It's actually been over a year now since I last ran this section, which is surprising to me but I guess my other journals have taken up a lot of my time, especially the Couch Potato. So time to set that right now, with another chance for everyone to
And I'd like to start off with one of my favourite composers, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), who did more to put Norway on the musical map than anyone at that time. Mostly known for his "Peer Gynt" suite, from which both the gorgeous "Morning" and the bombastic "In the hall of the mountain king" are taken, I'd like to go with something different from him. Well, okay it's from that suite, but a rather interesting and dramatic little lament called "Aase's death". Very powerful I feel.
Next I'd like to take a look at a work by Felix Mendelssohn, (1809 - 1847), probably most famous for putting Shakespeare's "A midsummer night's dream" to music, and also writing the famous theme we all know now as the Wedding March, within that. Here though I'd like to take another well-known but not that often played piece by him, entitled "Fingal's Cave", also known as the Hebrides overture.
Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934) is of course best known for composing the "Pomp and Circumstance March", which contains the music which would later become the national anthem of Great Britain, "Land of hope and glory". He's famous too for his "Enigma Variations", the best known of which is of course "Nimrod". But again I'd like to step away from that, though not entirely. This is the finale to that suite.
Zoltan Kodaly (1882 - 1967) is a composer I know very little about, though he was obviously one whose work took him well into the twentieth century, as you can see from the date of his death. This is a nice one from him, called "Summer evening".
And finally, Anton Bruckner (1827 - 1896) who was supposedly one of the most humble composers who lived around that period, unlike others who wanted all the glory and adoration they could get. This is from his seventh symphony, it's the first movement.
If this music has moved or interested you, or made you want to hear more, check out the classical subforum in the General Music section. We're talking over four hundred years of music here, people, and more. There's so much to discover. Why not allow yourself to catch the Culture Bug, and see where it takes you?