Author: Stacy Horn

I finished a great book last night, The Art Forger. The author, B.A. Shapiro, based her literary art-thrilled on the infamous Isabella Steward Gardner Museum heist of 1990.

As I’ve posted many, many times before, I graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, aka the Museum School, which is diagonally across the street from the Gardner Museum. I visited the Gardner a kabillion times, it’s a wonderfully eccentric place, but mostly I went to visit their Vermeer (The Concert) which sat on top of a desk instead of being hung on a wall. You were able to sit down right down in front of the painting, which sat just inches away, and look at it at eye-level. Incredible. Sadly, that was one of the paintings stolen.

That aside, it was really fun to read a book based on that place, and that heist, and where the Museum School makes several appearances. Honestly though, I wouldn’t be posting about it at all if it wasn’t such a page turner! In addition to this great mystery/thriller, Shaprio weaves in great information about art and historical art forgers, which was utterly fascinating. I got into the subject of art forgery when some friends of mine wrote a book about modern art forgers, called Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art. I love books where you also learn something, in an entertaining, seamless way.

I worked the polls yesterday, for 16 hours straight. It’s amazing who you meet. This was at my poll site at PS3. In this picture are at least two well-known people!!

Even the universe has a better voice than I do! In my book I wrote about how astronomy professor Dr. Mark Whittle converted the first 400,000 years of the Cosmic Microwave Background into notes from a standard octave of a even-tempered scale (what we’re used to hearing) and raised the pitch 50 octaves (to put it in range of the human ear).

To hear the result go to this web page, look over on the left and click on “The First 100 Million Years,” scroll down, and then choose either audio only or run movie. I’m kidding about my voice vs the universe’s. The first song ever heard is not particularly musical or pretty, but it’s harmonic.

I thought about having a larger section about the cosmic chorus, just because it seems like there is no place in all the universe without music. Even black holes sing. They emit sound, one note, a B flat, although 57 octaves below middle C. And every star has its own song, which tells us about its size, brightness, what its made of, and how old it is.

Here’s a NASA recording I came across of the earth singing. By the way, the NASA website is so much fun to explore. Just type in “sounds” in the search box and listen to a few.

I found this photograph titled “A Negro Choral Society” in the New York Public Library’s Digital Gallery. It’s dated 1922, and the source is listed as, “The Negro in Chicago; a study of race relations and a race riot, by the Chicago Commission on Race Relations.”

I took this test for color vision and apparently I am way, way, color blind. I knew I was fuzzy on greens and blues, but I scored a 96. Zero is actually the best in this test, so 96 is like, I wonder what the world looks like to the rest of you.

Along these lines, I love how you can find creative expression everywhere …

Even on the back of a truck. Often on the back of trucks it turns out. For the rest of the day I noticed that the back of trucks are frequently used as someone’s canvas. I like how the rivets look like tears.

Theresa Whitehead, the Treasurer & Secretary of the West Chester University chapter of the American Choral Director Association, sent me some pictures from my talk there last weekend. Everybody looks so nice!

I adopted them all but it was over the internet so I’m not sure it’s legal.

It was a little chilly so I put on the jacket I brought to wear on the train.

I’m always shocked at how teeny I am. I feel so much larger to myself. I’m going to be the littlest of little old ladies (and yes, I realize that to these kids, I already am a little old lady). Thanks again for inviting me, I had a great time!

“To sing in a choir is the quickest, surest, and best way to become intimate with music, to get close to the seat of its emotional life, where its heart-throbs can be felt and heard … to hold communion with its gentle saints and glorious heroes.” These are the words of 19th century music critic Henry E. Krehbiel, and he’s speaking about choral composers, but all composers are gentle saints and glorious heroes.

Music reaches a place inside us that cannot be reached with words or in any other way. Composers are the heroes writing the music that reaches that place.

The last time I went to the Aaron Copland School of Music I realized how few female composers I was familiar with. Given how hard it is for new composers to have their work heard, I have to imagine it’s even harder for female composers. So I’m thrilled to be speaking at a Women Composer’s Recital on October 11th at 5 pm at the Aaron Copland School of Music. The concert I went to there before was fabulous.

If you’re going to be in New York on October 11th, please join me to celebrate the work of our newest heroes! Directions here.