Jan Swafford is a composer and writer. His books include Johannes Brahms: A Biography and Charles Ives: A Life With Music.
Advertisement

Recently by Jan Swafford

Showing 1–20 of 30
The Most Beautiful Melody in the World: Is it by Bach? Gershwin? The Beatles?
Jan Swafford
July 30, 2013 12:10 PM
The Surprising Snippets of Autobiography in the Music of Johannes Brahms
Jan Swafford
Oct 23, 2012 9:30 AM
Slate Readers on How They Learned to Love Mozart, Brahms, Jackson Pollock, and Other Acquired Tastes
Jan Swafford
June 01, 2012 3:55 PM
When I First Heard The Magic Flute, I Hated It. Now I Think It’s Brilliant. What Happened?
Jan Swafford
April 10, 2012 7:17 AM
When It Comes to Writing Lyrics, Leonard Cohen Is Second to No One, Including Bob Dylan
Jan Swafford
Feb 08, 2012 12:15 PM
Notes on Customs, Habits, and Mating Rituals of the Residents at Yaddo, MacDowell, and Other Artists’ Colonies.
Jan Swafford
Dec 19, 2011 6:55 AM
Last Notes: The Wild, Sublime Music That Composers Write on Their Deathbeds
Jan Swafford
Nov 29, 2011 10:11 AM
Advertisement
Artistic legacy: the tricky task of preserving an artist’s life and work.
Jan Swafford
Sept 20, 2011 3:09 PM
Contemporary music trends: The new niceness, aesthetic brutalism, and spectralism explained.
Jan Swafford
July 11, 2011 6:55 AM
The elusive maestro: why the process of finding a new conductor makes music lovers weep.
Jan Swafford
April 12, 2011 11:20 AM
What’s wrong with movies about composers.
Jan Swafford
July 27, 2010 10:06 AM
Why e-books will never replace real books.
Jan Swafford
June 29, 2010 10:12 AM
The centuries-old struggle to play in tune.
Jan Swafford
April 20, 2010 10:08 AM
Advertisement
Why you've never really heard the "Moonlight" Sonata.
Jan Swafford
March 02, 2010 7:06 AM
The music of the castrati.
Jan Swafford
Nov 09, 2009 1:28 PM
How a pause can be the most devastating effect in music.
Jan Swafford
Aug 31, 2009 4:22 PM
Why you should listen to Charles Ives.
Jan Swafford
June 01, 2009 12:27 PM
When music critics attack.
Jan Swafford
Feb 03, 2009 10:04 AM
How the Illuminati influenced Beethoven.
Jan Swafford
Dec 08, 2008 6:35 AM
How The Rest Is Noise changes our understanding of 20th-century music.
Jan Swafford
Sept 23, 2008 1:54 PM
Advertisement
Advertisement