Via Messages from the Ether, scienceblogs discusses some contentious response to Scott Spiegelberg's recent "chacun à son goût" post. Suggestions for vocal music are made; some smart commenter suggests Adams' Nixon in China, which is an excellent introduction in many regards.
Fred's earlier post about Ned Rorem's songs has had me pondering my favorite American song composer. While maybe not suitable for classical novices (nor for rigid legacy listeners), Charles Ives is my current choice, although I like what I've heard lately of Virgil Thomson. The latter may be more suitable to popsters but compared to that world, his songs may be too tame.
Although I live at the intersection of popular and elite music, or more precisely, semi-popular and semi-elite, it took attending vocal recitals to really engage with this type of music.
free napster: nixon in china virgil thomson
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