The following are lyrics to Friedrich Schiller's poem "An der Freude," best known for the musical setting Ludwig van Beethoven gave to it in his Ninth Symphony. L. and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra performed Beethoven's Ninth on Saturday. I think, in this case, the community orchestra rose to the occasion: I liked the PVSO's version better ( Read more... )

Finished filing my taxes, I've put on a CD that L. and I bought last weekend at her concert. I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it in this space yet. The Pioneer Valley Symphony performed Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America last weekend. Boyer is a young contemporary composer and Ellis Island is a multi-media orchestral piece featuring ( Read more... )