Category: Uncategorized

  • Poem: “Black Boys Play the Classics”

    (Photo: Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897.) Another example of “complicating” the repertoire. Is this poem about cultural appropriation or cross-cultural encounter? Black Boys Play the Classics BY TOI DERRICOTTE The most popular “act” in Penn Station is the three black kids in ratty sneakers & T-shirts playing two violins and a cello—Brahms. White men in business suits…

  • A Coat

    “A Coat,” a poem by William Butler Yeats. I made my song a coat Covered with embroideries Out of old mythologies From heel to throat; But the fools caught it, Wore it in the world’s eyes  As though they’d wrought it.           Song, let them take it            For there’s more enterprise            In walking naked. What happens to…

  • Symphony for a Broken Orchestra

     

  • Who Does Classical Music Belong To?

    “Great Performances” Gives Us “Illmatic,” Orchestrated (article in Salon.com). Nas describing his collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra. Nas performing “One Love” with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Sir Mix-a-Lot performing “Baby Got Back” with the Seattle Symphony.