Q. We’re lost in new worlds, we’re learning, we’re finally hearing from long-distance loves, we’re plotting the next stage of our lives. How have artists captured the wonder of reading over the centuries? . A.   Anonymous. A Man Reading. 1660 . Johannes Vermeer. Woman Reading a Letter. 1663 .

Q. Creative partnerships are notoriously combustible. Yet, somehow, composer Richard Rodgers (1902-79) and dramatist/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein (1895-1960) managed to collaborate for nearly two decades, producing beloved musicals from The Sound of Music (💐) to Oklahoma, Carousal, South Pacific, The King and I. The pair also created the Cinderella musical for

Q. The glorious rose has inspired all manner of artists. Take this excerpt from ‘To All Gentleness’, a poem from William Carlos William (1883-1963): ‘Like a cylindrical tank fresh silvered upended on the sidewalk to advertise some plumber’s shop, a profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the rain –

Q. We know the art of music-making is (🧐 can be) a beautiful thing. How have renowned painters captured musicians on canvas? . A. So many gorgeous painting options. Here’s a first set… Rosso Fiorentino. Musical Angel.  1522 . Caravaggio. The Lute Player. 1595 . Caravaggio. The Musicians. 1597 .

Q. It’s a tragically beautiful scene in a strikingly beautiful movie. In Milos Foreman’s 1984 masterpiece Amadeus, we see Mozart in bed, dying, while feverishly voicing his beautiful Requiem. Confutatis. Maledictis. It’s a haunting look into his genius and the toll it has taken on him. As each note takes

Q. Which flower has the most entrancing scent?   A. ‘The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour which doth in it live….’ So writes William Shakespeare in Sonnet 54. Does the rose have an uncommonly sweet odour? Do we deem it fairer because of

Q. ‘If music be the food of love, play on.’ So says Shakespeare’s Orsino in ‘Twelfth Night.’ ‘O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor…’ What are some renowned paintings that capture melodic woo? . A. Along

Q. Ever a man of secrets and intrigue, Prince (1958-2016) wasn’t one to go on and on about his musical inspirations. What’s an example of a Prince Rogers Nelson song where we do have some background story? . A. In an interview on The Current radio, Prince’s New Power Generation

Q. Happy Mother’s Day Weekend to all you amazing Mothers, and to those celebrating their Mums in person, at a distance, or in memorium. ♥ How have artists captured their mothers in portraits over the centuries? . . A. Albrecht Durer. Portrait of Barbara. The Artist’s Mother.  1490 . Rembrandt

Q. It’s been 64 years, yet Bernard Herrman’s musical score for Hitchcock’s Psycho movie continues to feature prominently in rankings of the Top Film Scores Ever. The American Film Institute, for instance, rates Herrmann’s Psycho score at #4, after John Williams’ Star Wars, Max Steiner’s Gone with the Wind and Maurice