In Defense of the Wind Ensemble

When “classical music” or “serious music” is mentioned, one might think of the symphony orchestra, a string quartet, an English choir, or maybe even the opera, however debatable that may be. I’d be willing to bet that very few would think of wind ensemble music, and that is unfortunate. The wind ensemble gets lost, perhaps [...]

Arnold Schoenberg: Style and Idea

Arnold Schoenberg was a hated man. This is the consequence of being a pioneer, an original thinker, his big mouth notwithstanding. I’m not trying to crown him with infallibility, but only to give credit where it’s due. Our culture loves the yellow journalism technique of painting with broad strokes of sycophancy or character assassination, depending [...]

Addictions

When I was a very small child, I walked around everywhere with a blanket that I used as some kind barrier or a source of comfort. As I recall, it was yellow with some pattern designs on it, much like the oversized button down shirts that many pipe organ enthusiasts wear to recitals. One day [...]

My Worst Musical Performance Ever (Updated)

(Note: I left an left out an important part of this story, which I have now added.) I was in seventh grade. Must have been about 12 years old. I had been playing the piano since age 6, and sometime in middle school I started accompanying the concert choir. Usually this task was divided among [...]

New Workout Routine

A few months ago I wrote about my fitness frustrations. I’ve made a lot of progress since then that I thought I should share. The gym I originally joined wasn’t that great once I got serious. It was a great place to start at a cheap rate to see if I was going to stick [...]

I’m now on Twitter

After resisting for the longest time, I have now joined Twitter. You can follow me here.  I’ve actually found it to be useful. Like everything else, it has its junk, but it seems to be a great tool. Why I didn’t think of taking the username FragmentedObsessions is beyond me. It’s one of those mental [...]

Carpochondria

I don’t know much about cars. What I do know has come about through necessity as problems have arisen. This is my own fault, but I must plead that there have been mitigating circumstances. By the time I was old enough to understand cars, they were already unfriendly to hobbyists. The advance of technology and [...]

Rot

Occasionally, I am in Center City Philadelphia when it’s time for me to go over to New Jersey for my weekly voice lesson. In this case, I take the PATCO train, which runs from the city to suburban points southeast, until I end up at my destination of Westmont, which is near Haddonfield, the local [...]

The Running Cure

About fifty years ago, monks at a monastery—I can’t remember where—all got sick at the same time. Doctors were puzzled. The liturgical changes after Vatican II had recently taken place, and these changes swept away the singing of Gregorian chant, even for this monastery. Physicians, on a hunch, recommended the chant be restored. The sickness [...]

Thomas Merton: Seeing the Salvation of God

For several months I have been feeling diffuse, totally out of control of my life. Tension and anxiety can rule during such periods, and it’s no fun. I sleep with the television on to block out the runaway train of my ruminations. Sometimes it works; sometimes it makes things worse. I had been seeking some [...]