Inspiring Excitement and Passion about History and the Humanities
I’ve been reading The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester, a history of the US told through the elements of wood, metal, water, fire, and air, which is an interesting lens through which to view history. The wood chapter, for example, was all about when wood was the primary material; the homes the…
Henry Purcell is a Grandaddy in the world of early music. There are a couple of Big Names that most people who are into music, but not early music, have heard of, and Purcell is always one of them. He lived in the late 17th century, and was right on the border, getting baroque music…
A diversion from intellectual and deep thinking today, to engage in…. making Cake Balls! I found this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and they looked crazy easy to make. I mean, are you kidding? Cake balls? The things they charge $2 for at Starbucks? I’m totally in. Part of me expected a result worthy of…
I spent the weekend working with the Golden Bridge Choir in Los Angeles; a new choir formed by Suzi Digby (Lady Eatwell, and a choral goddess in the UK) to explore the musical links between the Golden Age of the Tudor/Elizabethan composers and the current choral Renaissance that Southern California is experiencing. The choir performance…
I recently discovered the work of Charlotte Salomon. She was a young Jewish artist during the Holocaust, but her work shouldn’t be viewed simply as Holocaust art. To view it that way is to miss the extraordinary poignancy of what she created. I feel bad even comparing her to Anne Frank, because she is so…
One of the many things I lurve about autumn is that all my favorite choral groups start releasing Christmas albums. I can’t get enough Christmas music. Though with the caveat that I don’t mean “I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” kinds of Christmas music, but rather the good O Come O Come Emmanuel, and Lo, How a Rose…
I’ve been reading The Accidental Masterpiece, on the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman. Above all else, it seems to be a meditation on how art, or appreciating art, helps us to appreciate our everyday lives; and how our every day lives (and deaths) can be art as well. So I just…
The Italian poet Petrarch, who is often credited as the father of Humanism (and as such, the Renaissance), was, when he wasn’t inventing sonnets and writing poetry about his unrequited love for Laura, also was an extensive traveler. In fact, in addition to being the father of the Renaissance, he is often called the first tourist,…
Something that definitely needs to be included in any Museum of Things Heather Loves is choral music; specifically early choral music (ie before Bach) and even more specifically (because let’s drill down further, shall we?) early Anglican choral music. One of the reasons I consider myself Episcopalian (the American version of Church of England-you couldn’t…
I’ve recently started reading The Greatest Traitor, The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330, by Ian Mortimer. I’m a big fan of Ian Mortimer, having read his Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the 14th Century several years ago. He writes about some obscure history in a…