Christmas is almost a thing of the past, it seems far away even though it hasn't even been a whole month since we celebrated it. Those of you who read me regularly will surely remember this place, the lobby of a very nice hotel. It is called Villa Gadea and is located in Altea, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Well, I came here one day to try out the piano and I told you about it here. And then, on the night of December 24th, I played for those who were having a drink in the lobby. I started with some songs suitable for the holidays, that is, for Christmas but I alternated with my normal repertoire too. That is a thing I like to do in gigs, although I have organized and planned the songs that would be suitable for a certain event, I always watch the people who are around and try to figure out which songs they would like to hear. Sure, I can't read the minds of others, but I draw conclusions based on reactions.
So, one of the songs I played is called Historia de un amor and it is one of the favourites of my retired student. Truth be said, he loves everything I play and when I sent him the recording of Silent Night I promised to send him more recordings and mentioned, among others, this song - Historia de un amor. Bad me, I haven't edited the videos yet, though the petitions for the rest of the songs are already arriving haha.
It is a reminder for me actually to edit the videos I made. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I didn't record everything but pushed the record button from time to time, randomly. Now I have to check what can be used from that mess. To start with, this song is coming today to Hive as well. Of course, I will send it to my student too.
The song you can hear (of course just in case you want to listen to the video) was written in 1955 by Carlos Eleta Almarán. I looked him up assuming I would find a great opus of many songs this Panamanian author created... oh, a surprise! What I found out is that he was a self-taught musician. He played "only" by ear, but what a beautiful song he wrote! The trigger to compose it plays a very important role here since this Story of a Love, which is the translation from the Spanish title Historia de un amor, was not even his love story but an experience he felt while seeing a tragic event that happened in his family. It is the story of his brother's love. Carlos' sister-in-law, the wife of his brother died of polio... A loss like this can stir emotions and provoke the writing of songs (and can be implied for other artistic expressions) like this one. Isn't that one of the great powers that feelings and empathy for others possess?
This piece of music has been played and sung by countless famous musicians throughout the decades. What's more, it is considered the most recorded and performed song of Panamanian origin internationally. Did you already know the story behind it? Maybe you already have your favourite version of this song? In that case, feel free to share it with us in the comments. :)
▶️ 3Speak