David Schiff
Recent articles by David Schiff
One Swell Party
Cole Porter's real secret was not the gay life a new film biography will highlight. It was how he made his songs.
Memory Spaces
John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls finds redemption in September 11, and should bring contemporary classical music to a new audience.
Out of Our Dreams
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and Carousel, a model comedy and a model tragedy, created a new theatrical genre.
Conducting: A Backwoods Guide
In the intense quiet of a Maine camp aspiring conductors work on bossiness, passivity, and how to move to the music.
In Glass's House
More a classicist than an avant-gardist, Philip Glass embraces rock music without imitating it.
The Tradition of the Oldie
The NPR 100 shows for better or worse what Americans think is their classical music.
Who Was That Masked Composer?
In political life as in his music, Aaron Copland decorously hid his emotions.