That splash of yellow up there, in the photo? It’s meant to represent spring. (I took the photo in Central Park about two weeks ago. We’ve had some ker-azy weather since.) Since the dawn of time, man has welcomed and celebrated spring. (I wasn’t there, but I’m assuming.) He has done so in song, dance, etc. My latest music podcast — latest Music for a While — is dedicated to spring. Here.
I have songs, of course: different periods, different styles, different languages. There are a couple of opera arias. There’s a sonata and a symphony. There’s a smorgasbord — all springy.
Composers include Beethoven, Schumann, Argento, and Hoiby. Performers include Barbara Bonney, André Previn, Henryk Szeryng, and Leontyne Price. Poets include Thomas Nashe, Eduard Mörike, and E. E. Cummings — or do you want me to write “e. e. cummings”? (I’m not getting into that debate. Not here and now.)
And, oh, yes: William Shakespeare. He dotted his plays with songs — with song verses. And composers are still playing with them. Peter Warlock is one composer who did a bang-up job with a ditty from As You Like It. (Gerald Finzi was just as good with the same ditty.)
Anyway, when and if you’re in the mood, that podcast — headed “Spring Forward” — is, again, here.