I've been reading a large collection of theories of art which comprises a great number of artist's manifestoes. This has led me to wonder just what I might write that would constitute a manifesto: what it is that I am trying to do when I compose music. As I have no discernible public career as a composer--or a very, very tiny one--I believe I can speak with complete honesty. If anyone is in a similar boat, it might be of some use. So here goes. I have to give a little background: I was born and lived my early life in the far north of Canada, an area sometimes described as "taiga." We lived in ..read more

Under the spell of a great tradition full achievement is possible even to a minor artist, because the living art brings him in touch with his task and the task with him. --Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West I guess this was inevitable. Alex Ross weighs in: The Fashionista Modernism of Yuja Wang Given this gaudy lineage, it is curious that any controversy should attend the thirty-seven-year-old pianist Yuja Wang, who seldom speaks during performances, presents programs of wide-ranging seriousness, and plays with flawless technique. The debate, such as it is, is confined to ..read more

D'Addario Pro Arte must have the best marketing department because they seem to be endorsed by most of the classical guitarists on YouTube. And they are darn good strings. I've used them for years and years. But I think that Hannabach makes the best classical guitar strings. What I really love about that package is that it says "AIR-SEALED IN BAVARIA." Not just in Germany, but in Bavaria, because you know that Bavarian air, coming right off the Alps, is the best. Here is the young Italian guitarist Cristina Galietto playing Scarlatti and yes, she uses Pro Arte strings ..read more

If music is a window on the mystical, then one of those windows has to be Morton Feldman. His later works tend to be very leisurely ..read more

I recently came back to reading some serious literature after a hiatus. I just re-read Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq. I think this qualifies as a serious contemporary novel, i.e. it features spiritual malaise and social fracture. Though with moments of dark humour, it is rather depressing as most recent serious fiction is. So when I ran across this newish genre of ergodic writing, I was surprised and delighted to find quite a different mood. Picking up the novel "S" by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, once you get it out of its outer sleeve, you are astonished to find what seems to be an old-fas ..read more

I've said a few times that pop music these days is an industrial product, coming out of music factories so here is some evidence for that. First the New York Times: How Big Is Taylor Swift? It's a very long article, impossible to summarize, but it looks as if the Beatles still hold the record for no 1 hits and top 10 hits--and they did it in an amazingly short time. Rick Beato has an interesting take on this: What we learn from that is that behind Taylor Swift is a whole musical production line with a dozen writers, a host of musicians and god only knows how many producers and engineers ..read more

After all the excesses of the last seventy years, many are suspicious of experiment in the arts. Honestly, there are artists who are not out to bamboozle anyone, but just interested in exploring and going beyond the boundaries of the medium. One interesting example is what is known as "ergodic literature." The term dates from 1997, but it is much older than that. One example familiar to musicians is the Chinese I Ching, a text used for divination and by John Cage to compose music. I read a really interesting text published in in English in 1988 by Milodan Pavić called Dictionary of the Kazars ..read more

Billie Eilish, or as I think of her, the "Slough of Despond," has a new album out. Here is the first track: For some odd reason, I started to wonder if the free marketplace is really the ideal location for the fine arts. Should we be buying and selling fine art as if it were frozen fish sticks? I throw that question out for my commentators. But let's take a brief trip through history for some clues. Also, since I don't know a heck of a lot about the other art forms I am going to focus on music. The classical music traditions of Western Europe had some distant roots in the music theory of An ..read more

 Here is a pretty good piece by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, very well played ..read more

In most professions it is unethical to comment directly on the competence of one's colleagues. In some it is prohibited by law. Since it has been decades since I retired as a performer, I think it might be safe to offer some thoughts. Plus, I have the qualifications. So here are some personal reflections on a number of famous guitarists. Andrés Segovia is the grandfather and godfather of the classical guitar in the 20th century. His career spanned nearly the whole century, from his first concert in 1909 to his last in 1987. I don't think anyone, even long-lived performers like Arthur Rubinstei ..read more