Season's greetings again this year. I will be playing Bach's Siciliano with the scenery of Sicily as the background. The flutes I'm using are Louis (serial number 1920), a corkwood flute made in London in the 81s, and a TOKAI spinet (small harpsichord) that was probably made about 40 years ago. The flute was thoroughly overhauled this year and is now in pretty good condition.
This Siciliano is one of the most famous pieces by Bach, but on the other hand, it is also suspected to be a forgery. The style is a little different from Bach's. It is said that Bach may have edited a piece written by a student based on a piece by the contemporary Quantz. The only person who said that this was Bach's work was his second son, the great composer CPE Bach (about whom I have written about in myBlog "Father of Classical Music, CPE Bach - 300th Anniversary of His Birth"It is said that he wrote something that his father had edited and that he then recorded his father's name on it.1.
A lot has happened this year. I have lost many people close to me.2The world situation is also dark, with many non-combatants, including women and children, being massacred. These days make me wonder why humanity does not learn from history. Given this situation, I chose a non-religious piece, unlike the usual year. I was actually thinking of playing Faure's In Paradisum or the hymn Veni Emanuel, but I decided not to play it because it contains the names of places.3So….
The video behind the song is mainly from Sicily. Mount Etna and the lighthouse of Syracuse are featured. May the peaceful scenery and music bring peace to your hearts. Have a good end to the year.
footnote
- For more information,"Bach's Siciliano wasn't written by JSBach...".
- Mr. Matsushita, Mr. Vittorio, Mr. Morio
- Jerusalem and Israel appear, respectively.