Paul Krugman notes that "America the Beautiful" contains a third verse:
The lyrics were written in 1894 by the Massachusetts poet Katharine Lee Bates, an ardent feminist and lesbian who was deeply disillusioned by the greed and excess of the Gilded Age. Her original third verse was an expression of that anger:America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till selfish gain no longer stain The banner of the free!
Clever experimenters challenged violinists to use their ears only to pick out the best sounding violins. The classic old million-dollar violins did not impress the musicians; many of them preferred brand new high quality violins and disparaged the million-dollar instruments.
Oscar Peterson, now deceased, was one of my favorite jazz musicians. Here is his rendition of a Christmas favorite:
I happened to listen to a few tunes by Nightnoise tonight. If you haven't heard them before, click on the videos. They were a group of Irish musicians who blended Irish traditional music, jazz, new age and many other ideas. Although the audio is not great in the following video, you can see the group in action, playing a tune titled "Time Winds." One of their most beautiful tunes is "Night in that Land, and you can listen to a good quality recording here. And since it's the Christmas season, consider this rendition of "The Wexford Carol." And for something very different, check out "Fionnghuala" (Mouth music). Finally, take a listen to "Silky Flanks" for some high energy that melds into yet another beautiful tune. Here is more on the history of the group, which is no longer performing. Two of the members of the group died over the past 10 years. Nonetheless, I find this music extraordinary and timeless.
Randy Bachman discusses the first chord of the Beatle's tune, "A Hard Day's Night."