With Music

John Dunstable (1390 – 1453)

John Dunstaple (c.1390-1453), once more often spelled Dunstable, was one of the most influential composers of the early fifteenth century. Dunstaple’s persona took on such a mythological character among later authors that it is this awe which is most discernible today, rather than any underlying facts. Indeed, few details ofContinue Reading

Ravel: Bolero

Classical, With Music

Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by the French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937). Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel’s most famous musical composition The work had its genesis in a commission from the dancer IdaContinue Reading

1930 Pop & Big Band

Song, With Music

Arranged alphabetically by artist name, this is an assortment of recordings posted to ‘the78prof’ channel which are not included in the HITS ARCHIVE playlists and were either recorded, released, or popularized in the year 1930.Continue Reading

The School of Notre Dame

Classical, Music, With Music

During the Middle Ages, the Parisian cathedral of Notre Dame was a hotbed of musical innovation. Two of the brightest musical lights of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries worked there: Masters Leonin and Perotin. Leonin’s fame came from his collection of two-voiced organa to be used for bothContinue Reading

Roy Orbinson (1936 – 1988)

Person, With Music

Tom Petty called him “probably the greatest singer in the world.” Another of his fellow Traveling Wilburys, Bob Dylan, said he had “the voice of a professional criminal.” Roy Orbison shared rockabilly roots with Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley — he recorded the bopping “Ooby Dooby” at Sun Records inContinue Reading

The ballata in use from late 13th to the 15th century

Music, With Music

The ballata (plural: ballate) is an Italian poetic and musical form in use from the late 13th to the 15th century. It has the musical structure AbbaA, with the first and last stanzas having the same texts. It is thus most similar to the French musical ‘forme fixe’ virelai (andContinue Reading

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14

Classical, With Music

In December 1830 Ludwig van Beethoven had been dead less than four years and his “Pastoral” Symphony and Leonore Overtures were then the most radical descriptive program music known to the world. In December 1830 a twenty-six-year-old composer named Hector Berlioz was waiting anxiously for the first performance—scheduled at theContinue Reading