Joly Braga Santos

[Dundonnell]

(I know that I shouldn't be derailing this thread but....!)

The British are a strange lot indeed! Traditionally suspicious of 'foreigners'-you must know the old joke "Fog in the Channel-Continent isolated"-ambivalent about 'belonging' to Europe, so arrogant and 'superior' at times, and yet with a marked capacity to laugh at themselves. I suppose that the French can also laugh at themselves sometimes(?) but classic British comedy-as you say-is indeed wonderful. The theatrical tradition must certainly contribute to that.

Never mind....we didn't produce Rembrandt or van Gogh!!

[karlhenning]

If you take out the Scotsmen, you take out the magic.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Es0t50H44IE

[Dundonnell]

Yes.......stark staring bonkers, as well!!

[karlhenning]

RSM  Isn't that funny, sir... I've never come across that phrase before - 'no time to lose'. Forty-two years I've been in the regular army and I've never heard that phrase.

Captain  Well, it's in perfectly common parlance.

RSM  In what, sir?

Captain  Oh never mind... right ... no time to lose.

[vandermolen]

I hope he was joking! What was this friend's name? Corporal Frazer?!

I'm impressed...do they have "Dad's Army" on TV in Holland?

[pjme]

Mad Belgians are more than welcome 

Actually there are some lesser known Belgian composers whose music I greatly admire (I think they're Belgian anyway!)

Devreese (Gothic Symphony, In Memoriam...great works)

Meulemans "Pliny's Fountain" (beautiful work)

Sternefeld (powerful Symphony on Marco Polo)

+ there is my love for the Tintin books, but that's another story!

Good news! And indeed they are all Belgians.
If you want to explore more, try the Etcetera/Klara discs...alas, much more expensive than Naxos.
There's a recent CD with works by Antwerpian Flor Alpaerts ( rougly the same generation as Meulemans -whose works he conducted).
The CD has two big symphonic poems - in a lush Richard Strauss/Debussy vein : Pallieter ( after a popular novel) and the James Ensor' suite ( + several small works).
Peter

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

I'm impressed...do they have "Dad's Army" on TV in Holland?

Of course! Most British comedies have been on Dutch TV since the 'sixties (with subtitles - very good for your language skills). I think they even have influenced my writing style (and listening to Radio 4 since 1984 has also been very important). And at the end of the 80s we got BBC 1 and 2 on cable.

Edit: my interest in British comedy is more than average and includes things like Round the Horne, Beyond our Ken et cetera...

[vandermolen]

Good news! And indeed they are all Belgians.
If you want to explore more, try the Etcetera/Klara discs...alas, much more expensive than Naxos.
There's a recent CD with works by Antwerpian Flor Alpaerts ( rougly the same generation as Meulemans -whose works he conducted).
The CD has two big symphonic poems - in a lush Richard Strauss/Debussy vein : Pallieter ( after a popular novel) and the James Ensor' suite ( + several small works).
Peter

Peter,

Thanks. I will investigate.

James Ensor is actually my favourite painter! (he really was a mad Belgian, although half English!). I have visited, on several occasions, the wonderfully crazy Ensor House in Ostend, full of masks and skulls etc and I made homage to Ensor's grave when I was in Ostend (in a very beautiful seaside church cemetry). There are some great stories about Ensor. In the war, whilst secretly listening to the BBC he heard the erroneous announcement of his own death. His response was to walk to the statue of himself (that he had insisted was placed in the busiest road in Ostend), and drape a black crape veil round the statue; wonderful story!

I should really be talking about Braga Santos, but never mind!

[Brian]

This thread is now half as long as the Brahms thread, with 50 posts in the last 7 days. And the Brahms thread had a four-month head start

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

This thread is now half as long as the Brahms thread, with 50 posts in the last 7 days. And the Brahms thread had a four-month head start

Brahms won the Best Composer poll, so - swings and roundabouts!

[pjme]

We should be talking about Braga Santos! Here's a small photograph.

[vandermolen]

Of course! Most British comedies have been on Dutch TV since the 'sixties (with subtitles - very good for your language skills). I think they even have influenced my writing style (and listening to Radio 4 since 1984 has also been very important). And at the end of the 80s we got BBC 1 and 2 on cable.

Edit: my interest in British comedy is more than average and includes things like Round the Horne, Beyond our Ken et cetera...

I'm amazed at your anglophile taste in BBC radio comedy etc. Coincidentally I was listening, in the car, today to a BBC comedy compilation tape, including some great excerpts from "Round the Horne". Tony Hancock is my own favourite of this era.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

We should be talking about Braga Santos! Here's a small photograph.

Thanks for reminding me/us... 

[karlhenning]

Looks like all the recordings available are orchestral works.  According to a list on Wikipedia, there is a cl/va/pf trio he wrote in 1984 (Aria a tre);  and his very last work was Improviso, cl/pf . . . if we can scare up a source for the music, I'd gladly play these.

[karlhenning]

My second Braga Santos disc was the music for strings, on which I especially like the Variations concertantes (strings and harp) from 1967, and the Concerto for Violin, Cello, Strings & Harp from 1968.

[vandermolen]

We should be talking about Braga Santos! Here's a small photograph.

Yes, thanks for keeping us on the straight and narrow.

I'm starting to investigate some BS non-symphonic works.  I can strongly recommend the lovely 7 minute Nocturno for Strings. It is like Vaughan Williams and was written when BS was only 20. The Cello Concerto (a late work) is more challenging (one for Karl perhaps).

[karlhenning]

The Cello Concerto (a late work) is more challenging (one for Karl perhaps).

I am indeed waiting for delivery of this disc, and looking forward to that piece in particular 

[SonicMan46]

I am planning an expedition to sell ice to the Eskimos next

Hmmm - well, w/ global warming, not a bad idea! 

But, now I see why this thread is so long, most of it has nothing to do w/ Santos!   

Still looking forward to hear those 'in the mail' CDs (can't remember what I even ordered now?) - 

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

But, now I see why this thread is so long, most of it has nothing to do w/ Santos!   

I just did a check - around 30 of 177 posts are not BS-related (most are concentrated in the last few pages). And now the thread is firmly on the rails again. So - it's not that bad...

Tomorrow I am going to listen to the Second, Third and Fourth symphonies consecutively.

[Dundonnell]

Hmmm - well, w/ global warming, not a bad idea! 

But, now I see why this thread is so long, most of it has nothing to do w/ Santos!   

Still looking forward to hear those 'in the mail' CDs (can't remember what I even ordered now?) - 

Holds hands up It does often exasperate me when the contributions to threads veer off into the surreal but hey at the end of the day it's only a bit of harmless fun mid serious discussion!