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Showing posts from May, 2012

A Sephardic moment

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My photos show the Jewish Quarter known as the Call which lies in the shadow of the cathedral in the Catalonian city of Girona. Until recently the Call was hidden behind modern facades; but following recent restoration it is now a powerful reminder of the time when Spain's Jewish community flourished before being dispersed by the Inquisition into the Sephardic diaspora . Girona's former synagogue is now a richly stocked  information centre and bookstore with a range of CDs including Monteserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall's Diaspora Sephardi . There is more Jewish music under the sheltering sky here . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Photos are (c) On An Overgrown Path 2012. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

See the music - French style

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I have said before that classical music should add visual slam . This installation titled Deux Chevaux Karnaval Hippies by Gerold Platzer is in the Galerie Marianne, Argelès sur Mer, where the post is being uploaded from. More on seeing the music here . Also on Facebook and Twitter . Photos (c) On An Overgrown Path 2012. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Pablo Casals' Wagner dream

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Those photos, which were taken yesterday, show the Wagner fountain in the grounds of the castle at Públol in Catalonia that was one of the homes of Salvador and Gala Dali. In further pursuit of my theory that " classical music's ability to make the essential connection with inner life is surprisingly sensitive to external circumstances ", the oratorio El Pessebre by another great Catalan artist, Pau Casals, has been on my iPod as I travel in Catalonia. As discussed previously , El Pessebre is an unashamedly derivative work with Wagner as a major influence; which contradicts the popular image of Casals as a specialist in music of the baroque and classical periods. In fact there are a number of connections between Casals and Wagner. As early as 1889, only nine years after his revelatory discovery of Bach's Cello Suites in a Barcelona music shop, the young Casals had studied scores of Parsifal, Tristan and the Ring . These were borrowed from a musician colleague at

Bruckner al fresco

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That is the view of the Pic du Canigou, the Catalan holy mountain , seen this morning from where we are staying at Le Racou in Languedoc. At the foot of Canigou is Prades where Pablo Casals lived in exile from the Spanish fascists, and in previous years I have followed the path of the refugees who fled from Spain only to be interned in French concentration camps in the last months of the Spanish Civil War. But such is humanity's propensity to do evil to its fellows that just eighteen months later the flow of refugees was reversed as Jews and other 'undesirables' fled from the fascist powers in Germany and Vichy France into Spain. Their number included Alma Mahler and her third husband the Jewish Austrian-Bohemian author Franz Werfel . Rendered stateless by the Nazis and without exit visas, Werfel and his wife were forced to cross the French/Spanish border in September 1940 by climbing high into the Aspres range, which is an extension of the Pyrénées, to avoid French g

Music PR agencies please note

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'About Fray Martín de Villanueva as a composer, it is important to emphasise one thing: he was not a master but a good craftsman who knew the trade and composed correct works. These works are not in any case comparable with the one by his coevals Guerrero, Morales, Victoria, etc.' In an age when every neglected work is a masterpiece and when every musician is a genius , that disarming description of the 16th century Spanish composer Fray Martín de Villanueva should serve as a case study for aspiring PR agencies. It is taken from the sleeve notes for the CD seen above of Villanueva's music in the 'Maestros del Escorial' series recorded by the Escolaria del Escorial on their own label - YouTube sample here . One of Villanueva's more arcane claims to fame is that he does not have a Wikipedia entry . Despite this, although not at genius level, his sacred music is well worth seeking out; especially his thirty minute long Pasión seguin San Juan (Passion according

Technology meets tradition

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Paths converge in this photo which was taken yesterday afternoon. In the background is Mont Ventoux, celebrated by Petrarch and Liszt . In the middle distance is the Abbaye Notre Dame de l'Annonciation, whose nuns recorded the CD of Gregorian chant which sparked ' A musicians is also a person '. And in the foreground is composer and technology maven Jeff Harrington who featured in 'Is classical music obsessed by existential angst? ' and a linked podcast . My thanks go to Father Edmond of L'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine at Le Barroux who so generously welcomed us yesterday. By chance Igor Kirkwood was recording a second CD of chant by the monks at Le Barroux for Jade while we were visiting. I have praised their first disc here several several times; a sample can be heard in the podcast linked from ' Talking of Lady Gaga ', which also includes music by Jonathan Harvey and Lady G herself. Also on Facebook and Twitter . Photo is (c) On An Overgrown Path 201

Can social media compose 'music of the mind'?

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' Harold Garfinkel [UCLA phenomenologist] taught that socialization was a process of convincing each individual that generally agreed upon descriptions actually define limits of the real world. What he was saying was that people generally agree on something being real and true, therefore, it becomes real and true; the view of a few random schizophrenics, catatonics and autistic children notwithstanding.' Just before taking off on my travels I picked up a cheap copy of A Magical Journey With Carlos Castaneda by Margaret Runyan Castaneda. I must confess Carlos Castaneda is not my favourite spiritual warrior, which may explain why I found this memoir/exposé by his first wife to be a worthwhile read. Recently I asked if classical music tastemakers queuing to praise modish composers are actually hearing a ‘music of the mind’ embellished by their own preconceptions, and that quote from Margaret Runyan Castaneda is worth reflecting on in view of the current fascination with soci