Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughan Williams was premiered (along with another song cycle, The House of Life) in 1904, when he was thirty-two and the end of his first stage as a composer was approaching; he would soon show interest in his country's folklore and reflect it in his music, beginning the second compositional period. But the music of the early years showed post-romantic traits and the influence of his time in Germany

We all have in mind what the nineteenth century lunatic asylums were like thanks to cinema (and literature), it won't be hard for us to understand Hugo Wolf's horror and suffering when he was locked up. He arrived at Dr. Svetlin's private mental sanatorium on 19 September 1897. He was deceived; his friends made him believe they were going to the Emperor's residence to sign [...]

I told my friend JD that I had written a blog article about Sure on this shining night, but when I searched for the link, I realized it was not there. I thought I had written that post, but I guess something came up and I didn't. No doubt, I had to correct my mistake and talk to you about this song, one of Samuel Barber's most performed.

Occasionally I hear phrases from a Lied in my head, and they bother me until I identify it, I told you about this. It also happens to me that I hear some music that reminds me of a Lied, and, again, I must identify it, as I also told you. Another variation on this theme is when I hear a Lied that reminds me of another song. That's what happened to me a few days ago, when I was choosing a version of Seligkeit to share with you.

We spoke a while ago about how trends also affect the world of Lied, and works that had been very much present in recitals and recordings for decades almost disappeared from the repertoire. On that occasion, I shared a Lied that had been one of Schubert's most popular in the 19th century, and now you barely hear it, Lob der Tränen. I would say the Lied of this week [...]