Category Archives: Classical Music

Period instruments are great, but I still hanker for some ‘inauthentic’ performances

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Joe Hunter

The success of the so-called early music movement, especially in Medieval, Baroque and Classical repertoire, has chased modern orchestras away from performing this music. This is a shame, because there are many performances of this repertoire by modern forces that are quite compelling. Continue reading →

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Mood-enhancing Classical Music—Beyond the Usual Suspects

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Joe Hunter

We recently took a vacation to the Bahamas. This was in the month of February, when the weather here in Boston was still gray and bone chilling. I carefully planned the music I would take on the trip—I had already … Continue reading →

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Women Composers

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Joe Hunter

When I put together my list of the greatest composers—all male—I promised to take a look at women composers. Here is the fulfillment of that promise. Not being a scholar or musicologist, I’ve contacted two women recognized for their performing … Continue reading →

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Greatest Composers: the Second Ten

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Joe Hunter

[Note: the most recent postings appear at the top of the blog; to get to the beginning of the “greatest composers” series, start reading with “The Top Ten Greatest Composers,” further down.] One advantage of my data-driven approach to identifying … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Greatest Composers, Part II

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Joe Hunter

The envelope please! I’ve run the numbers, and come up with the top 10 composers of all time. As a reminder, I restricted the pool of eligible composers to those active roughly between 1650 – 1950, and set up four … Continue reading →

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The Top Ten Greatest Composers

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Joe Hunter

Anthony Tommasini, the New York Times classical music critic, has just concluded an effort to identify the top composers of all time. I like the idea, and I would like to undertake a similar effort, based on my own methodology. … Continue reading →

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Desert Island Recordings

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Joe Hunter

What if I were shipwrecked on the proverbial desert island with a CD player, some solar power cells and the choice of 10 CDs or CD sets? What would I choose? The 10 selections below are my “desert island recordings.” … Continue reading →

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