The Tudor Fair Blog
Anglican Choral Evensong
Something that definitely needs to be included in any Museum of Things Heather Loves is choral music; specifically early choral music (ie before Bach) and even more specifically (because let’s drill down further, shall we?) early Anglican choral music. One of the reasons I consider myself Episcopalian (the American version…
Roger Mortimer, England’s Greatest Traitor
I’ve recently started reading The Greatest Traitor, The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327-1330, by Ian Mortimer. I’m a big fan of Ian Mortimer, having read his Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the 14th Century several years ago. He writes about…
Anne of Green Gables and LM Montgomery
This blog is meant to be a sort of curated Museum of Heather’s Mind/What I would sell in a store of my Favorite Things. And if we were creating a physical space with all my favorite things, there would definitely be a corner devoted to Anne of Green Gables. When…
Renaissance English Trade with Russia
So one of the things I do in my “free <cough, ahem> time” is a podcast on Renaissance English History. I’ve been doing it in spurts for several years, and it’s a chance to learn new things as I research topics and episodes. On my Bucket List is getting three…
Diabolus in Musica
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDgkMCxC5o] Recently I went to a LA Chamber Orchestra talk on the history of Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, a work that is famous for throwing out the rulebook of the concerto form (and also having some bits that sound so much like Chopin, it’s eerie). The conductor mentioned a term…
I Heart Bill Bryson
This week I finished One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson. I first discovered Bill Bryson with his Notes from a Big Country column he wrote when he returned home to the US after living in the UK for 20 years. I had only lived in the UK for two years,…
Geeking out on Richard III
I’ve been watching the Trial of Richard III on youtube – there is no end to the geekiness. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLE2FB948FC7CE8C2A] What, you might ask, is the Trial of Richard III? Let’s start at the very beginning… 1480’s. Wars of the Roses. Medieval England is in shambles as one family has…
Cool Women in History: Nellie Taft
I’ve been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism about, well, Roosevelt, Taft, and journalists (as the name would so cleverly imply). Doris Kearns Goodwin was actually my university’s commencement speaker the year I graduated, though I don’t really remember…
Baroque bubblegum pop
I’m a big fan of baroque music that doesn’t require a lot of thought and concentration. The equivalent of somebody like, say, James Taylor. He’s soothing, and nice to have on while you’re reading or something, because he isn’t very demanding. He’s going to Carolina and you don’t need to…
Crystal Palace, the world’s most awesome building at the time
I recently watched a few episodes of my Favorite TV Show Ever, Great British Railway Journeys; a trip from Brighton to Crystal Palace. I first heard the words Crystal Palace used together in a sentence when my voice teacher lived at the Crystal Palace train stop in south London. Yes,…
The perfect crime of the 1870’s
I’ve been reading The Men Who United the States by Simon Winchester, a history of the US told through the elements of wood, metal, water, fire, and air, which is an interesting lens through which to view history. The wood chapter, for example, was all about when wood was the primary…
Old Music Monday: Stile Antico
Since this blog is sort of like the curated museum of Heather’s Mind, I need to start posting more about music. One of my favorite early music groups is Stile Antico, a polyphonic vocal ensemble founded in 2001. They have a new album out, The Phoenix Rising, which is getting…