Off The Podium

The Boar’s Head in hand bear I,Bedeck’d with bays and rosemary;And I pray you, my masters, be merry,Quot estis in convivio. Caput apri deferoReddens laudes Domino. The Boar’s Head, as I understand,Is the bravest dish in all this land,When thus bedeck’d with a gay garland,Let us servire cantico. Caput apri deferoReddens laudes Domino. Our steward hath provided […]

In dulci jubilo is a famous medieval Christmas carol. It is a macaronic carol (i.e. the text is in a mixture of languages): the original text alternates between German and Latin. The words are attributed to the German mystic (and student of Meister Eckhart) Heinrich Seuse (1295 – 1366), and describes his vision of singing angels dancing with him. […]

Although he is little recognized today, the English composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852 – 1924) was one of the most prominent musicians in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and he had considerable influence on the work of many composers and musicians whose work is better known. […]

Why you shouldn’t always tell your students the truth For more than half of my teaching career, I taught music & performing arts at elementary or K-8 schools – six of these schools in all, with a wide range of approaches to education between them. One common aspect among all my experiences at these schools, […]

This article is a companion to my article  Wholehearted Attention. It’s generally accepted that one of the goals of education – beyond the attainment of specific content objectives – is to instill in the child a love for learning.  It has been my experience however, that a love for learning is part of a child’s […]