Category Archives: Music

Jerry Coyne on Deepak Chopra, Alex Ross on Max Richter, and others

Posted on Wednesday 12 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Jerry Coyne on Deepak Chopra And on the latest argument for the compatibility of science and faith A misleading article on the recent “paradigm” shift in the understanding of human evolution Reviews of new books by Sarah Bakewell and Sarah … Continue reading →

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Theory of Mind, UFOs, and Music

Posted on Thursday 6 April 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Three items today. Do Chatbots have a “theory of mind”? Probably not. Why fascination about UFOs has lingered; my own brief fascination with them when I was 13; and David Brin’s current take on them; How music does not “mean” … Continue reading →

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Max Richter Deconstructs and Recomposes Antonio Vivaldi

Posted on Tuesday 28 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

On Sunday evening, March 26th, we went a concert on the UC Berkeley Campus, at Zellerbach Hall, to see the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. The concert included an extraordinary piece by contemporary composer Max Richter, a re-imagining of Vivaldi’s ever-popular The … Continue reading →

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Correction to Earlier Oscar Post

Posted on Friday 24 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

It turns out that a tune I liked, which I described as having “a relentless three note descending theme, underlying colorful violin lines,” in one of the Oscar nominated films, Triangle of Sadness, that I discussed in my post of … Continue reading →

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Crosby, Stills, and Nash: Daylight Again

Posted on Thursday 19 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

So David Crosby died today. I only acquired a couple three of this group’s albums over the years, and from them, this is my favorite song. Update 23 Jan 23: This post here and on Fb may strike some as … Continue reading →

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Mysterious Chords

Posted on Saturday 24 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

NY Times ran this piece a few days ago. NYT, Hugh Morris, ‘Everyone Wants to Hear’ This One Chord in a Christmas Carol, subtitled “A moment in ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ is so popular, it’s printed on T-shirts. But … Continue reading →

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Fiddler on the Roof

Posted on Thursday 7 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Over the past couple evenings we’ve watched the movie version of a musical I had never seen before, in any form: Fiddler on the Roof. I was aware it was a big-hit musical, back in the 1960s or ’70s, in … Continue reading →

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LQCs: Preferring Simple Answers to Complex Problems

Posted on Wednesday 8 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

First for today, a blast from the past. From 2009. This is a song from Les Miz, which we watched on PBS last week. Susan Boyle. Watch the clip above from the beginning, until at least about 1:15 when she … Continue reading →

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LQCs: A Beautiful Song; Changing the Narrative

Posted on Monday 6 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

We heard a version of this last night on PBS. The song was written for this singer, Colm Wilkinson. More versions here. \\ One more article about the mass shootings of late, because this takes an abstract look at the … Continue reading →

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Music: Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight

Posted on Thursday 2 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly
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