A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.
An evening pause: Performed live 2014 by the Beethoven Academy Orchestra with Sara Andon on the flute.
Some movies are made special because of their score, and I think this applies to the 1962 film, To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a superb work of art, but it rises above many comparable films due to the music that Elmer Bernstein wrote for it. His suite only gives a hint of its effectiveness, in the movie.
An evening pause: To celebrate the birthday today one of America’s greatest man, a short biography.
The video below does a really fine job in a very short time. Lincoln’s life was filled with heart-breaking tragedy, far more than most Americans today realize. Yet the man endured, so that he ended up changing his nation so that it finally honored fully its founding documents. As he said so eloquently in 1863:
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
An evening pause: Built fast and cheaply, despite real cutting edge engineering challenges, at the turn of the 19th century.
Hat tip Cotour.
An evening pause: For my birthday, a repost of a 2010 evening pause of one of my favorite Broadway songs, from Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, which I only recently learned was his favorite song as well.
It tells the story of a significant moment in history, the moment when Japan’s leaders signed their first international treaty in 1852 with the United States, but from the point of view of outside witnesses. Its point is profound, that history is not just made by the leaders who sign the deals, but by every individual who makes up the whole of human society.
It’s the fragment, not the day
It’s the pebble, not the stream
It’s the ripple, not the sea
That is happening.
Not the building but the beam
Not the garden but the stone
Only cups of tea
And history
And someone in a tree.
An evening pause: It always amazes me the level of engineering sophistication that one finds in all human endeavor, even from centuries past.
Hat tip Cotour.
An evening pause: From the 1944 film, Meet me in St. Louis. I posted this in July 2010 as one of the very first evening pauses. As I wrote then, “The last line of the song says it all, about life and love.”
Hat tip to Judd Clark, who suggested it, which convinced me it was time to post it again.
An evening pause: In 2017 I posted an evening pause of this band, when Daniela (on guitar) was 14 years old, Paulina (on drums) was 12 years old, and Alejandra (on bass guitar) was 9 yrs old. Today’s evening pause is from their 2023 tour in Mexico (where they are from), celebrating the band’s tenth anniversary. To put it mildly, they are a bit older.
Hat tip Matt Falk, who adds, “They are all adults now who’ve become one of the best live rock bands playing today, while still maintaining complete control of their career (a feat in itself).”
An evening pause: Who needs an orchestra when you have a modern synthesizer, properly programmed?
Hat tip Cotour.
An evening pause: Performed live 2009.
I must ask: It seems almost no one in pop music writes gentle ballads like this any longer. Everything must pound, with beautiful melody no longer a major consideration.
An evening pause: Performed live 1982, with a truly great sax solo by Mark Rivera.
Hat tip Ferris Akel.
A evening pause: The list is not quite complete, but it does give a sense of the comparable sizes of the most important rockets flying today, with a few important historic examples thrown in for context.
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
An evening pause: Performed live 2006.
Hat tip Alec Gimarc, who adds these details: “Chris Rea passed away last week. About our age. Over 30 studio albums. British. Very much an acquired taste. Been listening to him for nearly 40 years. Smooth, smoky voice. He specialized in slide guitar. Road to Hell is probably his greatest hit.”
An evening pause: It isn’t what you expect. More from this group here.
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
This a cappella group performs Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Credit: HotPlaysMusic YT pic.twitter.com/GB6NRQaOvs
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) December 18, 2025
An evening pause: Accompanied by the André Rieu orchestra and Charis Laurijsen & Panos Dimakis.
Hat tip Judd Clark.
An evening pause: A wonderful demonstration that one should never assume your first glance is right.
