Collection of music videos

Vangelis (1943) is a Greek composer of electronic and orchestral music who has written primarily for theater, ballet, film and television in a greatly majestic, almost religious style; His soundtracks include Chariots of Fire, Blade Runer and 1492: The Conquest of Paradise . He has also released several albums in which he has experienced different sound sensations with allusions to classical music, jazz, electronic music and formal minimalism . Their music is characterized by the use of synthesizers and occasionally acoustic instruments to create surround sound atmospheres, in a generally grand and solemn tone. In his honor the International Astronomical Union gave his name to an asteroid: (6354) Vangelis .

Today we present the main theme of the soundtrack of 1492 The Conquest of Paradise written for choir and orchestra in the classical way and on a stubborn rhythmic basis today offered by the Voices for Peace Orchestra and Choir under the direction of maestro Miguel Roa (1944 -2016).

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was a Brazilian conductor and composer, whose music was influenced by both Brazilian folk music and European classical music. He received some musical instruction from his father and before 1899, the year of his father's death, he had already begun to dedicate himself to music as a professional. He performed as a café musician playing the cello, although he was also an occasional guitar, clarinet and piano player. As a composer, he was notoriously prolific with a legacy of works for guitar, works for piano, 17 string quartets, 9 Brazilian Bachianas, 15 Choros for different musical groups, 12 symphonies, 18 concert works, 4 operas, 2 film soundtracks and numerous works of different kinds that include several ballet scores.

The Bachianas Brasileiras are a set of nine works written for different groups with formal remembrance of Bach . No. 5 that we present today, written for voice and eight cellos, is the best known and is performed by Amel Brahim , an Algerian soprano of Berber origin.

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was born in Nelahozeves , then Bohemia and now Czechia , and is considered one of the great masters of the second half of the 19th century and the main representative of Czech nationalism. In 1847 he entered the primary school of his town, where he received his first musical lessons. During the 1860s he played viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra , conducted from 1866 by Bedřich Smetana . In 1873 he was exalted worldwide with his collection of Slavic Dances and recognized from then on with all kinds of important international awards. Throughout his life he wrote abundant vocal, chamber, symphonic and operatic music.

Symphony No. 9 in E minor Op. 95, New World Symphony , is Antonín Dvořák 's best-known work. Composed in 1893 shortly after the composer's arrival in the USA , it is articulated in four movements: I (0´4´´) ADAGIO- ALLEGRO MOLTO .-. II (9´00´´) LONG .-. III (20´02´´) SCHERZO: MOLTO VIVACE-POCO SOSTENUTO .-. IV (26´50´´) ALLEGRO CON FUOCO. Today it is offered to us by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra directed by maestro Marin Alsop (1956), American violinist and conductor currently head of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra , which has made her the first woman to occupy a position at this level. in USA ; She is also principal guest conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra .

George Gershwin (1898-1937) was an American composer appreciated for having known how to combine jazz with classical music . From a young age he began to write his first songs, premiering his first musical on Broadway with his brother Ira as lyricist, a company that he would never leave. From the age of twenty he began to compose works designed for concert halls with which he obtained renowned successes. Aware of his formal deficits, he traveled to Paris to complete his training with Stravinsky , who, after asking him about the money earned in a year, replied that he was the one who should take classes with Gershwin . Something similar happened to Ravel , as he said, “Why do you want to be a second-rate Ravel , when you can be a first-rate Gershwin ?”

The Rhapsody in Blue , the work we present today, was originally written for solo piano and jazz band and arranged for piano and symphony orchestra in 1946 by Ferde Grofé (1892-1972), which is the version usually offered. The work aroused some controversy at its premiere; But in a short time his freshness and imagination prevailed, occupying one of the first positions of preference among the best pianists and orchestras.

Lola Astanova (1982), our soloist today, is a pianist born in Uzbekistan . At the age of eight he was already touring as a concert artist, surprising audiences across half of Europe with his technique and childlike imagination. She has performed in the best venues in the world both alone and under the baton of the main orchestra conductors.

Aretha Louise Franklin (1942-2018)123 was an American soul, R&B and gospel singer. She was the greatest exponent of Soul and one of the greatest gospel transmitters of all time. In the mid-1960s, she established herself as a female Soul star, something she used in favor of racial rights in the USA , being an influential element within the racial and women's liberation movement. In 1987, she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . She was selected in first place in The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time according to Rolling Stone in 2008. She was awarded 18 Grammy Awards.​

Totó la Momposina (1940) was a Colombian singer born into a family of musicians; Song and dance were something congenital for her that she expressed from the earliest age. Their music combines African and indigenous elements as happened during the time of Spanish colonization in America ; hence the rhythms that were born from that fusion were multiple. After studying at the Conservatory of the National University of Colombia , he dedicated himself to traveling through Europe and studying at the Sorbonne University in Paris , as well as in other institutions in Santiago de Cuba and Havana . She is one of the most recognized Colombian singers in Latin America and has an Honorary Doctorate in Education from the National Pedagogical University of Colombia .

Ludwig Minkus (1826-1917) was an Austrian violinist and composer of ballet music. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory . At that time, while he composed music for ballet, he performed as a violin soloist and founded an orchestra that would compete with that of the young Johann Strauss . In 1846, Minkus moved to Paris and that same year the ballet Paquita premiered, with music by Édouard Deldevez assisted by Minkus . In 1847 he settled in Russia ; In 1861, he joined the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra as a violinist; a year later, as director and two years later he was appointed composer of the Bolshoi Ballet . Although permanently settled in Russia , he maintained his ties with Paris and in 1866 he traveled to the French capital to compose the new ballet La Source .

Don Quixote is a ballet with a prologue and four acts by Ludwig Minkus and choreography and libretto by Marius Petipa , which would be premiered in 1869 at the Bolshoi Theater , with enormous success from both critics and the public; ballet whose plot is based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes and in particular on the "Camacho weddings" ( Gamache in the ballet), an episode narrated in chapter XIX of the second part, in which the romance between the barber is recounted Basilio and the young Quiteria (Kitri in the ballet).

Alicia Alonso (1920-2019) was a choreographer and teacher, founder and director of the National Ballet of Cuba . Relevant personality in the history of stage dance, leading figure of classical ballet on an international level and distinguished personality of Cuban national culture. The art of this legendary dancer has been acclaimed for decades by diverse audiences and specialized critics around the world. She achieved the rank of Prima ballerina assoluta , due to the unlimited spectrum of her art, a category historically held by few dance artists, and which in the tradition of classical dance defines the highest stylistic, expressive and technical qualities in the exercise of this art. . In 1948 she founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet in Havana , today the National Ballet of Cuba . (Extracted from the Website of the National Ballet of Cuba)

Tomás Bretón (1850-1923) was a Spanish composer and violinist born in Salamanca. He completed his first musical studies at the San Eloy School of Nobles and Fine Arts in his hometown. At the age of 16, he moved to Madrid , where he played in zarzuela theater orchestras and continued his apprenticeship at the Royal Conservatory under the teachings of maestro Emilio Arrieta , where in 1872 he received, together with Ruperto Chapí , the first prize for composition. In 1880 he received a scholarship to study abroad, residing in Rome, Milan, Vienna and Paris between 1881 and 1884. In 1901 he assumed the direction of the Madrid Conservatory , a position he held until his retirement in 1921. Prolific composer in very different genres and styles, he also wrote numerous zarzuelas.

La Dolores is an opera by Tomás Bretón premiered on March 16, 1895 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid , according to a libretto written by Tomás Bretón himself, based on the play by his friend Feliú y Codina , and making even more popular the myth of “La Dolores”.

La Jota Aragonesa is the most identifying expression of song and dance of the Aragonese region; Known and admired inside and outside its borders, it has attracted foreign composers and choreographers such as Glinka , Liszt, Moiseyev ... and others who have produced some work of this genre. The Great Jota that we offer today belongs to the opera La Dolores by Tomás Bretón.