S is for Schubert, of course. The most spoilt composer in Liederabend, the one I mention with any excuse whatsoever, the one who appears on drawings (him and his music) in a outstanding position on this web. Schubert, the apple of my eyes. Why Schubert? There are composers (and I'm talking generally now, not only referring to Art Song) that I liked immediately, as a revelation. Others I learned to love them. With some others, I hold a strange relationship because I like very much some of their works and very little [...]
Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart is Robert Schumann's last cycle, composed in December 1852. These songs were virtually his last too as he only wrote two more. The story of Mary had already attracted Schiller's attention, who had written his drama based on the Queen’s last days, Maria Stuart, in 1800. It had also attracted Donizetti, who composed in 1835 his opera Maria Stuarda upon Schiller's work, and Schumann paid attention to some [...]
There is this recurring question in roses’ and gardening forums: "Where could I find black roses?" And the answer is: "Nowhere". Black roses do not exist. There are some varieties which include the word "black" in their name, but they're dark red; The day a rose grower gets the desired hybrid, they’ll make their fortune! I would say that black roses are so wanted because they don't exist in our gardens, but they do in our imaginary, always related to mystery, occultism, tragedy, sorrow...
When Friedrich Klopstock says in his poem Das Rosenband "my life hung with that gaze on her life" and later "her life hung with this gaze on my life" ("mein Leben hing mit diesem Blick 'an ihrem Leben" and "Ihr Leben hing mit diesem Blick' an meinen Leben"), he doesn't say anything that he and his fiancée, Margareta Moller, wouldn't say to each other in their letters. If the tenderness and gentleness of Klopstock's poems matched, as it seems, with reality, the couple's time together should have been really happy. Let's take, for instance, [...]
Totes les sessions seran a les 19 hores a La Tribu Llibreria c/Pons i Gallarza 30, Sant Andreu