The musical personality of Bernat Vivancos (Barcelona, 1973) is marked by the impressions received during his school years at the Monastery of Montserrat, by some reckonings the oldest existing music conservatory in the Western world. Singing, indispensable for all good musicians, has been of great importance in his career. Returning to Barcelona, Vivancos studied piano … Continue reading Bernat Vivancos : a search for a spirituality
Author: f. d. leone
Songwriter.
Responsio : Peter-Anthony Togni meets Machaut
I posted an overview recently in this blog on Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame - but this recording/work reflects, comments, refutes, challenges and embellishes the medieval voice of Guillaume de Machaut and his medieval masterpiece. RESPONSIO by Peter-Anthony Togni A contemporary response to Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame Jeff Reilly – bass clarinet Suzie Leblanc … Continue reading Responsio : Peter-Anthony Togni meets Machaut
Edison Denisov : won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home (#OnThisDay)
Edison Denisov, a composer whose avant-garde works won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home, died on November 24, 1996 in a hospital in Paris. He was 67. Mr. Denisov never recovered his health after a car accident near Moscow nearly two years previous. ''Denisov not only had a generous talent, but he … Continue reading Edison Denisov : won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home (#OnThisDay)
Thomas Tallys : one of Englands’s greatest composers died #OnThisDay in 1585
Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 1585) was an English composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music, and is considered one of England's greatest composers. No contemporary portrait of Tallis survives: that painted by Gerard Vandergucht (above), dates from 150 years after Tallis died, and there is no reason to suppose … Continue reading Thomas Tallys : one of Englands’s greatest composers died #OnThisDay in 1585
Krzysztof Penderecki : Poland’s greatest living composer born #OnThisDay
I have spent decades searching for and discovering new sounds. At the same time, I have closely studied the forms, styles and harmonies of past eras. I have continued to adhere to both principles … my current creative output is a synthesis. Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki is a Polish composer and conductor. The Guardian has called … Continue reading Krzysztof Penderecki : Poland’s greatest living composer born #OnThisDay
Jacob Obrecht : Netherlands Renaissance composer born #OnThisDay
Jacob Obrecht (1457-1505)) was a South Netherlandish composer known mainly for his substantial output of Mass Ordinary settings in the late 15th century, as well as for his motets and songs. Like his close contemporary Josquin des Prez, Obrecht was born and trained in the North, and led a peripatetic career involving positions and patrons … Continue reading Jacob Obrecht : Netherlands Renaissance composer born #OnThisDay
Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame : an overview
Guillaume de Machaut is the most important poet and composer of the 14th century, with a lasting history of influence. His unique oeuvre, contained, thanks to the composer’s own efforts, in manuscripts that include only his works, stands in many respects for itself: in terms of its volume, its poetic and compositional formulation and quality, … Continue reading Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame : an overview
Piazzolla’s Angels
Of all Latin American composers, the most widely performed today in classical circles is surely Astor Piazzolla, who has achieved something resembling pop status within the past two decades. Born in Argentina, he grew up in New York City, where his family moved in 1925; there he learned to play the bandoneón, a concertina accordion … Continue reading Piazzolla’s Angels
Anna Thorvaldsdottir : composer whose work conjures entire environments of sound
Anna Thorvaldsdottir is an Icelandic composer whose work conjures entire environments of sound, surrounding the listener in a dark and forbidding landscape. Anna thinks sonically; her music comes from a deeply non-verbal place, and she has developed a brilliant workflow which allows these ideas to remain mostly whole and unmolested through her creative process. Anna … Continue reading Anna Thorvaldsdottir : composer whose work conjures entire environments of sound
Hildegard of Bingen : Re-Imagined
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) celebrated a big birthday in 1998. She would have been 900 years old. To mark the anniversary, one of Hildegard's dozens of individualistic compositions, the Ordo Virtutum, was recast by a team of New York artists appropriately named the Hildegurls: Eve Beglarian, Lisa Bielawa, Kitty Brazelton, and Elaine Kaplinsky. While this cannot be … Continue reading Hildegard of Bingen : Re-Imagined
Musica Kaleidoskopea 