Auld Lang Syne

Today's folksong "Auld Lang Syne" can be downloaded here. Every year, the streets ring with the same lilting song. Sweet, nostalgic, hopeful; "Auld Lang Syne" has become an absolute tradition in New Year's Eve celebrations.(from Independent.co.uk) and for more information look here. For a translation from the old English to more modern English look here. Enjoy!

Burns' original Scots verse

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’lltak' a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin' auld lang syne.

English translation

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup!
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

White Is In The Winter Night

Today's song is written and performed by Enya. To download and print go here. I have arranged this music score with chords in the right hand and simple accompaniment for the left hand. "White Is in the Winter Night" is a promotional single by Irish musician Enya, the second to be taken from the album And Winter Came.... Enya performed the song on Live! with Regis and Kelly.(here) This tune was described by Enya's producer Nicky Ryan on the Irish musician's website as "the kind of song you could hear at the Proms with everyone joining in, it has that kind of Christmassy vibe."(here)

Lyrics

Have you seen the mistletoe
It fills the night with kisses
Have you seen the bright blue star
It fills your heart with wishes
Have you seen the candlelight
It shines from every window
Have you seen the moon above
It lights the sky in silver

Green is in the mistletoe
And red is in the holly
Silver in the stars above
That shine on everybody
Gold is in the candlelight
And crimson in the embers
White is in the winter night
That everyone remembers

Have you heard the boys outside
When all the girls are skating
Have you heard their sweet hearts cry
For all this time they're waiting

Green is in the mistletoe
And red is in the holly
Silver in the stars above
That shine on everybody
Gold is in the candlelight
And crimson in the embers
White is in the winter night
That everyone remembers

Have you seen the children playing
Tiny hands are frozen
Have you seen them hurry home
When suddenly its snowing

Green is in the mistletoe
And red is in the holly
Silver in the stars above
That shine on everybody
Gold is in the candlelight
And crimson in the embers
White is in the winter night
That everyone remembers

Have you heard that bells are ringing
Ringing out their story
Have you heard the choir singing
Glory, glory glory


Songwriters: Eithne Ni Bhraonain / Nicky Ryan / Roma Ryan

                                          

                                         

                                         

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata 147

Today's famous piece and be downloaded here. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from a chorale setting of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 ("Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723. The same music on different stanzas of a chorale closes both parts of the cantata.
A transcription by the English pianist Myra Hess (1890–1965) was published in 1926 for piano solo and in 1934 for piano duet.^[1] It is often performed slowly and reverently at wedding ceremonies, as well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter.^[2]For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F, 2nd movement theme.

Today's classical piece can be downloaded here. The Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046, is the first of six great concertos which, taken in combination, add up the most complex and artistically successful failed job application in recorded history. They were written around 1721 and dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg in March of the same year. Bach's position at Cöthen was becoming less desirable to him; his wife had died in 1720 while Bach accompanied his employer, Prince Leopold of Anthalt-Cöthen, to Carlsbad. The prince was also reallocating funds from music to his palace guard, no doubt because the prince's new wife was not a music lover. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in F, 1st movement theme

Today's classical piece by J.S.Bach can be downloaded here. Though the first movement does not have a tempo marking, performances of the four-movement work are about 20 minutes in duration. Each movement has a brisk pace and extraordinary counterpoint that inventively shades and blurs the contrast between the small concertino group and the tutti ensemble. Along with the horn, the violino piccolo seems to have been included in order to draw more attention to the innovative qualities of the music. The Brandenburg Concertos contain some of Bach's most brilliant counterpoint, and the attention-grabbing orchestration of the first concerto has not diminished the work's value at all. It is among Bach's best works.

 For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Bist Du Bei Mir

Today's classical aria has wrongly attributed to J.S. Bach for many years, this aria originally for female voice is by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, can be downloaded here. "Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" (If you are with me, I go with joy) is an aria from Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel's opera Diomedes, which was first staged on 16 November 1718. The aria is best known as "Bist du bei mir", BWV 508, a version for voice and continuo found as No. 25 in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Come, Sweet Death (Komm, Susser Tod)

Today's famous aria by Johann Sebastian Bach can be downloaded here. Bach composed Komm, süßer Tod in 1736 as part of a songbook edited by Georg Christian Schemelli, including 69 Sacred Songs and Arias.
On top of the 69 sacred pieces, each one featuring a melody and a figured bass, the hymnal known as the Schmelli Gesangbuch also includes almost 900 other hymns. But it's Bach's mournful music for solo voice and basso continuo, Komm, süßer Tod, komm selige Ruh, which steals the show. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Arioso

This is another well known and loved piece by Johann Sebastian Bach can be downloaded here. In classical music, arioso [aˈrjoːzo] (also aria parlante^[1] [ˈaːrja parˈlante]) is a category of solo vocal piece, usually occurring in an opera or oratorio, falling somewhere between recitative and aria in style. Literally, arioso means airy. The term arose in the 16th century along with the aforementioned styles and monody. It is commonly confused with recitativo accompagnato.
Arioso is similar to recitative due to its unrestrained structure and inflexions, close to those of speech. It differs, however, in its rhythm. Arioso is similar to aria in its melodic form, both being closer to singing than recitative; however, they differ in form, arioso generally not resorting to the process of repetition.  For more information look here. Enjoy! 

Air On The G String from Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major

Today'swell known classical piece by Johann Sebastian Bach can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

                                        

                                         

Waltz from Suite No 1

Today's Waltz from Suite No 1 is by Anton Arensky can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Il Bacio (The Kiss)

Today's Italian art song can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. 

A rough translation of the song is, 

Kiss me, darling kiss me, let me hold you in sweet love's embrace, let me press your lips to mine. Love, I'm burning to tell you secrets of love. Forever and ever, close beside you, I would whisper that I love you, pleading for one more caress. Then, I would tenderly hear your heartbeats confess. I have no desire for diamonds or jewels because love is all that I need to capture my heart. Oh, my sweetheart, one little kiss, my treasure. Come here and kiss me.

Enjoy!

Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes

Today's piece can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. After this song had been popular for almost two centuries, scholars began to discern that its imagery and rhetoric were largely lifted from classical sources - particularly one of the erotic Epistles of Philostratus the Athenian (c. 170 – 250 BC).^[3] This borrowing is discussed by George Burke Johnston in his Poems of Ben Jonson (1960), who points out that "the poem is not a translation, but a synthesis of scattered passages. Although only one conceit is not borrowed from Philostratus, the piece is a unified poem, and its glory is Jonson's. It has remained alive and popular for over three hundred years, and it is safe to say that no other work by Jonson is so well known." Enjoy!


Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.

Dona Nobis Pacem

I am sorry that I have not been able to post much for this month as I have been sick on and off. And to make matters worse, I had a very bad fall on Friday the 24th March in Langkawi airport, Malaysia at 8.40am. Good thing I have no broken bones or fractures but because I fell right on my face my 4 front teeth were badly affected. So now I am trying to rest and recover and I'll need some further medical treatments for my teeth. Please pray that I'll be able to keep all my teeth. Anyway I think that's enough about me. I'll try to post as and when I feel up to it. Thanks for all your views all this time. I had wondered if anyone would be interested in finding music written in a simple and helpful way to help non-pianist and beginner pianist or whoever might be interested to play the piano or keyboard purely for enjoyment. Bye for now.

Today's classical piece can be downloaded here. This piece is usually sung in a "round" or canon. The composer for this piece remains anonymous but if you do know of a possible composer of this piece please let me know and I will gladly give the composer credit for this beautiful and well known piece. The title "Dona Nobis Pacem" means "Grant Us Peace" in Latin. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Adagio in G minor

Today's classical piece can be downloaded here. For more information look here.

The Evening Star from Tannhauser

Today's famous aria can be downloaded here. for more information look here, here and here.  "Tannhäuser and the Minnesingers' Contest at Wartburg") is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner (WWV 70 in the catalogue of the composer's works). It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centers on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work. Enjoy!

Then You'll Remember Me from The Bohemian Girl

Today's song can be downloaded here. The Bohemian Girl is an English Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, La Gitanilla.
The best-known aria from the piece is "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" in which the main character, Arline, describes her vague memories of her childhood. It has been recorded by many artists, most famously by Dame Joan Sutherland, and also by the Norwegian soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø and Irish singer Enya. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Woman Is Changeable (La donna è mobile)

Today's aria from the Opera Rigoletto can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Songs my Mother Taught me (Czech: Když mne stará matka zpívat učívala)

This gypsy song by Dvorak can be downloaded here. for more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Habanera "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" ("Love is a rebellious bird") from Carmen Opera

Today's aria from the opera Carmen can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)

Today's famous aria by Rachmaninoff can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!