This week, we pay tribute to the composers who paid tribute to others. It's a show all about musical tributes, tombeaus, elegies, and memorials that we're calling "Epitaph"!
Did you know...
John Adams' On The Transmigration Of Souls is not an elegy, but a "memory space" for the victims of the September 11th attacks, incorporating original music for orchestra and choir, with pre-recorded street sounds, and the names of victims.The "tombeau" was an entire genre in the 17th century, solo pieces for lute or viol commemorating someone, usually a composer. Marin Marais wrote many tombeaux, including one for his teacher Jean de Saint-Colombe. Centuries later, Maurice Ravel would write a tombeau for 17th-century French composer François Couperin (as well as his friends who died in World War I).Estonian composer Arvo Pärt wrote his Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten for one of the only contemporary composers he admired—although he never got to meet him!Igor Stravinsky wrote works commemorating many important figures, including poet Dylan Thomas, author Aldous Huxley, JFK, painter Raoul Dufy, and Renaissance madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo."The Late Great Johnny Ace," a song by Paul Simon, was written for John Lennon, but also mentions the deaths of other Johns, including R&B singer Johnny Ace and John F. Kennedy. The song's coda was written by composer Philip Glass.See the full playlist below:
And don't forget to check out our podcast for this week's episode, featuring another "Epitaph" work!
