TBT^2: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau”

11 January 20247 January 2024 The Portly Politico2 Comments

One of my favorite pieces of the Romantic period is Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau, which depicts a musical cruise down the titular river. I’m not sure why I always reblog about it in January—the piece has a much more springtime feel—but here we are.

I’ve been composing more and more programmatic and Impressionistic music lately, and nothing I’ve written lives up to what Smetana achieves in this piece.

But I said it all best back in 2021—and reblogged it in 2022.

With that, here is 13 January 2022’s “TBT: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s ‘The Moldau’“:

TBT^2: The Hermit’s Life

4 January 202415 December 2023 The Portly Politico1 Comment

Well, it’s back to classes today for yours portly, and the glorious wonder of Christmas Break has officially ended (it technically ended yesterday with a teacher workday). Yours portly is wondering why we couldn’t have a proper Christmas Break and head back to work next Monday, but I don’t get to make those decisions.

This cold, dark time of year often makes me want to hole up with hot food and old movies. It also seems that I come down with some manner of respiratory illness, but here’s hoping that’s not the case this year (I’m writing this post super early). The combination means I spend a lot of time loafing around with my dog.

It’s never been clear to me if I am an extrovert or an introvert. I am gregarious at parties and love laughing and having deep conversations. But family members will also note that, at large gatherings, I’ll typically disappear at some point, usually to some forgotten, quiet nook of whatever house or venue we’re at, reading a book or taking a nap. My younger brother jokes about how I manage to disappear at family get-togethers.

I’ve read that some people have a certain amount of social energy, and they need to let it restore itself. That tracks with my experience: after a certain point, I am ready to be home. That said, I think my meter refills quickly—I have quick “mana regen,” in JRPG terms. A lazy weekend is usually enough to restore me to take on another never-ending week.

Whatever the case, I think we could all use some quiet alone time now and then.

With that, here is 5 January 2023’s “TBT: The Hermit’s Life“:

TBT: Napoleonic Christmas

28 December 202314 December 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Somehow, I’d never reblogged this classic TPP post until this summer, when I did a retrospective look back at TPP’s Greatest Hits; “Napoleonic Christmas” came in as “Track III” on that list. This post got picked up by a conservative news aggregator back in 2019, which caused its views to skyrocket.

I have always possessed a certain fascination with France and the French, and Napoleon is easily the most fascinating Frenchman of all. That’s somewhat ironic considering he was a Corsican, from an island that belonged to an Italian city-state until said city-state needed to settle some debts with France and handed over the island in lieu of payment. The Bonaparte family was from a line of minor Italian nobility, and were fiercely in favor of Corsican independence.

Funny how that works: an Italian from a nationalistic Corsican family became the greatest political and military figure in modern French history. We can never know what might become of a life.

As I’ve learned more about Napoleon, I disagree more with Andrew Roberts’s assessment of Napoleon in the linked video. While Napoleon may have been responding to declarations of war by going on the offensive, he also had clear designs to stretch his influence all the way to India. Indeed, he sought to emulate his hero, Alexander the Great. The French also mercilessly plundered the cultural and artistic heritage of Italy in the process.

Regardless, Napoleon is a fascinating and complicated figure, and if he doesn’t earn our admiration, he certainly earned our grudging respect.

With that, here is 23 December 2019’s “Napoleonic Christmas“:

TBT^2: “Silent Night” Turns 200

21 December 202313 December 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

On Tuesday’s edition of Open Mic Adventures I shared my impromptu rendition of “Silent Night“; as such, I figured I’d throwback to this classic post about the timeless Christmas classic for this installment of TBT.

I’ve always loved the sweet, peaceful simplicity of this carol. It also lends itself to multiple interpretations. My Middle School Music Ensemble students have done it in 4/4 in a punk rock style. One year, my High School Music Ensemble played it as a bluesy, Christmas-Eve-at-a-roadside-honkey-tonk jam in 6/8 (but, as I recall, only in practice—that might have been too bold for the sensibilities of my administration).

But the song is best presented as it was 205 years ago: sung by a small choir on a cold Christmas night.

With that, here is 12 December 2019’s “TBT: ‘Silent Night’ Turns 200“:

TBT: Joy to the World

14 December 20233 December 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Somehow, I have not reblogged my 2019 post about “Joy to the World,” one of my favorite Christmas carols, in four years!

I’ve always loved the bouncy, joyful nature of this piece, and I almost always program it for our annual Christmas Concert. Indeed, this year my Middle School Music Ensemble students performed it. While we’re working on the piece, I always give my students a little speech to try to get them into the spirit of the piece. Essentially, I tell them to imagine what it would have been like to be a shepherd on that starlit night, and for a heavenly host of infinite singing angels to burst suddenly into the sky, belting out “For Unto Us a Child Is Born!”

Our goal, I tell my students, is to capture some fraction of the overawing joy and majesty of that moment when we perform “Joy to the World.”

With that, here is 10 December 2019’s “Joy to the World“:

TBT^16: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting

7 December 20232 December 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

My students have their big Christmas concert tomorrow, and while we’re not performing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on this year’s program, there’s quite a bit of pressure to get everything sounding and looking good! Like most folks, I don’t like stress, but it’s amazing how it forces us to get stuff done—and to make it even better!

The story of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is relatable to songwriters, but I think speaks to all of us who have had to create or complete something with a ticking clock and high expectations. “It takes pressure to create diamonds,” they say, and the frantic, last-minute composition of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is a testament to that principle.

With that, here is 15 December 2022’s “TBT^4: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:

TBT^2: Game Review: Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution

30 November 202326 November 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Thanksgiving Break is long gone and Christmas Break is still a good ways off, so yours portly doesn’t quite have the time to game that I did just recently. I’ve had a blast playing my Nintendo Switch Lite lately, especially diving into F-Zero 99. I’ve been hitting Civilization VI on my PC pretty hard, too, which has fed my highly cyclical video gaming buzz.

So, in the spirit of video game nostalgia, I thought I’d look back to a review of a game that’s not nearly as good as the ones I just mentioned, but which still devoured a ton of my time in late 2021.

With that, here is 10 November 2022’s “TBT: Game Review: Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution“:

TBT^65,536: It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle!

23 November 202312 November 2023 The Portly Politico1 Comment

It’s kind of humorous to consider that the very first “It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle” post from 2017 reflected upon my dangerous fall from a ladder, resulting in a broken wrist, as I am not celebrating Thanksgiving with a broken ankle (so far, the ankle has been going a bit better than the wrist). I’ve been incredibly blessed throughout the entire process, as I’ve noted multiple times across other posts.

I haven’t always been grateful. I’ve been upset with some of the lackluster response to my creative output, and have perhaps been overly vocal about it on this blog. Part of me thinks that after five years of slogging away, I’d have something to show for this blog. If a million words or so isn’t read, do they truly exist?

But I shouldn’t complain too much. I did well in October with Bandcamp Friday, even if it was below my expectations. It was actually my second best day on Bandcamp.

My personal life is in a much better place now than it was a year ago at this time, too. I’ve lost some weight and am dating a very sweet flight attendant, which is kind of the equivalent of the nerdy liar who would claim he was dating a Canadian supermodel (but mine is real, I promise!). We don’t get to see each other as much as either of us would like, but we’re both fairly independent people, so it works out nicely.

Murphy is doing well, too, although she’s been chewing her paws a bit lately. Something to get checked out as soon as we can get to the vet.

All in all, I’m extremely blessed: a good house, a good family, a good dog, a good job—all thanks to a good God.

With that, here’s “TBT^256: It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle!“:

TBT^2: Resist the Black Pill

16 November 202312 November 2023 The Portly Politico2 Comments

It was another disappointing election day last week, both locally and nationally, with Democrats doing better than anyone would reasonably expect and infanticide enshrined in Ohio’s State constitution.

But we have so much to be thankful for as conservatives. Roe was overturned, after all, and at least we can have these political battles to protect the unborn, instead of their murder being illicitly enshrined in the national Constitution. Trump is outperforming Biden in polls, although that doesn’t mean much at this point, nor does it mean much when election shenanigans are widespread.

Regardless, we must continue to hope and to pray—and to believe. I’m fairly pessimistic about America’s longtime prospects, but it comes from a place of realism, not desperation (as, I’m sad to admit, it at times has). In the meantime, God Has Given me ample opportunities to make a difference among the people in my life. That’s all most of us can reasonably ask.

With that, here is “TBT: Resist the Black Pill“:

TBT^16: Hand it to Handel

9 November 20237 November 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Ah, yes, November. The fun of Halloween is over; the fun of Christmas is just beginning. But there’s more to this humble month than being the turkey sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas.

November is when the air turns crisp and cool (here in South Carolina, anyway), when cozy sweaters and hot cups of coffee become the order of the short days at Portly Manor.

It’s also the time of year when my musical tastes skew more Baroque. After all, some of the best Christmas carols have Baroque or Classical origins, and boast some incredible composing talents behind them.

One of those is Handel, a composer for whom my respect deepened greatly when I taught about his music in my Pre-AP Music Appreciation class many moons ago.

With that, here is “TBT^4: Hand it to Handel“:

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Category: TBT