Etudes

New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein–Conductor, Pianist and All-Around Amazing Human Gasp! This one is a stunner. In this 1975 performance with the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein conducts from the bench of the grand piano THAT HE IS PLAYING. He is conducting WITHOUT A SCORE and playing WITHOUT SHEET MUSIC. Seventeen some-odd wildly complex minutes committed

There are all kinds of ways to create, perform and react to art. Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (1875) from Peer Gynt is just a few measures of notes played over and over again. How could it possibly be interesting? Close your eyes. Listen to the music through a couple of

Close your eyes. Sit back and listen to this piece through without interruption. Let the music suggest images and watch as these images appear behind your eyelids or somewhere in your mind. When the music stops, open your eyes and write down descriptions of what you saw as best as you can. Then, listening to

Music has lessons for writers, too. Experiencing it can help us to master skills we need in our art form—things like sensory awareness, observation, focus and how to transfer all of that into words. Here’s a chance to use great music to tune up our writing. Let’s try it. Read FIRST TIME THROUGH and no