"They bleed just like the rest of us" - R.D.

Today I leave my space to the words of Richard Dare, CEO of Brooklyn Philharmonic. He rules :-)
"The living composers I know though are real people. They bleed just like the rest of us (...) They drink beers and feel tired and ride subways and dream about a better life. They are human and they want us to share a deeper, richer human experience together with them. They want, in effect, the same things Beethoven wanted".




Second Movement
Third Movement

Dedicated to Brian and all the pages he studied :)

On December 27, 1941, Shostakovich completed his "Leningrad" symphony. This appellative is commonly thought to indicate the German terrible siege of the city during the World War II. It was, however, written before then, and Shostakovich clarifies: "Even before the war, there probably wasn't a single family who hadn't lost someone, a father, a brother, or if not a relative, then a close friend. Everyone had someone to cry over, but you had to cry silently, under the blanket, so no one would see. Everyone feared everyone else, and the sorrow oppressed and suffocated us. It suffocated me, too. I had to write about it, I felt it was my responsibility, my duty. I had to write a requiem for all those who died, who had suffered. I had to describe the horrible extermination machine and express protest against it" (from Volkov, Testimony 135).


Second Movement
Third Movement

From the New World

I can't believe I still haven't posted this symphony, but as they say, better late than never. It is been named "From the New World" because Dvorak wrote it  at the end of the 1800s during his visit to the States. While listening, don't you agree that he was pretty impressed by the native tribes, riding their horses in the rain towards endless horizons?

1st Movement, part 2
2nd movement, part 1
2nd movement, part 2
3rd movement
4th movement

Souvenir from Italy

Souvenir de Florence is a sextet that Tchaikovsky wrote on a trip through Italy. It is true that, as critique mostly say, he was probably charmed more by the sunny climate than by the local music, as the latter doesn't appear too evidently in his themes. I chose this movement, however, because there is a middle point in which I can totally picture a chaotic and funny Italian open market. Anybody finds it? :-)