Joaquín Rodrigo

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez (Spanish: [xoaˈkin roˈðɾiɣo]; November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999), commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist.

Rodrigo's music is among the most popular music of the 20th century. In particular, his Concierto de Aranjuez is considered one of the pinnacles of Spanish music and of the guitar concerto repertoire.

Life

Rodrigo was born in Sagunto, Valencia, and almost completely lost his sight at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. He began to study solfège, piano and violin at the age of eight; harmony and composition from the age of 16. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and best known for his guitar music, he never mastered the instrument himself. He wrote his compositions in Braille, which was transcribed for publication.

Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he went to Paris again to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then under André Pirro. His first published compositions date from 1940. In 1943 he received Spain's National Prize for Orchestra for Cinco piezas infantiles ("Five Children's Pieces"), based on his earlier composition of the same piece for two pianos, premiered by Ricardo Viñes. From 1947 Rodrigo was a professor of music history, holding the Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at Complutense University of Madrid. Notable students include Yüksel Koptagel, Turkish composer and pianist.

Rhapsody in Blue

Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition by American composer George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects.

Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the composition was orchestrated by Ferde Grofé several times, including the original 1924 scoring, "theater orchestra" setting published in 1926, and the symphony orchestra scoring published in 1942, though completed earlier. The piece received its premiere in the concert, An Experiment in Modern Music, which was held on February 12, 1924, in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Whiteman and his band with Gershwin playing the piano.

The editors of the Cambridge Music Handbooks opined that "The Rhapsody in Blue (1924) established Gershwin's reputation as a serious composer and has since become one of the most popular of all American concert works."

History

Commission

After the success of an experimental classical-jazz concert held with French-Canadian singer Eva Gauthier at Aeolian Hall (New York) on November 1, 1923, band leader Paul Whiteman decided to attempt something more ambitious. He asked Gershwin to contribute a concerto-like piece for an all-jazz concert he would give in Aeolian Hall in February 1924. Whiteman became interested in featuring such an extended composition by Gershwin in the concert after he had collaborated with Gershwin in the Scandals of 1922, impressed by the original performance of the one-act opera Blue Monday, which was nevertheless a commercial failure. Gershwin declined on the grounds that, as there would certainly be need for revisions to the score, he would not have enough time to compose the new piece.

Rhapsody in Blue (TV series)

Rhapsody In Blue (Simplified Chinese: 蓝色仙人掌) (Pinyin: lán sè xiān rén zhǎng, literally translated means "Blue Cactus" with "lán sè" meaning blue) is a Singaporean Chinese drama which is being telecast on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp TV Channel 8 every weekday at 7pm in June, 2006. The show stars Jesseca Liu, Christopher Lee, Guo Liang, Phyllis Quek, Eelyn Kok and Chen Hanwei.

Cast

Story

Twenty-four-year-old teacher Ding Yirou (Jesseca Liu) decides to marry 40-year-old divorcee Guo Yongtao (Chen Hanwei) despite vehement objections from her parents and disapproval from Yongtao’s 11-year-old daughter Doudou (Boon Hui Lu). The stubborn and wilful girl runs away from home as a sign of protest and during the frantic search, Yongtao is killed instantly in a hit-and-run accident. Traumatised, Doudou loses her ability to speak. Yirou, out of guilt and love for Yongtao, decides to be Doudou’s guardian and takes the child into her family home.

Rhapsody in Blue (disambiguation)

Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by American composer George Gershwin.

It may also refer to: