This piece originates from Robert Schumann's 'Album für die Jugend' - a collection of 43 short works that were composed for his three daughters. The opus 68 'Album für die Jugend' is, unlike 'Kinderszenen', meant to be played by children, although the collection is divided in two parts - and the second is marked 'Für Erwachsenere', from no. 19, 'Kleine Romanze', onwards. 

'Wilder Reiter', or - as it is more commonly referred to, 'The Wild Horseman', is the eight piece of the collection. It is a short and easy, albeit wonderful piece due to its evocative, enthralling composition. It is essentially a lesson in staccato phrasing (one can really imagine the horseman trotting about), and teaches the pianist how to lead the cantabile with both hands, while accompanying with the other. The first section, where the melody is led by the right hand, is repeated. What follows is an intermezzo, if you will, where the left hand leads the melody - an inverse variation on the first section. The piece concludes with a third repetition of the first section. 

I am fascinated by the images that the piece conjures. Is the horseman clad in medieval armour, riding past you in a jousting roundabout? In measures 5 through 8 I deliberately retained some intensity in favour of conveying how the horseman has galloped past the listener (who is of course, stationary), and is making another pass. The second section, measures 9 through 16, seem to indicate the 'wild' in the horseman. Is he perhaps struggling to contain the horse, who has run amok? But then the first section is repeated, and the controlled, frivolous atmosphere reassures and consoles the listener. 

illustration: Géricault - 'Head of White Horse', ca. 1810, Musée du Louvre, Paris

R. Schumann - Wilder Reiter (The Wild Horseman) op. 68 no. 8 in A minor

''Va pensiero'' from the Opera "Nabucco" - Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia Nacionale di Santa Cecilia.

Va’ pensiero sull’ali dorate
Attraversa le montagne e vola
Sugli oceani.
Raggiungi la terra, trova il luogo
Dove vanno tutti i bambini
Ogni notte dopo aver sentito questa ninnananna.
Lì troverai i loro eroi vivi
Che proteggono la loro innocenza
Benedicili tutti perchè il loro animo semplice
è tanto puro e meraviglioso.

Va’ pensiero sull’ali dorate
Fai continuare questo sogno bellissimo
Per tutta la notte.

Presta loro le tue ali dorate
Tutte le paure voleranno via
Prendili per mano
Aiutali a trovare una strada facile
Riportali alla luce, riportali alla luce
Alla quale appartenevano un tempo
Dove possono restare
Bambini per tutto il tempo che vogliono.

Va’ pensiero sull’ali dorate
Attraversa le montagne e vola
Sugli oceani.
Raggiungi la terra, trova il luogo
Dove vanno tutti i bambini
Ogni notte dopo aver sentito questa ninnananna.
Ogni notte dopo aver sentito questa ninna nanna

Traducción al castellano:

¡Vuela pensamiento, con alas doradas,
pósate en las praderas y en las cimas
donde exhala su suave fragancia
el aire dulce de la tierra natal!
¡Saluda a las orillas del Jordán
y a las destruidas torres de Sión!
¡Oh, mi patria, tan bella y abandonada!
¡Oh recuerdo tan grato y fatal!
Arpa de oro de los fatídicos vates,
¿por qué cuelgas silenciosa del sauce?
Revive en nuestros pechos el recuerdo,
¡háblanos del tiempo que fue!
Canta un aire de crudo lamento
al destino de Jerusalén
o que te inspire el Señor una melodía
que infunda virtud al padecimiento.
que infunda virtud al padecimiento.
que infunda virtud al padecimiento.
virtud al padecimiento.

Va pensiero / Nabucco. Guiussepe Verdi

Allegro Con Fuoco izwi mu Rwanda nk'ikirango cya gahunda yo kumenyekanisha amatangazo yo kubika kuri Radio Rwanda. Iyi ndirimbo classique yashyimbwe na  Antonín Dvořák wo muri Tchéque ariko ishyirwa ahagaragara bwa mbwere muri New York.

Iyi ndirimbo yagiye icurangwa n'abantu batandandukanye. Iyi audio iri hano yakozwe na DuPage Symphony Orchestra.  

Allegro Con Fuoco na  Antonín Dvořák (1893)

Can you tell me what art is? I used to avoid that question, considering it to be a distraction from actual art making. Well, that was half a decade ago. Now, I think I got an answer (at least one for these bizarre times).
Art is what we do, and I don't mean the finished painting, the printed book, the .wav file of this track (that's the art product, but you can disagree). Art is the work of making it, the moments of expression, the struggle, the process, the self-doubt, the joy of learning, of discovery, of creating, even if nothing concrete comes from it.
In that sense, anything we do can be art, and I honestly think it may be. To make art is to live, and the artist at work is simply one living true to themself. 
And we can all be artists.
Just live and let live.

†ॐ

Music composed by Thomas O'Higgins Horna
Produced at Kolima Forest Studios.
Cover photo by chirimoyachris, edited by me.

This track is not to be used to train AI.

The Artist at Work

Orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Asher Fisch, 2013.
Midway through the final act of Wagner’s RING cycle you’ll hear the orchestra play some of the most powerful music ever written, as the procession bearing the dead body of Siegfried leaves the stage.  

Illustration by Alexandre Serebriakoff from the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s 1939 story-book version of the RING. 

Siegfried’s Funeral March

Guest conductor David Lockington leads the NEC Philharmonia and student soloist Huijuan Pan in Franz LIszt's Concerto for PIano No. 1 in E Flat Major. The performance was recorded live on April 12, 2011 at NEC's Jordan Hall.
For more information about New England Conservatory: http://necmusic.edu

Liszt - Concerto for Piano No. 1 in E flat major  - Allegro marziale animato

Kefka Palazzo's Theme from Final Fantasy VI. Composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Arranged for Solo Piano by Hiroyuki Nakayama.

Kefka

The Borromeo String Quartet with pianist Emely Phelps perform Dvorak: Quintet for Piano and Strings no 2 in A major. Recorded live February 26, 2012 at Jordan Hall.
For more information: http://necmusic.edu

A. VIVALDI Concerto For Violin, Strings And B.C. In B Minor RV 390, Europa Galante

Skookummaxx