tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78158949407124982632024-03-13T20:36:17.197-10:00Persia in Western MusicPersian Poetry, Stories, and History in Western Classical MusicUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-328017070035803442014-10-14T16:18:00.001-10:002014-10-14T16:19:47.141-10:00Albert W.Ketelbey, In a Persian MarketAlbert W. Ketèlbey is a name unknown to most readers, but in 1929 he was probably Britain's best-known and wealthiest composer and said to be its first millionaire composer.
He wrote popular, light pieces, many with titles linked to foreign lands. Note In a Chinese Temple Garden (1925), By the Blue Hawaiian Waters (1927), Italian Twilight (1931), With the Romanian Gipsies, Jungle DrumsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-24345039552709258702014-10-13T16:02:00.000-10:002014-10-13T16:27:06.964-10:00Rameau, Les Indes GalantesToday's post is about one of the earlier examples of Persia in Western classical music. Jean-Philippe Rameau premiered Les Indes Galantes in 1735 in Paris. It's in the form of an opera-ballet—a prologue and four loosely connected acts—which was then popular, but which soon fell out of favor. As the name of the form suggests, dance abounds in these entertainments.
Jean-Philippe Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-16657628739431605702014-09-30T14:09:00.000-10:002014-09-30T14:26:46.841-10:00Othmar Schoeck, Ach, wie schön ist Nacht und Dämmerschein
In 1919 Othmar Schoeck (Swiss, 1886-1957) composed the lied, or song, Ach, wie schön ist Nacht und Dämmerschein [O, how beautiful is night and the glimmer of candlelight], which is today's topic, using lyrics by Hafez, the great poet of Shiraz. Schoeck is best-known today for his lieder, or art songs, though he composed in many genres, including opera, chamber Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-87842660925728850102014-09-28T10:45:00.000-10:002014-09-28T13:03:05.021-10:00Wagner's Tristan und IsoldeTristan und Isolde, an opera by Richard Wagner, has been closely examined since its tumultuous premier in 1865. Yet few know that the story of Tristan and Isolde may be based on a Persian romance, Vis o Ramin [Vis and Ramin] by Asad Gorgani.
Richard Wagner
"There are many theories present about the origins of Tristanian legend, but historians disagree over which is the most accurate. Some Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-79554405006766613272014-09-27T14:40:00.001-10:002014-09-28T10:47:11.358-10:00Handel's SerseOne of the most popular arias in operatic history comes from an
Handel at the keyboard
opera about an Achaemenid Persian monarch, known to the Greeks as Xerxes, son of Darius—and known to the world of Italian opera as Serse. George Frideric Handel, who wrote Serse in 1738 for the London stage, was a German composer who studied in Italy, became an English citizen, and wrote some ofUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-30747756167932431792014-09-26T15:09:00.003-10:002014-09-27T20:25:21.733-10:00Koechlin's Les Heures persanesToday we'll present one of the most subtle and beautiful of all instrumental works inspired by Persia, Les Heures persanes [The Persian Hours], by Charles Koechlin, composed from 1913-1919.
Charles Koechlin
Even though it is purely instrumental (in versions for piano and also for orchestra), the work and its sixteen movement titles are based on Vers Ispahan (1904), a novel Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7815894940712498263.post-11786349593270254502014-09-24T20:01:00.000-10:002014-09-27T20:02:39.024-10:00Szymanowski's Love Songs of Hafiz
Greetings! I'm making this blog for those who have an interest in Persian culture and also enjoy Western music. A surprising number of Western classical music pieces have used Persian poetry—mostly Hafez, Rumi, and Khayyam—for lyrics. The plots of many Western operas are based on Persian legend or history, though the Western retellings may be wildly inaccurate or fanciful. A fascination with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0