BSO: Love and Devotion

Perhaps one of Ravel’s most personal creations Le tombeau de Couperin is a memorial to the fallen in the First World War. Bursting with colour and inventiveness, he reimagines the clarity and rhythmic liveliness of its Baroque forebears. Wagner was hopelessly in love with Mathilde Wesendonck, the young, golden-haired wife of his wealthy friend Otto when he was composing his great love tragedy Tristan and Isolde, as well as the five songs on poems written by Mathilde herself. He identified himself in them (and in her) the perfect love which had eluded him. They rage of frustrated love and ardent infatuation, displaying the full measure of Wagner’s gifts of melody, harmony, and seamless text setting, as well as his unmatched ability to channel human emotion through music. Duruflé’s Requiem, with its use of medieval chant alongside modern musical techniques, remains a timeless masterpiece. The sometimes archaic- sounding melodies are fused with sophisticated harmonies influenced by the earlier generation of French Impressionists. Restraint and intimacy are perfectly balanced with majesty and power, creating a work of faith and tranquillity that touches the soul.

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