In Reference to Murder

Sunday Music Treat

Arnold Schoenberg is best known for his dissonant modernist music, but his "Weihnachtsmusik (Christmas Music)," is actually a nice little arrangement for chamber ensemble of the classic carol, "Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen," by Praetorius...

Sunday Music Treat

This coming Tuesday is the birthday of Franz Liszt, born October 22, 1811, in Austria. Liszt was probably the first real "rock star" (if you'll pardon the mixed genre refernce) in the music realm; women would literally attack him, tearin...

Your Sunday Music Treat

They call them "ear worms," which is a rather disgusting term for something that's often lovely - but when those songs do stick in your head, it can be hard to unstick them. One of the ones I've been hearing a lot lately careening around...

Your Sunday Music Treat

If you ever thought classical music was staid and boring, you probably haven't encountered Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613). A New Yorker article referred to him as the "Prince of Darkness" and others have dubbed him the "Madman of the Renaiss...

Sunday Music Treat - A Christmas Crime Carol

From now until Christmas, I thought I'd feature a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. Today's Christmas Crime Carol is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" a song by lyri...

Sunday Music Treat - A Christmas Crime Carol

From now until Christmas, I'm featuring a holiday-themed selection on Sunday Music Treat from film scores of crime movies through the years. Today's offering is from Lady in the Lake, based the 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler in...

Sunday Music Treat

You are quite likely to hear J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio this time of year, although it requires some planning and scheduling, seeing as how it's in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of...

Your Sunday Music Treat

The output of John Philip Sousa, the American "March King," wasn't just "Stars and Stripes Forever." He also wrote works like "Hands Across the Sea," which the composer said was "addressed to no particular nation, but to all of America's...

Your Sunday Music Treat

Today is the birthday of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, born on this date in 1935, and to celebrate, here's a short haunting, ethereal piano piece called "Für Alina" considered to be part of his Tintinnabuli or "chant like" style. (Note, I...

Sunday Music Treat - Halloween Edition

Composer Franz Liszt was a bit obsessed with death and the afterlife, allegedly going so far as to visit prison dungeons to see first-hand people sentenced to death. His interest in the macabre is often found in his work, with one of the...