We go on with our Christmas celebrations and this post is about the Three Kings; they are getting closer our homes and if we’ve been good guys, they will leave us their presents (unless Father Christmas has already paid you a visit, of course). And talking about the Three Kings, this is a perfect day to meet a new composer on the blog, Peter Cornelius. Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874) was born in a family of artists (painters and actors) and from childhood, he was aimed toward Arts as well, especially music, when his parents realized he was really gifted. He was in touch with important composers and poets, mainly Liszt and Wagner, but also Eichendorff, Heyse, Berlioz or Brahms, and he worked as a music teacher at [...]
Today is The Boxing Day. As I told you last week, this is going to be a very short post, just to invite you to listen to one more song from A Ceremony of Carols.
Last week we listened to That Yongë Child, one of the carols that Britten added when he revised his work after its premiere. After that revision, the number 4 of the collection was divided in two parts: 4a, That Yongë Child, sang by a boy soprano, and 4b, Balulalow, one of original seven carols set. This part is what we are listening today; in this piece, the boy soprano begins the performing and the choir joins him at the second verse.
You might know that, from time to time, I like straying slightly off my blog’s main subject, Art Song, and travel briefly to previous ages or different genres. Today we’re making one of these short trips: we’re having a piece of work composed upon poems, we’re having an accompanist instrument, but we won't have a song cycle, instead, a choral one. Because it's Christmas and Christmas it's time for children, and also because Benjamin Britten wrote a lovely Christmas piece for children to sing.
According to Wikipedia, the term "midlife crisis" was coined in 1965 and refers to "a time where adults come to realize their own mortality and how much time is left in their life". Almost fifty years later, I don't think this round figure, 40 years, has the same connotations; if "an 35-year-old” can still benefit from young people’s discounts, it’s hardly plausible that five years later he’ll be facing an existential crisis. Or perhaps he will, who knows.
This is the 4th post of the series about "Wilhelm Meister's songs", that's to say, the songs composed upon Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. If you missed the previous posts please pull the thread here.
