Aranjuez

Because of my decade of listening to NPR's music broadcasts, I have begun to develop an appreciation for orchestral music. I have heard the gamut: everything from Gregorian chants, Renaissance madrigals, Baroque compositions, Classical symphonies, sonatas, and concertos, Rococo symphonietas, Romantic fantasies, Impressionistic tone poems, opera suites, atonal hojpodges, and even music of the 20th century written for orchestra.

I always liked the regal opening of Rodrigo's Arajuez concerto but it took me longer to appreciate the slightly melancholy adagio movement that follows. This is the movement you hear a brief snip of with words added.

Rodrigo attempted to paint in sound a portrait of these palacial hgardens with their birds and fountains. He succeeded brilliantly.

A number of musicians have since reinterpreted the work, including Miles Davis. On the album Sketches of Spain, Davis testifies: "That melody is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets".

The Adagio is the most famous, and most recognizable part of the piece, and used in numerous movies, television shows, and commercials.

--Taken from Wikipedia.

IMAGINE That!