Composition is …what?

…. notation? * Back in Music History class we all learned how philosophers used to differntiate between “music of the spheres” and “practical music.” The now-quaint terminology masks a somewhat interesting and important differentiation that is actually an...

FAQs- Bach Cello Suites

From my inbox comes a nice question from Felicity in Colorado, which gives me a rare, and nice, chance to answer a cello related question. “Dear Ken,” she writes, “when you’re playing the Bach Suites, do you use a baroque bow or baroque cello, what sort of A do...

Mahler 4 on my desk

Sometimes the best lessons come to us when we haven’t had enough coffee. I’d been working late on the score of Mahler 4, which I’m conducting in October for the first time in three or four years. I’d been doing what conductors are trained to do- analyzing everything...