Against a modern age that denied notions of meaning, purpose, and truth, Richard Weaver articulated a conservatism of hope and affirmation based on the Platonic-Christian heritage and its manifestation in the American South. Richard Weaver reasoned it was the emergence of nominalism, the departure from Platonism and Christianity, which produced the intellectual heresies leading to [...]
Some years ago, my wife and I decided to forego the over-crowded restaurants and parking lots on Valentine’s Day, light a few candles of our own, and enjoy a romantic dinner at home. With this year’s health concerns and, in some cases, more limited restaurant seating to compete for, it may be just the year [...]
O strange awakening to a world of gloom, And baffled moonbeams and delirious stars, Of souls that moan behind forbidden bars, And waving forests swept by wings of doom; […]
The music of little-known Baroque composer Francesco Antonio Bonporti embodies a kind of Arcadian serenity and joy, like the music of Mozart. Art conceived along those lines is closely tied to the refinement of the spirit, in which the senses do not go their own brutish way but are reconciled with the mind by means [...]
One longstanding Church practice oriented to the worship of God has been the chanting of psalms and hymns. From the earliest times, monks engaged in liturgical chanting that complemented their often grueling lives. These monks managed to accommodate hours spent in choir while providing for their material needs. In his French-language book, Pourquoi Mozart, author [...]
Classical music comes to us from a very long and very human tradition. The concert hall thus should be the embodiment of classical music’s character: It should above all feel human, feel familiar, feel knowable, and feel intimate as often as it feels exalted. Hot on the heels of what was surely disappointing news for Maris [...]
Franz Schubert composed his “Death and the Maiden” quartet—one of the most compelling, soulful, profound, irresistible pieces of classical music—while battling syphilis and depression. It’s not just the maiden that Death is after in the music. It’s Schubert. I don’t consider myself to be someone easily seduced, much less by Death, but Franz Schubert’s “Death [...]
Indeed no words can better be used to describe Mozart’s music than “sublime” and “natural.” Beethoven is heroic, tragic—although at the end, he too can be sublime, with the autumnal serenity of a warrior turned contemplative; Bach erects his marvelously ornate cathedrals of sound—and occasionally he too passes into a timeless realm which could be [...]
Classical music is born of the accumulating wisdom of the ages, with a canon that represents, like all canons, the mind of a civilization. And yet we have not learned to articulate our own defense. Or rather, like our compatriots, we have forgotten how to articulate it. I founded the Foundation for the Future of [...]
Here’s what makes Samuel Barber stand out in this era of increasing atonalism in classical music: He didn’t adhere to any one school or philosophy of composition. He maintained a Romantic, lyrical sound, ignored the twelve-tone racket, yet incorporated a dissonant angularity into his works that produced a decidedly 20th century result. The list must begin [...]
We Americans like to think of ourselves as anti-monarchical; most of us on the Right are self-styled small-r republicans, while Leftists think of themselves as small-d democrats. In addition, we all, Right and Left, fancy that what unites Americans is devotion to a set of ideas to which we all adhere, and which are best [...]
Rifles and Rosary Beads You hold on to what you need Vicodin, morphine dreams Rifles and Rosary Beads Yellow smoke orange haze Blowin' into my eyes Whistling sunset bombs I couldn't trust the sky Rifles and Rosary Beads You hold on to what you need Vicodin, morphine dreams Rifles, Rosary Beads White knuckles wrapped around [...]
The best moral formation often comes from music. It was my first year singing in our Dominican Schola and I was learning the intricate beauty of polyphony. A more seasoned brother leaned over and let me know that I’d really “internalized the tempo.” “Great!” I thought to myself, “I’m getting the hang of this.” My face must [...]
Jimmy Carter was a nice, good man who epitomized American Christianity’s reduction to Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism. As such, the singing of John Lennon's atheistic "Imagine"—Carter's favorite song—at the former president's funeral was entirely appropriate. Last week at former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral, country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang ex-Beatle John Lennon’s song Imagine, [...]