Imagining books and music in quirky and creative ways
This past year I graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance. For my senior recital, I decided to do something a little different. To me, the Haydn sonata I was learning sounded like the kind Continue reading “Red Riding Hood Silent Film with Classical Music”
“After everyone had left the house, Cinderella went out to her mother’s grave under the hazel tree, and cried: ‘Shiver and shake, dear little tree, gold and silver shower on me.’ Then the bird threw down to her a gold and silver robe and a pair of slippers embroidered with silk and silver…
On the second day, when the festival was renewed and her parents and stepsisters had started forth again, Cinderella went to the hazel tree and said: ‘Shiver and shake, dear little tree, gold and silver shower on me.’ Then the bird threw down a still more gorgeous robe than on the previous day…
On the third day, when her parents and sisters had started, Cinderella went again to her mother’s grave and said: ‘Shiver and shake, dear little tree, gold and silver shower on me.’ Then the bird threw down a dress which was so magnificent that no one had ever seen the like before, and the slippers were entirely of gold.”
–Cinderella
Fairy tales often include these types of three-fold repetitions. Something will happen, it will have an effect, and then the Continue reading “The “Fairy Tale” Genre in Music”
“Every world in fiction is a mentality – a way of understanding, a means of making judgements, a catalogue of right and wrong. To build a world, we must build our characters.” —Neil MacDonald
I read this on author Neil MacDonald’s blog the other day and was struck by it. Between the two of us, we wondered what would happen if you put a literary character in another book’s setting. How would the setting itself be changed?
What if, for example, someone other than Rapunzel was trapped in that tower?
Here’s how I think the story and setting would change for five characters:
Continue reading “Bilbo Baggins in Rapunzel’s Tower (And Other Rapunzel Character Swaps)”
If Mermaids Wore Suspenders 