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I thought perhaps my final post would be something new, something I’ve heard a lot lately. James Blake’s Assume Form was just released in January. I can’t quit it; I have it on a loop. It’s unmistakably James Blake, but also different. I mean, it’s not not sad—he...
These two poems belong to a cycle of five by Eduard Mörike. Wolf’s Peregrina songs represent a rarity in his output, a diptych of sorts—neither piece entire of itself, but together forming a musical world that illuminates the explicit narratives within, and the...
Newley and Bircusse are responsible for a whole host of very popular songs, including “Feeling Good” and “Goldfinger.” They composed scores for the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and well as several stage musicals, one of which, The Roar of the...
I didn’t know who Joni Mitchell was until I went to college and fell in love—and really I can’t think of better music with which to have ventured all that acute desire, doubt, and ambivalence. The first of her albums with which I became properly obsessed was...
Airs de cour were the songs of late 16th, early 17th century France. It’s a huge repertoire to which Michel Lambert contributed many extremely beautiful compositions. Lambert (c.1610–1696) was a composer and singer, and also famously taught singing. His...