On third place we have the most famous work of the Argentinian guitarist and composer Jorge Cardoso, namely Milonga. Akin to its composer, who is also a teacher, a medical doctor and a researcher, Milonga stands for several things: it is a musical genre from Argentina and Uruguay, a dance similar to the tango, but faster and more relaxed in movements and a weekly event where people play and dance Argentinian tango, along with valses and milongas.… Read more
Johannes Ockeghem was a major composer of early Renaissance, having served as singer and composer in Paris, at the court of three French kings in the second half of the 15th century. Complex polyphonies, emphasis on bass lines and freely composed melodies (the norm then was to borrow pre-existing songs) are the key elements that mark him as one of the most influential musicians of his time, and “Missa prolationum” encompasses all of them.… Read more
The honourable mention of the week goes to “Dirait-On”, a song from the cycle “Les Chansons des Roses” by the American composer Morten Lauridsen. This is a setting of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austrian poet who, besides being one of the most lyrical German-language poets, also wrote over 400 poems directly in French.… Read more