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Songs And Proverbs Of William Blake
''Songs and Proverbs of William Blake'' is a song cycle composed by Benjamin Britten (191376) in 1965 for baritone voice and piano and published as his Op. 74. The published score states that the words were "selected by Peter Pears" from '' Proverbs of Hell'', ''Auguries of Innocence'' and '' Songs of Experience'' by William Blake (17571827). It was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 1965 by the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (19252012) and the composer. The critic William Mann thought that the cycle would be judged "Britten's deepest and most subtle song-cycle"; and John Warrack wrote in ''The Daily Telegraph'' that Britten "has, I feel, here come to terms with the darkness and sense of cruelty that has always stalked his art". The cycle was recorded for Decca by the original performers in December 1965 in the Kingsway Hall, London with John Culshaw as producer and Kenneth Wilkinson as engineer. A recording by Gerald Finley (baritone) and Julius Drake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Cycle
A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combination of solo songs mingled with choral pieces. The number of songs in a song cycle may be as brief as two songs or as long as 30 or more songs. The term "song cycle" did not enter lexicography until 1865, in Arrey von Dommer's edition of ''Koch’s Musikalisches Lexikon'', but works definable in retrospect as song cycles existed long before then. One of the earliest examples may be the set of seven Cantigas de amigo by the 13th-century Galician jongleur Martin Codax. Jeffrey Mark identified the group of dialect songs 'Hodge und Malkyn' from Thomas Ravenscroft's ''The Briefe Discourse'' (1614) as the first of a number of early 17th Century examples in England. A song cycle is similar to a song collection, and the two can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Culshaw
John Royds Culshaw, OBE (28 May 192427 April 1980) was a pioneering English classical record producer for Decca Records. He produced a wide range of music, but is best known for masterminding the first studio recording of Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', begun in 1958. Largely self-educated musically, Culshaw worked for Decca from the age of 22, first writing album liner notes and then becoming a producer. After a brief period working for Capitol Records, Culshaw returned to Decca in 1955 and began planning to record the ''Ring'' cycle, employing the new stereophonic technique to produce recordings of unprecedented realism and impact. He disliked live recordings from opera houses, and sought to put on disc specially made studio recordings that would bring the operas fully to life in the listener's mind. In addition to his Wagner recordings, he supervised a series of recordings of the works of Benjamin Britten, with the composer as conductor or pianist, and recordings of o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1965 Compositions
Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, sworn in for a full term as President of the United States. ** Indonesian President Sukarno announces the withdrawal of the Indonesian government from the United Nations. * January 30 – The Death and state funeral of Winston Churchill, state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place in London with the largest assembly of dignitaries in the world until the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II. * February 4 – Trofim Lysenko is removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences in the Soviet Union. Lysenkoism, Lysenkoist theories are now treated as pseudoscience. * February 12 ** The African and Malagasy Republic, Malagasy Common Organization ('; OCA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Cycles By Benjamin Britten
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition and variation of sections. Written words created specifically for music, or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs composed in a simple style that are learned informally "by ear" are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers, and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ah! Sun-flower
"Ah! Sun-flower" is an illustrated poem written by the English poet, painter and printmaker William Blake. It was published as part of his collection '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794 (no.43 in the sequence of the combined book, ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience''). It is one of only four poems in '' Songs of Experience'' not found in the "Notebook" (the Rossetti MS). The poem Poetic structure and tone The poem consists of eight lines, in two quatrains. The metre is largely one of anapaestic trimeter with an admix of initial iambs and trochees to break up the rather monotonous rhythm that the anapaestic line confers. Thus Blake is able to show the cyclical monotony that the protagonists are suffering, while at the same time giving a forward note of impetus and hope to the movement of the lines. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd; all the rhymes are masculine. The ambiguous use of the word "Ah," (a note of delight, surprise, pity?) and the repetition of the word "where" a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fly (poem)
"The Fly" is a poem written by the English poet William Blake. It was published as part of his collection '' Songs of Experience'' in 1794. The poem Interpretation Blake printed the poem with the text set in the branches of trees, an image of a nurse and a toddler in the foreground, and a girl with a racket about to hit a shuttlecock in the background. G. S. Morris notes that "the lines 'Till some blind hand / Shall brush my wing' seem to follow the feathered shuttlecock directly into the little girl's racquet". The poem catches the narrator in an act of thoughtlessness that leads to the contemplation of the act and its implications. The fly suffers from uncontrollable circumstances, just as the narrator does. This humbling simile has caused the narrator to move from thoughtlessness to thought, and, as "thought is life", from death to life, allowing the conclusion, "Then am I / A happy fly / If I live, / Or if I die", a conclusion to which Paul Miner comments: "Brain-d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tyger
"The Tyger" is a poem by the English poet William Blake, published in 1794 as part of his '' Songs of Experience'' collection and rising to prominence in the romantic period. The poem is one of the most anthologised in the English literary canon,Eaves, p. 207. and has been the subject of both literary criticism and many adaptations, including various musical versions.Whitson and Whittaker 63–71. The poem explores and questions Christian religious paradigms prevalent in late 18th century and early 19th century England, discussing God's intention and motivation for creating both the tiger and The Lamb. The ''Songs of Experience'' The ''Songs of Experience'' was published in 1794 as a follow up to Blake's 1789 '' Songs of Innocence.''Gilchrist 1907 p. 118 The two books were published together under the merged title ''Songs of Innocence and of Experience, showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul: the author and printer, W. Blake'' featuring 54 plates. The illustrations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Poison Tree
"A Poison Tree" is a poem written by William Blake, published in 1794 as part of his '' Songs of Experience'' collection. It describes the narrator's repressed feelings of anger towards an individual, emotions which eventually lead to murder. The poem explores themes of indignation, revenge, and more generally the fallen state of mankind. Background The ''Songs of Experience'' was published in 1795 as a follow up to Blake's 1789 ''Songs of Innocence.''Gilchrist 1907 p. 118 The two books were published together under the merged title ''Songs of Innocence and Experience, showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul: the author and printer, W. Blake'' featuring 54 plates. The illustrations are arranged differently in some copies, while a number of poems were moved from ''Songs of Innocence'' to ''Songs of Experience.'' Blake continued to print the work throughout his life. Of the copies of the original collection, only 28 published during his life are known to exist, with an ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Chimney Sweeper
"The Chimney Sweeper" is the title of a poem by William Blake, published in two parts in '' Songs of Innocence'' in 1789 and ''Songs of Experience'' in 1794. The poem "The Chimney Sweeper" is set against the dark background of child labour that was prominent in England in the late 18th and 19th centuries. At the age of four and five, boys were sold to clean chimneys, due to their small size. These children were oppressed and had a diminutive existence that was socially accepted at the time. Children in this field of work were often unfed and poorly clothed. In most cases, these children died from either falling through the chimneys or from lung damage and other horrible diseases from breathing in the soot. In the earlier poem, a young chimney sweeper recounts a dream by one of his fellows, in which an angel rescues the boys from coffins and takes them to a sunny meadow; in the later poem, an apparently adult speaker encounters a child chimney sweeper abandoned in the snow while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London (William Blake Poem)
"London" is a poem by William Blake, published in ''Songs of Experience'' in 1794. It is one of the few poems in ''Songs of Experience'' that does not have a corresponding poem in ''Songs of Innocence''. Blake lived in London so writes of it as a resident rather than a visitor. The poems reference the "Two Contrary States of the Human Soul". The "Songs of Innocence" section contains poems which reference love, childhood and nature. Critics have suggested that the poems illustrate the effects of modernity on people and nature, through the discussion of dangerous industrial conditions, child labour, prostitution and poverty. Poem I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear How the Chimney-sweepers cry Every blackning Church appalls, And the hapless Sold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and referred to as the ''Oscars'' for classical music. They are widely regarded as the most influential and prestigious classical music awards in the world. According to Matthew Owen, national sales manager for Harmonia Mundi USA, "ultimately it is ''the'' classical award, especially worldwide." The winners are selected annually by critics for the '' ''Gramophone'''' magazine and various members of the industry, including retailers, broadcasters, arts administrators, and musicians. Awards are usually presented in September each year in London. Gramophone Awards of the 2020s 2021 Source: * Chamber: Beach. Elgar Piano Quintets (Takács Quartet; Garrick Ohlsson) * Choral: Dussek Messe Solemnelle ( Stefanie True, Helen Charlston, Gwilym Bowen, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Drake
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. The Julius became very common in imperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, pp. 642, 643. Origin The Julii were of Alban origin, mentioned as one of the leading Alban houses, which Tullus Hostilius removed to Rome upon the destruction of Alba Longa. The Julii also existed at an early period at Bovillae, evidenced by a very ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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