This blog has moved

The course for which this blog was created has ended. For more interesting posts, please visit me at cohoe.net

Not a fan of RealAudio

RealAudio is not a portable format. It's no good on my iPod or Creative Zen. It makes it a pain for me to listen to stuff if I am away from my home PC, where I never wanted to install it anyway. That said, here are some links to make some songs a little easier to listen to; at least I don't have to be signed into Vista to listen.

Gabrieli's Motet in the Churches

Handel's “Rejoice Greatly, O daughters of Zion” from Messiah

Corelli, Sonata Trio (Pgs. 124 - 126)
Movement 1
Movement 2
Movement 3
Movement 4

To learn how to convert RealAudio to MP3, visit the Neural Gourmet (works in Mac and Linux).

Who was Judith?

I was perplexed when I was reading about Baroque music and saw the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes (c. 1613) by Artemisia Gentileschi. The subject of the painting is brutal and bloody, and I had to know the story behind it.

It turns out that Judith is a deuterocanonical book of Bible. It tells the story of a widow who charms an invading general, then cuts off his head as he sleeps (or while he was drunk - take your pick).

The story has inspired many paintings and other works of art, including the famous painting (above) by Gustav Klimt and musical pieces by Vivaldi and Mozart . In the lower right corner of Klimt's painting, you can see the severed head of Holofernes. I told you it was bloody.

Musica Antiqua

Musica Antiqua is a musical ensemble from Iowa State. Their site has a fantastic collection of articles about medieval and renaissance instruments. The instrument pages include photos and mp3s of each instrument being played. A couple examples are the hurdy-gurdy and the bladder pipe.

Now is the Month of Maying

Now is the Month of Maying is a 16th century madrigal by Thomas Morley. This Renaissance tune is full of double entendre, masked by the repeated "fa la la" in the lyrics. Apparently bawdy lyrics were extremely common in madrigals.

Music at Crossroads

If you're looking for a performance in the Seattle area, especially on the Eastside, check out Crossroads mall. They have an awesome selection of musicians who play there. Crazy thing is it's free. I just saw Pearl Django and really enjoyed it. Check out the schedule; there are great acts every week.

Seattle Music On Hold

The City of Seattle has a cool site where you can hear authentic Seattle music. This is the same music you'd hear if you were on hold with city offices.

Neat thing is, it's also available as a podcast, so you can subscribe and have iTunes grab the latest songs as they are posted.