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
A soothing beautiful nocturne.
IDAGIO and Amazon: Nocturne by Dobrinka Tabakova || Andrew Matthews-Owen (Piano)
In 1791, Mozart was penniless, in poor health, out of fashion, and believed he had been poisoned and was on the verge of death.… Read more
Father of the Symphony, Father of the String Quartet, friend and mentor of Mozart, tutor of Beethoven, Joseph Haydn was an Austrian Classical composer too grand for words. Prolific does not even begin to describe his career: the man wrote over one hundred symphonies and 83 string quartets, 150 baryton duos and trios, over 40 piano trios (the development of which he also fathered), numerous concertos, trios and duos for various instruments, marches, dances, sonatas, 15 masses, a handful of songs, 13 operas and other musical comedies.… 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
A short and beautiful chorus work by Jonathan Harvey.
IDAGIO and Amazon for: Nigel Short, Tenebrae
I adore fanfare music. It’s a soft spot of mine since I was a child and I would go and listen to the marching band on the bank of the Danube on Navy Day.… Read more
This June has not been a stimulating month in terms of musical discoveries and by the looks of next week, it doesn’t seem to improve much. This week was just a bundle of generic background classical music. The only piece that raised my curiosity a bit was the prelude from 27 Pieces for Viola da Gamba by Carl Friedrich Abel, a close friend of J.… Read more
Choreographed steps, a cadence (a large jump landing with one leg ahead of the other) and a lavolta (a controversial intimate move, in which the man picks up the woman and spins her in the air, considered inappropriate by some). All these are part of the most popular Renaissance dance throughout Europe in the 16th century: the galliard.… Read more
Three children went on a music summer camp. They played football. They played the violin. They became friends. Fast forward into the present, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (violin), Frederik Øland (violin) and Asbjørn Nørgaard (viola) are now the funding members of the Danish String Quartet, alongside the cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin.… 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