February 12, 1924, was a frigid day in New York City. But that didn’t stop an intrepid group of concertgoers from gathering in midtown Manhattan’s Aeolian Hall for “An Experiment in Modern…
Tag: Music composition
In an ancient church in Germany, a 639-year organ performance of a John Cage composition is about to have its next note change
Composers count themselves lucky when musicians continue to perform their music after their death. But the American avant-garde composer John Cage, who died in 1992, never would have guessed that a single…
How the sounds of ‘Succession’ shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project
HBO’s “Succession” delivered its grand finale on May 28, 2023 – the climax of four award-packed seasons of searing put-downs, nihilistic humor and desperate power plays. The show tells the story of…
How Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor became Halloween’s theme song
Imagine a grand house on a hill, after dark on an autumn night. As the door opens, an organ pierces through the thick silence and echoes through the cavernous halls. The tune…
3 ways AI is transforming music
Each fall, I begin my course on the intersection of music and artificial intelligence by asking my students if they’re concerned about AI’s role in composing or producing music. So far, the…