Collection of music videos

William Byrd (1540-1623) was a British composer, most famous in the late Tudor era (Elizabeth I of England) and the early Stuart era (James I of England). It belonged to the Late Renaissance and cultivated many of the musical genres that existed in England at that time, including various forms of sacred music and secular polyphony, keyboard music and ministerial music. Byrd obtained the prestigious knighthood of the Chapel Royal in 1572, following the death of Robert Parsons . His musical production is about 470 compositions that amply justify his reputation as "great master of the music of the European Renaissance."

The pavane is a court dance in 2/4 or 4/4 fashionable throughout Europe in the Renaissance . It was popular particularly in Italy (as a dance, until the mid- 16th century ), in France and in England (as a concert piece, until the early 17th century ).

The gallarda was a Renaissance musical and dance form, popular throughout Europe in the 16th century . The oldest examples of this dance are preserved in the city of Paris although its origin is Italian. In suites and other works, the galliard often fulfills a "post-dance" role, written in 6/8, which follows and imitates another piece, usually a pavane, written in 4/4. The distinctive 6/8 rhythm can still be heard in songs such as God Save the Queen (UK national anthem).

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was a British trombonist, arranger, composer and teacher. He is primarily known for his orchestral suite The Planets , for although he composed many other works in a variety of genres, none achieved comparable success. His distinctive compositional style was the product of many influences, with Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss being the most crucial early in his development. The subsequent revival of English popular song of the early 20th century and the example of emerging modern composers such as Maurice Ravel led Holst to develop and refine his personal style. His compositions had a marked influence on several younger English composers, such as Edmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten .

The Planets is his best-known work and is a suite that consists of seven movements personified in seven planets; It is presented in the manner of a symphonic poem with meanings frequently found in astrology and Greco-Roman mythology.

" Jupiter is the most thoroughly English section of the work, with the high spirits of Jupiter projected through a broad, infectious energetic melody. Then a more serious and stately processional theme enters, after which the vigorous melody returns. ( Excerpt from Orrin Howard's LA Phil article )

Susanna Mälkki (1969) is a Finnish cellist and conductor. He began his musical studies with the violin, piano and cello to devote himself definitively to the latter; he would later study conducting with Esa-Pekka Salonen . As a cellist she has won important awards and for three years she served as first cellist in the Gothenburg Symphony . As a conductor, she has directed important European and American groups and has specialized in contemporary music. She is currently the principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic .

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is considered one of the three giants of musical composition along with Bach and Beethoven . Child prodigy born in Salzburg (Austria), at the age of six he mastered the keyboard and violin and began to compose. His father, Leopold, exhibited him on exhausting tours of different European courts. Prolific composer (more than 600 works written from the time he was five years old until his death) he cultivated all types of musical genres: piano works, chamber music, symphonies, concert works, choral works, operas... each and every one of them, masterpieces of its gender. His operas The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Cosí fan Tutte, and The Marriage of Figaro are among the 10 most performed operas in the world. He died in Vienna at the age of 35.

The Opera was born at the end of the 16th century , as an initiative of a circle of scholars (the Camerata Fiorentina ) who, upon discovering that ancient Greek theater was sung, had the idea of setting dramatic texts to music. Thus, Jacopo Peri created La Daphne (1597), of which only its libretto is preserved today, which was followed by Euridice (1600), by the same author. In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi composed La favola d'Orfeo , where he added a musical introduction that he called a " symphony ", and divided the sung parts into " arias ", giving structure to modern opera. The subsequent evolution of opera has run parallel to the various musical currents that have occurred over time: between the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, the Baroque was framed, a period in which cultured music was reserved for the social elites, but which produced new and rich musical forms, and which saw the establishment of a language of its own for opera, rich and complex not only in compositional and vocal methods but also in theatrical and scenographic production.

In the second half of the 18th century , Classicism occurred, a period of great creativity marked by the serenity and harmony of its compositions. The 19th century was marked by Romanticism , characterized, above all, by the individuality of the composer, already considered an enlightened genius and increasingly the object of greater veneration, like the greatest vocal figures of song, who became stars of a society where the bourgeoisie relegated the aristocracy to social preeminence. This century saw the emergence of musical variants from numerous nations until then with hardly any musical tradition, in what came to be called Musical Nationalism . Some currents such as French impressionism and Italian verism closed the century.

In the 20th century , opera, like the rest of music and the arts in general, entered the avant-garde , a new way of conceiving artistic creation in which new compositional methods and techniques emerged, which were expressed in a great variety of styles, in a time of greater diffusion of the media that allowed reaching a wider audience through various channels (radio, television, internet...) and not only in person, and in which it is still valued the extensive musical repertoire of previous periods, which is still current in the main opera houses of the world.

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) was an Armenian composer under the Soviet regime. At the age of 22 he began to write his first works for piano and chamber music; later orchestral music, theater and film music (more than 40 works between both genres), as well as ballet music in which the Spartacus ballet and the Gayané ballet are notable, to which the well-known saber dance belongs. He had important disagreements with the Party , being denounced for his “ anti-people music ”, although after Stalin 's death in 1953, he was widely recognized. His music is clear, agile and vibrant, and in his works you can feel the Armenian popular music, to which he was always attracted; In Armenia he is considered its main composer.

Violin Concerto in D m . When the last compositions began to come out of the Soviet Union toward the end of World War II, Khachaturian quickly became an international favorite: a composer who could entertain with lush, oriental-sounding melodies that had the world singing, dancing, and clapping. The cultural curators also applauded, as it was not only music that satisfied the basic requirements of Soviet music, but was in tune, joyful and accessible. And, the icing on the cake: he represented an ethnic minority, the Armenians (in fact, Khachaturian was born to Armenian parents in Georgia ), giving credence to the Soviet Union 's loudly spread claims of inclusion. ( Extracted from LA Phil article)

Today it is offered to us by the virtuoso violinist Eva Sulic accompanied by the Zagreb Philharmonic conducted by maestro Tomislav Fačini

Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) was an American self-taught pianist and jazz composer. Founder of bebop , he also played under the influence of hard bop and modal jazz . He is known for his unique style of improvisation, as well as having composed several jazz standards such as "'Round Midnight", "Straight No Chaser", "52nd Street Theme" and "Blue Monk". In 1937 he formed his own quartet, performing in various clubs until in 1941 drummer Kenny Clarke chose him as the house pianist to play at Minton's Playhouse , the legendary Harlem club where bebop would be spawned. In 1957 he was hired by the Five Spot and there he would be part of a quartet that would also feature the saxophonist John Coltrane .

Selena Gómez (1992), American actress and singer born in Texas who began her career in a children's series from the age of ten to twelve; He later continued starring in small roles in other series. In 2007 she starred in the series Wizards of Waverly Place , which won important awards and in 2009, as a singer, she formed her own band with which she won various awards. By 2015, she had sold more than 6.7 million albums and more than 22 million singles.

Adolphe Adam (1803-1856) was a French composer born in Paris and author of abundant stage music. His first successes came in his adulthood with the ballet Giselle and the opera Si j'étais roi ; By then he had already written several ballets and operas; In total he wrote 40 operas, 14 ballets and various cantatas, hymns, masses, choirs, piano pieces, pantomimes, military marches and plays; Of all these compositions it is worth highlighting, in addition to those already mentioned, the carol Cantique de Noël, known worldwide, in its English translation, as O Holy Night and the ballet Le Corsaire , which we offer today. From 1849 until his death in 1856 he was professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory .

Le Corsaire (The Corsair) is a ballet in three acts, five scenes and an epilogue with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges , inspired by the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron and the opera derived from it The Corsair by Verdi , with music by Adolphe Adam . The original choreography is by Joseph Mazilier and it premiered for the first time in 1856 at the Paris Opera . In 1868, Marius Petipa and Jules Perrot renovated the ballet for the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow . This version is the one from which most subsequent adaptations and productions are derived, such as today's by the Samara Theater ballet company.

Basque dances (in Basque, Euskal Dantzak ) are a very important part of Basque culture and the fundamental part of its folklore. Each historical territory, or province, has its own and each town also has its own that is customary to dance at its major festivals. Among the most notable dances we will mention the pilgrimage or plaza dances , based on the dances that were celebrated in the pilgrimages and whose participation was and is popular and spontaneous. The sword dances that have an obvious parallel with the European ones of the same type. The end-of-festival dances that are performed to mark the end of some festivities, the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. Traditional dances : Agurra, Fandangoa, Banakoa, Zortzikoa and Arin Arina among many others.

Kukai Dantza is a company that was born and resides in Errenteria (Guipúzcoa-Basque Country), created by the dancer and choreographer Jon Maya Sein , in 2001. With contemporary creation based on traditional dance as its hallmark, it has created numerous shows and successful collaborations. It has promoted encounters with numerous artistic languages (theater, cinema, plastic arts, architecture, gastronomy...) and its shows have been performed in theaters and festivals in more than twenty-five countries, having received notable awards: National Dance Award 2017, MAX Awards the performing arts 2009, 2015, 2017 and 2019, Catalunya Critics Award 2016, Donostia Theater Award , Awards at International Festivals in Huesca, Valladolid… Umore Azoka Honor Award…