41. Reflective music.

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Do you think that classical music is not for you and you don't know where to start? Or maybe you're a fan already and would welcome a fresh approach. You've come to the right place. Perfect pitch is for everyone. Beginners or experts, whatever your age. Lend Nick Keely Hutkins in your ears for his weekly dose of classical music that will enrich your life.

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It's a funny thing recording these podcasts because I often wonder where you listen to my little ramblings. Sometimes I can imagine on a walk or a commuter or maybe doing house tours. I can only say that unless you're driving, I suggest you stop whatever you're doing now, shut your eyes, and allow these five minutes to just waft over you. German for lullaby is a totally exquisite song by Rick Hardstrahl in three verses, for which I'll give you the English translation. Dream, dream, my sweet, my life, of heaven that brings the flowers, blossoms ever there. They live from the song your mother sings. Dream, dream, bud born of my anxiety, of the day the flower unfolded, of that morning bright with blossom, when your soul opened to the world. Dream, dream of the blossom of my love, of the silent of the sacred night, when the flower of his love made this world my heaven. Heaven indeed, when the song like this by Jesse Norman prepared to be a bit of a wreck, the sound is just completely ethereal. Valz, at least, written in 1902 by Sibelius for a play by his brother-in-law, has become widely popular as a standalone piece. It's certainly melancholic, but a gorgeous tune nevertheless. And at one point, there's even a hint that it's going to end happily. You will notice that clearly enough. But the Somba wins the day on this one. Extraordinary, really, when you come to think of it, that anyone could make a war sound sad. The slow movement, apparently inspired by a religious procession he witnessed in Naples, is the most gentle and loveliest of tunes. It's hard to believe that the composer who conducted his first performance in London wasn't actually very happy with the result. The second movement of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, Symphony No. 4, is played here by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Christophe von Dochnani. The final section of Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Coupard, a collection of pieces written after the First World War to commemorate friends who'd lost their lives in that conflict. Ravel actually came in for a bit of a stick for composing something so light-hearted to commemorate something so miserable, to which he disposed to retorted, the dead are sad enough in their eternal silence. This final textum, The Lively Rigodon, is played here by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abado. And we'll talk more about Bolera Man another time.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

So please do join him then. And you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on the link below.