Brian Hagan's Blog, page 6

Sleeping in Dracula’s Castle… in a coffin

There castle.

Going around social media right now is the news that Airbnb is sponsoring a contest that will allow two people to sleep in Bran Castle, home to the infamous Vlad the Impaler, on Halloween night. Winner will arrive at the castle in horse-drawn carriages, and after dinner, the pair will be shown to their coffins for the night. Pretty scary idea, for some people I suppose.

Probably the coolest thing is that the event will be hosted by Dacre Stoker, descendant of Bram Stoker who penned the original novel. Even better, Stoker will be in character as Jonathan Harker from the novel. The idea is to essentially recreate the old tale of horror, spinning an evening of tense terror to remember.

Personally, I’d probably be grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

Of course, the article can’t give away everything about the experience, and ends with a cheesy but promising “Might Count Dracula himself show up on Oct. 31?” I think that would be alright, since what are the chances he’ll think to look in coffins for living people? Seems like the safest place to sleep to me!

Music Monday: Dvorak’s “From the New World”

I know a lot of people who, when they think “classical music,” they think of floaty, soft music that just kind of drifts around the air. Flutes and violins, maybe a piano or the occasional oboe. It’s hard to blame them for that perception, since it seems that’s mostly what NPR and other classical music radio stations play. And to be fair, a lot of classical music is like that. But not all of it.

I mean, Beethoven was essentially the equivalent of Jimi Hendrix in his day, and Mozart wasn’t popular until after his death because his music was too “brash, overspiced and too complicated for the average listener.” Bach is a common subject of heavy metal covers.

So, today I’m sharing Dvorak. I can’t say why, exactly, but I’ve been on a Dvorak kick lately. Especially his New World Symphony. As a single piece (with four movements) it has a range of experiences and expressions that blend and evolve to and from one another that make it unique in the classical world (in my opinion). Unlike so many other classical works, which so often are just interesting combinations of sounds where the composers playing around with notes to see what they can do, From the New World Symphony tells a story. It has more than just drama, it has plot. When I got to see it performed live recently, the conductor mentioned how she believed the piece reflected Dvorak’s experience visiting America and reflected those feelings as well as feelings for his home in Prague.

Any which way, this is music that inspires me and I hope it inspires you too.

 

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