H. Charles Grawemeyer was a Louisville entrepreneur and industrialist who instituted annual awards in five fields, to be administered and granted by the University of Louisville: music, education, ideas improving world order, psychology, and religion. Music was the first of the awards to be developed. It was launched in 1984, and the Grawemeyer Award in Music has come to be recognized as the most prestigious composition award in the world. It is also the most lucrative. The amount of the first award, given in 1985, was $150,000, and was raised to $200,000 in 2000. The amount offered for the 2011 award (whose submission deadline has just passed) was decreased to $100,000, no doubt in response to the effect of the world economy on endowments such as Grawemeyer’s, but it remains by far the largest composition prize.

Lutoslawski 1985

Ligeti 1986

Birtwistle 1987

Ung 1989

 
 
 
Grawemeyer was not a musician, but he was a music lover, and reasoned, “If we did something like this perhaps we could find another Mozart.” He worked with the music department at the University of Louisville to develop criteria for judging that would distinguish the award from others, such as the Pulitzer Prize, which were judged by academicians. The group establishing the award studied the procedures for the Nobel Prize, incorporating some of its principles, and came up with a system that involved three tiers of judging, including the faculty of the University of Louisville, an international committee of professional musicians, and a lay committee of knowledgeable music lovers. Pieces by living composers that had been given their premiere in the previous five years were eligible, and the composer had to be nominated by a professional musician or organization.

Tower 1990

Corigliano 1991

Penderecki 1992

Husa 1993

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Award recipients have included both composers acknowledged to be among the greatest masters, and composers who are virtually unknown. Particularly in the earlier years, renowned composers like Witold Lutoslawski, György Ligeti, Harrison Birtwistle, John Corigliano, Kryzstof Penderecki, Toru Takemitsu, and John Adams dominated the winners’ list, and more recently Tan Dun, Thomas Adès, Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and György Kurtág have been honored. Recent winners tend to include composers respected by their colleagues, but less likely to be familiar to broad audiences, such as Unsuk Chin, George Tsontsakis, Brett Dean, and York Höller.

Takemitsu 1994

Adams 1995

Tcherepnin 1996

Bainbridge 1997

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The intent of the Grawemeyer to be an international award has been to some degree a success. While Americans certainly predominate, with seven U.S.-born composers among the 24 winners, 13 nationalities have been represented, including Australia, Cambodia, China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, with multiple honorees from Great Britain, Poland, Hungary, and France. It should be noted, though, that winners from three of the other countries, Karel Husa of Czechoslovakia, Ivan Tcherepnin of France, and Tan Dun of China, established their careers in the U.S., so it can’t be denied that the U.S. has been disproportionately represented.

Tan Dun 1998

Adès 2000

Boulez 2001

Kernis 2002

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three women have won the award: Joan Tower of the U.S., Kaija Saariaho of Finland, and Unsuk Chin of South Korea. Of the four Asian-born winners, all of whom, to varying degrees, have adopted or incorporated Western musical vocabularies, three have lived for most of their life in the West: Cambodian Chinary Ung and Korean Unsuk Chin in Germany, and Chinese Tan Dun in the US. Only Toru Takemitsu, born in Japan, developed his career primarily in his home country.

Saariaho 2003

Chin 2004

Tsontakis 2005

Kurtág 2006

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In 2004 the Pulitzer Prize in music expanded its reach to include a wider array of music outside the academic tradition, with recent winners including jazz composer Ornette Coleman and post-minimalists David Lang and Steve Reich. Grawemeyer winners have tended to be composers with rigorous training in Western classical and modernist traditions, recognized as acceptable by the academic musical community, and even composers like John Adams and Tan Dun, who are indifferent to the world of academia, are represented by very fine but relatively conventional works. Four of the Grawemeyer winners, John Corigliano, Karel Husa, John Adams, and Aaron Jay Kernis, have also received the Pulitzer Prize.

Currier 2007

Lieberson 2008

Dean 2009

Höller 2010

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Grawemeyer judges have favored works in large traditional forms, particularly concertos. Eleven winning compositions feature single or multiple soloists and orchestra, and seven purely orchestral works have been honored. Other winning compositions include three operas, two pieces of chamber music, and one work for piano. None of the winning compositions have included a significant electronic component, and only Tan Dun’s Marco Polo makes substantial use of non-Western instruments.

This listing of the recipients of the Grawemeyer Award allows you to sample the winning compositions.
 
 
1985 Witold Lutoslawski Poland, 1913-1994
Symphony No. 3 (1973–1983)
 
Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond. - Lutoslawski: Symphony No. 3

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1986 György Ligeti Hungary 1923- 2006
Études Book 1, for piano (1985)

Fredrik Ullén, piano - Ligeti: Études, Book 1 - Arc-en-ciel

Fredrik Ullén, piano - Ligeti: Études, Book 1 - Automne à Varsovie

 
 
 
 
1987 Harrison Birtwistle Great Britain b. 1934
The Mask of Orpheus, opera (1984)

Various Artists - Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus - 3 Shouts of Gratitude: Shout of Victory

Various Artists - Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus - 3 Poems of Reminiscences: Poem of Miracles

 
 
 
 
1988 - No Award
 
 
1989 Chinary Ung Cambodia (Germany) b. 1942
Inner Voices, for orchestra (1986)

Dennis Russell Davies, Cond. - Ung: Inner Voices

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1990 Joan Tower USA b. 1938
Silver Ladders, for orchestra (1986)
 
 
Leonard Slatkin, cond. - Tower: Silver Ladders

 
 
 
 
 
 
1991 John Corigliano USA b. 1938
Symphony No. 1 (1991)

Leonard Slatkin, cond. - Corigliano: Symphony No. 1 - Movement 3

Leonard Slatkin, cond. - Corigliano: Symphony No. 1 - Movement 4

 
 
 
 
1992 Krzysztof Penderecki Poland b. 1933
Symphony 4 (”Adagio”) (1989)

Kryzstof Penderecki, cond. - Penderecki: Symphony 4 (”Adagio”)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1993 Karel Husa Czechoslovakia (USA) b.1921
Concerto for cello and orchestra (1988)
No recording available
 
 
 
1994 Tōru Takemitsu Japan 1930-1996
Fantasma/Cantos, for clarinet and orchestra (1991)

Sabine Meyer, clarinet - Takemitsu: Fantasma/Cantos

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1995 John Adams USA b. 1947
Violin Concerto (1993)

Gidon Kremer, violin - Adams: Violin Concerto - Chaconne

Gidon Kremer, violin - Adams: Violin Concerto - Toccare

 
 
 
 
 
1996 Ivan Tcherepnin 1943-1998 France (USA)
Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (1995)
 
No sound sample available
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1997 Simon Bainbridge Great Britain b. 1952
Ad Ora Incerta – Four Orchestral Songs from Primo Levi (1994)
 
No sound sample available
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1998 Tan Dun China (USA) b. 1957
Marco Polo, opera (1995)

Tan Dun, cond. - Tan Dun: Book of Timespace - Winter

Tan Dun, cond. - Tan Dun: What a Place That Was

 
 
 
 
 
 
1999 No Award
 
 
 
2000 Thomas Adès Great Britain b. 1971
Asyla, for orchestra, Op. 17 (1997)

Simon Rattle, cond. - Adès: Asyla - II

Simon Rattle, cond. - Adès: Asyla - III Ecstasio

 
 
 
 
 
 
2001 Pierre Boulez France b. 1925
Sur Incises, for 3 pianos, 3 harps, 2 vibes and marimba (1996–1998)

Boulez, cond. - Boulez: Sur Incises - Moment I

Boulez, cond. - Boulez: Sur Incises - Moment II

 
 
 
 
 
2002 Aaron Jay Kernis USA b. 1960
Colored Field, cello concerto (1994)

Truls Mørk, cello - Kernis: Colored Field - Pandora Dance

Truls Mørk, cello - Kernis: Colored Field - Hymns and Tablets

 
 
 
 
 
 
2003 Kaija Saariaho Finland b. 1952
L’amour de loin, opera (2000)

Kent Nagano, cond. - Saariaho: L’Amour de loin – Act 2, Tableau 1

Kent Nagano, cond. - Saariaho: L’Amour de loin - Act 5, Tableau 3 - J’avais cru en toi

 
 
2004 Unsuk Chin South Korea (Germany) b.1961
Violin Concerto (2001)

Viviane Hagner, violin - Chin: Violin Concerto - Movement 2

Viviane Hagner, violin - Chin: Violin Concerto - Movement 4

 
 
 
 
 
 
2005 George Tsontakis USA b.1951
Violin Concerto No. 2 (2003)

Douglas Boyd, violin - Tsontakis: Violin Concerto No. 2 - Surges (among stars)

Douglas Boyd, violin - Tsontakis: Violin Concerto No. 2 - Just Go!

 
 
 
 
 
2006 György Kurtág Hungary b. 1926
…Concertante…, for violin, viola and orchestra, Op. 42 (2003)

Zoltan Kocsis, cond. - Kurtág: …Concertante… - Choral (quasi “Trio”)

Zoltan Kocsis, cond. - Kurtág: …Concertante… - Coda

 
 
 
 
 
 
2007 Sebastian Currier USA b.1959
Static, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2003)

Music from Copland House - Currier: Static - ethereal

Music from Copland House - Currier: Static - floating

 
 
 
 
 
 
2008 Peter Lieberson USA b. 1946
Neruda Songs, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (2005)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano - Lieberson: Neruda Songs - No estés lejos de mí un solo día (Don’t go far off, not even for a day)

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano - Lieberson: Neruda Songs - Amor mío, si muero y tú no mueres (My love, if I die and you don’t)

 
 
2009 Brett Dean Australia b. 1961
The Lost Art of Letter Writing, violin concerto (2006)
No recording available, but you can hear a sample here
 
 
2010 York Höller Germany b. 1944
Sphären, for orchestra (2001–2006)
No recording available, but you can hear a sample here
 
 
For more information about the Grawemeyer Award, check out the website
 
 

The following list is of just some of the musicians, and others who made their mark in the world of classical music, who died in 2009. Their contributions live on in many fine recordings and memories of great performances. (Links are provided to those whose deaths were previously noted on the Allmusic blog.)
 
 
Lukas Foss (Aug. 15, 1922 - Feb. 1, 2009)
 
 
John McGlinn (Sept. 18, 1953 - Feb. 14, 2009)
Conductor John McGlinn made his mark with his discovery, restoration, and recording of all the original material for the Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II musical, Show Boat. McGlinn’s work and its 1988 recording were hailed for its historic significance and for the quality of the performance. After that, he was in demand as a conductor of stage and concert versions of musicals in New York and Europe. McGlinn spent all of his career focused in musical theater, opera/operetta, or in the case of the Gershwins’ Hollywood output, film music genres. In the 1990s, he directed the Poulenc operas La Voix Humane and Les Mamelles de Tiresias at Juilliard, and in the early 2000s recorded Wagner excerpts for Naxos. He recorded several other musicals — some of which remain unreleased — as well as making critical editions of the scores. At the time of his death, he was working on a new edition of the 1954 musical Peter Pan.

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Blair Sanderson

Benjamin Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra - Bruckner: Symphony No. 5
Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 - 4. Finale

Vladimir Ashkenazy, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra - Suk: Symphony in C minor, “Asrael”
Suk: Symphony in C minor, “Asrael” - Part 1, No. 1, Andante sostenuto

 
Angela Hewitt, piano - Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier
Bach: Prelude in E flat major


Alexander Janiczek, Chamber Orchestra of Europe - Stravinsky: Apollon musagète; Pulcinella
Stravinsky: Apollon musagète

Stravinsky: Pulcinella

Gustavo Dudamel, Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela - Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - 1. Andante

Ralf Otto, Mainz Bach Choir - Mozart: Requiem (edited by Robert D. Levin)
Mozart: Requiem - 1. Requiem aeternam

Jonathan Nott, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 - 2. Im Tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers

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In a career spanning 25 years, cellist Matt Haimovitz has grown from a winsome lad of 13, making his debut with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, to an institution, noted both as a concert artist and solo recitalist. However, unlike many institutions, Haimovitz has never allowed himself to fossilize, and he is equally well recognized for edgy, envelope-pushing fare as for delivering the great Western classics with his special, personal perspective that has endeared him to standard concert audiences. In order to pursue both streams of endeavor, Haimovitz has found it necessary to employ strategies of booking that essentially divide his audiences. Haimovitz’s most recent Figment tour finds him in a more exploratory vein and collaborating with composer/performer Du Yun, co-founder of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and lately winner of Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s fourth annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award for Female Composers.

As they’ve reached a break in the tour, AMG’s Uncle Dave Lewis caught up with Matt Haimovitz and Du Yun via linked cellphones from an internet café in New York City.

AMG: I understand that you have just finished the first leg of your Figment tour with Du Yun. How is that going?

Matt Haimovitz: It’s going very well, thank you! I like doing this kind of tour where I am playing so often in unusual kinds of venues; it gives us time to build up momentum artistically and do get more deeply into our program and get more comfortable with it. It’s getting better and better as we go along, and it’s nice to be able to do something like this every once in awhile.

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“I grew up in a quiet spot and was saturated from earliest childhood with the wonderful beauty of Russian popular song.”

– Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky

 
Getting Off to a Good Start

Unless you were fortunate enough to grow up in a household that listened to a lot of classical music, you might feel that it is quite hard to pick up casually and must require extraordinary intellectual effort. Of course, knowledge of any kind of music doesn’t come automatically, and you have to put some time and effort into listening to classical music to get rewards from it, just as you would with rock, blues, jazz, country, and so on. Yet there are other challenges that can make classical music seem particularly daunting. First, listening to anything and everything randomly, either online or at a music library, may bring about confusion, because of the sheer quantity of classical music that exists and the variety of styles and periods it’s associated with, from Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque to Classical, Romantic, and Modern. It’s easy to get lost. Second, you can squander a fortune on buying classical music, even out of the mid-line and budget bins, especially without knowing what’s worth hearing more than once. Third, if you lack a trusted guide, you may begin to feel overwhelmed by all the choices and quit out of frustration. If you aren’t lucky enough to have ready access to the best recordings, vast disposable income, or a knowledgeable teacher or friend to make suggestions, where on earth do you begin? To whom should you turn in your time of greatest need?

Meet Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (1840 -1893), one of the great Russian composers from the Romantic period, a perennial favorite among classical fans, and possibly the best pathfinder to classical music. Although he demonstrated talent in childhood and received music lessons early, Tchaikovsky began his professional career as a composer relatively late in life, starting out as a lawyer, but changing goals in his twenties to become a professor of music in Moscow. He achieved an artistic breakthrough with the premiere in 1877 of his ballet The Swan Lake, and proved to the public that he had a phenomenal grasp of melody, dance forms, and orchestral colors. He went on to even greater successes, and despite suffering severe doubts over his music and bouts of nearly suicidal depression over his homosexuality, he persevered and was acknowledged as a great composer in his lifetime. Tchaikovsky died ten days after the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 in B minor, “Pathétique,” which many regard as the ne plus ultra of his intensely personal expression.

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The concept of operas based on recent historical events has become so commonplace at the end of the first decade of the 21st century that it’s hard to believe that just over 20 years ago, the premise of Nixon in China was a contentious subject, and there was skepticism over whether it was even possible for an opera based on such recent history to have any artistic value. The assumption of the cynics was that the only conceivable motivation for creating such a work was to capitalize on its novelty, and would not admit the possibility that serious artists could treat such a topic with the intent to create enduring art. The term, docu-opera (like the descriptions of many artistic movements, including “baroque”), was originally intended to be derogatory, and that’s probably why John Adams continues to consider it an insult when it is applied to his operas, Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, and Doctor Atomic. For most people, though, docu-opera has become a value-neutral descriptor of a sub-genre, like opera buffa or verismo opera, and the elevation of several docu-operas to classic or near-classic status has largely removed the stigma. (It has to be admitted that some of the subjects chosen for operatic treatment — the Jerry Springer Show, Clarence Thomas’ Senate confirmation hearings, and the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, for instance — can still raise some eyebrows.) The second installment of this series highlights more examples of the blossoming sub-genre.
 
You can check out the first article in the series here.
 
 
The Death of Klinghoffer (1991)
 
After the tremendous success of Nixon in China in 1988, it was practically inevitable that its creators, composer John Adams, librettist Alice Goodman, and director Peter Sellars, would collaborate again. Their second opera, The Death of Klinghoffer, was jointly commissioned by the San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Glyndebourne Festival, and Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie, where it was premiered in 1991. The topic, the Arab-Israeli conflict as epitomized by the 1985 Palestinian hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, and the killing of Leon Klinghoffer, an American Jewish passenger, proved to be so controversial that the opera has rarely been revived. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it seems even less likely that opera companies will mount a work with such volatile subject matter any time in the near future, which is unfortunate because it contains some of Adams’ most deeply felt music. Its style is far removed from the minimalism of Nixon in China, and shows a broader expressive range and more sophisticated orchestration. Overall, though, the static quality of much of its dramaturgy, and the character of Adams’ text setting make it a less compelling opera than Nixon.
 
English director Penny Woolcock’s extraordinary film of the opera, which won the prestigious Prix d’Italia, makes a very strong case for it, however. Some of the finest music had to be cut, but this is arguably the most accomplished and persuasive film version of an opera made to date.
 
Kent Nagano, cond. - Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer
 
Prologue: Chorus of the exiled Palestinians
Act 1, scene 1: Ocean Chorus
Act 2, scene 2: “I must have been hysterical”
Act 2, scene 2: “Every fifteen minutes one more will be shot”
Act 2, scene 2: Aria of the falling body
 
 
Dead Man Walking
 
Jake Heggie wrote his first opera, Dead Man Walking, when he was composer in residence at the San Francisco Opera, which mounted its first production in 2000. The opera, which is based on the 1993 book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, has gone on to become one of the most popular and frequently produced operas of the new century. The excellent libretto, by the playwright Terrence McNally, traces the attempts of a nun to reach a hardened murderer on death row, his resistance to her attempts, and his ultimate redemption. The depiction of the murderer’s family, and the families of his two young victims gives the opera rich layers of emotional and ethical complexity. The familiarity of the story, the emotionally charged topic of the death penalty, and direct accessibility of Heggie’s music all contributed to its success, as well as the opportunities it gives singing actors to create vivid characterizations. The roles of Sister Helen and Mrs. DeRocher, the killer’s mother, are especially sharply etched, and in the first production and the recording they were memorably and sympathetically brought to life by Susan Graham and Frederica von Stade. The role of Joseph DeRocher, too, has become a star vehicle for young baritones.
 
Patrick Summers, cond. - Heggie: Dead Man Walking
 
Act 1, scene 2: “This Journey, this Journey to Christ”
Act 1, scene 8: “You don’t know what it’s like to bear a child”
Act 2, scene 2: “Sometimes forgiveness is in the smallest gesture”
Act 2, scene 3: “Well? Well?”
Act 2, scene 8: “He will gather us around”
 
 
The Manson Family
 
Philip Glass has said, “I am convinced that there is no more important composer working today than John Moran. His works have been so advanced [that they are] considered revolutionary.” The Boston Globe called Moran “a modern day Mozart.” Moran has left a surprisingly small digital footprint for a composer with such impressive endorsements, and has few commercially released recordings. His best known work is the opera The Manson Family, which was commissioned by Lincoln Center in 1990, and featured Iggy Pop and Terre Roche, with the composer as Manson. Moran, who wrote the libretto, is not concerned with the factual events of the case, or even a coherent linear narrative, information that “can easily be obtained by anyone walking into a bookstore.” The opera is more like a nightmarish collage of recollections by Manson and several of his followers, particularly Susan D. Atkins, whose lighthearted descriptions the murders are chilling. The music, which has an experimental rock sound, relies heavily on prerecorded samples and overdubbing, and more of the text is spoken than sung. The Manson Family may not have traditional opera fans as its target audience, or conform to many of the standard conventions of the form, but it works on a subconscious level to make a disturbing psychological impact, and is powerfully effective as a music theatre piece.
 
John Moran, performer - Moran:The Manson Family
 
Act 1: “The Prosecutor,” at Death-Train Station Five (The Tate House)
Act 2: SUBJECT: Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme
Act 3: Night Highway #3
Act 3: Squeaky in a boat
Act 3: SUBJECT: Charles (no name) Manson
 
 
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
 
Anthony Davis has made a name for himself both as a jazz musician and in academic composition. — he has taught at Yale and UC San Diego — and he has devoted much of his career to opera. His five operas have all been produced by major companies, and several have had subsequent productions. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1985) was the first modern docu-opera, preceding Nixon in China by three years. The ambitious libretto, by Davis’ cousin, Thulani Davis, traces the life of Malcolm Little from his childhood, through his conversion to Islam, political activism, and assassination in 1965. Davis brings the various traditions of his background to the opera, and the orchestra is augmented by a substantial jazz ensemble. Based on the dramatic requirements of the story, Davis’ score incorporates elements of expressionism, minimalist repeating patterns, and various jazz styles. The opera’s eclecticism was initially controversial. While X received considerable critical acclaim, many of Davis’ jazz fans felt that its effectiveness as the depiction of the life of a great populist was compromised by the score’s heavy reliance on European modernist traditions.
 
William Henry Curry, cond. - Davis: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
 
Overture
Act 1, scene 2: The Pool Hall
Act 2, scene 1:
Act 2, scene 2: “Where we are now brothers”
Act 3, scene 1: “Betrayal is on his lips”
 
 

In the wake of the French Revolution, the passage of Classical style into the Romantic around 1800 was one of the most pivotal and cataclysmic events in the history of Western music, and dozens of composers were deep in the thick of its development. By putting the weight of this entire historic period on the broad shoulders of Ludwig van Beethoven, music history has had only a weak grasp of what really happened at the time and who else was involved. This has been due partly to the attitudes of those scholars and experts whose opinions mattered most, such as Charles Rosen, who commented in his respected 1971 study, The Classical Style, that any composer from the Classical Era outside of the big three — Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Beethoven — was “not worth discussion.” Since that time, significant progress has been made in advancing some other figures. Key pre-Romantic Classicists such as Jan Ladislav Dussek, Hyacinthe Jadin, Anton Reicha, and Etienne-Nicolas Méhul have stepped forward from the shadows, and certain composers of the era previously branded as conservatives, such as Muzio Clementi and Luigi Cherubini, have had their status upgraded to pioneers of Romantic style.

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Mr. Henry Purcell, known as Britain’s Orpheus, celebrates his 350th birthday this month. It’s going to take some cake to support all those candles. He may not be as famous a star as other composers with significant anniversaries this year (Haydn, Mendelssohn), but he is a big deal in England, and rightfully so. He is its native-born hero of the Baroque, the man who put English opera on the world map, so to speak, as well as producing scads of vocal music for all occasions, plus brilliant music for viols and for keyboard. His inspired way of combining the formality of Baroque counterpoint with lively tunes or emotionally touching text is what made his reputation and has kept it alive. If you aren’t familiar with Purcell, here are some guideposts to get you onto the right path into his music.

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