“Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all words.”  – Robert G. Ingersoll Some would say that although words are the language of thought, music is the language of feeling. But Ingersoll’s quote proposes that music expresses both feelings and thoughts that words are inadequate to describe. Given the subtle understanding of the musical process this quote conveys, I assumed the speaker was…

As a violinist, I was interested to learn that Irish violinist Patricia Treacy performed at President Biden’s inaugural mass held at 7:30 AM on Inauguration Day at a Washington cathedral. For the occasion, Ms. Treacy performed on a Stradivari violin worth around $4 million. This Stradivari wasn’t made by the famous 17th century Cremonese luthier Antonio Stradivari whose instruments have become the gold standard for violin makers ever since. Instead, the violin Ms. Treacy…

In Sizing Up in Violins and Investment Real Estate, I talked about how Section 1031 exchanges can, over time, help real estate investors increase the value of their holdings. I likened the real estate investor’s experience to my own experience in gradually increasing the quality (and price) of his violins as he grew older and his violin playing advanced. We had just purchased my son’s most expensive violin yet–a 7/8 size Czech violin made…

George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess requires a cast entirely comprised of African American singers.  Initially, Gershwin had difficulty obtaining financing for the opera’s premiere because he refused Broadway producers’ requests that he use white singers in blackface. Based upon DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel Porgy, the opera takes place on Catfish Row, a waterside area in Charleston, South Carolina. And Gershwin and Heyward worked together on the opera on an island near Charleston. Heyward’s…

Some string musicians are surprised to learn that they must obtain a Musical Instrument Certificate from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) before traveling internationally. If they don’t obtain this “passport” for their instrument, they risk having their bow confiscated at customs when they reenter the country. The reason for this seemingly absurd requirement is a tiny white or beige cover at the tip of their bows. This cover, which conceals the location where…

Anyone who has taken piano lessons will remember a right-hand melody with the left hand playing chords that harmonize the melody. This subordinate harmony method has dominated classical music since the 17th century when the Baroque period began. It comprises most of what music theory students learn. However, earlier music was constructed differently. For instance, madrigals typically were comprised of several equally important horizontal voice parts, which, sung separately, sound like complete songs. However, when…

In music, tempo (the Italian word for “time”) is the speed at which music is played. Traditionally, tempo is described using Italian words, such as Largo (very slow), Adagio (slow), Andante (walking speed), Allegro (fast), and Presto (very fast). Modern composers might write similar terms in English. Tempo also sometimes is described in beats per minute (bpm). Many consider a tempo of 60 bpm (one beat per second) usually being Adagio, 120 bpm (two beats…