1869 in Music

My music reviews for music published in 1869.

 

1. Henri Duparc: “Le Galop” (8/10)

Though I don’t hear what I would expect from the title, this is the liveliest Duparc song I’ve yet heard. Even if the notes just descend over and over again in the opening, I find this more compelling than most of his music.

 

2. Henri Duparc: Sérénade (8/10)

Much like a number of his pieces for men, this piece has some appealing movement to it, in addition to a faster tempo.

Note: It’s possible this was published in 1880 or even 1890.

 

3. Henri Duparc: “Romance de Mignon” (7/10)

This is a delicate piece but something about it makes more of an impression on me than a lot of his other pieces that are at this tempo.

 

4. Henri Duparc; Soupir (7/10)

Another slow piece, which is practically laconic except for the conviction in the singer’s voice. The tempo does improve as the piece moves along.

 

DuParc’s music is so mellow – sometimes melancholy – and so deliberately paced. It feels like it is from a different time, almost completely unimaginable for a world with cars, planes and phones on which you can browse the internet.

This song feels impossibly slow at times.