Filomena left but the whole city of Madrid is immersed in chaos! Snow is everywhere, urban bus service was suspended, schools and all kinds of activities have been closed...
By the way, Filomena (Philomena) is a figure in the Greek mythology, but her story is pretty dramatic, not suitable for here to explain it. And Philomena is also the name of an asteroid that belongs to the "Asteroid Belt" in our Solar System.
*More about music and astronomy will be coming soon, in a future post.
Since the cold weather will stay around for at least another three months, today I would like to continue with more repertoire about this topic. Get yourself something warm to drink and enjoy the music coming in the next lines:
- A very special song is "What Power art thou" (AKA "Cold Song"), from "King Arthur", by H. Purcell (c. 1659-1695). I strongly recommend the performance of the eccentric Klaus Nomi (1944-1983), and this one of a young soprano boy of 14 y/o named Aksel Rykkvin. Even Sting sings this piece (but for me, Nomi's recording is the most attractive).
- Another piece in the same opera is "See see, we assembly" (AKA "Chorus of the Cold People"). Both pieces belong to the third act.
- W. Shakespeare's (c. 1564-1616) "Blow blow thou winter wind" is used in the music of T. Arne (1710-1778) and J. Rutter (1945). Both of them wrote music for voice: for choir (Rutter's) and for voice with keyboard (Arne's).
- "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a carol based in a text of C. Rossetti (1830-1894). She wrote also a book titled Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book. The most popular melodies for Rossetti's poem were composed by G. Holst (1874-1934) and H. E. Darker (1888-1976). As a curiosity, Susan Boyle (who became famous after her performance in Britain's got talent 2009) recorded it, as did another British singer, Jamie Cullum.
- "Mid-Winter" , of Bob Chilcott (1955), is very similar to the piece forementioned, but they are two different songs.
I am leaving behind the Anglo-Saxon repertoire and stepping into the French repertoire:
- N. Boulanger (1887-1979) is the author of Soir d'hiver. She was the first woman to conduct orchestras all over Europe and America. She became very popular because of her teaching, but she was also gifted for composition. Definitely worth knowing!
- F. Poulenc (1899-1952) is, on the other hand, the author of Un Soir de Neige. Not being well known, it lasts around 6 minutes. Poems were written by P. Éluard (1895-1952).
Now, leaving vocal works to enter symphonic works:
- Eine Alpensinfonie, op. 64, was composed by R. Strauss (1864-1949). This is one of his last symphonic poems. With the music, Strauss takes us to the highest part of a mountain and later returns us to the valley. The 10 numbers are to be performed in a row and normally the whole piece lasts almost one hour.
- R. Vaughan Williams (1872-1952) composed his seventh symphony "Antarctica" re-using his own music, that was created for the film "Scott of the Antartic" (1947). The symphony is orchestrated for a big group of musicians, it has 5 movements and lasts about 40-45 minutes.
-50 years later, P. M. Davies (1934-2016) was commissioned to write a piece to commemorate the anniversary of the composition of Vaughan Williams (the one that I spoke about in the lines before). This is the origin of his eight symphony "Antarctic". It has just a movement, but divided into 5 sections.
- Cantus Arcticus op. 61 (1972) was composed by Finish E. Rautavaara (1928-2016). It is a concert for birds and orchestra! The birds take part in the performance thanks to a recording. This recording was made in regions near the Artic Circle, and it is one of the best known works.
The blog post of today will finish in this point. I hope you enjoyed reading and listening. If you had a good time while whipping through this page, I would appreciate your support: please share and press the "like". Thanks in advance!
I wish you to stay healthy, and see you next time!
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