The Fredösphere

William Bolcom's sprawling oratorio Songs of Innocence and Experience was recorded at the University of Michigan last year and released by Naxos.  I've got a copy of it from the library and I've started to wade in.  These are (ooh, watch me work this metaphor!) deep waters, and I'm lousy at the review business, so you'll get no such thing here -- but I'll mention that Michael Daugherty (now the chair of the composition department at the U-M School of Music) was thanked in the liner notes for playing a key role in making the recording happen.  Meanwhile, I see Bolcom's got a new CD out, again from Naxos:  he provides piano accompaniment for soprano Carole Farley in a recital of his songs.  Bolcom asks a good question:  "who but a courageous soprano would start a recording with a scream?"

Next, with a grace that appears effortlessly clever, I pivot the subject of this post on the mention of "piano" near the end of the previous paragraph as a means of introducing The Well-Tempered Blog, which has lots of great links for pianists and all musicians.  I noticed there a link to another person (besides me) who cannot approach the music of Messiaen as a mere pile of notes.

Finally, here's a link on the mainstreaming of homeschoolers, which I offer as a follow up to my post on the subject.  I daresay within a few years, the subculture of my church (and thousands of others like it) will tip, after which those parents not homeschooling will be the minority feeling the pressure to conform.  As parents who are not really committed to homeschooling make it their choice, the whole movement will jump the shark, horror stories will multiply, and pressure to regulate will grow.  I'm not looking forward to it.