Don’t worry about the missed days this week, not only will I get the hang of it, I will always post three songs a week, every week. This week is classical week. Three songs that could be classified as “Classical”, sans vocals, sans drums. I share these with you because I have always found it near impossible to get a good start on classical music if you haven’t been paying attention since 3rd grade. (One good resource is KUSC). Anyway, lets begin with some Spanish music.

Enrique Granados – Oriental: Andante[play] [buy]

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My father is a professional keyboard player. He also plays real pianos. When I was a kid, whenever he was home, he would practice by playing classical music. Even though he played rock and roll for a living, he would come home and play music written long before he was born.

One of those pieces always caught my attention, even if I was a little older and locked upstairs in my room reading Bazil Broketail, I would run downstairs to sit in a pleasant trance as he played this song. It makes me feel special, like an important dignitary at a summer palace in Spain, dancing late into the night under a clear sky. I like the song most because it is a Spaniard’s idea of an oriental tune. It doesn’t call to mind Japan, or China, but rather an asian lady, dancing at that same summer palace, far from home but comfortable in this foreign land.

And just for your reference, this tune was written around 1890, (its no.2 of the 12 Danzas españolas.) Also, this particular recording was performed by Alicia De Larrocha.