Got my mind on my music...

I've been listening to--and thinking a lot about--classical music lately. It seems I'm not the only one.

Here is an essay in The Guardian about a number of Classical traditions and what they have in common. You'l learn a lot from this one.

Here, also in The Guardian, is a love note to classical music and a plea to younger people to experience it. It's "not exclusive or elitist," Brigid Delaney writes.

Here, in a place other than the Guardian, is a more nuanced--and acceptably elitist--essay on the problem with so many superficial discussions about "what's wrong" with classical music.

Enjoy the reading! Or don't, and just go enjoy Simone Dinenrstein's recording of the Goldberg Variations.

Art criticism and the web

Yesterday Jonathan Jones, art critic for The Guardian, wrote this essay and call for suggestions about how social media have changed the way he thinks about art criticism and, to a degree, art.

As a rule, I never read the comments from readers at the end of newspaper articles or even blog posts. What am I missing? Is the really good debate and multiple viewpoints worth sifting through the inane repetition and side arguments? Are there any websites that have better comments than others? Let me know.

Another view of the Fourth Plinth

The Guardian's Jonathan Jones points out something that we wouldn't notice: you can't really see the Plinthers very well if you're actually at the plinth. I find the fact that he considers the web-cam portion of the project ancillary and so easily dismissed surprising.