The Joy of Romantic Music

15 January 202114 January 2021 The Portly Politico4 Comments

This semester started with two weeks of online learning (of which today is the last day before students and teachers return to campus after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day), so it’s been an unusually slow start to the already sleepy January term. However, that hasn’t stopped my music classes from listening to great music; indeed, we’re now covering what is perhaps my favorite period in the history of Western music: the Romantic Era.

While I adore Baroque and classical composers and their works, Romantic music builds upon the forms established in those eras, stretching and expanding upon them to reach new heights of emotional intensity and musical expressiveness. The music of the Romantic composers delights with its musical exploration of the supernatural, the mysterious, the Gothic, and the nationalistic.

Stop Amending the Classics, Bring Back Melody

22 December 202020 December 2020 The Portly Politico2 Comments

This time of year, this blog focuses big time on Christmas carols—their histories, the theory behind them, their compositions, etc. One of the great joys in my life is playing and singing these carols. They are sweet but powerful musical retellings of the Birth of Jesus.

One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that churches have taken these classics and, in an attempt to check the “contemporary Christian music” box, added unnecessary and musically-boring codas to them. This past Sunday, my parents’ church’s praise team was leading the congregation in a stirring singing of “O Come, All Ye Faithful“—and then tacked on a needless extra chorus written in a modern style. The additional chorus was okay, but it paled in comparison to the majesty and tunefulness of the carol it amended. The church went from a lusty chorus of socially-distanced congregants to a few people mumbling along to the tuneless new chorus.

The Future of Bandcamp Fridays

18 December 202018 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

[Note–after reviewing my accounting, I realized I double-counted some tip money as also a private lesson payment, so I’ve adjusted numbers down $50. That caused some minor changes in my calculations. Those should be updated and correct now. —TPP, 18 December 2020]

Regular readers will know that since March 2020, Bandcamp has been waiving its commission on sales through its platform on the first Friday of each month. The company even dedicated a webpage to answering the burning question “Is it Bandcamp Friday?“

The promotion has been a real boon for musicians—myself included—who have seen a major reduction in revenue from gigs, lessons, merch sales, and other sources of income. I just ran the numbers, and I grossed around $4976.18 this year from lessons, gigs (including a play I was in), merchandise sales, streaming payments (only $10.15—and it took five years to accumulate that much!), and Bandcamp sales (around $159.03 after payment processing fees and Bandcamp’s commission from purchases not made on Bandcamp Fridays). That’s compared to roughly $9099 grossed last year from the same sources, so about 54.69% of the revenue in 2020 vs. 2019. My lesson revenue fell to 45.34% of its value in 2019, from $7465 to $3385 (but I also only drove 1941 miles for lessons in 2020, versus just over 6000 miles for lessons in 2019).

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

17 December 202016 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Christmas is looming large—a mere eight days away—and I have been enjoying an unexpectedly quiet exam week. After returning from Orlando Monday evening, I’ve enjoyed some sleepily productive time at home, writing Christmas postcards and letters, watching movies, and enjoying the warm glow of my Christmas tree. I’ll be spending next week with family, and all the hustle and bustle of my niece and nephews, so this quiet time at home has been a welcome calm before the joyous storm.

Despite the lack of serious deadlines (other than waiting for final exams to roll in so I can grade them), I’ve managed to get quite a bit done, and I hope to get a bit ahead on the blog. I enjoy writing daily posts, but it’s nice knowing I have a few posts squared away some days in advance, as it relieves some of the pressure to produce. I’ll be doing more throwback posts and the like as Christmas approaches, as it’s the time of year when we’re all scaling back our efforts and taking a bit of a break.

That all goes to the point of this TBT post, “O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting.” The story behind the sweetly iconic carol is one of last-minute inspiration and hasty songwriting. There is something about the intense pressure of a time-crunch that turns the coal of writer’s block into glistening diamonds. Not every songwriter works this way, but I know for myself that a hard deadline does wonders for motivating this songwriter’s pen.

Indeed, during the height of distance learning in the spring, I fully anticipated I’d be churning out new hits, maybe even finalizing a long-delayed follow-up to my piano-and-vocals debut, Contest Winner – EP. Instead, I squandered my newfound time (well, “squandered” is a strong word—I quite enjoyed taking that time to work on the blog, to travel, and to do the other things I’m usually unable to do). Without a deadline pushing me to create, I didn’t get anything done!

Or maybe that’s just my excuse. Regardless, I imagine it’s something many songwriters can relate to, and it’s certainly the story behind “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

With that, here is December 2020’s “O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:

Happy 250th Birthday, Beethoven!

16 December 202015 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Today marks the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time. Beethoven’s name is usually mentioned in a triumvirate of major composers, the musical holy trinity that also includes Bach and Mozart. (curiously, composers I’ve never written about in their own right on this blog).

Beethoven was a key figure in the transition from the Classical period—the time of Mozart, Haydn, et. al.—and the Romantic period, which saw the emergence of composers like Chopin and Saint-Saëns. Classical music is renowned for its preciseness, its almost mathematical symmetry. Romantic music, on the other hand, is less predictable, more flowing and emotive. It was Beethoven who expanded classical music’s possibilities—for example, stretching symphonic form to unforeseen lengths (his symphonies are, on average, much longer than those of Mozart and Haydn, and Beethoven wrote substantially fewer of them)—and introduced new extremes of mood and dynamics into music.

The Virus and Live Music: The Story of The Roasting Room Lounge

11 December 202011 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Christmastime always puts me in a musical mood, as blog posts this week suggest. Christmas is the perfect season to illustrate the power of music, as so much wonderful music has been written about Christ’s Birth.

In The Before Times, in the Long, Long Ago, before The Age of The Virus, it was also a lucrative season for musicians. Other than wedding gigs (a market I haven’t managed to crack into yet), nothing pays better than a Christmas party. They’re fun, full of free food, and they pay well. The spirit of free-flowing generosity (and the generosity of free-flowing spirits) results in some warm winter paydays.

Of course, this year has been particularly tough for musicians, as I’ve detailed many, many times before. Revenues from private lessons and gigs seem to be bouncing back (at least for me), and the struggles of The Virus brought forth a burst of generosity. Bandcamp Fridays really helped inject some much-needed cash into the coffers of independent musicians (myself included).

Musicians have also had to get creative. That’s why I hosted my annual Spooktacular from my front porch. Venues are constrained by various local and State laws (and sometimes dictatorial edicts) limiting their capacities, and many eateries have been slow to resume live shows. That’s created real limitations on venues and artists, but it’s also opened up opportunities. My Spooktacular was mildly profitable, but it also brought people together for desperately-needed fun and camaraderie (and put a few bucks into the pockets of the musicians involved). I don’t know if that model will endure once The Virus is defeated, but it’s something for musicians to consider in this strange new world.

But for all I’ve written about the damage The Virus has caused to musicians’ finances, I haven’t looked at the impact on venues at all. That’s an unfortunate oversight on my part, because a venues’ success or failure can directly impact that of an artist. Many musically-inclined venues are coffee shops or small restaurants, so they largely cut live music as they went to take-out-only and delivery formats.

TBT: A Little Derb’ll Do Ya: Haydn’s “Derbyshire Marches”

10 December 202010 December 2020 The Portly Politico2 Comments

The blog of late has been focusing more and more on culture, specifically music. That makes sense because I am, after all, a music teacher, and am increasingly moving away from teaching social studies. That’s never been truer than this year, where I am teaching, among other things, a detailed Music Appreciation course covering the major works and stylistic periods of Western music.

This focus is also a result of a desire to move away from the constant flux of politics. More and more, I’m coming to believe that the best way to improve our lot is to focus on creating culture and building our communities. Decentralized, localized bulwarks against progressivism offer one peaceful form in which like-minded conservatives and traditionalists can continue to live freely—at least to some extent—and happily.

So in casting about for a TBT post this week, I stumbled upon this one from 16 December 2019, “A Little Derb’ll Do Ya: Haydn’s ‘Derbyshire Marches.’” My Music Appreciation students and I have been discussing Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and have listened to a number of their works this week in class.

Joseph Haydn lived a remarkable, long, and successful life. He grew up poor, and his early musical experiences involved hearing and singing the folk tunes of his native Austria. He spent his childhood singing in a church, but was turned out when his voice changed. He then made ends meet teaching music lessons and taking side gigs, slowly teaching himself how to compose.

His fortunes changed at 29 when he joined the Hungarian Esterházy family as their Kappelmeister, writing and composing a mind-boggling amount of pieces (at one point, the family staged two operas a week in their personal theatre in Hungary, all of which required Haydn’s pen and conductor’s baton). But the position—difficult as it was—made Haydn wealthy and secure.

Even in spite of his workload and an unhappy marriage, Haydn maintained a positive attitude, and adopted an optimistic, humorous outlook on life. It shows in his compositions, which are light-hearted, whimsical, joyous—and fun.

With that, here is 2019’s “A Little Derb’ll Do Ya: Haydn’s ‘Derbyshire Marches’“:

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

8 December 20208 December 2020 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Last December I dedicated several posts to reviewing and analyzing some of my favorite Christmas carols. It’s the season for playing and singing them, and the more I dive into their histories, the more I appreciate them.

One carol that escaped my notice last year was “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” It’s one of my favorites, so I’m surprised I didn’t write about it (although it did enjoy the spotlight in my Christmas Day post).

Apparently, my pastor noticed—not that I didn’t write about it on this blog, which I’m certain he doesn’t know exists, but that I didn’t play it at church. In one of his sermons, he said, “One of my favorite carols is ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.’ I didn’t hear it this Christmas season. I don’t know why they didn’t play it, but…” and then he went on to make whatever point he wanted to make. Of course, all he had to do was ask, and I would have played it!

Memorable Monday: Away in a Manger

7 December 20207 December 2020 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Yesterday marked the first December church service of the year, so I was finally able to whip out some Christmas carols for morning service. My pastor’s personal favorite carol is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” so that was our first congregational singing. But he requested an interesting pick for the second singing: “Away in a Manger.”

“Away in a Manger” is not always top-of-mind for me when it comes to Christmas carols, but it possesses the same sweet simplicity (and triple feel) of “Silent Night.” It’s also very easy to play, which makes it nice to crack open when practice time is short (“Hark!,” by contrast, is a bit more complicated, especially with its profusion of secondary dominants and moving to minor in the last couple of phrases). The melody is very sweet, and easily harmonized in thirds.

I’ll be writing about more Christmas carols this season. I hit most of the high-profile ones last year, so it’s going to be fun to dig into some of the more obscure carols over the coming weeks. But to ease into Monday, I figured I’d look back to last year’s post on “Away in a Manger” [note: I’ve cut out the lengthy preamble about the pending impeachment at the beginning of the original post, so as to focus exclusively on the hymn itself]:

The Portly Politico

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

Tag: music