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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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Spain’s National Identity in Music

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  Spain’s National Identity in Music The songs in this recital are in Castillian Spanish, the national language of Spain, but they have been individually chosen to reflect the accent and idiom of all the Spanish regions. Each one has its own rich cultural heritage and folklore. The “Nationalist” composers included in this recital found musical inspiration in regional folk music and their compositions created enduring images of Spain as a whole. Until the end of the C19th, Italian music was the only classical influence in Spain. There was no indigenous Spanish musical identity and Zarzuela (operettas) was the first attempt at creating a national style. We might compare them to Gilbert & Sullivan operas, both in humour and popular appeal; they contained political satire, which needed continual revision, and they never received the international attention and prestige of Italian Opera. Spain’s National music grew from the exploration of its folk melodies by composers with a ...
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The Song of Spain - Canción Clásica de España

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  The Song of Spain The sounds of guitars, castanets, stamping feet, clapping hands and melodic turns are the most familiar aspects of Spanish music to visitors and holidaymakers. Striking melodies, indigenous rhythms and dances have picturesque qualities, which have inspired many non-Spanish composers, particularly Bizet, who composed “Carmen” without ever setting foot in Spain! Yet Spain has as many musical styles as it does regions. All its songs have strong rhythmic structures, but the modes, rhythms, cadences and ornamental figures of each region are distinct. However, there is a North-South divide in almost a straight line from Alcantara to Valencia. This line follows the fall of the Caliph of Cordoba and the invasions by the Moors in C11 th to C13 th .   The music of the North is quasi European despite its obvious turns and modal eccentricities, which clearly lend it an exotic character. Essentially its music is mono-rhythmic, happy and lively with a strong dance...
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