Tag: #classical music

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Alice in Wonderland

Aubrey Leaman

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Optional Bonus Challenge: Listen to the piece first before you read the rest of this post. (It’s less than 5 minutes long and you know your poor eyes could use a break!) While you’re listening, imagine who the characters might be and what they might be doing if the music was a film score to a book you’ve read. It could be Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or a different book– entirely up to you! Then you can read what I imagined below and compare the two stories (and comment letting me know how they ended up being similar or different!!).

Again, totally optional. And now without further ado: Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Alice in Wonderland” →

Music

Why Do the “Bad Guys” Listen to Classical Music?

Aubrey Leaman

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Have you ever noticed that in some movies the “bad guy” is really into classical music (particularly from the 18th-19th centuries)? Siegfried in Get Smart, Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows…etc. But why? As Continue reading “Why Do the “Bad Guys” Listen to Classical Music?” →

Books, Music

The Weirdness of Time in Classical Music (And Books, Too)

Aubrey Leaman

Time is what you might call capricious. It can crawl at an agonizing pace or it can pass in the blink of an eye. It can steal an hour of your sleep in the spring or graciously bestow it in the fall. If you’re the Mad Hatter and tried to murder it, it can even freeze. And of course memories and hopes allow you to dwell in the past and future, respectively. Continue reading “The Weirdness of Time in Classical Music (And Books, Too)” →

Books

A Bookish Guide to De-Stressing After the Election

Aubrey Leaman

So the election happened. Maybe you’re happy, maybe you’re not. (Please don’t leave political views in the comments section! This is a strictly book-and-music safe space.) But I think we could all use a bit of a detox. So here are some books to read in the aftermath of the crazies:

1. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

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A simple and lovely picture book, follow Madeline into Continue reading “A Bookish Guide to De-Stressing After the Election” →

Classical Music Stories

Guided Tour: Little Red Riding Hood in Classical Music

Aubrey Leaman

4 Red Riding Hood pic.jpg

Below is a step by step “tour” of a short piece imagined in relation to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The timings beside each paragraph correspond to the timings on the video so you can follow along if you wish. You can either listen to the piece first (it’s only about a minute and a half long) and then read the story, read first and then listen, or do some kind of combination thereof. There is no right or wrong way! Continue reading “Guided Tour: Little Red Riding Hood in Classical Music” →

Classical Music Stories

Classical Music Stories: Robert Frost

Aubrey Leaman

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Classical Music Stories is a series where music is listened to as though it were the soundtrack to one of your favorite books (or in this case, poems).

The following music/story pairing is based on Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”:

Part One: The speaker begins his journey. While he Continue reading “Classical Music Stories: Robert Frost” →