4/6: Five Kingdoms of Spain
Roman, Germanic, Byzantine, French, Arabic, and Jewish cultures all contributed to Spanish music. This week, a program of vocal music from Spain from the 13th-17th centuries: settings of secular and sacred texts by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Mateo Flecha the Elder, plus anonymous Sephardic and Navarrese love songs, reflecting the mix of cultures throughout the Five Kingdoms of Spain.
4/13: Music of 20th-century Spain
This week’s program comprises two works from opposite ends of the 20th century: the complete music to the 1919 ballet El Sombrero de tres picos (Three-Cornered Hat) by Manuel de Falla, featuring Florence Quivar, and Ardor, the violin concerto written in 1998 by José Luis Greco with Mariana Todorova as soloist.
4/20: Catalonia's San Jordi
Whether you know April 23rd as la Diada de Sant Jordi, el día de la rosa, or el día del llibre, (St. George's Day, The Day of the Rose, or World Book Day,) The Spanish Hour celebrates the Catalan national holiday with Catalan classics from the Renaissance through the 20th century. This week's program focuses on three Spanish composers from the Catalan region. We'll hear sacred music from the Renaissance by Joan Cererols, piano miniatures reminiscent of Schumann's Album for the Young by Granados disciple Josep Martí i Cristià, and a piano trio by Granados himself, written when he was 27.
4/27: We Remember Guernica
On April 26, 1937, Axis forces, with Franco's knowledge and consent, obliterated the quiet Basque town of Guernica, killing 1,654 civilians, mostly women and children. We'll commemorate the anniversary of this tragic event with Octavio Vázquez's Guernica (Piano Trio Number 1.) Born in Spain's Galicia region, Octavio Vázquez is on the composition faculty at the Eastman School of Music and directs the composition program at Nazareth University School of Music.