'd probably be lying if you said that you didn't spend at least a moderate amount of time during your childhood banging on various and sundry items that happened to be within reach. If we're being honest, this particular sort of self-expression doesn't seem to lessen with age; thankfully, our methods tend to get more sophisticated over time.
Posted on May 22, 2014
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The Biography of Ros Brandt, from Grove Music Online. An interest in experimental music is apparent from her earliest compositions, many of which involve performance in specific places, improvisation, electronics, graphic notation, and the use of self-built and specially built instruments. These include Improvisations in Acoustic Chambers, 1981, and Soft and Fragile: Music in Glass and Clay, 1982.
Posted on May 16, 2014
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By Cecilia Sun Brian Eno turns 66 today. It has become a clich© to start every profile of Eno by noting the eclecticism and longevity of his musical career. After all, here is a man who made his performance debut smashing a piece of wood against an open piano frame (La Monte Young, X (Any Integer) for Henry Flynt) and went on to produce award-winning albums for chart-topping bands.
Posted on May 15, 2014
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By Philip V. Bohlman 4'10 May 2014. The annual Eurovision week offers Europeans a chance to put aside their differences and celebrate, nation against nation, the many ways in which music unites them. Each nation has the same opportunity'a 'Eurosong' of exactly three minutes, performed by no more than six musicians or dancers, in the language of their choice, national or international'to represent Europe for a year.
Posted on May 13, 2014
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April is Jazz Appreciation Month, honoring an original American art form. Across the United States and the world, jazz lovers are introducing people to the history and heritage of jazz as well as extraordinary contemporary acts. To celebrate, here are eight songs from renowned jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong's catalog, along with some lesser-known facts about the artist.
Posted on April 24, 2014
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By Scott Huntington Many music students have difficulty finding new venues in which to perform. A lot of the time it's because we let our school schedule our performances for us. We'll start the semester and circle the dates on the calendars that include our concerts and recitals, and that will be it. That's fine, and can keep you pretty busy, but I'm here to tell you to get out there and plan on your own.
Posted on April 17, 2014
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By the Grove Music Online editorial team Just in time for April Fool's Day we are pleased to announce the results of this year's Grove Music Online Spoof Article contest. This year's submissions were all biographies, perhaps because Grove's stylistic prescriptions for biographies lend themselves well to parody.
Posted on April 1, 2014
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By Scott Huntington Music therapy involves the use of clinical, evidence-supported musical interventions to meet a patient's specific goals for healing (a useful fact sheet). The music therapist should have the proper credentials and be licensed in the field of music therapy.
Posted on February 27, 2014
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By Anna-Lise Santella It may be the middle of winter, but April Fool's Day is only two months away, and that means it's time to start planning your entry for the Second Annual Grove Music Spoof Article Contest! Spoof articles have been part of Grove's history for several decades'it seems that our authors have always had an inclination toward humor.Â
Posted on February 5, 2014
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Perhaps you saw that Dr. Pepper ad in which Ravens kicker Justin Tucker shows off his opera chops, singing in a quite lovely bass-baritone voice. Well, we saw it, and it got us thinking: have there been other opera-singing American football players?
Posted on January 30, 2014
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By Scott Huntington Why should people bother to study music history or, for that matter, go on to major in it? What could you possibly gain from studying music history? The answer to these questions might surprise you.
Posted on January 14, 2014
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The recent death of renowned British composer Sir John Tavener (1944-2013) precipitated mourning and reflection on an international scale. By the time of his death, the visionary composer had received numerous honors, including the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, the 2005 Ivor Novello Classical Music Award, and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
Posted on December 17, 2013
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By Scott Huntington I was studying percussion at Western Illinois University in 2006, my life was forever changed by a guest musician named Kai Stensgaard. He entered the stage with confidence and began performing some of the most impressive and beautiful marimba pieces I had ever heard. Then he paused, attached a shaker to his leg, and picked up not two, not four, but six mallets.
Posted on December 10, 2013
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By Jeannette D. Jones There's a legendary world in Deaf culture lore. It's like Earth but it's for people of the eye, so they call it Eyeth (get it? EARth, EYEth). In this world, people listen with their eyes with the comfort of being typical, just the way life is, unlike the existence of a Deaf person on Earth, heavily mediated through hearing devices, pads of paper, interpreters, lip reading, and gestures.
Posted on December 3, 2013
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Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi died 370 years ago today, so what better way to remember him than with the following fun facts.
Posted on November 29, 2013
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Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (pronunciation here) celebrated his 80th birthday over the weekend. As Tom Service has pointed out in the past, you've probably already heard some of Penderecki's famous pieces from the 1960s, which feature in several films from directors such as David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese.
Posted on November 26, 2013
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By Heather Wiebe When I was charged with the task of updating the article on Benjamin Britten in Grove Music Online, I thought it would be a relatively simple matter. As Britten's centenary year approached, it seemed an opportune moment, and the article was one I admired.
Posted on November 21, 2013
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The 6th of November is Saxophone Day, a.k.a. the birthday of Adolphe Sax, which inspired us to think about instruments that take their name in some way from their inventors (sidenote: for the correct use of eponymous see this informative diatribe in the New York Times).
Posted on January 2, 2014
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Today is the birthday of a composer who writes in a radically different musical style than many of us are accustomed to hearing on a day-to-day basis, as we sit on hold with the doctor's office or hum along with the music piped into the aisles of the grocery store.
Posted on October 24, 2013
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By Anna-Lise Santella After nearly a decade of work, the second edition of The Grove Dictionary of American Music'often called AmeriGrove'is finished. In September 2013, shortly before publication, I talked with Editor in Chief Charles Hiroshi Garrett about the project.
Posted on October 15, 2013
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In a Reddit AMA session a few months ago, Bryan Cranston was asked when he thought his character on Breaking Bad broke bad. His response: 'My feeling is that Walt broke bad in the very first episode. It was very subtle but he did because that's when he decided to become someone that he's not in order to gain financially. He made the Faustian deal at that point and everything else was a slippery slope.'
Posted on September 28, 2013
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In my last post I wrote about little known composer Sophie Elisabeth. Today's subject, Francesca Caccini, is somewhat better known. The last decade or so has seen a renewed interest in her work.
Posted on September 17, 2013
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In 1971, when Representative Bella Abzug introduced a joint resolution to Congress creating Women's Equality Day, she wasn't likely thinking about women in popular music. After all, the subject is seemingly silly compared to what Women's Equality Day commemorates.
Posted on August 27, 2013
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I was a sophomore in college, sitting in my morning music history course on the Romantic period, and my professor was discussing the concept of program music, which Grove Music Online defines as 'Music of a narrative or descriptive kind; the term is often extended to all music that attempts to represent extra-musical concepts without resort to sung words.'
Posted on August 20, 2013
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An intriguing post popped up in my Tumblr feed recently, called 'The all-white reinvention of Medieval Europe' from the blog Medieval POC. Both in this post and generally throughout the blog the author makes the point that 'People of Color are not an anachronism.'
Posted on August 15, 2013
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I would love to visit Africa someday. I think it would settle a lot of curiosity I have about the world. For now, my most informed experience regarding the place is a seminar I took this past semester, called Sacred and Secular African American Musics.
Posted on July 30, 2013
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To be frank, there has never been much love for the viola (or violists). As an erstwhile violist I would get two types of reactions about my instrument of choice: from non-musicians, 'what's a viola?' and from musicians'¦ well just Google 'viola jokes' and it will return some real doozies.
Posted on July 23, 2013
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Not only does Will and Kate's royal wee one now have an ASDA parking spot, there's another nice surprise awaiting his or her arrival: a specially-composed lullaby, called 'Sleep On'. It's a sweet little tune, written by Welsh composer Paul Mealor.
Posted on July 16, 2013
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By Simon Riker How many times have I heard someone say, 'Oh, I just love the cello! What a beautiful instrument!'? Certainly too many to count or remember, since I began playing the instrument at the age of nine. Of course, it's little wonder that the cello resonates so strongly with people, since its range and timbre so neatly overlap with the human voice, as many cellists will be quick to point out.
Posted on June 25, 2013
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The 20th of June is International Surfing Day. I'm not sure if I have the proper street cred to write about surfing. For one thing, even though I grew up on the Mid-Atlantic coast, I can't swim. My nephew, however, was part of a hardcore crowd who surfed regularly on the beaches near Ocean City, Maryland, and the Indian River Inlet, Delaware, in the '80s and '90s.
Posted on June 20, 2013
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By Anna-Lise Santella On 12 June, summer officially begins in Chicago when the Grant Park Music Festival, 'the nation's only free, outdoor classical music series of its kind,' opens its 79th season at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. I'm a huge fan of summer music festivals in general ' what's not to like about spending a beautiful night in a beautiful place listening to music I love performed by some of the best musicians in the world? ' but of Grant Park in particular.
Posted on June 13, 2013
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By Philip V. Bohlman and Dafni Tragaki In the spirit of the Eurovision Song Contest motto for 2013 'We Are One,' we seek the common space afforded by dialogic reflections on the European unity that has inspired and eluded the Eurovision since 1956. We search to rescue stretto from the fragments of the largest and most spectacular popular-music competition in the world.
Posted on May 31, 2013
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The centenary of the 29 May 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is being celebrated by numerous orchestras and ballet companies this year, which is always worth mentioning when that first performance incited a riot. The ballet (also performed as an orchestra piece) depicts a collection of pagan spring rituals involving fortune telling, holy processions, and culminating in l'©lue (the elected one) dancing herself to death.
Posted on May 21, 2013
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