"Per aspera ad... Astor", dedication to Astor Piazzolla

The name of Astor Piazzolla is one of the first associations with the tango music. Hardly was there any composer who has done to this genre more than Astor. A revolutionary approach took tango as it was to an absolutely different level.

Astor Piazzolla playing bandoneon

Astor Piazzolla is known for adding to the traditional sound of tango the elements of Jazz and Classical Music. What appeared as a result of that fusion is often called ‘nuevo tango’ (‘new tango’), and it really did become something new. Moreover, the composer was also an extremely talented bandoneon player and he performed most of his works on that instrument, which made them even more exotic for that time.

I have come across a really beautiful dedication to the great tango composer. It is played in a duo of violin and piano (with piano obviously in the lead) and it’s got a perfect title – "Per aspera ad... Astor", highlighting the distance it takes to come at little a bit closer to the level of the virtuoso genius.

Brahms' Advanced "Nänie" for SATB and Orchestra

You won’t hear Brahms’ "Nänie" often. Have you ever heard it performed by a choir at all, by the way? Most of you probably haven’t and there is a simple explanation to that. It is very beautiful music piece, lyrical and deeply emotional, but the level of its difficulty makes it unpopular for choirs and orchestras. "Nänie" is one of the most difficult SATB pieces out there.

German classicist painter Anselm Feuerbach
(self-portrait)

Brahms composed it in 1881, deeply touched by the demise of his friend and Germany’ leading painter Anselm Feuerbach. Friedrich Schiller’s poem Nänie (‘nenia’ from Latin – ‘funeral song’) seemed to perfectly convey the composer’s emotions so he set it to music. As one of the poem’s sentences goes, ‘even the beauty must die’. Thus, Brahms expresses his lament on the inevitable death of everyone and everything.

Due to the complexity of the composition, there are not too many choirs that are experienced enough to be able to perform this piece brilliantly.