For my third Song of the Day we are again turning to Russia, and inching towards classical music (without quite getting there). In turn of the 20th century Russia, classical art song (“Russian Romance”) coexisted and intertwined with Romani music (“Gypsy Romance”). Romani music in Russia has a long and incredibly popular tradition. Starting with […]
Read MoreFor my second installment, I continue with singer-songwriters, but move to Canada. Ever since I got introduced to his singing in the 1990s, Canadian bard Stan Rogers has been close to my heart. His deeply soulful voice, full of so many colors, and his lyrics, detailed and imaginative, never fail to move me. By the […]
Read MoreIt is with deep love and gratitude I return to NYFOS Song for the Day. As we sit in our homes and think of so many beloved familiar things with melancholy, my mind turns back to the songs I grew up with in Moscow. My first selection is written by a famous Russian singer-songwriter, […]
Read MoreAnd just like that, we’ve reached the end of this musical pilgrimage. This has been a criminal amount of fun for me and I am so grateful for anyone that stuck around to indulge me throughout. It seems only fitting that I might dedicate this last day to the very creative home that brought us […]
Read MoreMusic was a major part of my upbringing, which I still consider one of the greatest fortunes of my life. My mother’s singing was one of two things that were successful in lulling my hyper-anxious little self to sleep. (The other was my parents brandishing my purple glitter wand and creating a force field around […]
Read MoreA couple decades ahead in a brave new world called “the present”, lives Sara Bareilles, one of my favorite artists working today. Man alive, does she know how to write lyrics that resonate! She is so much more a poet than most people writing commercially at this minute in the industry, and in this case, […]
Read MoreI might have given myself away yesterday with my ringing endorsement of Camelot but in case there’s any mystery at all left to me, let’s blow the lid clear off this puppy, shall we? I’m 27 years in age but my sensibilities and musical tastes are proud AARP card-carrying members. Now that everything’s out there […]
Read MoreIn the immortal words of Alan Jay Lerner, “Tra la, it’s May, the lusty Month of May” as we start to see the gradual advance into warmer temperatures and those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Right after I open my eyes on May 1st and announce “Rabbit Rabbit” to the waiting physically distant world […]
Read MoreThe 1927 musical Strike Up the Band was a flop, but it contained some of George and Ira Gershwin’s best songs. One of the lesser-known ones was “Homeward Bound”, sung by soldier boys at the end of a fictitious war in a satirical story. I am inordinately fond of it. As my last song this week, […]
Read MoreJohn Danyel (1564-1626) is in the shadow of John Dowland, who is rightfully installed in the pantheon of the greatest songwriters ever. But Danyel left us some amazing songs, and this is one of them. It’s a mini song-cycle, whose three parts share a slightly varied refrain. The text is anonymous, but one is tempted […]
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