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1906: Art and Music

Aug19

On October 22, 1906 Paul Cezanne, one of the most influential of the Impressionist painters, died at the age of 67 at his family home in Aix-en-Provence, France. Claude Monet, another Impressionist, was aging (66), but still painting in 1906. This painting, by Monet, is called Waterlilies, 1906:

'Claude Monet - Waterlilies 1906' photo (c) 2008, Tony Hisgett - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

As for music, The English Hymnal, 1906 was an important landmark in 20th century British hymnody. Ralph Vaughan Williams edited the hymnal and contributed several tunes of his own composing, including SINE NOMINE, a favorite of mine. From the preface to The English Hymnal, 1906:

No doubt it requires a certain effort to tune oneself to the moral atmosphere implied by a fine melody; and it is far easier to dwell in the miasma of the languishing and sentimental hymn tunes which so often disfigure our services. Such poverty of heart may not be uncommon, but at least it should not be encouraged by those who direct the services of the Church; it ought no longer to be true anywhere that the most exalted moments of a church-goer’s week are associated with music that would not be tolerated in any place of secular entertainment.

Ah, the worship wars. They’ve been going on for quite a long time, haven’t they?

1903: Art and Music

Jul30

“In the Good Old Summertime” was a popular song of 1903, first published in 1902 with music by George Evans and lyrics by Ren Shields. Sheet music, player piano, and even recordings were all ways to buy and enjoy popular music in the early twentieth century. Sousa’s band recorded “In the Good Old Summertime” in 1903.

In the good old summertime, in the good old summertime.
Strolling through the shady lanes with your baby mine.
You hold her hand, and she holds yours,
and that’s a very good sign.
That she’s your tootsie-wootsie,
in the good old summertime.

Artist Paul Gauguin died in Hua Oa, the Marquesas Islands on May 8, 1903. He left France to live in Tahiti, then in the Marquesas, because, he said, “After the disease of civilization, life in this new world is a return to health.” More images of Gauguin’s paintings.

'Gauguin' photo (c) 2006, Tore Urnes - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Later in the year, artists American James Whistler (July 17) and Impressionist Camille Pissarro (November 12) also died. The art world was moving from Impressionism to new schools and forms, including Art Nouveau, Fauvism, Cubism,and Die Brucke (The Bridge) in Germany, but the Impressionists were still quite influential.

1902: Music and Art

Jul26

Florodora was the most popular and longest running show on Broadway in 1902. It was a musical comedy featuring proper young ladies (chorus girls) who became engaged to very proper young men with the help of a mysterious perfume invented in the exotic Philippine Islands. The hit song from the musical was called Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (Are There Any More at Home Like You?).

In November 1902, sales of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso’s first record reached one million copies.

On April 20, 1902 a major art show opened in Paris featuring what the French called Art Nouveau. Some of the artists working this style were Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, René Lalique, Antoni Gaudí and Louis Comfort Tiffany. Here’s an example of Art Nouveau Tiffany glass:

'N84.74' photo (c) 2009, Catherine - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

1901: Music and Art

Jun22

Music:
Richard Strauss: Feuersnot
Anton Dvorak: Rusalka
Scott Joplin: The Easy Winners Joplin had already had a hit in 1899 with the publication of the sheet music to his tune The Maple Leaf Rag. Over the next few years ragtime would become the most popular musical genre in the United States. Karate Kid, by the way, has been practicing The Maple Leaf Rag for a while, but he still doesn’t have it quite up to speed.

Art:
Nineteen year old Spanish artist Pablo Picasso presents his first exhibition in Paris in June, 1901.

Child with a Dove by Pablo Picasso, c.1901.

Child with a Dove, c.1901

Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters

May30

I was listening to my Carpenters Pandora radio today, and I had an idea that it would be fun to share some of my more obscure favorite songs. If you’re younger than I am, and you probably are since I’ve passed the median point of normal female life span, you may not recognize many of the songs I post on here. Roll with it. You may find something that makes you smile.

I saw today on Twitter that Ginger at GReads has a feature she calls Tune in Tuesday, so I thought I’d roll with that and share my totally arcane and nearly forgotten songs, mostly from the 60’s and 70’s (twentieth century), on Tuesdays. I looked at the music that people, mostly book bloggers, shared last week, and I’m sure I’ll be in the minority in my musical offerings.

The first song and the first group aren’t exactly obscure, but they were and are easily my favorite voices to listen to. I love(d) The Carpenters. I love Karen Carpenter’s voice because she sings in my range, low to mid-range. And of course, I love it because it makes me sound good when I sing along. And I do sing along, in the car, full volume, windows down, embarrassing the heck out of my kids.

By the way I’m all about the lyrics because I’m a Word Person. So I’ll probably post the lyrics to the songs I share because without the lyrics it’s just . . music.

When I was young
I’d listen to the radio
Waitin’ for my favorite songs
When they played I’d sing along
It made me smile

Those were such happy times
And not so long ago
How I wondered where they’d gone
But they’re back again
Just like a long lost friend
All the songs I loved so well

Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they’re startin’ to sing’s
So fine

When they get to the part
Where he’s breakin’ her heart
It can really make me cry
Just like before
It’s yesterday once more

Lookin’ back on
How it was in years gone by
And the good times that I had
Makes today seem rather sad
So much has changed

It was songs of love
That I would sing to then
And I’d memorize each word
Those old melodies
Still sound so good to me
As they melt the years away

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they’re startin’ to sing’s
So fine

All my best memories
Come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry
Just like before
It’s yesterday once more

Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they’re startin’ to sing’s
So fine . . .

Evening in the Palace of Reason by James R. Gaines

May8

Toward the end of Johann Sebastian Bach’s life, he met Frederick the Great of Prussia. This book looks at the history of the early eighteenth century through the lives of these two men and the events that led up to their historic meeting in 1747. Bach, an honored and devout musician, was sixty-two years old at the time and only three years away from his death. Fredeick was thirty-five, in the seventh year of his reign as king of Prussia, a lover of whatever was new and fashionable and avante garde. Bach was a product of the (Lutheran) Reformation and a conservative Christian. Frederick the Great was Voltaire’s “philosopher-king”, an adept, if deceitful, diplomat and a military genius.

I found this story of how the two men’s lives intertwined and contrasted to be illuminating in its picture of the individuals and in its portrayal of the competing philosophies of the age, Reformation versus Enlightenment, Christian versus free-thinker, Baroque musical forms versus the emerging Classical style of Bach’s son Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach. Some of the musicological details went over my head, but the basic contrast between two very different men and two very different world views was clear.

“The Enlightenment’s way of knowing a thing was to identify, separate, and classify it, the encyclopedic impulse. Bach’s way of understanding something was to get his hands on it, turn it upside down and backward, and wrestle with it until he found a way to make something new.” (p. 185)

Of the Musical Offering written by Bach for Frederick after their meeting: “All of the oddities contained in the work . . . were of a piece, and this is what they say: Beware the appearance of good fortune, Frederick, stand in awe of a fate more fearful than nay this world has to give, seek the glory that is beyond the glory of this fallen world, and know that there is a law higher than any king’s which is never changing, and by which you and every one of us will be judged. Of course that is what he (Bach) said. He had been saying it all his life.” (p. 237)

“He could thank the writings and example of the notoriously, triumphantly intemperate Martin Luther for in spiring in him not only a love of God but, perhaps more important to his music, a sense of certainty rooted in something deeper than approval or respect.” (p.241)

“A poll conducted during the controversy over his reburial (1991) found that most Germans could not say when Frederick had lived or what he had ever done.” (p.268)

Gaines ends his book by saying that the tension between faith and reason, personified in the life and work of these two men, Bach and Frederick the Great, continues unresolved to this day. I think it’s a false dichotomy. Bach wins. His music proves that we cannot, do not, live in a closed materialistic system. “Bach’s music makes no argument that the world is more than ticking clock, yet leaves no doubt of it.” (p. 273)

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Apr24

Someone, I can’t remember who, recommended this author to me. And I chose Firefly Lane to read because it looked to me as if it was her “break-out book,” the one that made her a best-selling author. I also found hat a lot of the book was set during the same time period when I grew up, so I was familiar with all of the pop culture references, and that fact made the reading a lot of fun for me.

Kate Mularkey and Tully Hart met in 1974 when the two girls were in eighth grade. (I was in eighth grade in 1970, so I’m only a few years older than these two friends.) The book chronicles the ups and down of their friendship over the years. Of course, their lives go in opposite directions, but they manage to stay friends through thick and thin. Well, almost. They remain friends until self-centered and impetuous Tully does something so outrageous and hurtful that Kate can’t bring herself to forgive or forget.

I’m pretty much with Kate on this one. I can’t believe that someone as insensitive as Tully is in the book would be able to sustain a friendship with anyone, or that anyone could be as understanding as Kate is throughout the book until the straw finally breaks the proverbial camel’s back. So my first question to you is a serious one: what would it take to break up a lifelong friendship? Do you have such a girlfriend relationship in your life? I don’t, and I’m sorry. I have some old friends that I’ve reconnected with via Facebook, but no one has been my “best friend” since high school or junior high or even college. I don’t really make friends easily, and even when I do, I have found that most of my close friendships have remained intense for several years until the two of us grew apart and moved on to other places and interests. If I really had a friend in my life who had been my close confidante since childhood, I suppose it would take a lot of betrayal to break that friendship. However, the stunt that Tully pulls in the book would do it. Curious?

Second question, which of these songs, Tully and Kate’s Soundtrack of Life, are songs that you recognize? For how many of them could you sing the lyrics from memory? I found this list at Kristin Hannah’s website, and I did think it was fun to revisit the musical past, both as I read and through this list.

Dancing Queen
Daydream Believer
Stairway to Heaven
Taking Care of Business
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road–Elton John. One of my daughters really likes Elton John. I can’t decide if that’s good or disturbing
American Pie– Don Maclean. I once spent a goodly part of a summer analyzing the lyrics of this song with my friend, Julia.
Don’t Give Up on Us – David Soul. Wow, that’s a blast from the past. Does anyone remember David Soul as Hutch? Or even before that as one of the brothers along with Bobby Sherman on Here Come the Brides? I’m really dating myself, but my friend and I used to play Here Come the Brides and argue over who got to marry Bobby Sherman.
Thank God I’m a Country Boy – John Denver–I loved John Denver, and I can still listen to him if I’m in the right mood.
Shout!
Brick House
Twistin’ the Night Away
Louie, Louie Hate this song.
Here we start getting into the 80’s and the disco era, I’m guessing. I quit listening to pop music in about 1980.
Love is a Battlefield
Jessie’s Girl
Purple Rain– Prince
You Can’t Always Get What You Want– Rolling Stones. Everyone knows the Rolling Stones, even if they’re not to my taste.
Call Me– Blondie
Sweet Dreams (are made of this)
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
Here Comes the Bride
Crazy for You– Madonna
I’m Every Woman– Whitney Houston
Hey Little Girl is Your Daddy Home– Springsteen
Desperado– Eagles This one seems out of place. Desperado is vintage 70’s, and the eagles were another favorite band of mine as a teen and as a college student. I can sing every word of this song.
A Moment Like This– Kelly Clarkson
Didn’t We Almost Have it All – Whitney Houston. I remember this one, but don’t know why.
Papa Don’t Preach– Madonna. No Madonna in my life ever, ever, ever.
Bohemian Rhapsody– Queen. I only know this song because my children were introduced to it via Glee.
Linda Ronstadt. Who didn’t listen to Linda Ronstadt back in the day?
You’ve Got a Friend James Taylor, of course. Sweet baby James. And Carly Simon. And Carole King. Those were the days.
One Sweet Day

In spite of some incidents in the book of sexual promiscuity (Tully, of course) that I could have done without, I liked the story well enough that I may try another of Ms. Hannah’s books someday. It’s chick lit, but not bad for a beach read or a spring fling.

Sunday Salon: Upcoming Events in Houston

Mar20

Here are some events that I would like to attend because they feed my fascinations:

Exhibit: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art
February 20–May 23, Museum Hours — Audrey Jones Beck Building, The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, 5601 Main St., Houston
The MFAH presents French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This exceptional loan exhibition brings to Houston 50 paintings from the National Gallery of Art’s premier holdings while the galleries that house its 19th-century French collection are closed for repair, renovation, and restoration. The National Gallery’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection ranks among the finest of any museum in the world and features some of the greatest artists active in France between the 1860s and the early 20th century. The MFAH presentation showcases works by Mary Cassatt, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. A fully illustrated catalogue exploring these paintings in depth accompanies the show. Admission to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art will require a timed-entry ticket that also includes general admission to the museum. See website for full ticketing information.

Lecture and Book Signing: Louis Markos discusses C. S. Lewis
March 23 and 30, 6:30 pm — Deacon’s Parlor, Second Baptist Woodway Campus, 6400 Woodway Dr., Houston
Louis Markos, professor of English and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University, will give a two part lecture series on C. S. Lewis based on his two new books: Apologetics for the 21st Century and Restoring Beauty: The Good, the True, and the Beautiful in the Writings of C. S. Lewis. The talks are free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book signing.

Concert: St. John Passion
March 27, 5:00 pm — Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby, Houston
Bach’s setting of the passion narrative from the Gospel of John is sacred drama of the highest order. This beloved work, presented in collaboration with the Moores School of Music Concert Chorale, features tenor Tony Boutté as the Evangelist and a stellar lineup of soloists and players. Presented by Ars Lyrica. Tickets are available online or by calling 713-315-2525.

Free Performance: UST Jazz Ensemble Concert
April 5, 7:30 pm — Cullen Hall, University of St. Thomas, 4001 Mt. Vernon, Houston
Dr. Malcolm Rector leads the talented UST Jazz Ensemble in performing some of the most spectacular selection from the harmonious music genre that is Jazz music. The UST Jazz Ensemble, famous for its sophisticated sound and fabulous improvisation, will be performing in UST’s Cullen Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Performance: Amadeus
April 6–May 1, Times Vary — Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., Houston
Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award–winning play is a riveting tale of obsession and vengeance. Loosely based on the lives of Viennese court composer Antonio Salieri and his young rival Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus follows a murder plot that shocks and fascinates. After committing his life to God in order to be blessed with the ability to create the world’s most sublime music, Salieri believes that God graced the rebellious Mozart with greater inspired creativity. Envious Salieri schemes to destroy Mozart and, in so doing, rebukes God. See website for performance schedule. Purchase tickets online or by calling 713-220-5700.

Free Lecture: Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson
April 13, 7:00 pm — Hilton Hotel, University of Houston, Houston
Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of National History and Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer at Princeton University. Dr. Tyson published the first of six books on astronomy and astrophysics in 1988. His research interests include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of the Milky Way. To conduct his research, he uses telescopes all over the world as well as the Hubble Space Telescope. This lecture is presented as part of the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Ethics & Leadership Lectures.

Concert: Rodgers & Hammerstein and More
April 21, 8:00 pm — Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St., Houston
Ashley Brown, celebrated leading lady of the Broadway stage in such Disney blockbusters as Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast, recently came to Houston to reprise the role of Mary Poppins in the National Tour. She comes to Houston again to be a part of an unforgettable concert with the Houston Symphony and Robert Franz. Hear her perform your favorite Rogers and Hammerstein songs along with selections from her Broadway roles and much, much more. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 713-224-7575.

Hymns to Observe Lent

Mar10

One way to remember Christ and his death and resurrection during the forty days of Lent and into the Easter feast is to remember and sing the great hymns of the church. In 2009 I took a survey and posted about the 100 favorite hymns of my readers. You’re welcome to use my list or just grab a hymnal and make up your own. Here are few miscellaneous quotations I jotted down back when I was reading about hymns and hymn writers.

“There is no getting away from the centrality of death as a theme in Victorian hymnody.” ~Abide With Me by Ian C. Bradley.

Horatius Bonar to the editors of Hymns, Ancient and Modern, a famous and influential Anglican hymnal of the late 1800’s: “You are welcome to the use of my hymns. As to the charge, it seems to me of little moment, and you can do with it as you please.”

” . . . hymns and other devotional writings are –or ought to be–an exception to the laws of copyright and property. They are, I think, written pro bono Eccclesiae and ought to be considered as public church property.” ~Francis Pott

“Let me write the hymns of the church, and I care not who writes the theology.” ~R. W. Dale.

“A good hymn is the most difficult thing in the world to write. In a good hymn, you have to be both commonplace and poetical.” ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

1840 letter to the British Critic: “There cannot be a more miserable bondage than to be compelled to join in the so-called hymns which, rising and spreading from the conventicles, now infest our churches. They are full of passionate and exaggerated descriptions of moods of mind and unqualified descriptions of spiritual experience.”

“Not allowed to sing that tune or this tune? Indeed! Secular music, do you say? Belongs to the devil, does it? Well, if it did I would plunder him of it. . . . Every note and every strain and every harmony is divine and belongs to us.” ~William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.

“That settles it! Why should the devil have all the best tunes?” ~WIlliam Booth.

“The pronouns ‘I’ and ‘my’ are rarely found in any ancient hymns. But in modern hymns the individual often detaches himself from the body of the faithful and in a spirit of sentimental selfishness obtrudes his own feelings concerning himself.” ~Bishop Christopher Wordsworth

I’m praying that an excursion through the hymns of the church will turn your focus God-ward during this Lenten and Easter season. . .

Semicolon Top 100 Hymns Project, 2009.
Center for Church Music
Homeschool Hymn Studies
Hymnary.org
Hymn Time: The CyberHymnal
LifeSpring! Hymn Stories
Oremus Hymnal
Wordwise Hymns

On the Third Day of Christmas, Near Putney, England, c.1900

Dec1

From G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown Christmas story, The Flying Stars:

That venerable financier, however, still seemed struggling with portions of his well-lined attire, and at length produced from a very interior tail-coat pocket, a black oval case which he radiantly explained to be his Christmas present for his god-daughter. With an unaffected vain-glory that had something disarming about it he held out the case before them all; it flew open at a touch and half-blinded them. It was just as if a crystal fountain had spurted in their eyes. In a nest of orange velvet lay like three eggs, three white and vivid diamonds that seemed to set the very air on fire all round them. Fischer stood beaming benevolently and drinking deep of the astonishment and ecstasy of the girl, the grim admiration and gruff thanks of the colonel, the wonder of the whole group.

“I’ll put ’em back now, my dear,” said Fischer, returning the case to the tails of his coat. “I had to be careful of ’em coming down. They’re the three great African diamonds called `The Flying Stars,’ because they’ve been stolen so often. All the big criminals are on the track; but even the rough men about in the streets and hotels could hardly have kept their hands off them. I might have lost them on the road here. It was quite possible.”

“Quite natural, I should say,” growled the man in the red tie. “I shouldn’t blame ’em if they had taken ’em. When they ask for bread, and you don’t even give them a stone, I think they might take the stone for themselves.”

“I won’t have you talking like that,” cried the girl, who was in a curious glow. “You’ve only talked like that since you became a horrid what’s-his-name. You know what I mean. What do you call a man who wants to embrace the chimney-sweep?”

“A saint,” said Father Brown.

“I think,” said Sir Leopold, with a supercilious smile, “that Ruby means a Socialist.”

Today’s Gifts:
A song: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
A booklist: Crime Fiction to Give for Christmas at Mysteries in Paradise.
A birthday: Rex Stout, b.1886.
A poem: Mistletoe by Walter de la Mare and Lines for a Christmas Card by Hillaire Belloc.