Menoizikul; Midweek Musicalisms

Doing a search for tunes related to the month of July proved rather futile. So, instead, I opted to request which composers were born in this month. That threw up a list with some familiar, and some not-so-familiar, names. Wagner, Bloch, Respighi, Gluck and Janacek were all there. However, it was the ones I didn't know which attracted me to go on a listening spree. I found five items of some variety, and although I may only seek out a couple of these composers to listen to more of their works, all these particular pieces have merit worth sharing.

The next conundrum was in which order to present them, for there is little to connect them, per se. Thus, you are going to receive them in the order of the day of birth of each composer, working through the month. I will tell you almost nothing about the composers, beyond their name, country of origin, and birthday. I leave it up to the listener to follow their own warrens this month! I will say a little more about the music itself.

Thus, we begin with Antony Arensky, Russian, 12th of July. Having listened to three items, this shone out like a piece of gold among the coal. Yes, I found the other two items, both orchestral, rather heavy going. They were not unpleasant, but they lacked the sparkle this delightful duet has.