jmc's classics
Today is Leonard Bernstein's birthday. yesterday was the birthday of Adolphe Adam (1803-1856) He is best known for his Christmas carol " O' Holy Night" and his ballet Giselle. He was a French man.
This was one of the first ballets that I had heard of when I was a child along with Tchaikovsky's tells the story of a prince who falls in love with a peasant girl and she goes mad. The prince at the same time is engaged. There are several recordings of this available. Adam wrote other ballets and .operas. They are not popular. I have seen recordings on Arkiv Music for two of Adam's operas Le Postillon de Lonjemeau and Le Toreodor. Many other composers wrote ballets including Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. A ballet is a set to music where it is danced to. It is accompanied by and orchestra. It like opera tells a story and has a plot and theme. many are based on novels and other stories. A ballad is a song or narrative set to music. Many of them are of a romantic nature. Some are tragic. Some of the more recent popular music or even Rock or country music can be considered to be ballads. As I have said I am not much in to country music. Many of the lyrics are depressing. Some ballads could also be considered as "art songs" similar to German leider. The word "leid" if German for "sing". They wrer written for voice and orchestra of piano. I was never in to choreography (which is dancing). I like ballet music. A choreographer directs the dane movement. A lot of operas have ballet scenes in them. One of the more famous choreographers was Russian born George Balanchine (1904-1983)
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