Danse Macabre

This month will end in a holiday that is full of mystery and darkness. The famous Halloween that came from the United States is now celebrated far beyond the borders of this country. It has already created certain associations for us in terms of dressing, atmosphere and, of course, music.

But some music pieces have earned the title of ‘most Halloween’ ones. Danse Macabre composed by the great French composed Camille Saint-Saens is definitely one of the Halloween’s main themes. What can be more related to this holiday than the “Dance of Death”? The score was created by the great composer in 1874 and was based on the popular French superstition according to which the last walk to other world was a special ceremony equal for everyone, no matter whether you were rich or poor, or what your status had been. The art genre that was born from it typically looked like a long dance to the grave with people from different social layer, popes, emperors, common people – to prove the vain of human glories.

The piece first started as an art song and was later expanded to a tone poem. The motif somewhat reminds of composer’s “The Carnival of Animals” and each instrument has its theater role – xylophone for bones’ rattling, oboes for crows, etc. Though not received well from the very beginning, Danse Macabre soon became pretty popular. Especially its arranged versions like Liszt’s and Horowitz’ piano arrangements, Lemare’s arrangement for pipe organ and others.

12 Cellos in Paris

Paris, the city of people in Love. The city of beautiful romantic stories. The city of creativity, fashion, music and art. I’ve visited it recently for the first time in my life and was so mesmerized that couldn't but dedicate a small post to it :)

Before proceeding to the music of Paris, let me write a couple of facts here that surprised me about this little charming paradise.

1. Paris the name of which derives from an old tribe Parisii is also known as “the city of lights” – but it is not explained by the big amount of lighting in the streets or at the bridges over Seine (90% of them are lit) but rather by the big number of intellectuals that live there.
2. Surprisingly, neither the Eiffel Tower nor the Louvre are the city’s most visited sights. Disneyland Paris is! 13 mln tourists annually (compared to ~5 mln visits for Eiffel or Louvre).
3. French baguette is not just an association with Paris but its symbol that has its very strict measurements: 65 cm in length and 6 cm in width – otherwise, it’s not a French baguette!
4. By the time of the great revolution, only 15% of the citizens spoke French as a native language – 75% didn’t! Maybe that’s why + a massive inflow of immigrants is the reason why you can hear/see such a mixture of various nationalities in the streets of Paris.

Paris would not be the city of art if it wasn’t the home of some of the world’s most outstanding composers. To start the list with the names of Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Faure, Lully, Ravel, Saint-Saens is just a warm-up! Those are the natives, and what if we start remembering how many music pieces have been dedicated to Paris during the lifetime. Here is a lovely tune for 12 cellos that was created in the love for this city as well. The wonderful thing is that you can be just strolling in the center of the city quietly and come across a professional musician just sitting out there at the corner and playing his beloved instrument for you.

Paris, I’m already in love with you and I’m surely coming to see you once again!

Guantanamera Arranged for Guitar

Cuba, ‘the island of liberty’, so original and exotic in its essence, is a highly patriotic country. So would be its music, it seems. But surprisingly, the song that is often perceived as a truly national tune of the country does not have so much of patriotism about it, if you dig deeper. “Guantanamera” (Spanish for ‘girl from Guantanamo’), both Cuban and international hit, is about a province girl and a romantic relationship – that’s how it began.

Cuban Grannies Smoking Cigars

The music of the song is now a decided matter – in 1993 Jose Fernandez officially won the battle being now called both composer and the first promoter of the song (mostly through his radio shows). But in terms of the lyrics, there is still a lot of arguing. Some say that originally it was a story about Fernandez himself and a girl that brought a sandwich to one of his radio shows and who he felt platonic love for. According to other version, Garcia Wilson, who claimed to be the song’s co-composer, also had a romantic story but the girl turned him down.

The original lyrics, however, are not to be heard in the song today. What we enjoy is the adaptation of 4 verses (stanzas) from various poems by Jose Marti, Cuba’s national hero and independence fighter. Maybe at least this sole fact adds up 80% of patriotism to the song and all the original versions stay in the shadow. Guantanamera soon received the unofficial status of the national anthem, the symbol of unity, and was even used as a ‘peace-maker’ during the missile crisis. The most successful recording of the famous song is attributed to The Sandpipers and is based on the song’s adaptation by Pete Seeger.

Springtime in Munich

Munich, the capital of Bavaria is a wonderful city famous for many things and dear to many people for their own reason, or two, or a dozen. "Munich loves you" is the city’s motto and that is indeed so. Apart from being the host city of the world-known beer festival called Oktoberfest, Munich has much more to offer.

The lovers of German cars would be delighted to visit this motherland of the renowned BMW car maker. Those who love history and museums would definitely enjoy walking a lot in the impressive center that has been kept pedestrian since the 1972 Olympics. Only here would you see office workers having a beer and getting some sun tan in the nudist area during the lunch break. Gourmets would start licking their fingers looking at the yummy white sausages with sweet mustard and pretzels. And if you consider moving to Germany, Munich would be the best destination as it is considered to be the most economically highly-developed German city with the lowest unemployment rate and the highest level of life. It simply tops the list of best places to live in in Germany. Getting back to the music theme, one cannot but mention the fact that Munich is the host town for numerous composers like the great Richard Wagner, Carl Maria von Webber, Strauss and others. Bavarian State Opera and Bavarian State Orchestra are situated here. So weighty is the city’s heritage that musicians from all over the world keep being inspired by it, dedicating their works to the heart of Germany.
One of such composers is Shao Suan Low who wrote her Springtime in Munich for Flute and Piano for it.
Although, according to the composer, she stayed there for two weeks in Autumn, the town’s atmosphere felt completely like spring. The soothing piece came out as a result and one more charmed heart was open for Munich.

Theremin: Music in the Air

When talking about the ‘rare’ in music, why not spot some curious music instruments. When asked to enumerate some music instruments most would mention the popular piano, violin, cello, flute, harp, organ, guitar and so on. Hardly would anyone’s list be headed by the curious name ‘theremin’. And this instrument does deserve some attention that I’m gonna pay to it today.

Theremin was invented in 1919 by the Russian physicist Lev Termen, who, on arriving to the USA was called Leon Theremin (thus the name of the invention).  The marvelous thing about the instrument is that its construction allows playing without actually touch the instrument itself: it consists of two antennae, one responsible for the pitch, and the other one – for the volume. You can play by ‘touching the air’ between those two and adjusting the melody with your vertical and horizontal moves. It’s quite challenging I should say – constant skill training is required.

Leon Theremin was forced back to the Soviet Union in 1938 having to leave behind his studio, work, family and friends. However, during those years he managed to leave tangible work for his disciples. One of his best students is Clara Rockmore – a violinist who after having some health problems with hands switched to theremin and became world’s most outstanding theremin player.

In the 1930-ies theremin was quite promoted. Theremin music could be heard in popular movies (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Lost Weekend, etc.), in music bands’ creativity (Led Zeppelin, Hand People, the Bonzo Doo Dah Dog Band, etc.). Today, there is no that ‘boom’ in theremin’s fame but it is still produced, played and valued.