About this episode
This episode explores the origins and impact of the romantic bolero 'Bésame Mucho' and features personal stories related to the song.
The Mexican pianist and composer Consuelo Velázquez was only 16 years old when she wrote Bésame Mucho, and she was yet to have her first kiss. Composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez remembers hearing the song on the radio as a child in Cuba. She translates the Spanish lyrics - "Kiss me, kiss me passionately, as if tonight was the last time... Kiss me, because I'm afraid to lose you, afterwards". It's an achingly romantic bolero that has been translated into more than 20 languages and recorded by hundreds of artists, including João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Cesaria Evora, Diana Krall, Josephine Baker, Trio Los Panchos and The Beatles. Music writer Richard Williams talks about the eternal appeal of the melody and how it creates its emotional impact. German singer and composer Roland Kunz tells the tragic story behind the melody which inspired Consuelo to write the song: a piece by the Catalan composer Enrique Granados, who died the year Velázquez was born. At the height of WWI, Granados and his wife were on their way home to Spain from New York, when their passenger ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. The story goes that Enrique was picked up by a lifeboat but saw his wife…
People in this episode
Host: BBC Radio 4
Guests: Odaline de la Martinez, Roland Kunz
Topics covered
- music history
- romantic songs
- Cuban music
- songwriting
- personal stories
- cultural impact
Keywords
- Bésame Mucho
- Consuelo Velázquez
- romantic bolero
- Cuban music
- Enrique Granados
- dance stories
- music history
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Bésame Mucho, bolero, Kiss me, kiss me passionately, João Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Cesaria Evora, Diana Krall, Josephine Baker, Trio Los Panchos, The Beatles
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