Essays

I Hate Classical Music

Listen To This. The New Yorker, Feb. 16 and 23, 2004.

Mozart

The Storm of Style. The New Yorker, July 24, 2006.

Music Education

Learning the Score. The New Yorker, Sept. 4, 2006.

Morton Feldman

American Sublime. The New Yorker, June 19, 2006.

Doctor Atomic

Countdown. The New Yorker, Oct. 3, 2005.

Music and Machines

The Record Effect. The New Yorker, June 6, 2005.

Bob Dylan

The Wanderer. The New Yorker, May 10, 1999.

Wagner / Tolkien

The Ring and the Rings. The New Yorker, December 22 and 29, 2003.

The Adorno Problem

Ghost Sonata. The New Yorker, March 24, 2003.

Alfred Schnittke

The Connoisseur of Chaos. The New Republic, Sept. 28, 1992.

Thomas Mann's Erotic Politics

Mann In Love. The New Yorker, March 11, 1996.

Movie Scores 1998

Scoring for Oscar. The New Yorker, March 9, 1998.

Brahms

Why Is Light Given? The New Republic, March 23, 1998.

Wagner, Hitler, Anti-Semitism

The Unforgiven. The New Yorker, August 10, 1998.

Richard Strauss

The Last Emperor. The New Yorker, Dec. 20, 1999.

Mahler

The Biggest Rockets. London Review of Books, August 24, 2000.

Shostakovich

Ruined Choirs. The New Yorker, March 20, 2000.

Stravinsky

Prince Igor. The New Yorker, November 6, 2000.

New Grove Dictionary of Music

Abba to Zywny. The New Yorker, July 11, 2001.

Verdi

Verdi's Grip. The New Yorker, Sept. 24, 2001.

Schoenberg

Whistling in the Dark. The New Yorker, February 18 and 25, 2002.