Lisbon is one of the greatest destinations for music lovers. Every summer, Lisbon hosts a lot of musical events, including dedicated festivals for a special type of music such as Jazz, Fado and classical music. Some of these events are free to attend while the others are paid.

Among the events is Festival of Jazz music called “OUT JAZZ” which is one of the main free events every year, beginning in 2006, from the beginning of May to the end of September. Usually the concerts are held in gardens, parks and historical roads of the city. This year the concerts are held every Friday at 6:00 pm and Saturday from 5:00 pm to sundown. The performances include some famous jazz artists from Portugal, such as e Carlos Martins Quarteto, Joana Machado and Filipe Melo Trio.

The schedule of the concerts is announced on their official Facebook page.  This festival is organized by NCS, a Portuguese audiovisual company and Lisbon municipality. This year the festival has signed partnership with LxFactory. LxFactory is a flea market that occurs every Sunday along with the concert.

The idea of starting the Festival of Jazz in Lisbon was started in 2006 to select a working day to relax, dance and to listen to a good jazz music. That’s why they selected Friday to have the concerts in which is a working day in Portugal, later on they added Sunday.

Arco Do Cego Music Festival is another musical event in Lisbon between May 9 and 12. During the event, all concerts play classical music; the symphonies of Beethoven & Mozart.

Fado In Chiado is a live Fado Festival in the city. Fado is traditional Portuguese music using a special guitar called the Fado. Fado was added to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List from Portugal in 2011. The show occurs for 50 minutes daily starting at 7:00 pm. The entry ticket to the show costs 16 euros.

In 1998, the Fado Museum was opened for public visitors to promote Fado music in society. Visitors can listen and watch unique traditional samples of Fado music and songs which are making parts of the Portuguese culture. Also they can discover the history of Fado music, which was started in the nineteenth century. Within the museum premise there is a school to teach any interested to know how to play the Fado guitar.

Image credit: OUT JAZZ via Facebook

The article Lisbon: The City Festivals appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

March 26, 1778 was the day Ludwig Van Beethoven’s music started invading ears. It was his first performance was a barely eight years old child. 49 years later on that same day March 26th , Beethoven passes away.

Ludwig was no ordinary musician. He was born with a vision and assigned to a fate that has shaped music to what it is.  Ludwig’s legacy is yet lit to this century, from having his music acknowledged by merely observers  and written on papers to being recorded on electronic devices , Compact discs and played in global orchestras.

He was only 22 when he was under the apprenticeship of Papa Haydn. Haydn was known for his unique methods of teaching music, continuing the teachings of Mozart And Bach. But not for Ludwig ,He was a young man filled with a burst filled with passion and a belief that he will never  step in another Musician’s shoes, even if it was the greatest musician of all, Amadeus Mozart. It was not long till Ludwig’s arrogance deflected with Haydn’s teachings; in less than a year he had nothing else to learn from him.

Eight years later, Beethoven had already performed his first Symphony. Rumors began to spread then that he lost his hearing.but Was that the factor that made him famous after his death? The curiosity of how such genius work is being produced without being heard by its composer.

Its a two way argument that leads to one logical conclusion, the fact about musicians and sound. Musicians tend to develop what is known as “the feel,” or Instincts. These developed reactions come from what the sounds of music played around us do to our senses, and its pattern is  sub consciously being taught to the brain.If indeed Beethoven had lost his hearing, he no longer needed his hearing senses to develop his music.

It was all played within the dimensions of his brain and what has become his natural abilities and instincts : to know the next note without playing it. Just like predicting the future, the fate of a musical piece lays within him, the future of a note and where it stands next. The music that resulted from this is no different than the pieces with his full hearing functionality, or maybe it was even better.

The opposed argument comes when one listens to Beethoven’s symphonies and realizes the genius of its dynamics. Considering Ludwig’s 5th Symphony, the masterpiece of all symphonies in some opinions, is it really possible that such genuine genius could be composed in such perfection without being heard by its composer? For some, the only logical explanation is that Beethoven never lost his hearing completely, it has only faded with time and music sound vibrations that surrounded him , a common side effect of his life which was music.

This controversy has gained him the immortality and respect he always wanted. It is only sad, like the Moon light Sonata, that he achieved it after his death.

Image Courtesy of  Joseph Karl Stieler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The article Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Silence Behind The Music appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.