This week includes only works by composers I’ve never heard of before, and we’re starting it with Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an 18th century mixed-race, out of wedlock classical composer from the French colony of Guadalupe who was the conductor of the symphony orchestra in Paris.… Read more
What do you do when your work is characterized as lacking feminine charm if it is too powerful and energetic, but less than the artistic standard of your male colleagues if it’s delicate and melodious? You get involved in the suffrage movement, you compose its anthem and even spend two months in jail for the cause (albeit, after doing some private property damage).… Read more
This is the fifth French suite written by Bach for harpsichord in the 1720s’. Their purpose was for teaching, being practice pieces which have some complexity without being over demanding at the same time. This is most likely the reason why they were never published by Bach, keeping them for his private use as they weren’t particularly intricate or meaningful enough to present them at court.… Read more
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
The song of sorrow shall ring laughingly in your soul.… Read more
When the sorrow comes, blasted lie the gardens of the soul,
wither and perish joy and singing.
Dark is life, dark is death!
[…]
The heavens are ever blue and the Earth
shall stand sure, and blossom in the spring.
We start the week with a man that left no important legacy, being considered more often than not as old-fashioned in his style: Sir William Turner Walton. Why are we doing this? Because I have a soft spot for wartime music, which is precisely what Spitfire Prelude & Fugue is: the score of the film The First of the Few, directed by Lesley Howard.… Read more
Also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, this work got Henryk Gorecki in the attention of the wide public, being before then known only to a restricted circle of 20th century modern music connoisseurs. Despite having sold over a million copies, it remains a controversial work, being loved by the public and rather dismissed by critics.… Read more
Aristocracy, murder, depression, self-flagellation, witch trials. This is the context of Carlo Gesualdo’s madrigals, one of the most experimental musical compositions of the Renaissance, not to be heard again until the 19th century. They are absolutely wonderful, as the voices complement each other beautifully, blending in a rich and warm sound.… Read more