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I like bees. Perhaps, because they are so organized and diligent, perhaps because the beehives are order and beauty, or because I never had an unpleasant encounter with them; Or just because I watched too much TV as a child. Bees couldn't be absent from my list of buggy songs, and even less, a song as delightful as Der Knabe und das Immlein, by Eduard Mörike, a poet that I mention from time to time because I like the songs that Hugo Wolf, who was so fond of him, wrote from his poems.
Der Knabe und das Immlein is the second Lied of Wolf's long collection of fifty-three Mörike Lieder. It was composed the 22nd February 1888 and as soon as he finished it, an excited Wolf wrote to a friend telling him [...]
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There are songs and songs. The one we're listening this week deserves a prominent place in an Lied's honor roll. Or at least, so I think; please, just take your time to listen to it and then tell me... The song is Die Mainacht by Johannes Brahms, the no. 2 of his opus 43, composed in 1866 (when the composer was thirty-three) from a poem by Ludwig Hölty. We have an example of pure romanticism in those verses, with three of its main theme: night, nature and solitude. The poet wanders through the woods at night and feels terribly lonely. Brahms makes us feel that loneliness, and how!
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We continue our journey through the novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship" by Goethe, and we arrive at the 12th post of the series about its songs.In our previous post, we left the novel at chapter 10 in book V, when Wilhelm was in his room, awake, with Philine's slippers on his hands, hesitant (which is, as you know, his natural state). Now it's the opening night of Hamlet, with Wilhelm in the leading role; the performance has been a success, all the actors have been praised and the company celebrates with a dinner party. They eat and drink (mostly drinking…), sing and dance.
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Three something years and 63 male composers later, the first female composer arrives at Liederabend. Dear readers, let me introduce you to Amy Beach.Amy Marcey Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, in 1867. As far as we know about her childhood, it seems quite clear that she likely was a child prodigy; let me tell you, for instance, this anecdote: when Amy was four years old she went back home after spending a few days at her grandparents’ place and told her mother: "I did three waltzes." Mrs. Cheney was an excellent singer and pianist and was teaching her daughter, but she thought her comment was excessive as there wasn't a piano at her grandparents’ place. The girl replied that [...]
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Last June, I started my buggy songs list. According to my friend’s practical definition, a bug is a "small animal prone to be crushed with a slipper", and my list includes creatures such as beetles, cockroaches and crickets. Even so, you might remember a creature that also got into the list but it wouldn't be crushed by a slipped: a dragon. Then, let’s say that I needed my 10th buggy song and snails are mentioned in this one (incidentally, my friend loves it). Let's say too that every year, when I write the St George's post, I think of the poor dragon and its sad role in the story. Another friend tells me "it's not a dragon, it incarnates evil forces ", and he's right but still... poor dragon!
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