mike’s music pages

He was once dismissed as a composer for "high middlebrow taste." But Barber, who wrote the famous Adagio for Strings, would not be criticized if he were an emerging composer today, 100 years after his birth. […]

There's a simple logic behind Samuel Barber's emotional Adagio. It progresses from a single note to high emotional wailing to release to final acceptance. On today's centennial of Barber's birth, take a guided tour of the music with commentator Rob Kapilow. […]

Barber's beautiful concerto came about at the request of a soap magnate named Samuel Fels. Although the business end of the commission was sullied, the concerto came out sparkling. Hear violinist James Ehnes play the piece in concert. […]

In the middle of the 20th century, when composers were writing with angularity and dissonance, Barber forged his own lyrical, romantic style. By the time he was 26, he'd composed the iconic Adagio for Strings. […]

Last week the nominations for Canada's Juno Awards were announced. It reminded Felix Contreras: we don't pay enough attention to our jazz friends up north. […]

The jazz guitarist draws on an extremely wide range of styles. From bebop to Brazilian rhythms to lyrical ballads to sounds from his native Benin, Loueke's latest album, Mwaliko, showcases the artist's inventive take on jazz. […]

Because of her rigorous touring schedule, Spalding decided to give her band the afternoon off and showed up at KPLU's studio all by herself, with just her bass and her voice. As you'll hear, that was enough. […]