There is scientific evidence that music can help to ease the symptoms of depression – https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122203158.html. With this in mind, we invite you to take time out from your busy schedule, relax momentarily and listen to our “Inspiring Music Selection for Today”, personally selected for you by our President, Karl.
Today’s selection is the popular song “La Paloma” (“The Dove”) by the Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier (1809 – 1860) – thought to be the most frequently recorded song in the history of music. It has been estimated that there are more than one thousand versions of this song in diverse cultures worldwide.
According to Karl: “The lyrics of the song (“When I left Havana no one saw me go, except my little gaucho maid, who loves me so…whom I long to see”) evidently come from the raw emotion Iradier must have felt as the maid runs after him and waves a final goodbye as he makes his way down the pathway to his ship to return to Spain from Cuba. Listening to the song, one can feel Iradier’s heartache. The motif of the song is the white dove – a homing pigeon – escaping from a sinking Persian ship in ancient times, carrying a final message of love from a sailor who is lost at sea.”
Click the link below to join in a passionate celebration of Mexican culture by André Rieu to the tune of this iconic habanera.