David T. Little

I was very sad to hear tonight of the passing of historian Howard Zinn.  Though Zinn is best known for his seminal A People's History of The United States it is his 1970 book The Politics of History that has had the most profound effect on me.  In this book he notes “Historical writings always have some effect on us.  It may reinforce our passivity; it may activate us.  In any case, the historian cannot choose to be neutral; he writes on a moving train.”  

“So, you like challenges, right?” This is how a phone call from Dawn Upshaw began, approximately 4 months ago. She was looking to commission a short—20-30 minute—opera for the Graduate Vocal Arts program at the Bard Conservatory. I’d worked with these amazing singers last year as part of the Osvaldo Golijov/ Dawn Upshaw Professional Training Workshop, co-presented by Bard and Carnegie Hall, so I knew they were great, and was excited to have the chance to work with them again.  And of course, when Dawn Upshaw is asking, there is pretty much only one right answer: yes.

Tchaikovsky was a punk.  Didn't you know?

Ah, "Oi to the World," indeed.  This record kept me sane through many a holiday season, so I thought I'd share it.  (I'm going to post another, less classically-inspired, track over at musicasweapon.blogspot.com, if you're interested!)

Happy Holidays!

Watched that video in Part 1?  Good.  So, moving on.