In April 1770, then twenty-one years old, Johann Wolfgang Goethe arrived in Strasbourg to study law at the University. There he met someone who had a decisive influence on his training and poetry: Johann Gottfried Herder, only five years older than him. He introduced him to writers such as Homer and Shakespeare; he made him realize the importance of [...]
My dearest, as I promised you last week, I am sending you another musical postcard from my holiday spot. Many songs mention it, sometimes explicitly, and sometimes more hidden, like the song I am suggesting to you. The verses will be familiar to many of you, while the song is one of the most unknown by its author, Francis Poulenc.
My dearest, my holidays are finally here. Now that almost everyone has returned, I've left. However, I will not forget about my readers, and that is why I am sending you this digital and musical postcard from where I am. I hope the technology doesn't fail us and that it will get to you on Wednesday.
All the ingredients of a serenade are found in An die Laute [To the lute]: a warm, fragrant night with moonlight; a woman in her room, and a man beneath the window who wants to tell her his love. However, in the poem, the man does not address the woman, but instead his lute. The lute is the vehicle for the love message and it must be persuasive… and discreet. [...]
September has arrived, which means we are beginning a new season. It seems that the autumn has also arrived in Barcelona, which is quite unusual, since it usually arrives slowly and calmly. We wake up with pleasant temperatures, we enjoy a thin air, the sky is cloudy, and, when it clears, the sun's light is golden and soft. To celebrate, I bring you a short and beautiful poem [...]