My Roman Year

An analysis the Roman imperial succession and the failure to come up with an enduring, consistent system for selecting the next emperor with over 22 genealogical tables and 100 images illustrating the Emperors.

Composed for the 1744 celebrations at Drottningholm Palace of the marriage between the Swedish crown prince Adolf Fredrik and Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, Johan Helmich Roman's Drottningholm Music is a key work in Swedish art music. Consisting of 24 individual movements, it forms an inventory of short pieces suitable for providing the proper musical ambience for the royal celebrations, which took place over four days. As befitted the occasion, the character of the music is buoyant and witty, and when the atmosphere occasionally veers away from the carefree, it is towards a graceful melancholy rather than grief or pain. This also conforms to the spirit of the time, as does the style of the music itself: varied and brimming with ideas, but never weighed down by dry learnedness or disproportionate displays of emotion. Roman had spent formative years in London in the 1710s, and in the 1730s made a long journey throughout Europe, absorbing the new, ‘galant' currents in music. Although by 1744 he was suffering from failing health, he was at his peak as a composer, and in this sparkling and joyful music he demonstrates both his innate talent and the impressions gathered from music by composers such as Sammartini and Leonardo Leo.

2019, a year to never forget. Those words hold a certain truth for Armin van Buuren as well as Trance fans from all over the world. With a smashing eight-hour broadcast of A State Of Trance during Amsterdam Dance Event, a sold-out event at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht to celebrate the 900th episode with over 35.000 people and the release of two albums from Armin van Buuren himself GAIAs Moons Of Jupiter and Balance, the year of 2019 managed to exceed all expectations. As always, the A State Of Trance Year Mix reflects the evolution of the scene and all of the exciting moments it has brought to fans worldwide. And judging by the sheer magnitude of this mix album’s tracklist, Trance music is bigger and better than ever before. And its bound to become even better with the long-awaited, highly anticipated A State Of Trance Year Mix 2019.

Its army dominated the known world. Its culture forms the heart of Western Civilization. At its zenith, the Roman Empire extended from Persia to England, the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. And throughout its history, its fate rested in the hands of individuals men of genius and courage, madness and ambition.