Dawn miscellany

Researchers cast yet more doubt on the so-called Mozart Effect, the notion that Mozart makes you smarter: "There is very little evidence supporting the idea that music classes enhance children’s cognitive development.” Good riddance — I'm convinced that such soulless, utilitarian arguments on behalf of music education damage the cause in the long run.... In The Nation, Marina Harss has a finely detailed portrait of the marvelous Mark Morris.... Ethan Iverson celebrates the hundredth birthday of Morton Gould, another anniversary composer overlooked in the Wagner-Verdi-Britten stampede. There are all kinds of odd and interesting things in his varied output. Back in 1992, I interviewed the kindly Mr. Gould about, among other things, his piece The Jogger and the Dinosaur, a "theatrical concerto for rapper and orchestra".... Bob Shingleton assesses Jonathan Reekie's stewardship of the Aldeburgh Festival.... There's an international petition to stop the "fusion" of the SWR orchestras in Germany.... Will Robin forwards this remarkable account of the "sex magic" scandal that brought down Eugene Goossens.... Anne Midgette and meditate on Deborah Rutter's move to the Kennedy Center. Charles also has a lovely remembrance of the late Marion Lignana Rosenberg, whom I first encountered, from an awed distance, as the operatic arbiter of WHRB. David Elliott, WHRB's éminence grise, recorded a tribute here; other memorials can be found at New York Classical Review.