In Brief: Mid-October Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.

• The gorgeous Abbey of Solesmes, the center of the modern Gregorian chant revival, was founded one thousand years ago. [Zenit]


• Alain Vircondelet, the author of a biography of visionary artist Séraphine de Senlis, has alleged that large sections of the film version of the artist's life are lifted directly from his work. [Agence France-Presse]


• Marc-André Dalbavie's new opera, Gesualdo, sounds good. [Financial Times]


• Is the spiraling expense of a college education pushing students away from studying the humanities? Will the university no longer be centered on its historical core disciplines but be an advanced training institute instead? [Inside Higher Ed]


• Thank God, classical music is not the only art form that is dying. Ballet is, too. [The New Republic]


• Well, we always knew that dancers could be dangerous. Cardinal Zubeir Wako, the Archbishop of Khartoum, was almost assassinated during a Mass celebrated last Sunday. His attacker posed as a liturgical dancer, approached the altar, and drew a dagger before being apprehended. [Independent Catholic News]