Bandolim

  

Hamilton de Holanda

Samba do Avião
2006

  

Tracks:

01- Cinema paradiso (e.morricone) 3:18
02- Samba do avião (a.c.jobim) 3:57
03- Théo (h. de holanda) 4:36
04- Embora (h. de holanda) 4:12
05- Último suspiro (h. de holanda) 4:03
06- Na hora do recreio (h. de holanda) 4:27
07- Eu não existo sem voce (a.c.jobim) 3:24
08- Dor menor (h. de holanda) 3:42
09- Chorinho pra ele (h.pascoal) 3:38 *
10- Sertão (r.galliano) 4:19 *
11- Sanfona (r.galliano) 4:06 *

Personnel: 

Hamilton de Holanda (mandolin)

Richard Galliano (accordion) *

Recording information: 

Maxine Studio, Milano, Italy (01/28/2005-01/30/2005)

  

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Hamilton de Holanda is the world's finest player of the jazz mandolin. And not only that. In 2001 he was unanimously voted "Best Instrumentalist in Brazil".

Richard Galliano (who specially composed two pieces for this recording) is the world's finest accordion player.

Hamilton de Holanda is a master of "Choro" - traditional Brazilian street music with strong links to jazz, tango and African rhythms - which originated in Rio around 1850. He performed on the Grammy-Award winning album by Cesària Evora and now tours the world with his own Trio and Quarteto but also often appearing with Richard Galliano in a duo.

This is a record of pure crystalline beauty whose natural flow recalls the "rodas de choro" - gatherings of musicians who play their instruments as if they were talking to each other. This is the music of subtle alchemy where the timbre reminds one of other important composers- such as Astor Piazzolla and Egberto Gismonti who spoke the language of jazz and improvisation while still infusing it with traditional phrasing and rhythm.

  

***

Born in Rio de Janeiro- 1976 Hamilton de Holanda is already considered as one of the greatest virtuosos of bandolim of all times., His work is very much Brazilian, but in a contemporary way, he is known as a master of 'Choro' music from the streets of Brazil that infuses tango, African and jazz styles. Guesting on 3 tracks is the wonderful accordion of Richard Galliano, the two of them working together are just brilliant and a real highlight. Graham Radley

***

Brazil

    
The mandolin (called "bandolim") has a long and rich tradition in Brazilian folk music, especially in the style called choro. The composer and mandolin virtuoso Jacob do Bandolim did much to popularize the instrument through many recordings, and his influence continues to the present day. Some contemporary mandolin players in Brazil include Jacob's disciple Deo Rian, and Hamilton de Holanda (the former, a traditional choro-style player, the latter an eclectic innovator).
The mandolin came into Brazil by way of Portugal. Portuguese music has a long tradition of mandolins and mandolin-like instruments (see, for example, the Portuguese guitar).
The mandolin is used almost exclusively as a melody instrument in Brazilian folk music - the role of chordal accompaniment being taken over by the cavaquinho and nylon-strung violão, or Spanish-style guitar. Its popularity, therefore, has risen and fallen with instrumental folk music styles, especially choro. The later part of the 20th century saw a renaissance of choro in Brazil, and with it, a revival of the country's mandolinistic tradition.

       

   

♥

Sem asma e nem bronquite …sanfonite!

   

Dominguinhos, Sivuca & Oswaldinho
Cada um Belisca um Pouco
2004

 

Faixas:

1 - Feira de Mangaio (Sivuca; Glória Gadelha)
2 - A Dança de Moda/Qui Nem Jiló/Fuga de África (Luiz Gonzaga; Zédantas / Luiz Gonzaga; Humberto Teixeira / Luiz Gonzaga)
3 - Eu Só Quero Um Xodó (Dominguinhos; Anastácia)
4 - Baião (Luiz Gonzaga; Humberto Teixeita)
5 - Feijoada/Pagode Russo/O Sanfoneiro Só Tocava Isso (Sivuca / Luiz Gonzaga; João Silva / Geraldo Medeiros; Haroldo Lobo)
6 - Cada Um Belisca Um Pouco (Sivuca; Dominguinhos; Oswaldinho)
7 - Nilopolitano (Dominguinhos)
8 - Sabiá/Numa Sala de Reboco/Xote das Meninas (Luiz Gonzaga; Zédantas / Luiz Gonzaga; José Marcolino / Luiz Gonzaga; Zédantas)
9 - Adeus Maria Fuiô (Sivuca; Humberto Teixeira)
10 - Isso Aqui Tá Born Demais/Quero Chá/Pedras Que Cantam (Dominguinhos; Chico Buarque / Luiz Gonzaga; José Marcolino / Dominguinhos; Fausto Nilo)
11 - Roseira de Norte (Pedro Sertanejo; Zé Gonzaga)
12 - Asa Branca (Luiz Gonzaga; Humberto Teixeira)

Músicos especialmente convidados:

João Lyra - violão e viola
Toni 7 Cordas - violão 7
Alceu Maia - cavaco
Durval - percussão
Mingo Araújo - percussão
Waldonys - sanfona nas músicas Nilopolitano, Sabiá, Numa Sala de Reboco e Xote das Meninas.

 

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source

The encounter of Dominguinhos, Sivuca and Oswaldinho on the CD, Cada um Belisca um Pouco is one of those magic moments that makes our music one of the richest in the world. While Luiz Gonzaga and Jackson do Pandeiro introduced Brazil to the Northeastern rhythms as the "baião" and the "xaxado" in the 40s and 50s, the three accordionists are responsible for giving the main instrument of this music an aura of "universitality".

Dominguinhos, from Pernambuco, Sivuca, from Paraíba and the Oswaldinho, son of the mythical Pedro Sertanejo, from Rio (author of the beautiful Roseira do Norte, remembered in this work) bring the sounds of the rural Northeast. The roads they followed looking for their musical dreams gave them other notes up their sleeves as well. That is why, in bringing the three masters to a studio, the producer, José Milton, performs a remarkable service to our music.

Luiz Gonzaga brought in his mixture of "xote, maracatu and baião" (rhythms of the Northeast), and the golden trio of national accordions understood that in the wind of the bellows more than just a regional lament of the suffering Northeastern soul breathed. When they play the same instrument all together, the sound that comes out is also improvised as American jazz or choro from Rio.

Before this, the three had played together only one time, in a trilogy performed in 1994 with José Milton in honor of Gonzaga, Jackson and João do Vale. From that time, this project filled the dreams of the producer. Intimately linked by roots, instruments and talent, Dominguinhos, Sivuca and Oswaldinho made the CD in one go only, as if they had met at some dance in Garanhuns, Campina Grande or Juazeiro. They chose the repertoire together and, when ready, went into the studio. "It was impressive. They went through the songs at the time of the recording, harmonized and knew when to solo by just looking at each other," tells José Milton.

To give more freedom to the trio, a first rate group was formed by musicians that follow the same musical line. The guitarists, João Lyra and Tony Sete Cordas, the ukulele player, Alceu Maia, and the percussionists, Durval and Minto Araújo, gave still more harmony to the work. The disciple, Waldonys, added to the choir of accordions on the beautiful, Nilopolitano, by Dominguinhos, and on the pot-pourri that brought together Sabiá, Xote das Meninas (both by Luiz Gonzaga and Zé Dantas) and Numa Sala de Reboco (by Gonzagão and Zé Marcolino). By the way, because the songs for the CD were chosen using the sole criterion of emotional memory, Gonzagão, master and friend of all, was spontaneously honored. Well-known songs as Asa Branca and Baião (by "Velho Lua" with Humberto Teixeira) were given sophisticated arrangements, with the three alternating in solos and backup. Other less known songs as Dança da Moda and Fuga da África came together thanks to the memory of the musicians.

The composer side of each musician is also seen in an interesting way. From Sivuca, the classics Feira de Mangaio (written with his wife, Glorinha Gadelha) and Adeus Maria Fulô are here, as well as Feijoada, only recorded before on a 78 record. It is put together here with another tasty pot-pourri with Pagode Russo, one more by Gonzaga, and O Sanfoneiro só Tacava by Geraldo Medeiros. From Dominguinhos are Eu só Quero um Xodó, Isso Aqui Tá Bom Demais and Pedras que Cantam (with the partners Anastácia, Nando Cordel and Fausto Nilo, respectively).

It was Oswaldinho, the guy who, to the desperation of the purists, dared to mix the Northeastern rhythms with rock, who wrote the song that gives the CD its name and synthesizes the soul of the CD: Cada um Belisca um Pouco. In other words, it is a CD that was born ready for that special place on the shelf of each lover of Brazilian music, and, why not say, universal.

JOÃO PIMENTEL 

 

Muito “roots” … virtuosidades ao extremo!
Sem asma e nem bronquite …sanfonite!

    

Vinicius Ribeiro

 

♥♥♥

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Bom dia Tiago!

 

Pianos

   

João Carlos Assis Brasil
Todos os Pianos
2003

Tracks:

01. Suíte Nazareth       5m43s
02. Suíte Melodistas Brasileiros       6m23s
03. Suíte Chiquinha Gonzaga     3m26s
04. Prelúdio em Sol Menor     3m26s
05. Valsa do Reencontro     3m10s
06. Suíte Improviso     2m49s
07. Suíte Zequinha de Abreu     6m31s
08. Suíte Gershwin     3m43s
09. Suíte Cole Porter     3m33s
10. Suíte Legrand     5m13s
11. Suíte Nino Rota       5m27s
12. Suíte Cinematográfica     6m36s
13. Suíte Clássica     7m11s
    
Credit:
  
Piano - João Carlos Assis Brasil

  

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João Carlos Assis Brasil stars on Biscoito Fino with the release of his newest work, Todos os Pianos. Recorded in the Biscoito Fino studio, on the fabulous Steinway acquired by the company, together with the Berlin Philharmonic, Todos os Pianos  is formally a tribute to colleagues of the instrument that has revealed great composers throughout the history of 20th century music, and visa versa.

With the influence of choro, bossa, samba, and American and French jazz, Assis Brasil conceives suites putting together work by Ernesto Nazareth (Brejeiro, Odeon, Faceira, Apanhei-te Cavaquinho), Chiquinha Gonzaga (Aracê, Aguará, Sabiá da Mata), Gershwin (including S´Wonderful and Rhapsody in Blue), Cole Porter (including I Get a Kick Out of You), Michel Legrand (of Summer of ´42 and Umbrellas of Cherbourg). João Carlos Assis Brasil has a rare combination of techniques which were developed in decades of study in Europe and classes with Jacques Klein, as well as concerts with orchestras as the Vienna Philharmonic, and of course Brazilian style, developed in work with interpreters of Brazilian popular music. He presents some of the most personalized work of his career, sustained by his maturity and breadth.

A love for film tracks is seen in two of the suítes, one by Nino Rota, Fellini´s favorite (with themes from Os Boas Vidas, Amarcord and Noites de Cabíria), and another Cinematographic Suite that unites Chaplin in Limelight, Hupfield in Casablanca (As Time Goes By), the classics, The Wizard of Oz (Over the Rainbow by Arlen and Harburg) and Sting (Entertainer, by Scott Joplin, recycled).

The flirt with popular music extends to composers whose work, not composed for instruments, becomes appropriate with the fingers of Assis Brasil. This is the case with Suite Melodistas Brasileiros, which joins the Cartola of As Rosas Não Falam the bossa-nova of Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Maria, Manhã de Carnaval, with impressionist placidity and quiet. The suite is completed by extemporaneous samba pieces on the piano. Francis Hime (Minha) and Antonio Carlos Jobim (Retrato em Branco e Preto). None of this eliminates (on the contrary) the pianist´s close companionship with Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and, naturally, Chopin, present in the Suíte Clássica).

One of the composers most present on João Carlos´s recordings is his brother, the saxophonist, Victor Assis Brasil, one of the greatest instrumentalists of Brazilian jazz of all times. Victor died in 1981, leaving a vigorous legacy of themes performed throughout the world. Many of them were released after the author´s death and kept alive through the dedication of João Carlos. Prelúlio em Sol Menor and Valsa do Reencontro are two of Victor´s themes interpreted by João on Todos os Pianos.

   

João Carlos Assis Brasil

  

link

A pianist whose keys are equally comfortable with classical, popular and music between both styles, João Carlos Assis Brasil, from Rio, began his piano studies at The Brazilian Conservatory of Music (RJ), where he studied piano, harmony and musical theory. Twin brother of the deceased saxophonist, Victor Assis Brasil, at 15 years of age João Carlos was already accompanied by orchestras in concerts.
  

*♥*

 

Ay-Te Te Fee

   

Clifton Chenier

Zodico Blues & Boogie
1955

Tracks:

01 Boppin’ The Rock
02 Ay-Te Te Fee
03 The Cats Dreamin’
04 Squeeze Box Boogie
05 The Things I Did For You
06 Think It Over
07 Zodico Stomp
08 Yesterday (I Lost My Best Friend)
09 Chenier’s Boogie
10 I’m On My Way (Back Home To You)
11 All Night Long
12 Opelousas Hop
13 I’m On My Way (Back Home To You)
14 Wherever You Go I’ll Go
15 Opelousas Hop
16 Clifton’s Dreamin’
17 Chenier’s Boogie
18 Wherever You Go I’ll Go
19 Ay-Te Te Fee
20 All Night Long

Personnel:

Clifton Chenier - vocals, accordion
Cleveland Chenier - rubboard
Lionel Prevo - tenor sax
James K. Jones - piano
Phillip Walker - guitars
Louis Candy - bass
Wilton Siemen - drums

Notes:

Recording Date: Apr 1955 - Sep 1955

Remastered at Fantasy, Berkeley, by Kirk Felton. 1993

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Compiled and with archive research by Ray Topping this compact disc includes the recordings Clifton made for Art Rupe’s Specialty Records on two different trips to Los Angeles in 1955. These are the most important recordings of Zydeco music of this period. Clifton blends the blues with rural Louisiana Creole folk music unlike no other and this is proof.

That's "zydeco", to most of you – but "zodico" is also a term that was used in the early years – before cats like Clifton Chenier helped bring their regional Louisiana groove to a much wider audience! The tunes here are all pretty cooking – rare early work from Cliff, recorded in the mid 50s – with a nice undercurrent of R&B that dropped out of zydeco a bit more in later years – lots of rolling piano parts that make for a stronger link to New Orleans music than you might think! The set features 20 tracks in all, with Chenier on accordion and vocals – plus tenor, guitar, piano, bass, drums, and scrub board for percussion. ~ Dusty Groove America

Clifton Chenier's mid-'50s singles for Specialty were among his rawest and simplest; they were short ditties with rippling accordion and gritty vocals on top and driving rhythms and surging instrumental accompaniment underneath. That's the formula displayed on this 20-cut presentation of Chenier's early work, where he was often backed by guitarists Phillip Walker or Cornelius Green (Lonesome Sundown), with his brother Cleveland handling rubboard duties. This is Chenier in his stylistic infancy, building and nurturing what ultimately became a signature sound. ~ Ron Wynn

 

~♥~

 

Piano & Bandolim

  

Sempre Nazareth
Maria Teresa Madeira (Piano)
Pedro Amorim (Bandolim)
1997

Tracks:

1 Brejeiro (Ernesto Nazareth)
2 Apanhei-te cavaquinho (Ernesto Nazareth)
3 Confidências (Ernesto Nazareth)
4 Zizinha (Ernesto Nazareth)
5 Fon-Fon (Ernesto Nazareth)
6 Fidalga (Ernesto Nazareth)
7 Rayon d'Or (Ernesto Nazareth)
8 Reboliço (Ernesto Nazareth)
9 Nenê (Ernesto Nazareth)
10 Saudade (Ernesto Nazareth)
11 Batuque (Ernesto Nazareth)
12 Matuto (Ernesto Nazareth)
13 Tupinambá (Ernesto Nazareth)
14 Ameno Resedá (Ernesto Nazareth)

  

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source

  

Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) was born and lived throughout his life in Rio de Janeiro. Raised in a modest home, he began piano lessons with his mother and then studied with family friends Eduardo Madeira and Lucien Lambert. His unusual talents were recognized at an early age when, at fourteen, his first piano composition, the polka-lunda Voce bem sabe was published.

During this time musical life in Brazil was a rich tapestry of imported European art music and indigenous folk music performed by the chorinhos. The chorinhos were serenading bands who played a variety of string and wind instruments including guitar, mandolin and ukelele, flute and clarinet. These street musicians improvised on traditional Brazilian folks melodies and rhythms very often flavored with "blues-like" tunes known as choros. For Nazareth, these musical currents were among the ideas which charged his own imagination at the keyboard.

Nazareth was nonetheless influenced by non-Brazilian music, particularly the piano works of Chopin, which he studied avidly as a young man. And surely he had at least a passing acquaintance with the light, melodic style of Gottschalk, whose music remained immensely popular in Rio de Janeiro many years after the composer's spectacular appearance there in 1869. But Nazareth was a true Brazilian musician at heart, with no intention to do more than provide music to be enjoyed. He was largely self-taught, and much of his musical career was spent playing piano in theatres, sometimes as accompanist for silent films, sometimes in small theatre orchestras. It was in one such theatre that he became acquainted with the composer and cellist Heitor Villa-Lobos. Nazareth had considerable responsibility for the development of the choros, upon which Villa-Lobos based many of his later works.

In his compositions one can hear echoes of the rich harmonic language of the late nineteenth-century European composers woven into the syncopated dance rhythms and choros style accompaniments of his native Brazil. Additionally, the rhythmic snap of American ragtime and early jazz is seamlessly present. It was Nazareth's unique ability to synthesize these elements into an organic whole, resulting in an important contribution to twentieth-century music as well as to piano literature.

Just as Nazareth received inspiration from the European style through the music of Chopin and others, so he gave something, however indirectly, in return. In his autobiography, Notes Without Music, French composer Darius Milhaud recalls his sojourn in Brazil, and his hearing Nazareth play at a cinema in Rio de Janeiro. Milhaud became fascinated with the infectious rhythms of the music and was determined to master them. The final result was his Saudades do Brasil for piano.

In his nearly 300 short piano works Nazareth ably captured the essence of popular Brazilian dance music. He wrote for a strictly urban audience, but one hears in his music the rich rhythmic influence of Africa (especially in pieces composed after 1888, when slavery was abolished in Brazil). Many of the pieces are as syncopated as anything Scott Joplin conceived. The popular Brazilian dances are all here: samba, maxixe, batuque, and most importantly, the tango. There's evidence that the tango, which became a world craze and still retains widespread popularity, not only originated in Brazil but in fact with Nazareth himself. True or not, responsibility lies in large part with Nazareth for the development of the Brazilian tango, of which he wrote more than 100.

Although total deafness in his later years reduced Nazareth's output, his popularity has yet to wane in his native land. Those who appreciate Gottchalk and Joplin will quickly form a list of favorites among these charming gems.

 

source

ernesto

wiki

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Big Bamboo

  

Stanley

Beckford

Plays

Mento
2002

Tracks:

1. Big Bamboo
2. Hold My Hand
3. Rich Man
4. Broom Weed
5. Dip Dem Jah Jah
6. Guava Jelly
7. Three Little Birds
8. Kisiloo
9. Brown Gal
10. Soldering
11. Fi Mi Gal
12. Hold Him Joe
13. One Love

 

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This is a good example of the way things used to be. Stanley has captured the essence of roots going right back to the early Mento style of Jamaican music. Its like a Jamaican country music with very basic instruments Like banjo,acoustic guitar,clarinet, shakers and of course the instrument that holds it all together the rhumba box. Stanley's nazal vocals bring it all together for an ensamble that is truely pure musical pleasure, its like an orgasm of the ears. Stanley does three covers From the late great Bob Marley which are really well done. I highly recommend this album for all lovers of music.

***

Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhumba box carries the bass part of the music.

Mento is often confused with calypso, a musical form from Trinidad and Tobago. Although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. In part, the differences stem from the differing colonial histories of the two West Indian Islands, as Jamaican music lacks the Spanish influences found in other Caribbean musical styles.

Mento draws on musical traditions brought over by African slaves. The influence of European music is also strong, as slaves who could play musical instruments were often required to play music for their masters. They subsequently incorporated some elements of these traditions into their own folk music. The lyrics of mento songs often deal with aspects of everyday life in a light-hearted and humorous way. Many comment on poverty, poor housing and other social issues. Thinly-veiled sexual references and innuendo are also common themes. Although the treatment of such subjects in mento is comparatively innocent, their appearance has sometimes been seen as a precursor of the slackness found in modern dancehall.

Major 1950s mento recording artists include Louise Bennett, Count Lasher, Harold Richardson, Lord Flea, Lord Fly, Alerth Bedasse with Chin's Calypso Sextet, Laurel Aitken, Denzil Laing, Lord Composer, Lord Lebby, Lord Power, Hubert Porter, and New Yorker of Jamaican origin Harry Belafonte, whose massive hit records in 1956-1958, including "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jamaica Farewell" were really mento songs sold as calypso. Previously recorded Jamaican versions of many Belafonte's classic "calypso" hits can be heard on the Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958  CD released in 2010.

The golden age of mento was the 1950s, as records pressed by Stanley Motta, Ivan Chin, Ken Khouri and others brought the music to a new audience. In the 1960s it was overshadowed by ska and reggae, but it is still played in Jamaica, especially in areas frequented by tourists. Lloyd Bradley, reggae historian and author of seminal reggae book Bass Culture said that he felt Lee “Scratch” Perry’s 1976 album ‘Super Ape’ contained some of the purest mento influences he knew. It was repopularized by the Jolly Boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of four recordings on First Warning Records/Rykodisc and a tour that included the United States. Stanley Beckford and Gilzene and the Blue Light Mento Band also revived rural mento in the 2000s.

wiki

Stanley

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Piano

au piano, Déodat de Séverac (partie "haute" du clavier) et Ricardo Viñes jouant une pièce à quatre mains

Jordi Maso, piano
Déodat de Séverac

Scenes of Southern France

Cerdaña - En Languedoc
2004

Tracks:

Cerdana (Cinq études pittoresques pour le piano) 1908-11

01. En Tartane (L'arrivée en Cerdagne) 7:23
02. Les fêtes (Souvenirs de Puigcerdà) 7:35
03. Ménétriers et glaneuses (Souvenir d'un pélérinage à Font-Romeu) 6:15
04. Les muletiers devant le Christ de Llivia (Complainte) 7:44
05. Le retour des muletiers 5:15

En Languedoc (1903-04)

06. Vers le mas en fête 8:12
07. Sur l'étang, le soir 7:39
08. A cheval, dans la prairie 3:48
09. Coin de cimetière, au printemps 8:02
10. Le jour de la foire, au mas 6:05
 

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from the booklet:

  

The French composer Déodat de Séverac belonged to a family of long distinction. He was born in 1872 at St Félix de Caraman en Lauragais, in the Haute-Garonne, the son of a distinguished Toulouse painter, Gilbert de Séverac, his first piano teacher. His mother was descended from the Aragon family of Spain, while his great-grandfather had served as naval minister to Louis XVI, the family boasting a descent that went back to the ninth century. The boy studied at the Dominican College of Sorèze, established in 1854 on the site of an ancient Benedictine foundation, before embarking on a degree in law at the university in Toulouse. Before long he was able to move to the Toulouse Conservatoire, where he was a student from 1893 to 1896. On the recommendation of Charles Bordes, a former pupil of César Franck, he was accepted by Franck’s leading disciple, Vincent d’Indy, as a pupil at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, a choice of institution that he soon found preferable to the more rigidly conservative academic discipline of the Paris Conservatoire.

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De Severac wrote his suite Cerdana, described as Five Picturesque Studies for the Piano, between 1908 and 1911. The district known in French as the Cerdagne and in Spanish as Cerdana, straddling the French-Spanish border in the Pyrenees, was originally the home of the Ceretani, from which its name is derived. In later history it included three baronies, Ceret, St-Laurent-de-Cerdans and Puigcerdà. The villages of the upper Cerdagne were ceded to France, together with Roussillon, in 1659, while the ancient capital, Llivia, designated a town and therefore exempted, remained and remains a Spanish enclave, its name derived from the classical Julia Livia. The five pieces of de Severac's suite start with En Tartane, arrival in the Cerdagne in a two-wheel carriage. It begins in open admiration of the countryside, with melodic hints of what is to come, as the journey moves rapidly on. The second piece Les fêtes is described as a reminiscence of Puigcerdà, proclaimed the capital of the Cerdana by Alfonso II in 1177 and on the Spanish side of the frontier which passes through the region. The festival preparations start tentatively, soon leading to livelier music of clear local provenance, with pictorial allusions to the scene of celebration that passes, in a musical language that often suggests that of Debussy, not least in the echo of a distant evening fanfare, as the piece draws to a close. The third of the set, Les menetriers et glaneuses, musicians and gleaners, depicts a pilgrimage to Font-Romeu, now a popular sports and ski resort. The chapel there once held a twelfth-century statue of the Blessed Virgin, while the place itself takes its name from a spring. The musicians play their guitars and, as always, there is more than a trace of Albeniz in the piano writing. In Les muletiers devant le Christ de Llivia, the muleteers before the statue of Christ at Llivia, the bells of the ancient fortified church are heard tolling in a vivid depiction of the scene, as the worshippers offer their moving prayers and petitions. In Le retour des muletiers the muleteers are heard travelling back over the mountain roads, in music essentially of the region, Catalonia and the Spanish Pyrenees, reflected through the prism of Paris.

The five piano pieces that constitute En Languedoc were written in 1903 and 1904. These are less specific in their geographical references, offering more generalised musical illustrations of the region of France known as Languedoc. Vers le mas en fête leads to the farmstead where the festival of the title is to be held, in often serene pianistic textures that are very much an extension of the language of Debussy and, to a lesser extent, of Ravel. Sur l'etang, le soir, illustrates the calm scene on the pond in the evening in generally more transparent textures. This is followed by A cheval, dans la prairie, riding in the open country, graphically illustrated in the rhythm, suggesting the lively movement of the horse, with an occasional pause to survey the countryside, before cantering on. Coin de cimetière, au printemps, a corner of the cemetery in spring, opens meditatively, moving on from serene contemplation in a country churchyard to a climax of romantic feeling, before subsiding into its opening mood. The set ends with Le jour de la foire, au mas, fair-day at the farmstead. This offers a characteristic depiction of the country fair, in piano textures from the world of Debussy and Ravel, always with the suggestion of local colour drawn from de Severac's own part of France, the old province of Languedoc.

Keith Anderson
  

   
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...This music twinkles in a glimmering summer twilight of time, suspended in tranquillity.

nice read

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Picasso

Pablo PICASSO, Nature morte au Piano, été 1911-printemps 1912, 50 X 130, Collection Heinz Bergruen, Geneva

   

Déodat de Séverac

       

A specific musical influence of Picasso’s decision to incorporate the Catalan music’s color and energy may have been from the Catalan composer Marie-Joseph-Alexandre Déodat de Séverac. This direction of progression in Picasso’s art becomes especially evident during his second summer in Céret, when De Séverac and Picassso lived together (Buettner 117). The relationship between the two is evident as Picasso sketched the composer in 1912 – Déodat de Séverac. Picasso’s attraction to De Séverac is explained through the composer’s maverick qualities. It is known that upon graduation from music school, De Séverac declared his independence and refused to associate himself with any other musical group (Landormy 209). He was a composer characterized by life and freedom, as Paul Landormy described in his article “Déodat de Séverac”: “This independent spirit, this heart so free and generous, found no room for an art arbitrarily bounded by latent hostilities” (Landormy 210). Refusing to confine himself with the limits of others, De Séverac created music that was unrestricted by pressures to conform to a certain style, resulting in refreshing and lively compositions. 

 

Déodat de Séverac au Piano - Musée Picasso Paris

    

De Séverac’s music, expressing his love for Catalonia, matched Picasso’s intrigue with the Catalan culture – a connection that would prove influential to Picasso’s Cubism. Catalonia was De Séverac’s passion, and his music reflected this love (Landormy 211). One of the composer’s most well known pieces, En Languedoc, captured the essence of the lively Catalonia. The composition is alive, and the musical instruments capture the energy of the Catalonian scene. Landormy praised the piece: “the ringing and tinkling of bells, the noisy fifes and tambourines, the cries of joy, the clapping of hands and the tapping of feet, mingle and alternate in a racy fantasia, in a scene inundated with dazzling brilliances” (Landormy 212). The various instruments collaborate to produce joyful and bustling music, celebrating the Catalan culture. De Séverac’s music must have stimulated Picasso, as his Cubist paintings begin to take on new elements. Though not a guitar painting, it is worthwhile to explore Picasso’s Still Life on a Piano (1912), as it is known that the piece alluded to De Séverac (Buettner 116). The mathematical elements of the painting are still present, but a sensation of increased motion is conveyed through the painting. Though titled as a still life, Picasso was attempting to show the life emerging from the piano’s music. Musical notes and symbols are scattered throughout the painting, illustrating the flowing quality of music. De Séverac’s energy is also conveyed through the increased color of the painting. Though still dominated by brown tones, as in the previously discussed guitar paintings, Picasso does add more color contrast, especially in the black and white of the piano keyboard.

A second influence of De Séverac may have been his separation of En Languedoc into movements. On these movements, Buetter wrote, “The individual movements [depict] the country, the seasons, the times of day, the people and their religious festivals” (Buettner 117). De Séverac used separate movements to represent certain aspects of Catalonia, and together, the movements mesh to form an ode to Catalonia. Correspondingly, while still unhampered by boundaries, Picasso’s piece does show increased distinction compared to the 1911 musical representations. The keys of the piano are clearly illustrated and the parts of other instruments, for example, the F-holes of a violin or cello, are delineated. This is perhaps Picasso’s initial following of De Séverac’s lead of creating a work using separate and distinct elements. 

   

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