Sad Sunday again? I don't know, I am not sad at all at the moment. I spent a wonderful day, I did a morning walk by the sea, and I was amazed by the number of children I saw. Those little souls somehow always bring joy. They are still innocent, of a pure heart, not corrupted by sinful desires and thoughts. Take, for example, the scams that some adult people want to present as an opportunity to make money. There are so many scammers around and if you want to see one example, I recommend to take a look here. It always saddens ... bad intentions, hidden thoughts, scams. The game of those who want to hurt and possible victims...Who is winning usually?
Now I am a bit more in the mood of a SadSunday post. But still, I am not so desperate, so I will bring here some sad music, to make the effect! It will not be piano music this time, I am not going to play anything. But we are going to hear beautiful orchestral compositions. Ready? Here we go:
The first pick for this #SadSunday post is Samuel Barber and his famous work Adagio for Strings. This piece was originally the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11, what he composed in 1936. When he made the arrangement to be performed by an orchestra instead of just a string quartet, he sent the score to the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini didn't say anything, just returned the composition! I imagine myself as Barber, I would be very sad if my work would not be accepted. Samuel Barber was annoyed as well, yes. However, I turned out to be a completely positive response by Toscanini, as he already learned it by heart and that was the reason he returned the score. The world premiere happened on November 5, 1938, and just a selected audience was invited to watch Toscanini conduct it with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Also, it was broadcast on the radio and recorded. Here comes that world premiere recording of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. Really worth of closing your eyes and spend the next 7 minutes listening to it.
My second pick for a sad musical piece for today is Vocalise, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Oh, my so loved composer. He was a great pianist as well, so don't be surprised I love and admire him so much! All his compositions are deep and saturated with that powerful sound of romanticism. About the piece, we are going to hear here... Vocalise is a song composed in 1915 for a voice and piano. It doesn't contain words! The singer can choose one vowel and perform it that way. It was dedicated to soprano singer Antonina Nezhdanova. Here comes again an orchestra arrangement, written by the composer, Rachmaninoff. The performance I will bring here is conducted by the composer and recorded in New Jersey, on 20 April 1929. Four minutes of listening? I think your ears deserve it. Click now on that play button and enjoy.
If you are wondering whether my third selected composition will be something from almost a century ago...? Yes and no. The composition was written in 1939 but with a performance that arrives from 1991. If I say these two names: Joaquín Rodrigo and Paco de Lucía can you guess? Yes, here comes the second movement of Concierto de Aranjuez, composed by Joaquín Rodrigo. And who would perform it better than the guitar magician Paco de Lucía? Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, he passed away in 2014, but he still remains unsurpassed, in my opinion. Oh no, 11 minutes of beautiful music? Try it, it will not leave you without an impact! I always get chills listening to this composition. I was listening to it last week in my car while I was driving, so I turned on the volume to the maximum. I think everyone heard it on the street as well. Luckily, you can listen to it with your headphones for a better experience.
Maybe not everyone likes classical music...but could you say that you didn't like any of these ones here? I would be very pleased to hear your opinion, even if the opinion is negative. Let's talk about it, I am more than happy to have some chit-chat or deeper dialogue on the topic Barber: Adagio, Rachmaninoff: Vocalise and Rodrigo: Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez.
Happy #SadSunday to everyone