I hope you got into the Christmas spirit because today we're beginning the usual short series of three posts with songs related to these days; The next two will be in short format and after the Three Kings Day we will go back to normal.

I heard the songs I'm talking today in Catalunya Música a Christmas Eve, a couple of years ago. They caught my attention and I jotted down them in my notebook; They were the Dwadzieścia polskich kolęd (Twenty Polish Christmas Carols) by Witold Lutosławski [...]

Imagine the last scene in a "made in Hollywood" movie: the main character is a singer who had many ups and downs in his life; now, he is on the platform of a crowded concert hall. Our man sings a piece of music that ends in a long fortissimo high note and the audience rises and gives him a standing ovation, ignoring the last chords of the piano. What would be the soundtrack of this scene? It could be Ein Traum, by Edvard Grieg, a song that has all the necessary elements to attract even the more reluctant cinema spectators, while the song lovers enjoy it from the first note.

We’ve reached letter X of Liederabend's alphabet, the second-to-last post of the series. It wasn't easy to link this letter to a word; In fact, it was the hardest except for the letter Z. My options were "xarxes socials" (social media) and the "xiuxiueijos" (whispering). Have you realised how many songs there are where someone (or something) is whispering and murmuring? So far, I’ve found about thirty of them among the ones published. Finally, I decided that social media were more representative because they have become my most important channel of communication, along with table talk (or standing up, if that were the case).

In June 1825, Schubert received a letter from his father explaining that his family knew he was doing well, but nevertheless, they regretted not hearing from him; He and his mother (actually, his father’s second wife) asked him to write and explain how things were going for him. He answered a month and a half later, but at least, he wrote a long letter. Among other things he explained that his latest songs on texts by Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake were warmly accepted, and many people were surprised at his piety in Ellens Gesang III, the hymn to the Holy Virgin. He made an interesting remark: "I believe that this comes of [...]

I don't remember if I ever asked you about your favourite Lied (or Lieder) by Schubert; if you want to share it (or them) today, please, go ahead! After some conversations here and there, given the devotion with which it's performed and the silence with which it's listened, after reading so many references that qualify it between masterpiece and perfection, I have little doubt that the Lied we will hear today is among the most beloved.