Women at war: Lee Miller exhibition includes unseen images of conflict

Women at war: Lee Miller exhibition includes unseen images of conflict

http://gu.com/p/4cdt4?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

One year ago, 43 Mexican students were killed. Still, there are no answers for their families

One year ago, 43 Mexican students were killed. Still, there are no answers for their families

http://gu.com/p/4ch4t?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Bernie Sanders on Colbert: socialism, Super Pacs and why ‘liberal’ is no insult

Bernie Sanders on Colbert: socialism, Super Pacs and why ‘liberal’ is no insult

http://gu.com/p/4ch3h?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Trump: I was not obligated to correct questioner who called Obama Muslim

Trump: I was not obligated to correct questioner who called Obama Muslim

http://gu.com/p/4ch69?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Jackie Collins, queen of the bonkbuster, dies of breast cancer at 77

Jackie Collins, queen of the bonkbuster, dies of breast cancer at 77

http://gu.com/p/4ch8g?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Jean-Baptiste Lully – Te Deum

BaroqueLegends

Uploaded on Jun 17, 2010

Te Deum from Jean-Baptiste Lully
Includes a scene from the movie Le Roi Danse (The King is Dancing).

great compositions/performances: Respighi – The Birds

Respighi – The Birds

winkle522000

Published on Mar 8, 2012

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra – Louis Lane conductor
For information and analysis of this work, visit http://muswrite.blogspot.com/2012/03/…
For information and analysis of other works, visit Musical Musings at : http://muswrite.blogspot.com/
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The Birds (Respighi)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The Birds (Italian: Gli uccelli) is a suite for small orchestra by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. Dating from 1928, the work is based on music from the 17th-century^[1] and represents an attempt to transcribe birdsong into musical notation, and illustrate bird actions, such as fluttering wings, or scratching feet. The work is in five movements:

• “Prelude” (based on the music of Bernardo Pasquini)
• “La colomba” (“The dove“; based on the music of Jacques de Gallot)
• “La gallina” (“The hen“; based on the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau)
• “L’usignuolo” (“The nightingale“; based on the folksong “Engels Nachtegaeltje” transcribed by recorder virtuoso Jacob van Eyck)
• “Il cucù” (“The cuckoo“; based on the music of Pasquini)

The suite was used for the ballet of the same name, with choreography by Cia Fornaroli, first performed at Sanremo Casinò Municipale on 19 February 1933; with choreography by Margarita Walmann at the Colòn Theatre, Buenos Aires, on 27 February 1940; and by Robert Helpmann, with design by Chiang Yee, by the Sadler’s Wells Ballet at the New Theatre, London on 24 November 1942.^[2]

Instrumentation

• Woodwinds: 2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo), Oboe, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons
• Brass: 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets
• Keyboard: Celesta
• Strings: Harp, 1st and 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses

Ottorino Respighi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi (Italian: [ottoˈriːno resˈpiːɡi]; 9 July 1879 – 18 April 1936) was an Italian composer and musicologist. He is best known for his orchestral music, particularly the three Roman tone poems: Fountains of Rome (Fontane di Roma), Pines of Rome (I pini di Roma), and Roman Festivals (Feste romane). His musicological interest in 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music led him to compose pieces based on the music of these periods. He also wrote a number of operas, the most famous of which is La fiamma.

Biography

Ottorino Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy. He was taught piano and violin by his father, who was a local piano teacher. He went on to study violin and viola with Federico Sarti at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, composition with Giuseppe Martucci, and historical studies with Luigi Torchi, a scholar of early music. A year after receiving his diploma in violin in 1899, Respighi went to Russia to be principal violist in the orchestra of the Russian Imperial Theatre in Saint Petersburg during its season of Italian opera. While there he studied composition for five months with Rimsky-Korsakov. He then returned to Bologna, where he earned a second diploma in composition. Until 1908 his principal activity was as first violin in the Mugellini Quintet. In 1908/09 he spent some time performing in Germany before returning to Italy and turning his attention primarily to composition. Many sources indicate that while he was in Germany, he studied briefly with Max Bruch, but in her biography of the composer, Respighi’s wife asserts that this is not the case.^[1]

During the early twentieth century, Respighi was active as a performer and composer. His compositions began to draw attention, and in 1913 he was appointed as teacher of composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1917 his international fame began to spread through multiple performances of the first of his Roman orchestral tone poems, Fountains of Rome. In 1919 he married a former pupil, the singer Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo. From 1923 to 1926 he was director of the Conservatorio. In 1925 he collaborated with Sebastiano Arturo Luciani on an elementary textbook entitled Orpheus. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Italy in 1932.

A visit to Brazil resulted in the composition Impressioni brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions). He had intended to write a sequence of five pieces, but by 1928 he had completed only three, and decided to present what he had. Its first performance was in 1928 in Rio de Janeiro. The first piece, “Tropical Night”, is a nocturne with fragments of dance rhythms suggested by the sensuous textures. The second piece is a sinister picture of a snake research institute, Instituto Butantan, that Respighi visited in São Paulo, with hints of birdsong (as in Pines of Rome). The final movement is a vigorous and colorful Brazilian dance.

On the ship back home from Brazil, Respighi met by chance with Italian physicist Enrico Fermi. During their long conversation, Fermi tried to get Respighi to explain music in terms of physics, which Respighi was unable to do. They remained close friends until Respighi’s death in 1936.^[2]

Apolitical in nature, Respighi attempted to steer a neutral course once Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. His established international fame allowed him some level of freedom but at the same time encouraged the regime to exploit his music for political purposes. Respighi vouched for more outspoken critics such as Arturo Toscanini, allowing them to continue to work under the regime.^[3]

Feste romane, the third of his Roman tone poems, was premiered by Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1929; Toscanini recorded the music twice for RCA Victor, first with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1942 and then with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1949. Respighi’s music had considerable success in the USA: the Toccata for piano and orchestra was premiered (with Respighi as soloist) under Willem Mengelberg with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in November 1928, and the large-scale theme and variations entitled Metamorphoseon was a commission for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

 

Tomb of Respighi at Certosa di Bologna, Italy

Respighi was an enthusiastic scholar of Italian music of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. He published editions of the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi, and of Benedetto Marcello‘s Didone. His work in this area influenced his later compositions and led to a number of works based on early music, notably his three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances and the Suite Gli uccelli (The Birds). In his Neoclassical works, Respighi generally kept clear of the musical idiom of the classical period, preferring to combine pre-classical melodic styles and musical forms (like dance suites) with typical late-19th-century romantic harmonies and textures.

He continued to compose and tour until January 1936, after which he became increasingly ill. A cardiac infection led to his death in Rome by heart failure on 18 April that year at the age of 56. A year after his burial, his remains were moved to his birthplace, Bologna, and reinterred at the city’s expense at the Certosa di Bologna.

historic musical bits: Aldo Ciccolini plays Granados Goyescas no.4 : Quejas, o La maja y el ruisenor 1966

Aldo Ciccolini plays Granados Goyescas no.4 : Quejas, o La maja y el ruisenor 1966

margo998899

Uploaded on Feb 7, 2011

Aldo Ciccolini (1925 ~ ), Italian-French pianist

Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Goyescas
no.4 : Quejas, o La maja y el ruisenor

Recorded in 1966

U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday

Leonard Cohen – Tower Of Song Lyrics

Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song
I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the Tower of Song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I’m very sorry, baby, doesn’t look like me at all
I’m standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don’t let a woman kill you
Not in the Tower of Song

Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there’s a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the Tower of Song

I see you standing on the other side
I don’t know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We’ll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
There moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone
I’ll be speaking to you sweetly
From a window in the Tower of Song

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on
I’m just paying my rent every day
Oh in the Tower of Song

Songwriters: COHEN, LEONARD

Tower Of Song lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Leonard Cohen – A Thousand Kisses Deep

diverseclipuri

Published on Jun 17, 2012

Leonard Cohen – A Thousand Kisses Deep. 17 June 2012
Lyrics:

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it’s done ?
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it’s real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I’m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I?m back on Boogie Street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the Masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet ?
And then consented to be wrecked,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

I?m turning tricks, I’m getting fixed,
I?m back on Boogie Street.
I guess they won’t exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat . . .

Amália Rodrigues e Teresa Tarouca – Avé Maria Fadista e Passeio à Mouraria

José Daniel Ferreira

Uploaded on Sep 13, 2011

Uma das muitas coisas que gosto no Fado é a forma como sagrado e profano se entrecruzam. Como a barreira entre os dois praticamente não existe. Como o sagrado se torna profano e profano sagrado. Aqui ficam dois exemplos que acho maravilhosos.

One of the many things I like to Fado is how sacred and profane are intertwined. As the barrier between the two are virtually nonexistent. As the sacred becomes profane and the sacred profane. Here are two examples that I find wonderful.

Une des nombreuses choses que je tiens à le Fado est la manière dont sacré et le profane sont intimement liés. Comme la barrière entre les deux sont pratiquement inexistants. Comme le sacré devient profane et le profane sacré. Voici deux exemples que je trouve merveilleux.

Una de las muchas cosas que me gusta el fado es como sagrado y lo profano se entrelazan. A medida que la barrera entre los dos son prácticamente inexistentes. Como lo sagrado se convierte en lo profano y lo sagrado lo profano. He aquí dos ejemplos que me parece maravilloso.

Penélope Cruz: ‘I love Spain, but I’ve always felt like a citizen of the world’

Penélope Cruz: ‘I love Spain, but I’ve always felt like a citizen of the world’

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Bernie Sanders on Colbert: socialism, Super Pacs and why ‘liberal’ is no insult

Bernie Sanders on Colbert: socialism, Super Pacs and why ‘liberal’ is no insult

http://gu.com/p/4ch3h?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Trump: I was not obligated to correct questioner who called Obama Muslim

Trump: I was not obligated to correct questioner who called Obama Muslim

http://gu.com/p/4ch69?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Pope calls on Cuba and US to set global ‘example of reconciliation’

Pope calls on Cuba and US to set global ‘example of reconciliation’

http://gu.com/p/4ch7j?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Cuba: ‘I hope Pope Francis can promote peace among us’

Cuba: ‘I hope Pope Francis can promote peace among us’

http://gu.com/p/4ch3f?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Pope Francis arrives for Cuba visit before US tour

Pope Francis arrives for Cuba visit before US tour

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Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 19th, 2015: St. Januarius

Saint of the Day for Saturday, September 19th, 2015

St. Januarius

St. Januarius was born in Italy and was bishop of Benevento during the Emperor Diocletion persecution. Bishop Januarius went to visit two deacons and two laymen in prison. He was then also imprison … continue reading

More Saints of the Day

St. Januarius Bl. Alphonsus de Orozco St. Arnulf St. Emily de Rodat St. Eustochins St. Goeric of Metz St. Maria de Cerevellon

St. Peleus St. Pomposa St. Sequanus St. Theodore of Tarsus Bl. Thomas Akafuji St. Trophimus

today’s holiday: Appleseed Festival

Appleseed Festival

A legend in his own time, John Chapman—better known as “Johnny Appleseed“—was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774. It was supposedly in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that he died in 1845, and Chapman has been commemorated there since 1974 with a two-day fall festival at Johnny Appleseed Park. The festival includes traditional music and entertainment, demonstrations of pioneer arts and crafts, and discussions with “The Living Lincoln,” who talks with visitors about the social issues of the period in history he shared with Johnny Appleseed. More… Discuss

quotation: Literally no man has more wholly outlived life than I. And still it’s good fun. Robert Louis Stevenson

Literally no man has more wholly outlived life than I. And still it’s good fun.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Giles Corey Pressed to Death during Salem Witch Trials (1692)

Giles Corey Pressed to Death during Salem Witch Trials (1692)

Martha Corey was a Massachusetts woman hanged for the crime of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. A pious churchgoer, she had refused to confess but was convicted anyway. Her husband, Giles Corey, was also eventually accused but refused to enter a plea at his trial. In an attempt to make him enter a plea, he was pressed beneath an increasingly heavy load of stones. He died two days before his wife’s execution. What did Giles reportedly reply each time he was asked for his plea? More… Discuss

today’s birthday: William Golding (1911)

William Golding (1911)

Praised for his highly imaginative and original writings, Golding was a British author whose works focus on the eternal nature of man. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 and was knighted in 1988. In his best-known work, the allegorical Lord of the Flies, he described the nightmarish adventures of a group of English schoolboys stranded on an island and traced their degeneration from a state of innocence to blood lust and savagery. What else did he write? More… Discuss

The Death of Marat

The Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David, depicts the 1793 assassination of radical journalist and revolutionary activist Jean-Paul Marat and is one of the most famous images of the French Revolution. Marat was stabbed while writing in his bathtub, and his murderer’s name is written on the paper he holds in the painting. David’s representation of this scene is reminiscent of depictions of Christian martyrs in religious works. What is the political significance of this imagery? More… Discuss

word: cordate

cordate

Definition:	(adjective) Having a heart-shaped outline.
Synonyms:	heart-shaped, cordiform
Usage:	When a cordate leaf fell from the tree, she considered it a sign that she would soon find love. Discuss.

Math genius uses formulas to make art

Math genius uses formulas to make art
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/arts/math-art/index.html

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/world/pope-francis-new-york-cuba-youth/index.html

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/world/pope-francis-new-york-cuba-youth/index.html

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’

Pope Francis criticizes ‘dictators’ and ‘tyrants’
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/world/pope-francis-new-york-cuba-youth/index.html

Children suffering

Children suffering
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/europe/migrant-children/index.html

From NPR News

Grapes Of Wrath: The Forgotten Filipinos Who Led A Farmworker Revolution http://n.pr/1UV1hly