Thrilled today to have stumbled across www.ernestonazareth.com.br/ a site celebrating the work of the Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth. Amongst other things, it’s got piano scores of just about everything he ever wrote which is wonderful if you play for ballet classes, because his music is gorgeous for class.
Nazareth is a composer I’ve grown to love with a slow burn that started with a tango called ‘Nove de Julho’ (9th July). I recorded it on Studio Series 5 (it’s track 5 here) at Potton Hall, and to enjoy the sounds of this piece on that piano in that space was so wonderful, I could have sat there and played nothing else all day. Once I’d got inside this piece, I discovered that Nazareth is a much more subtle and sophisticated composer than the music seems on the page. There’s a gorgeous recording of the music for four guitars by the ‘Take Four’ quartet (see below). I also have only just realised how much Milhaud’s Saudades do Brasil contains influences of Nazareth’s style (I also recorded a couple of those too – track 2 here)
