Peaceful, serene, soothing … this is how this week’s honourable mention makes me feel when listening to it: “L’heure excuse” by Reynaldo Hahn, a Venezuelan composer and a prodigy child (he entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was ten years old), best known for his songs. Naturally, when it comes to a voice composition, you need a great voice to portray the beauty of the song, and Susan Graham does this superbly.
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
We’re going to start with the honourable mention of “Toccata Arpeggiata” by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, a composer from the early Baroque, best remembered for his lute music, being an important contributor to the development of plucked string instruments. This is a beautiful short piece, with a calming effect, that I could listen to over and over again.… Read more
We start the year with some big names (Bach, Beethoven) and some unknown ones for me at least, since I’m not exactly a big connoisseur in this domain.
At number 4, we have a new find for me: “O virtus sapientiae” by Hildegard of Bingen. I have to admit I’d never heard of this name before and it turns out this was a very intelligent and notable lady of the 12th century (a nun, a composer, a scientist and many other things – more details can be found in the book).… Read more