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this specially arranged (August, 2008
) issue of the extended 'All Seasons' MusicSmiles
website we're continuing with tidying up, and clearing out redundant files, etc.
We hope that most visitors won't notice the differences - but we
know the site's a lot more shipshape! Many thanks for your
suggestions. And we continually update our page about
facts
& figures to inform visitors (click Visitors Number at bottom
of any page to find out more, and see your choice of Last Month's MusicSmiles'
Top Tunes). We have also included . . .
- This month sees the twelfth instalment of our
great new serialized tale: Francis
Drake's Story! Chapter
IX: The Cinque
Port!
Click the galleon>>> to join in
the fun . . .
- Click
here
to visit our Mermaid in the MusicSmiles
selection of Sea
Shanties
. . .
- We have included an extra footnote (7) containing further information
about Hellfire
Jack's story.
- And here is Charles
Villiers Stanford's taster of Francis Drake's story in his setting of Drake's
Drum . . .
- Be on the alert for pyrotechnics in one of G&S's best numbers - Stand by for a shock entrance of the Sorcerer's Song, from
their Comic Opera The Sorcerer
. . .
- Sir Francis Burnand and Arthur Sullivan's very successful show The
Contrabandista and its even more successful number Wake
Gentle Maiden . . .
- Anton Rubinstein's world-famous Melody
in F
- A few words about one of the world's greatest Russian composers Pyotr
(Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and his tune: Danse
Russe . . .
- A rare opportunity to accept a welcome to Sir Arthur Sullivan's Haddon
hall and his poignantly beautiful Bloom of May . . .
- A page about Felix Mendelssohn's He
Watching Over Israel from his magnificent oratorio Elijah
- Added an interesting additional 'footnote' or two to the National
Anthem.
- A trip to America for a change in Fascinating
Rhythm with George Gershwin.
- A page about Cesar Frank that includes his beautiful Panis Angelicus
with some extended footnotes, and a kitchen-sink guide to pronunciation.
- A very famous prelude by Frédéric
Chopin.
- We've comprehensively added to our notes on Bizet's Carmen;
and included Carmen's
Story; AND then there's possibly the greatest operatic baritone song, from the opera:
The
Toreador's Song.
- Visit Arthur Sullivan's teacher, Sir
John Goss; and hear his popular anthem: O
Saviour of the World.
- Let us introduce you to Sullivan and German's The
Emerald Isle, and an Irish Jig
. . .
- All about the Brothers
Grimm and their fairy tales, particularly Rumpel-Stilts-Kin
. . .
- An extra (foot)note or two, or three, about England's
Yeomen!!
- A further glance into the wonders of Vienna with a visit to The
Blue Danube . . .
- Watch out this month for a story about Brahms
and his famous academic
drinking tune . . .
- And by sustained popular demand there's the full MusicSmiles
thrilling
railway story of Hellfire
Jack, a Victorian railway hero, with a link to his burial site. And
an added 'Railway Song' from the
'Music halls' for good measure - click to catch the train with Oh
Mr Porter!.
- We have retained a chapter about Sullivan's The
Beauty Stone, together with the beautiful Laine's Prayer . . .
- Also a couple of pages about Sullivan's last complete
operetta The
Rose of Persia, and its famous Drinking
Song.
- Also, to set your feet a-dancin' we've included Dem
Golden
Slippers!! AND all about Lewis Carroll,
who is to take us on a Golden
Afternoon! river trip . . .
- The site will also hopefully Speed Your Journey with
Giuseppe Verdi.
- Also retaining Maud's Reply!
by Joyce Grenfell to the Eternal Pop Song (See below).
- Michael Balfe's Eternal
Pop Song! Come Into the Garden Maud.
- And we continue with the masterpiece Entr'acte
and Barcarolle from Act II Scene 1 of The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques
Offenbach.
- In a moment of indecision about which piece to add in April we
included A
Nice Dilemma from G&S's Trial by Jury. Hope you enjoy the romp .
. .
- Reserved the promised masterpiece from Haydn's Creation. Click the very lovely Uriel's
Recitative which presages the famous trio and chorus, to find
out more.
- Added some additional information about: Hans
Christian Anderson; AND Franz
Joseph Haydn.
- Included the very special winter's tale about Hans
Christian Anderson's Little Match
Girl.
- Retained Alfred Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light
Brigade
- Continued to display one of the 'Pictures at an Exhibition' in a great piece called The
Oxcart by Modest Mussorgsky
- Encouraged the famous William
Tell Gallop on our visit to Switzerland in addition to Rossini's 'William
Tell' selection.
- Marching on to John
Philip Sousa's march The Liberty Bell, an American
musician and his music Sullivan would have known well.
- Reserved Edward
Elgar's Ave Verum Corpus, perhaps the greatest living composer in his formative
years helped by Sir Arthur Sullivan
- Still asking the question Tell
Me Pretty Maiden from Florodora, one of the greatest Hit-Shows of the
period.
- Retained the beautiful Graceful
Dance from Dorothy, one of the big hits from the
G&S era. Also the hugely favourite Spring poem: William
Wordsworth's Daffodils.
And we've updated our Water
Music page about the great George Frideric Handel.
- Kept the classical HIT, Claude Debussy's famous piece: Golliwog's Cakewalk.
We gave a further explanation of Patter
Song. Also, don't forget to visit Mendelssohn's famous hymn for Lent Take
up Thy Cross;
and the Easter Hymn from Mascagni's Cavalleria
Rusticana.
- Kept A
Lullaby from Arthur Sullivan's first fun show: Cox & Box.
Is it the first Gilbert & Sullivan show? Well, we'll have to visit the page to find
out!
- Retained the big hit: Chin, Chin, Chinaman, from a big hit show
of the period called The Geisha . . .
- By popular consent we have retained Dickens' A
Christmas Carol; Plus visit some of our special seasonal pages: Arthur Sullivan's Christmas
Hymn, our seasonal Ghost
Story, Pop
in Vienna, and other favourites from the Winter Warmers
section. We have also dedicated our MusicSmiles
Swing
Low to Rugby Football players everywhere; and our Hymn
to Footie to honour Soccer.
- The proposal to include The Judge's Song from Trial by
Jury has been implemented now that 'The Judge' has returned from Chambers
following his makeover'! So here is The
Judge's
Entrance to wonder at, followed by The Judge's Song
to ponder on!
- We have retained the two pieces of G&S - the ever-popular Nightmare
Song from Iolanthe; and a wonderful, seldom heard piece, End
of Dreams, from their final opera The Grand Duke, and A walk round a special
garden with a Stranger
in Paradise! Also A
Summer Night! with the young Arthur Sullivan. And the two pages: one, about Mozart
one of the greatest musicians of all time; and, Dear
Little Donkey from Véronique.
- Reserved Arthur's final composition - O
Swallow, Swallow. and a seasonal piece from the Gilbert & Sullivan story, which we
are sure you will enjoy: Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem.
- Given greater prominence to the
Gilbert & Sullivan Story, and added a rare 'lost'
piece - Little
Maid of Arcadee. And if you haven't yet heard our Little
Gem, try it now, it's a must.
- Also take a peek back (or is it a look forward?) at Spring
Promises!,
Summer
Sounds!, Autumn
Tones!, and our section of Winter
Warmers! including Arthur Sullivan's Christmas
Hymn, and the winter Ghost
Story. And by popular demand we've extended the time of our special section to commemorate the Golden
Jubilee.
Thank
you for your extremely encouraging comments and suggestions from all around the
world. . . We
welcome your support, keep it rolling!
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