Averill Corkin describes the moment she decided to major in the humanities after seeing a video performance of the song “Du måste finnas” (“You Have to Be There”), in which a female refugee, overcome with loss and fear, questions the existence of God. She notes, despite the language difference, she understood the woman’s experience through … Continued
According to the ancient Greeks, harmony is discord rendered concordant, a concept that applied not just to music but everything from the order of the cosmos to human relationships. I have always loved this idea for two reasons: it was predicated not on the absence or erasure of difference, but the reconciliation of it; and … Continued
Have we lost the metaphysical? And how do we regain it?
David Denby discusses hearing Herbert von Karajan conducting a performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony—a moment which made him realize the power of music as a universal language.
On February 9, 1964, The Beatles’ group appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show electrified the nation. Four months later, a young Steven Van Zandt had an “epiphany” while watching The Hollywood Palace, another variety show. That night, singer Dean Martin hosted—and then teased—The Rolling Stones, representing a generational shift. The past met the future, and … Continued
How should the study and teaching of music be integrated into K-12 classrooms? In this podcast, Ben Wides, who teaches social studies at East Side Community High School in New York, NY, and Warren Zanes, former executive director of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, discuss the benefits of music education for all students and the ways that music can be used in the teaching of other subjects to help students make connections and appreciate cultural context. They also consider some of the opportunities and challenges presented by new technologies that provide ready access to extensive musical resources.