Wearing his baseball cap and uniform, Charlie Brown comes into his living room, where his sister, Sally, sits watching TV on her bean-bag chair. Dejectedly, Charlie says to her, “It’s the last game of the season, and we lost.” Sally just walks away, saying to a puzzled Charlie, “So what does that mean?” With his … Read more
Last December, Morley Books, the publishing arm of Crisis, launched my book, Surprised by Beauty: A Listener’s Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music. I mention this not to agitate sales, but because the widespread aversion to 20th-century music, well-earned by the cacophonists, makes me sorry for those who, having been aurally battered, shy away … Read more
The Catholic Church teaches that everyone ought to know certain things about God, man, and the world. This position—factually, not arrogantly, held—means that, now as in centuries past, concentrated effort must be made to bring this knowledge to others whatever their political or cultural condition. As Pope John Paul II put it on World Mission … Read more
The Finnish CD label, Ondine, has recently brought to concluÂsion the first recorded traversal of Einar Englund’s seven symphonies, and the budget Naxos label has issued a magnificent recording of Englund’s Second and Fifth Symphonies, along with his First Piano Concerto. The now-available evidence reveals a major 20th-century symphonist (1916-1999) who was left in the … Read more
Five years ago, the title of this Crisis column was—you guessed it!—”Schall at 70.” Time, as they say, marches on—or, to cite an old song, it “changes everything.” Actually, if time literally changed everything, including “what it is to be Schall,” Schall would not still be here. Though shaky, evidence supports the thesis that he … Read more
It is the Christmas season, and I am writing this article for anyone in danger of being institutionalized if they have to listen to Handel’s Messiah again, or for those shopping for a music lover sure to possess a recording of it already. So let us go beyond that sublime masterpiece to a variety of … Read more
Selling one’s soul to the devil to acquire riches, political or intellectual power, or pleasure is a theme as old as Adam and Eve. It is what the tempting of Christ in the desert was about; it is what Faust is about. The issue can come up in amusing ways. In Elmore Leonard’s novel Tishomingo … Read more
Fall is the season of harvest but also of essential sales of wine and music. That seems fitting since we are headed indoors to enjoy the early and deliciously chilly darkness by a roaring fire. For the wine, pay attention to the bargains from southern France and Spain—about the only bargains left for the indigent … Read more
The responsorial refrain for the Friday of the 15th Ordinary Week reads, “You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die” (Isaiah 38:10-17). Taken literally, this is nonsense. We shall die. What is peculiar to Christianity is, indeed, the resurrection of the body, but this doctrine does not mean that we shall not die. … Read more
The Naxos label is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and you should join in the fun. In this short period of time, this astonishing budget label has released more than 2,500 recordings, most of the finest quality, as attested to by the many prestigious awards Naxos and its artists have won. What would otherwise have cost … Read more
A month after the fall semester begins, we can talk about students. Parents often wonder what students are learning in their classes. In 1933, Etienne Gilson, in a lecture titled “The Eminence of Teaching” (A Gilson Reader, 1957), recalled St. John Baptist de la Salle, the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. “We … Read more
I have spent the last several months listening to some of the finest chamber music I have ever encountered by a composer of whom you have probably never heard. Until I began dabbling in and then fanatically pursuing the works of Russian composer Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915), I had not heard of him either. If you … Read more
Religious oratorios would hardly seem to be the musical medium of our times, but they are cropping up with a persistence that invites attention. In April, I wrote of American composer John Adams’s new Christmas composition, El Nino, a deeply flawed but fascinating attempt to come to terms with the 21st-century remnants of Christian faith. … Read more
In March, I wrote, ironically, about the “right” to be obese. It turns out that the January 9 L’Osservatore Romano carried two related items, the Holy Father’s November 3, 2001, letter to the director general of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and an address of Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, the Vatican’s representative to … Read more
The central fact of history is the Nativity. It poses the single most important question: Who is Christ? Few ages would seem further removed from a concern over the answer than our own. However, America’s most popular composer, John Adams (b. 1947), has now written an opera/oratorio on the subject, titled El Nino or, as … Read more
I am often astonished at what the Holy Father says. On December 4, 2001, Pope John Paul II gave an audience to the bishops of Honduras, in which he recalled the fifth centenary of the first Mass on the American continent. The pope did not hesitate to declare that this Mass was a great event … Read more
If you have heard of American composer Peter Schickele (b. 1939), it is probably because of his musical antics as P.D.Q. Bach or his Public Radio International (PRI) program, Schickele Mix. In either case, these means of acquaintance would probably leave you surprised to know that Schickele is also a “serious” composer. It surprised me. … Read more
On walking by two Catholic churches, I noticed something odd: One has “Daily Worship” and the other has “Mass.” This diversity of wording made me curious. St. Matthew’s Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., both have “Masses.” I looked in the phone book under “churches.” Anglican … Read more
I am torn between writing about American composer George Antheil’s life and writing about his music. Each contains such wild improbabilities that one cannot help but be intrigued and amused by the delightful eccentricities of both. I wonder if the connection between the two might not be crime—of both the literal and musical sort. Take, … Read more
A gentleman in Sought Carolina recently recalled hearing Professor Ronald Nash (Western Kentucky University) speaking at Hillsdale College. Nash had received a copy of my book The Praise of “Sons of Bitches”: On the Worship of God by Fallen Men. He quipped that on receiving the book, he immediately hastened to its index to see … Read more
