Stephen M. Klugewicz

Learning to Love Berlioz

Hector Berlioz relished the spectacular sounds that could be achieved with massive orchestral forces, but he was much more than a musical showman. His gift for melody, his genius for musical drama, his mastery of orchestration, and his bold originality place him in the front rank of...

The Gates of Vienna

The Gates of Vienna: Baroque Organ Music from the Habsburg Empire, performed by Robert James Stove (Ars Organi, 2018) The organ is in truth the grandest, the most daring, the most magnificent of...

“I Must Ever Weep”: Haydn’s Musical Elegy to Mozart

"I love him too much." —Joseph Haydn, about his friend Wolfgang Mozart "Joseph Haydn with Mozart," by V. Janschiek Wolfgang Mozart and Joseph Haydn were the two masters of the Classical Period...

The Imaginative Historian: Forrest McDonald & the Art of History

Many believe that objectivity is the historian’s goal. But Forrest McDonald believed that history by its very nature entails artifice; the historian is not simply a mere recorder or reporter of events, but also an artist... “History is marble, and remains forever cold, even under the...

A Requiem for Manners

Christian chivalry harmonized human relations. Without it, society could only be held together by brute force and cold reason. Gone would be the warmth of considerate human relations, corrupted would be the morals of men, and all would be reduced to slaves... Today’s offering in our...

Was Ty Cobb Really a Nice Guy After All?

"You wouldn't believe how many guys wanted to play here. We had to beat 'em off with a stick. Ty Cobb wanted to play. But none of us could stand the son of a b---- when we were alive, so we told him to stick it!" —Shoeless...

How an Obscure Woman’s Letters Transformed a President

"They say you won't succeed because 'making a man President cannot change him,'" Julia Sand wrote. "But making a man President can change him! If there is a spark of true nobility in you, now is the occasion to let it shine"... Today’s offering in our...

Mike Rowe’s Little Platoons

In an age of cynicism and selfishness, Mike Rowe's "Returning the Favor" is an unabashedly feel-good show, telling the story of the many unsung, little, local platoons that comprise the heart of our communities and that quietly give the lie to the idea that only the omnipotent State can take...

Ten Things You Don’t Know About Robert E. Lee

To those Americans who revere him—sadly, a dwindling number these days—Robert E. Lee is still much a "Marble Man": the noble face of the antebellum South, the tragic embodiment of the Lost Cause, the "perfect" man, as a contemporary deemed him. Even his admirers are unaware of...

Nolan Ryan & Me: A Story of a Baseball Legend’s Final Spring

"Ryan is the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he can get you out but because he can kill you." —Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson It was the last day of our spring training odyssey: Sunday,...

The Decline of Western Civilization in 10 Pictures

Without any ado, here are ten pictures that convey how far Western Civilization has fallen over the last centuries. 1. Mozart conducting one of his own settings of the Mass, circa 1780; modern church service with rock band   2. Crowd watching baseball game, early...

Copying Mozart: Did Beethoven Steal Melodies for His Own Music?

Did Beethoven steal tunes from his older contemporary for the "Eroica" Symphony, the Ninth Symphony, and for his most popular and beautiful song?... It is one of the most popular tunes in all of classical music, nay, in all...

The “Wild and Terrible” Mozart

"Too wild and terrible" is what Ludwig van Beethoven is reported to have said about Mozart's famous Requiem. And despite the popularity of this great, unfinished work, the "wild and terrible" side of Mozart has generally been obscured...

Good Books and Great Music for Christmas Gifting

Here are four recently-published books and four new classical music albums that I have greatly enjoyed this past year... Books I've read several excellent...