Late April: While spring in Bielefeld is often a bit timid, Spain is in full bloom at this time of the year. The awakening nature with its clouds of scent and the lively background noise was a constant source of inspiration for Joaquín Rodrigo, who had been blind since childhood. Two of his declarations of love for Spanish parks are heard in the 7th symphony concert: the Música para un jardín (Music for a Garden) , premiered in 1957, in which he accompanies the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Retiro Park in the heart of Madrid onomatopoeic through the seasons, as well as one of the most famous guitar concerts in music history, the Concierto de Aranjuez. In the baroque gardens of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the Spanish composer and his newlyweds breathed in the scent of magnolias, listened to birdsong and the splashing of fountains. But not only the happy hours of the honeymoon and Spain's glorious, imperial past are reflected in the work written in 1939, but also the lament for a fatherland sinking into civil war and personal tragedies. Echoes of Bach's Matthew Passionmix with elements of folk music - performed by the "most Spanish of all instruments", the guitar. Joaquín Rodrigo was able to return to his homeland after the end of the war. Luck that Sergei Rachmaninoff was denied. In 1917 he had left Russia with his family - and had fallen silent as a composer. As a celebrated and much sought-after piano virtuoso, he could easily make a living, but compositional expression, which he once described as a necessary function of life like breathing or eating,
suffered from it. It was only 18 years after emigration and 27 years after the premiere of his Second Symphony that he began work on his Third. Modern tonal language, conciseness and rhythmic freedom prove that Rachmaninoff was by no means untouched by time, but the late work, which premiered in the USA in 1936, breathes deep connection with the rich melodic richness of the lost Russian homeland in all movements.
