Music Archives - Page 3 of 7

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Was Theodor Adorno “The Fifth Beatle”?

How a conspiracy theory about the Frankfurt School made its way around the world

October 8, 2019 • by Andrew Woods

His latest theory asserts the Beatles could not have written their own songs, because they “were semi-literate in music” and “barely knew how to play the guitar.” Instead it was Adorno, a composer trained by Alban Berg and skilled in twelve-tone technique, who masterminded the Lennon-McCartney songbook. Carvalho’s remarks will baffle fans of ...

Growing Up With Bruce Springsteen

I wouldn’t be the man I am without him

September 30, 2019 • by Eric Alterman

To be honest, I don’t know how to sum up the role Springsteen has played in my life so far or even give it a coherent structure. Part of the problem is that I discovered Bruce when I was fifteen and I’m now fifty-nine. My understanding of the world and ...

Art & Design

The Art of Change Opera 0.1

An ongoing libretto

September 20, 2019 • by Chiara Bottici

The following is the opera’s libretto, conceived and developed by the philosopher and writer Chiara Bottici. In accordance with the spirit of the Centennial and of The New School’s legacy, it will be an ongoing and open libretto: we invite all readers to suggest changes, to propose quotations from their ...

North America

The America of Small Things

“A Song for You”*

July 8, 2019 • by Maria Bucur

But I love to celebrate all those things that make the United States the place I love. Most of those “things” are the people in their beautiful diversity, with their words, looks, and especially songs. My family and I spent a good part of the July 4th holiday week with dear ...

Uncategorized

An Unexpected Concertmaster

How Shakespeare Influenced the Romantic Era

June 20, 2019 • by Max Serrano-Wu

You thought Shakespeare was all about the language? Not according to the scholars who estimate there are over 20,000 Shakespeare-inspired pieces of classical music! During the Romantic Era, composers such as Johannes Brahms, Giuseppe Verdi, and Antonín Dvořák drew inspiration from tragedies like Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. They gravitated to ...

Education

Uncovering the Musical Divide

The tale of two cultures at the Mannes School of Music and The New School

December 14, 2018 • by Sally Bick

When Julia Foulkes, a historian at The New School, asked me to write about the historical cultures that defined the Mannes School of Music and those of the New School, I couldn’t help but think about my own musical pedigree: once a performer, now music scholar. This disciplinary divide is ...

Feature

The Feminine Revolution of Electronic Music

After years of male domination and overt sexism, DJs and producers grow in number and international impact

December 11, 2018 • by Manu Garrido

In 2015, the German artist Tujamo released the song Booty Bounce , which became one of the hits of the summer. The only sentence of the theme is Let me see that booty bounce (Let me see how that ass moves). The video clip, which is on its way to 18 million views, is three minutes of girls ...

The Feminine Revolution of Electronic Music

Blue Monday

Why I Play the Blues

A Very Brief Reflection on the Meaning of Politics and its Limits

October 22, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

The “Blue Monday” column began as a way of integrating the two passions of my life: politics and music and especially jazz. Readers will have noted that lately I have strayed from this purpose, and my columns have become political commentaries pure and simple. My obsession with politics is in part an ...

Blue Monday

Twisted

Thoughts on the insanity in the White House

September 10, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington This past week we have been vividly reminded of what we long have known: that the man currently occupying the office of President of the United States, the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief of ...

Blue Monday

Evil Ways

Reflections on sometimes supporting politicians who make us sick, and on politicians and musicians who raise us up

August 27, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday night, while watching MSNBC, I was taken aback to see a new TV ad from the re-election campaign of Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana). Donnelly, along with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, has long positioned ...

Blue Monday

The Whole World Is Watching?

Thoughts on police violence in the streets of Bucharest and the streets of Portland, Charlottesville, Ferguson, and Chicago 1968

August 13, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues.” -Duke Ellington This past Friday night, August 10, a major demonstration was held at Piata Victorei in downtown Bucharest to protest the widespread corruption of the SPD government, led by Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă, and by the ...

Blue Monday

Compared to What? A Very Dark Thought about November

(and an electrifying and enduring song of resistance)

August 6, 2018 • by Jeffrey C. Isaac

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington Last Thursday, August 2, the daily Lie Fest otherwise known as the Sarah Huckabee Sanders White House press briefing featured the country’s five top intelligence officials, who individually and collectively announced to the world that ...