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The Songs & The Plays - Kean on Shakespeare

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The Songs & The Plays Listen on Youtube Love’s Labours Lost (1593-94) A revised and polished version of this play was presented for Queen Elizabeth I and her court at Christmas 1598. However the elevated language and subject matter of the drama suggests it was always intended for a sophisticated and highly literate audience. There are two parallel plots – one ‘high’ comedy and one ‘low’ comedy. In the high comedy the King of Navarre and his friends make a pact to ‘fast and study’ and to have no contact with women for three years. No sooner have they agreed than the Princess of Aquitaine and her ladies in waiting arrive to discuss ‘state matters’. Inevitably the King falls in love with the Princess and his friends with the French ladies in waiting. The Gentlemen find loophole in their vows and woo and win women with a dance. The Ladies become aware of their broken vows and treat the noblemen with scorn. In the low comedy the page Moth and the clown Costard ridicule the exaggerated m...
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Maurice Ravel - Biography - Histoires Naturelles

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  Maurice Ravel 1875-1937 The distinctive style of Ravel’s work has granted him a lasting popularity. His innovative piano style, orchestral genius and sophisticated harmonies also made him one of the most eminent composers of his own time. This scrupulous craftsman was a talented decorative artist, as well as a conductor, pianist, and teacher of a select few pupils.   Joseph Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, near Saint-Jean-de-Luz, in the Basque region of France. His mother was Basque and his father, an engineer, was of Swiss decent. The family moved to Paris in June 1875, soon after Maurice’s birth, and it was here that he spent most of his childhood. His family encouraged his musical talents and sent him to study in the preparatory piano class at the Paris Conservatoire in 1889.   That year, when Ravel was 14 years old, Paris hosted the World Exhibition. He was a constant visitor to the performances of oriental and exotic music on the Champ de Mars. Javanese gamela...
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