Acalanto da Rosa (Claudio Santoro)

Albert Combrink2013-06-04T19:44:02+02:00

Acalanto da Rosa (Cláudio Santoro 1919-1989), set to a text by (Marcus) Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980)

Cláudio Franco de Sá Santoro (1919-1989)

Santoro is a rather mysterious figure whose music is not as well known as it deserves to be. He is mainly known as a gifted violinist and founder of the Brazilian Philharmonic. He studied in Europe and garnered many prizes and awards. Educator, performer, writer, organiser, lecturer in piano, violin and eventually composition in Heidelberg, Germany – Santoro’s [read more…]

Acalanto da Rosa (Claudio Santoro)Albert Combrink2013-06-04T19:44:02+02:00

Bleuet (Francis Poulenc)

Albert Combrink2013-05-28T21:47:39+02:00

World War 2: French soldier weeping

“Bleuet” (Francis Poulenc), written in 1939, setting a text by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) written in 1917.

This extraordinary song links the twin catastrophes of World War I and World War II. Italian born Guillaume Apollinaire fought in World War I and, in 1916, received a serious shrapnel wound to the temple, from which he would never fully recover. The war-weakened Apollinaire died of influenza during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Shortly before his death he wrote a poem, which, despite [read more…]

Bleuet (Francis Poulenc)Albert Combrink2013-05-28T21:47:39+02:00

Fleurs (Francis Poulenc)

Albert Combrink2013-05-26T20:36:36+02:00

Fleurs (Francis Poulenc, Louise Vilmorin)

From Fiançailles pour rire (6 mélodies) 1939 for medium Voice to Poèmes de Louise Vilmorin:
1. the Dame d’André – 2. Dans l’herbe – 3. Il vole – 4. Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant – 5. Violon – 6. Fleurs

“Fleurs” (text by Louise Vilmorin – in French and English)

Fleurs promises, fleurs tenues dans tes bras,

Promised flowers, flowers held in your arms,

Fleurs sorties des parenthèses d’un pas,

Flowers from a step’s parentheses,

Qui t’apportait ces fleurs l’hiver

Who brought you these flowers in winter

Saupoudrés du sable des [read more…]

Fleurs (Francis Poulenc)Albert Combrink2013-05-26T20:36:36+02:00

Sérénade (Francis Poulenc)

Albert Combrink2013-05-20T19:52:09+02:00

Sérénade – No.8 from the song cycle Chansons Gaillardes (1926) to an anonymous 17th Century text.

This charming Serenade rocks along in a gentle 6/8 rhythm, almost more lullaby than love song. Encountered more often in its cello transcription, divorced form the text, it is a sweet, seductive little miniature: a tasty petit-fours to slip in between larger items on the menu. The text however, is extremely sexually suggestive, positively dripping in double entendre. It might be possible to argue a case for reading things into it, if taking the poem on its own. Put it in the context of the [read more…]

Sérénade (Francis Poulenc)Albert Combrink2013-05-20T19:52:09+02:00

La mer est plus belle (Claude Debussy)

Albert Combrink2013-05-18T11:42:50+02:00

“La mer est plus belle”, L. 81 no. 1 (1891)

Published 1891 [voice and piano], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Hamelle, by Claude Achille Debussy (1862-1918) , set to a text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) , no title, from Sagesse, in Sagesse III, no. 15, published 1880, dedicated to Ernest Chausson.

References to the sea abound in Debussy’s works, sometimes by directly giving them titles that refer to the ocean or water, as well as the surging rolling of waves of sound that characterises so much of his compositional style. It appears that references to the sea also refer like a [read more…]

La mer est plus belle (Claude Debussy)Albert Combrink2013-05-18T11:42:50+02:00

Star Candles (Michael Head)

Albert Combrink2013-05-15T17:13:07+02:00

Star Candles (1942) – Music: Michael Head (1900-1976) /Text: Margaret Rose (1936)

Margaret Rose (died 1958) wrote the words of Star Candles (1942). The poem refers to the constellation ‘The Southern Cross’, which in South Africa is also known as ‘Star Candles’, following an old belief that each of the five pointers denotes a gift to the Christ Child. Head responds with a beguiling melody. [from notes on Hyperion Records by Andrew Burn © 2012]

[read more…]

Star Candles (Michael Head)Albert Combrink2013-05-15T17:13:07+02:00

Slumber Song of the Madonna (Michael Head)

Albert Combrink2013-05-14T19:12:17+02:00

An Artsong about Christmas, but deffinitely not a Christmas Carol, Michael Head’s “Slumbersong of the Madonna” is an unexpectedly effective portrait of the human side of Mary, a mother tending to her little baby at bedtime. She calls him her baby and her King, and admits not being sure how to handle the balance of both the holy and maternal responsibility for the baby Jesus. The rocking triplets paint a picture of the young mother singing the baby to sleep, while unsettled harmonies reveal her sense of premonition. “Why should my [read more…]

Slumber Song of the Madonna (Michael Head)Albert Combrink2013-05-14T19:12:17+02:00

French Song Transcribed for Cello – Some thoughts from Sarah Acres (Cellist)

Albert Combrink2013-05-14T12:15:11+02:00

I’m sure we’re all familiar with various song transcriptions in the cello repertoire – Apres un Reve (Faure) and Beau Soir (Debussy) immediately spring to mind. and where there’s one, there will inevitably be more. After a LOT of listening, trying out ( there are many that just don’t quite work) we’re finally at the stage where we have a programme of some really beautiful gems.

So what goes into making a song transcription? It’s not just a question of playing the vocal part off the score because several factors have to [read more…]

French Song Transcribed for Cello – Some thoughts from Sarah Acres (Cellist)Albert Combrink2013-05-14T12:15:11+02:00

Après un rêve Op. 7 No. 1 (Gabriel Fauré)

Albert Combrink2013-05-13T19:57:05+02:00

Gabriel Fauré in his Apartment on Boulevard Malesherbes – Photographer Dornac (1858-1941). Date of publication : 1905. (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Musique)

 Alas! Alas! sad awakening from dreams

I call you, O night, give me back your lies,

A melody so exquisite that the words are almost superfluous, once heard, can never be forgotten. Après un rêve is blessed with one of the most eloquent melodies ever created. Long gentle [read more…]

Après un rêve Op. 7 No. 1 (Gabriel Fauré)Albert Combrink2013-05-13T19:57:05+02:00

“Les Roses d’Ispahan” Op.39 No.4 (Gabriel Fauré)

Albert Combrink2013-05-13T13:59:12+02:00

“Les Roses d’Ispahan” Op.39 No.4 (Gabriel Fauré /Leconte de Lisle) – A love affair in the Capital of Persia

Oh, if only your youthful love, that light butterfly,

would return to my heart

and perfume once more the orange blossom

and the roses of Ispahan in their sheath of moss.

One of Fauré’s most-loved and most-performed songs, even the title conjures up expectation of something exotic, fragrant and special. The ‘Rosa Ispahan’, also known as ‘Pompon des Princes’, is a clear pink, half-open kind of Damask rose (an early type, introduced from [read more…]

“Les Roses d’Ispahan” Op.39 No.4 (Gabriel Fauré)Albert Combrink2013-05-13T13:59:12+02:00