My hobby is and has been for some time to study the life and works of various concert pianists. Arthur Rubinstein is a favorite and his autobiography is wonderful. I also am interested in two pianists of the 20th century who passed away before their time. That is Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) and William Kapell (1922-1953). As of late I have […]
Rembrandt von Rijn painted about 50 paintings of himself as well as 32 etchings and 7 drawings he created on the same subject. In this age of the “selfie” many may be inclined to think that this predilection is self-indulgent but I don’t think this is the case with Rembrandt. First of all, in the 17th Century such artwork was
Rembrandt von Rijn (1603-1669) Read More »
In my pursuits as an autodidact I find that one discovery leads to another and that this rather circuitous path never seems to end. So the more I search the more I “discover.” For instance, my intense interest in the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) led to my stumbling upon Carel Fabritius. Fabritius came slightly before Vermeer and both were
Carel Fabritius (1622-1654) Read More »
My first contact with the music of composer and arranger Nelson Riddle came about as a very young kid. I loved the theme from the early sixties television show Route 66. Nelson Riddle wrote that and lots of other film music. That piece still does something crazy to me. It has some blend of nostalgia and hipness that always sends
Nelson Riddle (1921-1985) Read More »
A pretty sure sign that your having “writers block” is when you commence making lists of your favorite compositions much like I did in my last blog. I have had “blocks” before and I don’t much let them upset me like I used to. S. J. Perelman (perhaps my favorite writer) explained them as being the natural consequence of having
Writers Block etc. Read More »
According to the BMI catalog (and they should know) I have written and recorded 233 songs thus far. This number surprised me a little but also got me to thinking on the subject. Of course many of the 233 pieces are forgotten even to me. So I thought I would compile a list of songs that I have written and
My original repertoire Read More »