Spanish Caravan - Last night, in our continuing Symphony around the world nights – we found ourselves in Spain. The line up was:

Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
España

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Concierto de Aranjuez
Allegro con spirito

Adagio

Allegro gentile

(with guest Mr. Franzen)

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
Three Dances from The Three-Cornered Hat
I -The Neighbor’s Dance (Seguidillas)
II -The Miller’s Dance (Farruca)
III -Final Dance (Jota)

Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Boléro

I thought that the only piece I knew was Bolero, but it turns out I know Espana as well – I must have it on a CD tucked away. It was very stirring, and the Rodrigo piece was incredibly beautiful with a guest guitarist.

Bolero was also a treat, as I’d heard it on CD before but had never seen it live – to watch the different instruments come in and slowly build up to the crescendo is incredible. Xavier was as transfixed as I was, I think. Another treat - from the Program notes:

Ravel was born in the Basque region of the Pyrenees in southern France. His mother, who was from an old Basque family, had spent part of her youth in Madrid. Ravel’s family moved to Paris when he was young and his music education was Parisian. But the stories and reminiscences from his mother’s childhood had an influence on the composer in his visions of the Spanish countryside. This family connection went to the heart of many of his compositions with Spanish themes; among some of the prominent are Alborada del gracioso, L’Heure espagnole, Rapsodie espagnole and most notably Boléro. The Spanish composer Manual de Falla was particularly impressed with the Iberian character of Ravel’s rhythms and melodic embellishments. (emphasis mine)

Since I have some Basque blood, it made it all the more lovely.

The only marring event was the lady next to us who apparently keeps her Symphony clothes in mothballs. Blech. I didn’t even know they were still sold.

And, then, in the middle of the night, we were awoken to find that Xavier had picked up a flu bug somewhere along the way – and all of you parents know how horrible it is to awake from a dead sleep to the sound of the flu. Ugh.

Ole!

Image from Musicdoo.com