Originally published August 11, 2012. Updated, revised and republished December 8, 2025.
Fermata is Italian for “stop”. It’s used much like we use “stop” in English: a “bus stop” in Italian is a “fermata dell’autobus”.
In music the “fermata” indicates a hold, generally at the discretion of the conductor.
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything of substance here. Essentially, I’ve been quiet since the fall. I’ve had this blog in a fermata of my own: holding what’s there at my discretion. It’s not that I haven’t had experiences or don’t have anything to say. But rather, life has gotten in the way, particularly in the form of work and my music library essentially tanking due to a technological problem I alluded to in my last post.
As we wind to the end of summer, though, life is calming down and I’m making solid progress in rebuilding my music library.
So, you can look forward to new posts soon. I have things to talk about like how pipe organs are like the voice of God, the differences between Valery Gergiev and Gidon Kremer as conductors, and the joy in rediscovering old, sometimes lost musical friends.
So what for the next movement soon.