wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

In Europe they celebrate, in America we mourn. Commentator John Rockwell remarks a national tendency to promote cultural achievements in less-than-cheerful circumstances, whether after a critic’s divorce from its journal, or worse, after a musician’s divorce from… life. In this instance, John considers octogenarian music critic Alan Rich’s recent separation from The Village Voice and composer/conductor Gerhard Samuel’s recent passing.