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Hodie

Hodie - "This Day" 

I have two Christmas musical traditions: raising my voice enthusiastically - though not always accurately - in the superb Dallas Bach Society's annual Messiah sing-along, and listening to - actually luxuriating in - my recording…

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Fire-fangled Feathers

Of Mere Being

The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze décor.

A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You

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The Poetry of Earth

The sounds of nature are all around us all the time wherever we are.  But we have to pay attention and somehow listen through the noise of our daily lives.  Hearing the music of bird songs, waterfalls, and wind through…

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A Die Walkure to Remember

"This high-intensity performance will surely rank as a legend in Dallas musical history."

So writes Dallas Morning News Special Contributor Scott Cantrell following the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's concert performance of Wagner's Die Walkure -- a performance I was fortunate…

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"It tolls for thee."

I wrote the piano piece "It Tolls for Thee" as a response to the killing of five police officers in Dallas in July of 2016.  However, it could have been written in reaction to the mass shooting in Las Vegas…

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Dale Cook

Our musical community lost a friend and colleague to a freak accident.  Drummer Dale Cook played with Peter Nero and Doc Severinsen, among others.  He was a first call session player, and can still be heard on many familiar sports…

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Good Morning, Midnight

Emily Dickinson wrote many of her poems in a hymn-like form - with four line stanzas, rhyming schemes, and meter.  In her poem "Good Morning, Midnight" her words "sing" in the form of The Blues.  What she says and how…Read more
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Possibility

I am always encouraged and rejuvenated after reading this poem.  To me it extols creative expression in poetry, music, and the visual arts. It communicates a refreshing attitude toward life. I dwell in Possibility --
A fairer House than Prose… Read more
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The Saddest Music Ever Written

That title caught my eye.  Yes, it refers to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. Certainly, anyone compiling a "top ten" list would have to include this piece at or near the top.  But what is it about this music…Read more