Word: lutes
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Stern spirits by the thousandfold . . . Then, with the air of a minstrel who stills his lute and steps forward to address his audience, Graves breaks into prose: "You wish to know which of the gods originated the quarrel between these Greek princes, and how this happened? I can tell...
...culture of the Etruscans, who, haunted in life by a host of demons and ogres, prepared optimistically for a life after death that would be an unending feast. Their vision of paradise is vividly shown on the walls of the underground tombs-a world in which dancers, lute players, animals abound, and all that was most transitory in life could be relished for eternity...
...Last week, as usual. Segovia played pieces by early, little-known composers, as well as such familiar masters as Bach and Scarlatti, then offered several contemporary works. His six-stringed instrument sounded at times with the shimmer of the harpsichord, at times with the dryly plaintive quality of the lute. Throughout, the instrument's miniature sounds were punctuated with moments of deep, suspenseful silence...
...with the drumming and dancing to produce dazzling splashes of color. The other sections naturally act as relief; these generally take the form of lyrical African love songs, of calypso duets with guitars, hardly distinguishable from their Caribbean counterparts. The most interesting of these quiet interludes involves an African lute of liquid sound and astonishing facility called a "cora." The two cora soloists are undoubtedly virtuosos, and they draw from their instruments a phenomenal number of notes during their brief performances...
Bream himself turns out to be an exceedingly serious and intense young man. He has a near-flawless technique and a fine rhythmic sense. He elicits from his lute a wide variety of timbres and articulations, and phrases carefully--virtues he shares with Segovia, his teacher. Originally a pianist, he now divides his time between the lute and the guitar. It is only a shame that such a splendid artist cannot devote his full time to each...