The Culture Show  - connecting music to visual arts, literature, film and theatre while discovering the delights of these arts in different parts of the world, all the while building cultural exchanges that will connect us and enrich our lives.

This month we present a 4-part series exploring a country that has one of the largest cultural heritages in the world - Spain. My studio guest is the Consul General of Spain in Hong Kong and Macau, Mr. Miguel Aguirre de Cárcer.

We begin the series by talking about the Spanish language. In global terms, it is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the world in terms of number of speakers, and the third most widely used language on the internet. An alluring way to illustrate language is through song, and the vocal music of Spain is rich and varied. We will hear Rodrigo’s Cuatro madrigales amatorios. His daughter felt his love of literature, desire to use Spanish musical traditions, and appreciation of the human voice merged so that the true essence of his music is found in his vocal music.

We discuss literature and Cervantes. Many composers have turned to Cervantes’ masterpiece Don Quixote for inspiration. Rodrigo’s symphonic poem Ausencias de Dulcinea (Dulcinea’s Absence) is scored for four voices and orchestra, but it is a 1993/94 work of José García Roman that is featured – The Resurrection of Don Quixote. José García Roman was the founder and first director of the "Ciudad de Granada" Choir and a member of the artistic commission of the Granada International Music and Dance Festival and Advisor to the Musical Documentation Center of Andalusia. The work was composed in response to a commission from the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España.