Giuseppe Verdi - Messa da Requiem

Although Requiem was a religious work, it was presented more in concert halls than in churches. Giuseppe Verdi wrote the famous Requiem in honour of his close friend, Alessandro Manzoni, the great Italian poet, writer, and humanist, who died in 1873. It is a powerful fusion of intense drama and passion, with moments of reverent simplicity. Verdi conducted the first performance at St. Mark's Church in Milan on May 22, 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. Revolutionary composition Verdi's Requiem has been revolutionary in two respects: First, because while the traditional requiem is a prayer of the living for the dead, Verdi's work was a function as much for the living as for the dead. As Verdi would expect, it's a dramatic, theatrical play. Written for four solo voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass) with full choir and orchestra, it follows the typical Roman Catholic Latin mass for the dead. The "libretto" certainly comes from the dram

Telemann - Don Quixote

Telemann's talent of composing beautiful religious cantatas coexisted with his ability to write simple, folk melodies, of which Don Quixote is an excellent example.


Telemann infuriated many people with compositions, including the Don Quixote orchestral suite. In his days it was a rule tat composers of religious music did not engage in profitable complementary works, such as the composition of "light" music. The followers of tradition believed that anyone who was able to commit such frivolity could not be serious about his religion.

But Telemann was definitely serious. His cosmic works were humorous, but Don Quixote conveys his message as convincingly as any of his religious works. Don Quixote was completed in 1761 proving that the composer's talent for creating beautiful melodies, did not dry up over the years.

Fighting the windmills

This suite has seven parts. Inspired by the Spanish writer Cervantes' famous novel Don Quixote, it recounts a day of the life of the legendary Spanish knight who was jostled with windmills.

The first part, Overture, recreates musical images of characters of the story. First we meet Don Quixote himself (Quixote's Reveille - Bugle Call), with music that seems to be looking forward to it. A change in a more lively rhythm shows the hero starting his daily work, attacking the windmills. After that, in the fourth part, we witness his prolonged love sighs about the inaccessible Princess Dulcinea.

The next two parts feature the servant Sancho Panza and the horse Rocinante. Tellemann mocks every ridiculous situation, clumsy heroics and flirtatious sighs. On the contrary, the earthly elements of Sancho Panza's donkey, which is out of control, approach but never fall into a low standard farce/

A solo violin sets milder rhythms that end up hypnotically, as Don Quixote goes to his bed exhausted by jousts and sighs.

Tellemann precedes his time composing a play that tells a story. This was basically a feature of the classical style, a hundred years later.







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