Presented in association with Torch, with support from the Humanities Cultural Programme, and the Bodleian Libraries
In the second of today’s illustrated talks about Hafez, we jump ahead several centuries and explore the many appearances of Hafez’s poetry, in translation, in the European song tradition. The most famous instance of this is, arguably, through Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan: this collection of lyrical poetry was inspired by Hafez and set to music by countless composers. But Hafez had fascinated Europeans of all nationalities for several centuries before Goethe, and continued to inspire composers thereafter. Russian composers set his poetry extensively, as did the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski in the twentieth century, and it continues to be an inspiration today. The conversation comes back to a discussion of the continuing importance of Hafez in contemporary Iran. The conversation will be led by Philip Ross Bullock, Professor of Russian Literature and Music at Wadham College, with Edmund Herzig, Professorial Fellow in Iranian Studies at Wadham College (further speaker tbc).
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The talk and music for this event will be pre-recorded, but will be introduced live by our speakers, who will also be available to answer any questions at the end. During the event, please email any questions (songconnections@oxfordlieder.co.uk) or post them on social media (#OLF2020), and we will answer as many as time allows.
This event, along with all events in the Oxford Lieder Festival 2020 will be broadcast online on our website. Click here for further information on how tickets will work this year.