Lectures by Will Crutchfield
Tuesday Morning Music Class
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Archives - Spring 2020

Mar 24 The Wearing of the Green 
One week past St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration of Irish singers - especially Irish tenors - especially the greatest of them all, Count John McCormack.
 
Mar 31 Beethoven: The First Quarter-Millennium  
Here we are at another anniversary year, with sonata, symphony, and quartet cycles in progress every week. No composer so embodies the concept of good music as moral uplift. Has that become a burden? Is Ludwig holding up or rolling over?
 
Apr 7  ​Looking at Singing (New Vistas) 
The original topic should wait for the next time we have performances to anticipate. So instead I will take advantage of the way we can share visual elements in our "remote" classes, and show you some of the new ways technology (especially spectrography) can help us understand the human voice. It's been fascinating and fun to discover - and oddly beautiful to "see" great vocalism in action.  ​
 
Apr 14 Special discussion section 
Who knows what the fast-changing Covid-19 situation will be by April 14? But meanwhile, the conflict that would have kept me away has been canceled, and there will be a lot to discuss about how the arts world is affected, the different responses that have emerged and will keep emerging, and....what, if anything, each of us can do!
 
Apr 21  The Art of Accompaniment  
Today, top pianists routinely take a turn at song recitals (Kissin with Renee Fleming; Thibaudet with Gerald Finley, just to name a few from this season). The unlikely career of Gerald Moore (1899-1987) paved their way.
 
Apr 28  Forgotten Greats 
Again the original topic should wait for performances. Instead: a handful of truly great singers who, for extra musical reasons, have never become "household names." The reasons vary - geographical isolation, premature demise, neglect by record companies, career change - or in two cases, marriage (one happy, one not). But the voices are worth remembering alongside the legendary celebrities.
 
May 5  Cinco de Mayo  
Mexico in music’s history and music in Mexico’s - with some beautiful surprises and super-rare recordings. 
 
May 12  The Two Mélisandes
Among the most curious stories in all of opera: not one but two natives of the British Isles won the hearts of the Parisian public in Debussy's controversial masterpiece when it was new. The first was Mary Garden, who went on to run the Chicago Opera, star in silent movies, and serve as a talent scout for Hollywood in the golden days of the 1930s. The second was Maggie Tate (she changed it to Teyte so that the French would pronounce it correctly), who ranged from West End musicals to the modern French mélodie. Both were mavericks, to say the least, and both left a wealth of delicious recordings. 

May 19  Song Birds 
It's the long line of "song-birds" (a.k.a. coloratura sopranos) that have kept Bel Canto popular even in the days when it was out of fashion among opinion-leaders.  From Nellie Melba and Luisa Tetrazzini (who had dishes named after them), down through Sills and Sutherland, and finally a couple of the brightest lights on the current scene.  There's an element of sheer athletic fun here, and some of the most delightful and surprising records ever made come from these vocal nightingales.  ​

Other Semesters

Fall  2019

Wagner 2019

Fall 2018

Spring 2018

Fall 2017

Spring 2017

Fall 2016

Spring 2016

Fall 2015

Spring 2015

Fall 2014

Spring 2014

Fall 2013

Spring 2013

Questions? Please email WillCrutchfieldAssistant@gmail.com