Music

The Line of Thought

. . . to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream.

--Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Immersion

While Hampshire, England, is Ground Zero for Austen 250 celebrations, we Americans are doing our best to participate—and this week, the...

Deborah Yaffe

May 8

Tunes

“To be quite honest, I do not think I can live without something of a musical society,” the newlywed Mrs. Elton reports telling her...

Deborah Yaffe

Feb 17

Rebooting Clueless: The Musical

Almost five years ago, I saw the off-Broadway production of Clueless: The Musical and found it a disappointingly pallid version of the...

Deborah Yaffe

Nov 20, 2023

Janeite madeleine

For Jane Austen fans, few pieces of music are as instantly recognizable as the Mozart-esque piano concerto that accompanies the credit...

Deborah Yaffe

Aug 10, 2023

Summer fun

Chawton House, the Elizabethan mansion in Hampshire, England, once owned by Jane Austen’s brother Edward Austen Knight, has had a busy...

Deborah Yaffe

Jul 27, 2023

Using up the leftovers

Before leaving on vacation, I always try to clean out my refrigerator—no point in coming home to sour milk and moldy vegetables. Since I...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 19, 2023

Eliza's harp

Jane Austen’s extended family was largely composed of respectable clergymen, naval officers, and landowners, along with their equally...

Deborah Yaffe

Jun 8, 2023

A song in our hearts

It’s cold outside, and the pandemic still rages. You may not feel like singing a happy tune. But if you’re a Janeite, someone else is...

Deborah Yaffe

Jan 11, 2021

Model city

Now this is a community event I can get behind. Over the weekend of January 10-12, the city of Modesto in California’s Central Valley is...

Deborah Yaffe

Dec 30, 2019

The sound of (Austen) music

Music plays intermittent cameo roles in Jane Austen’s novels: think of Mary Bennet delighting us long enough in Pride and Prejudice, or...

Deborah Yaffe

Nov 7, 2019

A really accomplished young computer

Jane Austen’s novels have provided the inspiration for any number of musical treatments, from operas and a classical instrumental suite...

Deborah Yaffe

Nov 19, 2018

Emma, live and on film

Musical theater is an expensive art form, and fans on a budget – or those who live far from the major cities where original productions...

Deborah Yaffe

Oct 4, 2018