Perhaps one day the European Union will decide to do away with the time change. And what's more, they might decide to permanently set the winter-time, which is the most suitable to our biology, even if our social behaviour loves summer-time. To be honest, by that stage I'd be happy if clocks would keep still. No matter at which time. But still. Please. Meanwhile, and according to this lovely tradition, we come abruptly in the darkest weeks of the year the last Sunday in October, and people who began to complain about Autumn and its short evenings in September [...]

At a slow pace we arrived at the second part of Dichterliebe. Not only because we're listening to the ninth song out of sixteen, but because there is a point of inflection in the love story: if the poet still had some hope left, it vanishes at this song, where his beloved gets married.

Do the celebrations to commemorate the anniversaries of the composers make sense? The question arises with every enthusiastic celebration or with every birthday that goes unnoticed, that is, every year. It's assumed that, beyond paying homage to the composer and enjoying his music, the anniversaries should serve to disseminate his work, and some perspective is required to know if the aim was achieved. For example, the commemoration of 100th anniversary of Schubert's death in 1928 meant a major review of his figure and work. At the end of the century [...]

Among the many good things Brahms did, there is the edition of Schubert's works which, forty years after his death, remained still in a drawer. For instance, the Zwölf Ländler, a collection of twelve waltzes composed in 1823 and catalogued by Otto Deutsch as D. 790, published by Brahms in 1864. In 1866, the composer published his Sechszehn Walzer, Op. 39, a collection of waltzes for piano four-hands. The edition was a sales success. The pieces were charming, the four-hand format was ideal for Hausmusik, that's to say, music to be played in gatherings in the home [...]

This week I wanted to present a new cycle, but I was short of time. I might have shortened the article and written two rushed paragraphs, but I don't think that the composer, my dear Brahms, deserves this. So I thought I'd share a sample of the cycle and some notes and come back calmly next week, if all goes well.