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One of the modules of the ESMUC Master's Degree in Lied is called Genre Literature. Repertoire of the German Lied, and it is given by pianist Viviana Salisi. In this module, a general overview of text-music relationship is given, including different composers, ages and styles, while the songs are grouped by subjects. My friend M, former student of the master's degree, thought that as the module’s final work, students could prepare a post for Liederabend's blog. That means, choosing a Lied, gathering information, writing the content in both languages and choosing a performance and an illustration. Both Viviana and I thought it was a fantastic idea. From the academic point of view, singers and pianists should address to their potential audience with words and not with music, as they usually do; From Liederabend's point of view, I liked the idea that the master's degree left [...]
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When I was organizing the Liederabend's alphabet, I realized that I had two words for one letter, and, alas, I couldn't do without any of them. If the name I wanted to represent an old-time pianist and the name I wanted to represent a present-day one share the same initial, there was only one solution left, to break the rules1, since discarding one wasn't an option. So, the letter M is for Gerald Moore and Malcolm Martineau. Gerald Moore represents to piano what Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau represents to voice. When we speak about lied and piano, his is the first name that comes up in the conversation, a name that we find in so many recordings with so many different singers. But If I'm drawing a parallel between them, it's not just because he's a great [...]
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Homer describes with a few lines Ganymede's story. We know more about him from other literary sources: Ganymede was a young boy, the son of King Tros. Zeus fell in love with him; "the loveliest born of the race of mortals" wouldn't have gone unnoticed by Zeus. The god, in the form of an eagle, abducted the boy and took him to Olympus. The position of cup-bearer was available, since Hebe had married Heracles (it seems that married goddesses shouldn't work), and all the gods were delighted that such dazzling beauty pours them nectar and ambrosia. All except Hera, Zeus' wife.- Details
Last December, in a concert of the LIFE Victoria, Mercedes Gancedo and Beatriz G. Miralles performed Triste, one of the Cinco canciones populares by Alberto Ginastera, and I jotted it down to talk about it during the season. Then I thought it would be nice to share with you that performance, and it would be even better than Mercedes, Argentinian as the composer, spoke about the song. Many thanks to Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation (LIFE organizer), for providing me with the video of the concert and to Mercedes Gancedo for writing this post and telling us what Triste suggests to her. Her words will take us to the Pampas, that's why I like guest posts!- Details
It has been a long time since I spoke of cherries and songs for the very first time. You know, you pick a cherry from the bowl and there are some other tied together; you hear a song and others come to mind because, somehow, there are bonded to the first one. When we listened to Die stille Stadt, by Jan Sibelius, I told you that the atmosphere reminded me of another song; it took me some time to find which one, perhaps because the bond was too subtle. Today I would like us to hear that song, Erwartung, by Arnold Schoenberg, so you can consider if they are "cherry-songs" From an objective point of view, Erwartung and Die Stille Stadt have in common the poet Richard Dehmel, and the night, although there are very different nights: in the first song, the fog is so thick that a wanderer is about to get lost; in the second one, the night is so clear that we can even appreciate some colors[...]
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