La Central, one of the best bookshops in Barcelona, organizes every season, a series of short courses on literature and, recently, also about music. During their Winter Academy, I gave a course on Lied, for seven weeks (fourteen hours), covering very briefly from pre-schubertian to post-straussian Lieder, a course that ended one month ago. I greatly enjoy giving those courses, and this one wasn't an exception. So, my first reason to write this post is to show my gratitude to all participants. Thank you for your trust, your contributions, your curiosity your good mood... Thank you very much indeed!
J is for Jordi, or, in other words, for George. To be more precise, for St. George's Day, a day that we celebrate on Liederabend every year with roses, as the Catalan tradition dictates. We also remember some other dates each year, Easter and Christmas; occasionally, All Saints' Day or even the Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Padua; anything goes if we can listen to a related song. However, among those festivities that we recall, my favourite is Sant Jordi's Day, so, this week, it's absolutely entitled to a letter in our alphabet because Saint George is on 23th April, next Sunday. These pages are read in many places, even in the antipodes, so I would like to dedicate this post to those of you who have no chance to celebrate this day in Catalonia and I'd like to explain to why it's so special. If you live in Catalonia you have your own opinion on this day, so feel free to share it with us!