The Clash of the Eras

My "Schwann's Way" approach to organizing my physical recordings as they appear (or would appear) in a Schwann catalog allows me to work for a fixed standard (the one copy of the catalog that I keep). Nevertheless, I have to admit that ordering composers alphabetically can make for some strange bedfellows. Today I just finished an Examiner.com piece about a new Naxos recording of keyboard compositions by Antonio de Cabezón. This turned out to be based on the first CDs I had of this composer's music. (Back in the day I had a vinyl from the Musical Heritage Society, which is one of the reasons I was attracted to the prospect of writing about this particular new release.) As I went to add these CD to my cabinet, I realized that John Cage would be on one side and David Byrne (yes, he has recordings that count as "classical," such has his contribution to Robert Wilson's the CIVIL warS) on the other! Take away the capital letter and "renaissance" can mean all sorts of things!