On a recent tour through Europe, I made opera stops in Paris and London to see Lucia di Lammermoor by DoniÂzetti (1797-1848) and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich (1906-1975). However, my first destination was Ljubljana, Slovenia, for a non-musical conference. There, I was told that 13 Slovenes die each day, while only nine are … Read more
The famous Christmas carol goes, “Adeste fideles, laeti triÂumphantes.” The translation reads, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.” The Latin is more succinct: “Come, be present, happy, triumphant.” The carol continues, “come”, then repeats, “venite.” Few refrains are more haunting. But “be present where?” we wonder. The answer comes: “Venite, venite in BethÂlehem.” … Read more
Finally, a leader has spoken about the real, essential lam, as it emanates from a contest within Islam itself over the most important things. With startling—indeed alarming—clarity, Pope Benedict XVI told his audience in Regensburg, Germany, that not only is violence in spreadÂing faith unreasonable and therefore against God, but that a conception of God … Read more
In the latter half of the 19th century, German music so dominated the European continent that the French were left wondering what could be distinctively theirs, aside from French insouciance, wit, and whimsy. France could not comÂpete in the symphony (Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, etc.), and Wagner had swamped the opera world. Erik Satie (1866-1925) came … Read more
When asked to write a colÂumn in the Georgetown student newspaper, I requested the editor not to change a submitted word without my permisÂsion. This concern results from long experience. Your finest word turns out, in print, to be “blah” because some editor knew better than you, the writer, what you should have said. The … Read more
For twelve years I have been composing this column. Sometimes I wonder if many people read it. Then I remember that I have seldom, if ever, written to columnists I regularly read. So why should anyone write to me? During my broadcasting career, I suffered similar doubts when I was on the air daily to … Read more
The pastor of the Anglican parish in Georgetown, Rev. Charles Nalls, suggested lunch. I proposed Billy Martin’s, about halfway between his parish and the university. We both wore Roman collars, both arrived on time. The restaurant was not crowded after the noontime rush. We talked of things ecclesiastical and otherwise. No one was in a … Read more
“If any man,” says the preacher, “can show just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.” At that the door is flung open, and in strides anybody from a dozen old movies. The screenÂwriters knew their trade. The one marriage service from … Read more
There are all sorts of ways to get the Requiem wrong, as illustrated by a number of new releases of musical settings of this venerable text, and ways to get it right also, as some other superb new CDs show. The same is true of the Stabat Mater. The works I deal with here were … Read more
What is peculiar to CatholiÂcism is that, while it is a religion of intellect, it is also concerned with the salvation of lesser luminaries, of ordinary folks. The aborted fetus has the same tranÂscendent destiny as the greatest phiÂlosopher or the greatest sinner. Indeed, the greatest philosopher and the greatÂest sinner may be, to recall … Read more
Into the face that most resembles Christ now look: for by her radiance only she can render you prepared for seeing Christ. (Paradiso 32.85-87) So says St. Bernard to the pilgrim Dante, urging him to gaze into the countenance of Mary, as they stand at the threshold of the Beatific Vision. They are words I have … Read more
Bruckner at the beach? I don’t think so. Sand and high seriÂousness are strange bedfellows. So let us construct the aural equivalent of the summer reading list based upon music that is amiable, off the beaten path, and, well, fun. I happen to have a huge inventory of CD recommendaÂtions that fits the bill. The … Read more
Thomas Aquinas put things succinctly. He found numÂberless things about which to think. He could, with few words, illuminate the whole of what is in logiÂcal form. He wrote little about politiÂcal things. He discussed other topics normally called “political”—property, rebellion, prudence, justice, virtue, and common good. In commenting on the Gospels of Matthew and … Read more
Last January, I promised to cover more releases of AmeriÂcan music as a rebuke to the noxious thesis that our only culture is agriculture—or, even worse, pop culÂture. But who would know about these riches, and how? They have received very little exposure, and now get even less. Every weekday, National Public Radio used to … Read more
Book one, chapter one, of Aquinas’s Summa Contra Gentiles, concerning wisdom, begins by citing Proverbs: “My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate iniquity” (8:7). Aquinas finds two sides to this statement. The first is “to mediÂtate and speak forth of the divine truth which is truth in person”; the second, “to refute … Read more
Arthaus Musik, distributed by Naxos, has released an inÂtriguing series of seven DVDs titled Leaving Home: Orchestral Music in the 20th Century. Created for a TV conÂsortium in 1996, Leaving Home features conductor Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony OrÂchestra on a tour through some of the significant musical landmarks of the … Read more
On February 10, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI received his old Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith colleagues. The pope here broached the noblest issues of our kind. Many things were sucÂcinctly put together that are not often put together, succinctly or otherwise. “Faith has a fundamental importance in the life of the Church, because … Read more
What wonders we American Catholics have seen. Schools, whose joists were sawn and spiked by the hands of men who would send their children there, now empty, crumbling; whole orders of nuns doffing their habits, then their faith and reason too, worthy societies dwindling into a few old men with beers and a shuffleboard table, … Read more
Gramophone/FM Classic awarded Naxos the classical label of the year award in 2005. Based on the evidence so far, I am prepared to concede the award to Naxos in 2006. I am supplied monthly with a list of releases from Naxos and from its distributed labels—such as CPO, Profil, and Marco Polo—that is simply staggering … Read more
Men are subject to subtle temptations. The most dangerous of these temptations suggests that, by our own power and ingenuity, we can both identify the root problem causing human ills and eliminate it. At bottom, it is a technical, rather than a personal problem. We can solve it without solving the question of our souls. … Read more