Project 366 - Dates on the musical calendar for March 2020

Project 366 continues in 2019 with "Dates on the Musical Calendar". Read more here.

Highlights

• March 1st - HB Frederic Chopin (Born OTD1810) [Guide #186]
• March 8 - Daylight Savings Time begins in North America [Guide #329]
• March 10 - HB Pablo de Sarasate (Born OTD 1844) [Guide #289]
• March 17 - St-Patrick's Day [Guide #216]
• March 20 - Spring Equinox in North America [Guide #218]
• March 31 – The Skandalkonzert (OTD 1913) [Guide #73]

This month continues our look at the music of the Classical era, and provides a few Lenten selections, including St-Matthew’s Passion (Guide # 330 and 331).

Your Listener Guides

Listener Guide # 329 – L’heure Espagnole (Ravel)

Ravel’s vocal output is surprisingly diverse – from settings of old Greek songs to a pair of short, one-act operas. L'heure espagnole is a one of those, best described as a musical comedy to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his 'comédie-bouffe' of the same name first staged in 1904. (Once or Twice a Fortnight - May 12, 2017)

Listener Guide # 330 & 331 – Mathias-Passion

Although Johann Sebastian Bach wrote "five passions, of which one is for double chorus", only two works have survived: the St John Passion (performed 1724, 1725, 1732 & 1749) and the St Matthew Passion (1727, 1729, rev. 1736, 1742), this last using double chorus. Their popularity rests in their immense emotional power, and in the blend of drama and spirituality that Bach's music offers. Neither of his Passions is a work that an audience or a choir embarks on without due thought: The Passion According to St John of 1724 runs to about two hours, the St Matthew of 1727 to three or more. (Once or Twice a Fortnight - April 4th, 2012.)

Part 1 (L/G 330) -


 Part 2 (L/G 331) -