The Ascension. Benjamin West. 1801. Denver Art Museum, Colorado, United States.

The Ascension. Benjamin West. 1801. Denver Art Museum, Colorado, United States.

The Ascension. Benjamin West. 1801. Denver Art Museum, Colorado, United States.

From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Sermo de Ascensione Domini, Mai 98, 1-2: PLS 2, 494-495)

“No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven”

Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. […] For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies. […]

While in heaven he is also with us; and we while on earth are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power and his love. We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, by divinity, but in him, we can be there by love.

He did not leave heaven when he came down to us; nor did he withdraw from us when he went up again into heaven. The fact that he was in heaven even while he was on earth is borne out by his own statement: No one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. […]

These words are explained by our oneness with Christ, for he is our head and we are his body. No one ascended into heaven except Christ because we also are Christ: he is the Son of Man by his union with us, and we by our union with him are the sons of God. So the Apostle says: Just as the human body, which has many members, is a unity, because all the different members make one body, so is it also with Christ. He too has many members, but one body.

The Ascension. Benjamin West. 1801. Denver Art Museum, Colorado, United States.

historic musical bits: Koeckert-Quartett · Antonín Dvořák · String Quartet F major op. 96 “American” (rec ~1953)

Koeckert-Quartett · Antonín Dvořák · String Quartet F major op. 96 “American”

childrenscorner

Published on May 16, 2015

Rudolf Koeckert (1. Violine)
Willi Buchner (2. Violine)
Oskar Riedl (Viola)
Josef Merz (Violoncello)

rec. date unknown, appr. 1953. The label and cover date from the earliest after-war DG releases (No. 16001 LP).

I don’t stop to hope, that DG will awake from anaesthesia and re-release the Koeckerts’ unique symphonic-folkloric interpretations, on contemporary media. In my transfer I tried to keep the typical superior golden-red monaural High Fidelity of that remarkable period.
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String Quartet No. 12 (Dvořák)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

The last page of the autograph score with Dvořák’s inscription: “Finished on 10 June 1893 in Spillville. Thanks God. I’m satisfied. It went quickly”

The String Quartet in F major Op. 96, nicknamed American Quartet, is the 12th string quartet composed by Antonín Dvořák. It was written in 1893, during Dvořák’s time in the United States. The quartet is one of the most popular in the chamber music repertoire.

Composition

	Performance of the quartet by the Seraphina quartet (Caeli Smith and Sabrina Tabby, violins; Madeline Smith, viola; Genevieve Tabby, cello) I. Allegro ma non troppo   Menu       0:00     II. Lento   Menu       0:00     III. Molto vivace   Menu       0:00     IV. Finale: vivace ma non troppo   Menu       0:00
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Dvořák composed the Quartet in 1893 during a summer vacation from his position as Director (1892-1895) of the National Conservatory in New York. He spent his vacation in the town of Spillville, Iowa, which was home to a Czech immigrant community. Dvořák had come to Spillville through Josef Jan Kovařík who had finished violin studies at the Prague Conservatory and was about to return to Spillville, his home in the United States, when Dvořák offered him a position as secretary, which Josef Jan accepted, so he came to live with the Dvořák family in New York.^[1] He told Dvořák about Spillville, where his father Jan Josef was a schoolmaster, which led to Dvořák deciding to spend the summer of 1893 there.^[2]

In that environment, and surrounded by beautiful nature, Dvořák felt very much at ease.^[3] Writing to a friend he described his state of mind, away from hectic New York: “I have been on vacation since 3 June here in the Czech village of Spillville and I won’t be returning to New York until the latter half of September. The children arrived safely from Europe and we’re all happy together. We like it very much here and, thank God, I am working hard and I’m healthy and in good spirits.”^[4] He composed the quartet shortly after the New World Symphony, before that work had been performed.^[5]

Dvořák sketched the quartet in three days and completed it in thirteen more days, finishing the score with the comment “Thank God! I am content. It was fast.”^[3] It was his second attempt to write a quartet in F major: his first effort, 12 years earlier, produced only one movement.^[6] The American Quartet proved a turning point in Dvořák’s chamber music output: for decades he had toiled unsuccessfully to find a balance between his overflowing melodic invention and a clear structure. In the American Quartet it finally came together.^[3] Dvořák defended the apparent simplicity of the piece: “When I wrote this quartet in the Czech community of Spillville in 1893, I wanted to write something for once that was very melodious and straightforward, and dear Papa Haydn kept appearing before my eyes, and that is why it all turned out so simply. And it’s good that it did.”^[7]

For his symphony Dvořák gave the subtitle himself: “From the New World“. To the Quartet he gave no subtitle himself, but there is the comment “The second composition written in America.”^[8]

Negro, American or other influences?

For the London premiere of his New World symphony, Dvořák wrote: “As to my opinion I think that the influence of this country (it means the folk songs as are Negro, Indian, Irish etc.) is to be seen, and that this and all other works (written in America) differ very much from my other works as well as in couleur as in character,…”^[9][10]

Dvořák’s appreciation of African-American music is documented: Harry T. Burleigh, a baritone and later a composer, who knew Dvořák while a student at the National Conservatory, said, “I sang our Negro songs for him very often, and before he wrote his own themes, he filled himself with the spirit of the old Spirituals.”^[11] Dvořák said: “In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music.”^[12] For its presumed association with African-American music, the quartet was referred to with nicknames such as Negro and Nigger, before being called the American Quartet.^[13][14] Such older nicknames, without negative connotations at the time, were used until the 1950s.^[15][16]

Dvořák wrote (in a letter he sent from America shortly after composing the quartet): “As for my new Symphony, the F major String Quartet and the Quintet (composed here in Spillville) – I should never have written these works ‘just so’ if I hadn’t seen America.”^[17] Listeners have tried to identify specific American motifs in the quartet. Some have claimed that the theme of the second movement is based on a Negro spiritual, or perhaps on a Kickapoo Indian tune, which Dvořák heard during his sojourn at Spillville.^[18]

	Pentatonic scale (info)
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A characteristic, unifying element throughout the quartet is the use of the pentatonic scale. This scale gives the whole quartet its open, simple character, a character that is frequently identified with American folk music. However, the pentatonic scale is common in many ethnic musics worldwide, and Dvořák had composed pentatonic music, being familiar with such Slavonic folk music examples, before coming to America.^[19]

On the whole, specific American influences are doubted: “In fact the only American thing about the work is that it was written there,” writes Paul Griffiths.^[20] “The specific American qualities of the so-called “American” Quartet are not easily identifiable, writes Lucy Miller, “…Better to look upon the subtitle as simply one assigned because of its composition during Dvořák’s American tour.”^[21]

 Dvořák’s transcription of the song of the scarlet tanager (top) and the appearance of the song in the third movement of the quartet.

Some have heard suggestions of a locomotive in the last movement, recalling Dvořák’s love of railroads.^[22]

The one confirmed musical reference in the quartet is to the song of the scarlet tanager, an American songbird. Dvořák was annoyed by this bird’s insistent chattering, and transcribed its song in his notebook. The song appears as a high, interrupting strain in the first violin part in the third movement.^[23]

Structure

The Quartet is scored for the usual complement of two violins, viola, and cello, and comprises four movements:^[24] A typical performance lasts around 30 minutes.

I. Allegro ma non troppo

 

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First theme of the first movement, played by the Seraphina Quartet.

The opening theme of the quartet is purely pentatonic, played by the viola, with a rippling F major chord in the accompanying instruments. This same F major chord continues without harmonic change throughout the first 12 measures of the piece. The movement then goes into a bridge, developing harmonically, but still with the open, triadic sense of openness and simplicity.

 

 

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Second theme of the first movement.

The second theme, in A major, is also primarily pentatonic, but ornamented with melismatic elements reminiscent of Gypsy or Czech music. The movement moves to a development section that is much denser harmonically and much more dramatic in tempo and color.

 

 

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Fugato at end of development

The development ends with a fugato section that leads into the recapitulation.

 

 

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Cello bridge in recapitulation

After the first theme is restated in the recapitulation, there is a cello solo that bridges to the second theme.

II. Lento

 

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Theme of the second movement

The theme of the second movement is the one that interpreters have most tried to associate with a Negro spiritual or with an American Indian tune. The simple melody, with the pulsing accompaniment in second violin and viola, does indeed recall spirituals or Indian ritual music. It is written using the same pentatonic scale as the first movement, but in the minor (D minor) rather than the major. The theme is introduced in the first violin, and repeated in the cello. Dvořák develops this thematic material in an extended middle section, then repeats the theme in the cello with an even thinner accompaniment that is alternately bowed and pizzicato.

III. Molto vivace

 

 

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First section of the Scherzo movement. Listen for the song of the scarlet tanager high in the first violin

The third movement is a variant of the traditional scherzo. It has the form ABABA: the A section is a sprightly, somewhat quirky tune, full of off-beats and cross-rhythms. The song of the scarlet tanager appears high in the first violin.

 

 

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Second section of the scherzo

The B section is actually a variation of the main scherzo theme, played in minor, at half tempo, and more lyrical. In its first appearance it is a legato line, while in the second appearance the lyrical theme is played in triplets, giving it a more pulsing character.

IV. Finale: vivace ma non troppo

 

 

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Main theme of the last movement

The final movement is in a traditional rondo form, ABACABA. Again, the main melody is pentatonic.

 

 

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“B” section of the rondo

The B section is more lyrical, but continues in the spirit of the first theme.

 

 

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“C” section of the rondo

The C section is a chorale theme.

Performance and influence

In a first “private” performance of the quartet, in Spillville, June 1893, Dvořák himself played first violin, Jan Josef Kovařík second violin, daughter Cecilie Kovaříková viola, and son Josef Jan Kovařík the cello.^[8]

The first public performance of the quartet was by the Kneisel quartet in Boston in January 1894.^[25] Burghauser mentions press notices in New York as well as Boston, the first New York Herald, 18 December 1893.^[8]

While the influence of American folk song is not explicit in the quartet, the impact of Dvořák’s quartet on later American compositions is clear. Following Dvořák, a number of American composers turned their hands to the string quartet genre, including John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, George Whitefield Chadwick, and Arthur Foote. “The extensive use of folk-songs in 20th century American music and the ‘wide-open-spaces’ atmosphere of ‘Western’ film scores may have at least some of their origins” in Dvořák’s new American style, writes Butterworth.^[26]

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Koeckert Quartet

The Koeckert Quartet was a well-known German string quartet. ^[1]

Table of Contents

• 1 formation and work
• 2 ^{Cast [3]}
• 3 Discography (selection, published by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH)
• 4 Literature
• 5 References
• 6 Web Links

Formation and interaction

It was first established in 1939 under the name Sudetendeutsches Quartet, later renamed the Prague String Quartet. It consisted of members of the German Philharmonic in Prague (1939-1945), who on the orders of Joseph Goebbels was founded. 1947 took the name Koeckert Quartet, after its first violinist Rudolf Koeckert (1913-2005). Since 1949 the quartet resided in Munich, and the members were soloists of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. It coined in the 1950s and 1960s, among other ensembles, the musical life of the city of Munich, from where it concert tours to North America, South Africa ^[2] undertook and all major European cities. It was thus one of Germany’s leading string quartets of international standing. The quartet was under the name Koeckert quartet until 1982. successors the Joachim-Koeckert Quartet was; whose first violinist, Rudolf Joachim Koeckert, is the son of Rudolf Koeckert; the place of the 2nd violin was occupied by Antonio Spiller. Since 1982, this ensemble brought the most important chamber music works of Karl Höller premiered, also works by Günter Bialas, Alberto Ginastera, Paul Hindemith, Ernst Krenek and Winfried Zillig. The Joachim-Koeckert quartet existed until 1992nd

Cast 

• Rudolf Koeckert (1st violin) (until 1982)
• Willi Buchner (* October 14, 1910 Schwarzau / Lower Austria), after his death (1965) Rudolf Joachim Koeckert (* April 10, 1941 Prague) (2nd violin)
• Oskar Riedl (* July 4, 1912 Graslitz / Bohemia) (until 1975), Franz Schessl (Viola)
• Josef Merz (* August 20, 1911 Gumplitz / Bohemia) (until 1976), Helmar Stiehler (Cello)

Discography (selection, published by Deutsche Grammophon GmbH)

• Anton Bruckner, String Quintet in F major (with Georg Schmid, Viola), mono (DGG 18,042)
• Robert Schumann, String Quartet op. 41 Nr. 2 and Bedrich Smetama, String Quartet no. 1 (1959)
• Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet, Op. 12 (1960)
• Franz Schubert, Trout Quintet D 667, with Christoph Eschenbach, piano (1964)
• . Joseph Haydn, String Quartet Hob III: 72 (1969)
• Carl Orff, Carmina Catulli, with choir and orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Eugen Jochum (1970)
• Robert Schumann, String Quartets op. 41 Nr. 1 and 3 (1985)
• Edvard Grieg, String Quartet (1990 and 1992)

• Alain Paris in the 20th Century Classical DTV, Munich 1997. ISBN 3-423-32501-1.
• Violinist and quartet founder Rudolf Koeckert died. In: New music newspaper. 7. September 2005 (http://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/violinist-und-quartettgruender-rudolf-koeckert-gestorben, accessed 29 April 2010).
• A. Schmitt: 25 years Koeckert Quartet In:.. Musica 18, 1964, p.86.
• J. Creighton: Discopaedia of the Violin, 1889-1971 Toronto 1974. ISBN 0-8020-1810-6.

References

 

• The music in history and present. (MGG), vol 10, Bärenreiter Verlag, Kassel / Basel 2003 ISBN 3-7618-1120-9.
• Drie acclaimed tours of South Africa in 1961, 1969, 1976

 

3. Honegger / Massenkeil: The Great Encyclopedia of Music Volume 4, Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1981. ISBN 3-451-18054-5.

links

• Sound recordings of Koeckert Quartet in the catalog of the German National Library
• Koeckert Quartet at Discogs (English)

Standard data (corporation): GND: 3021204-2

 

Historic musical bits: Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 3 “Scottish” – Klemperer & Philharmonia Orchestra

Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 3 “Scottish” – Klemperer & Philharmonia Orchestra

Kanal von shostakk

Published on Aug 7, 2012

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Symphony no. 3 in A minor op. 56 “Scottish”

I. Andante con moto – Allegro un poco agitato (0:00)
II. Scherzo (Vivace non troppo) (15:16)
III.Adagio (20:29)
IV. Allegro vivacissimo – Allegro maestoso assai (30:04)

*** Philharmonia Orchestra
*** Otto Klemperer

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Felix Mendelssohn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

This article is about the German musician. For other people with the same surname, see Mendelssohn (surname) and Bartholdy.

 

Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778–1862), 1839

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (German: [ˈjaːkɔp ˈluːtvɪç ˈfeːlɪks ˈmɛndl̩szoːn baʁˈtɔldi]; 3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn,^{[n 1]} was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.

A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family. Although initially he was brought up without religion, he was later baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent.

Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and in his travels throughout Europe. He was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes, however, set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. The Leipzig Conservatoire (now the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig), which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.

Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and anti-Semitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality has now been recognized and re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era.

Life

Childhood

Mendelssohn aged 12 (1821) by Carl Joseph Begas

Felix Mendelssohn was born on 3 February 1809, in Hamburg, at the time an independent city-state,^{[n 2]} in the same house where, a year later, the dedicatee and first performer of his Violin Concerto, Ferdinand David, was to be born. Mendelssohn’s father was the banker Abraham Mendelssohn, the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. His mother was Lea Salomon, a member of the Itzig family and a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy.^[1] Mendelssohn was the second of four children; his older sister Fanny also displayed exceptional and precocious musical talent.^[2]

The family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise fearing French revenge for the Mendelssohn bank‘s role in breaking Napoleon‘s Continental System blockade.^[3] Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix, Paul and Rebecka – the best education possible. Fanny became a well-known pianist and amateur composer; originally Abraham had thought that she, rather than Felix, would be the more musical. However, at that time, it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to have a career in music, so Fanny remained an active but non-professional musician. Abraham was also disinclined to allow Felix to follow a musical career until it became clear that he seriously intended to dedicate himself to it.^[4]

Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment. Frequent visitors to the salon organised by his parents at the family’s home in Berlin included artists, musicians and scientists, amongst them Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, and the mathematician Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (whom Mendelssohn’s sister Rebecka would later marry).^[5] Sarah Rothenburg wrote of the household that “Europe came to their living room”.^[6]

Surname

Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion; he and his wife deliberately decided not to have Felix circumcised, in contravention of the Jewish tradition.^[7] Felix and his siblings were first brought up without religious education, and were baptised by a Reformed Church minister in 1816,^[8] at which time Felix was given the additional names Jakob Ludwig. Abraham and his wife Lea were themselves baptised in 1822, formally adopting the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy (which they had used since 1812) for themselves and their children.^[9] The name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Lea’s brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, who had inherited a property of this name in Luisenstadt and adopted it as his own surname.^[10] In an 1829 letter to Felix, Abraham explained that adopting the Bartholdy name was meant to demonstrate a decisive break with the traditions of his father Moses: “There can no more be a Christian Mendelssohn than there can be a Jewish Confucius”.^[11] On embarking on his musical career, Felix did not entirely drop the name Mendelssohn as Abraham requested, but in deference to his father signed his letters and had his visiting cards printed using the form ‘Mendelssohn Bartholdy’.^[12] In 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of “Bartholdy […] this name that we all dislike”.^[13]

Career

Musical education

Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him, Mendelssohn was regarded as a child prodigy. He began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris.^[14] After the family moved to Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger, who was himself a former student of Muzio Clementi.^[15] From at least May 1819 Felix (and his sister Fanny) studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin.^[16] This was an important influence on his future career. Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy, who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach. Sarah Levy was a talented keyboard player in her own right, often playing with Zelter’s orchestra at the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin, of which she and the Mendelssohn family were leading patrons. Sarah had formed an important collection of Bach family manuscripts which she bequeathed to the Singakademie; Zelter, whose tastes in music were conservative, was also an admirer of the Bach tradition.^[17] This undoubtedly played a significant part in forming Felix Mendelssohn’s musical tastes. His works show his study of Baroque and early classical music. His fugues and chorales especially reflect a tonal clarity and use of counterpoint reminiscent of Johann Sebastian Bach, by whose music he was deeply influenced.^[18]

Early maturity

First page of the manuscript of Mendelssohn’s Octet (1825) (now in the US Library of Congress)

Mendelssohn probably made his first public concert appearance at age 9, when he participated in a chamber music concert accompanying a horn duo.^[19] He was also a prolific composer from an early age. As an adolescent, his works were often performed at home with a private orchestra for the associates of his wealthy parents amongst the intellectual elite of Berlin.^[20] Between the ages of 12 and 14, Mendelssohn wrote 12 string symphonies for such concerts. These works were ignored for over a century, but are now recorded and occasionally played in concerts. He wrote his first published work, a piano quartet, by the time he was 13. It was probably Abraham Mendelssohn who procured the publication of Mendelssohn’s early piano quartet by the house of Schlesinger.^[21] In 1824, the 15-year-old wrote his first symphony for full orchestra (in C minor, Op. 11).

At age 16 Mendelssohn wrote his String Octet in E-flat major, the first work which showed the full power of his genius.^[22] This Octet and his Overture to Shakespeare‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which he wrote a year later in 1826, are the best-known of his early works. (He later also wrote incidental music for the play, including the famous Wedding March, in 1842). The Overture is perhaps the earliest example of a concert overture – that is, a piece not written deliberately to accompany a staged performance, but to evoke a literary theme in performance on a concert platform; this was a genre which became a popular form in musical Romanticism.^[23]

In 1824 Mendelssohn studied under the composer and piano virtuoso Ignaz Moscheles, who however confessed in his diaries^[24] that he had little to teach him. Moscheles became a close colleague and lifelong friend. The year 1827 saw the premiere – and sole performance in his lifetime – of Mendelssohn’s opera, Die Hochzeit des Camacho. The failure of this production left him disinclined to venture into the genre again.^[25]

Besides music, Mendelssohn’s education included art, literature, languages, and philosophy. He had a particular interest in classical literature^[26] and translated Terence‘s Andria for his tutor Heyse in 1825; Heyse was impressed and had it published in 1826 as a work of “his pupil, F****” [i.e. “Felix” (asterisks as provided in original text)].^[27] This translation also qualified Mendelssohn to study at the Humboldt University of Berlin, where from 1826 to 1829 he attended lectures on aesthetics by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, on history by Eduard Gans and on geography by Carl Ritter.^[28]

Meeting Goethe and conducting Bach

In 1821 Zelter introduced Mendelssohn to his friend and correspondent, the elderly Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was greatly impressed by the child, leading to perhaps the earliest confirmed comparison with Mozart in the following conversation between Goethe and Zelter:

“Musical prodigies … are probably no longer so rare; but what this little man can do in extemporizing and playing at sight borders the miraculous, and I could not have believed it possible at so early an age.” “And yet you heard Mozart in his seventh year at Frankfurt?” said Zelter. “Yes”, answered Goethe, “… but what your pupil already accomplishes, bears the same relation to the Mozart of that time that the cultivated talk of a grown-up person bears to the prattle of a child.”^[29]

Mendelssohn was invited to meet Goethe on several later occasions, and set a number of Goethe’s poems to music. His other compositions inspired by Goethe include the overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, (Op. 27, 1828) and the cantata Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night, Op. 60, 1832).

In 1829, with the backing of Zelter and the assistance of actor Eduard Devrient, Mendelssohn arranged and conducted a performance in Berlin of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Four years previously his grandmother, Bella Salomon, had given him a copy of the manuscript of this (by then all-but-forgotten) masterpiece.^[30] The orchestra and choir for the performance were provided by the Berlin Singakademie. The success of this performance – the first since Bach’s death in 1750 – was an important element in the revival of J. S. Bach’s music in Germany and, eventually, throughout Europe.^[31] It earned Mendelssohn widespread acclaim at the age of 20. It also led to one of the few references which Mendelssohn made to his origins: “To think that it took an actor and a Jew’s son to revive the greatest Christian music for the world!”^[32][33]

Over the next few years Mendelssohn traveled widely, including making his first visit to England in 1829, and also visiting amongst other places Vienna, Florence, Milan, Rome and Naples, in all of which he met with local and visiting musicians and artists. These years proved the germination for some of his most famous works, including the Hebrides Overture and the Scottish and Italian symphonies.^[34]

Düsseldorf

On Zelter’s death in 1832, Mendelssohn had hopes of succeeding him as conductor of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. However, at a vote in January 1833 he was defeated for the post by the less distinguished Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. This may have been because of Mendelssohn’s youth, and fear of possible innovations; it was also suspected by some to be attributable to his Jewish ancestry.^[35] Following this rebuff, Mendelssohn divided most of his professional time over the next few years between Britain and Düsseldorf, where he was appointed musical director (his first paid post as a musician) in 1833.

In the spring of that year Mendelssohn directed the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf, beginning with a performance of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt prepared from the original score which he had found in London. This precipitated a Handel revival in Germany, similar to the reawakened interest in J. S. Bach following his performance of the St Matthew Passion.^[36] Mendelssohn worked with dramatist Karl Immermann to improve local theatre standards, and made his first appearance as an opera conductor in Immermann’s production of Mozart‘s Don Giovanni at the end of 1833, where he took umbrage at the audience’s protests about the cost of tickets.^[37] His frustration at his everyday duties in Düsseldorf, and the city’s provincialism, led him to resign his position at the end of 1834. He had offers from both Munich and Leipzig for important musical posts, and decided in 1835 to accept the latter.^[38]

Leipzig and Berlin

 Felix Mendelssohn’s study in Leipzig

In 1835 Mendelssohn was named conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.^[39] He chose this position although he had also been offered direction of the opera house in Munich and the editorship of the prestigious music journal, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung.^[40] Mendelssohn concentrated on developing the musical life of Leipzig, working with the orchestra, the opera house, the Choir of St. Thomas Church, and the city’s other choral and musical institutions. Mendelssohn’s concerts included, in addition to many of his own works, three series of “historical concerts” and a number of works by his contemporaries. He was deluged by offers of music from rising composers and would-be composers; amongst these was Richard Wagner, who submitted his early Symphony, which to Wagner’s disgust Mendelssohn lost or mislaid.^[41] Mendelssohn also revived interest in Franz Schubert. Robert Schumann discovered the manuscript of Schubert’s 9th Symphony and sent it to Mendelssohn, who promptly premiered it in Leipzig on 21 March 1839, more than a decade after Schubert’s death.^[42]

A landmark event during Mendelssohn’s Leipzig years was the premiere of his oratorio St. Paul, given at the Lower Rhenish Festival in Düsseldorf in 1836, shortly after the death of the composer’s father, which much affected him; Felix wrote that he would “never cease to endeavour to gain his approval […] although I can no longer enjoy it”.^[43] St. Paul seemed to many of Mendelssohn’s contemporaries to be his finest work, and sealed his European reputation.^[44]

When Friedrich Wilhelm IV came to the Prussian throne in 1840 with ambitions to develop Berlin as a cultural centre (including the establishment of a music school, and reform of music for the church), the obvious choice to head these reforms was Mendelssohn. He was however reluctant to undertake the task, especially in the light of his existing strong position in Leipzig.^[45] Mendelssohn did however spend some time in Berlin, writing some church music, and, at the King’s request, music for productions of Sophocles‘s Antigone (1841) and Oedipus at Colonus (1845), Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1843) and Racine‘s Athalie (1845). But the funds for the school never materialised, and various of the court’s promises to Mendelssohn regarding finances, title, and concert programming were broken. He was therefore not displeased to have the excuse to return to Leipzig.

In 1843 Mendelssohn founded a major music school – the Leipzig Conservatory, now the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” or (in its own English self-designation) the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre – where he persuaded Ignaz Moscheles and Robert Schumann to join him. Other prominent musicians, including string players Ferdinand David and Joseph Joachim and music theorist Moritz Hauptmann, also became staff members.^[46] After Mendelssohn’s death in 1847, his conservative tradition was carried on when Moscheles succeeded him as head of the Conservatory.

Mendelssohn in Britain

In 1829 Mendelssohn paid his first visit to Britain, where his former teacher Ignaz Moscheles, already settled in London, introduced him to influential musical circles. In the summer he visited Edinburgh, where he met among others the composer John Thomson, whom he later recommended to be Professor of Music at Edinburgh University.^[47] On his eighth visit in the summer of 1844, he conducted five of the Philharmonic concerts in London, and wrote:

[N]ever before was anything like this season – we never went to bed before half-past one, every hour of every day was filled with engagements three weeks beforehand, and I got through more music in two months than in all the rest of the year.^[48]

On subsequent visits he met Queen Victoria and her musical husband Prince Albert, who both greatly admired his music.^[49][50]

 

Felix Mendelssohn’s grave

In the course of ten visits to Britain during his life, totalling about 20 months, Mendelssohn won a strong following, sufficient for him to make a deep impression on British musical life.^[51] He composed and performed, and he edited for British publishers the first critical editions of oratorios of Handel and of the organ music of J.S. Bach. Scotland inspired two of his most famous works: the overture The Hebrides (also known as Fingal’s Cave); and the Scottish Symphony (Symphony No. 3).^[52]

Mendelssohn also worked closely with his protégé, the British composer and pianist William Sterndale Bennett (whom he had first heard in London in 1833 when Bennett was 17), both in London and Leipzig, where Bennett appeared throughout the 1836/1837 season.^[41] Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah was commissioned by and premiered at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival on 26 August 1846, composed to a German text translated into English by William Bartholomew, who authored and translated many of Mendelssohn’s works during his time in England.^[53] On his last visit to Britain in 1847, Mendelssohn was the soloist in Beethoven‘s Piano Concerto No. 4 and conducted his own Scottish Symphony with the Philharmonic Orchestra before the Queen and Prince Albert.^[54]

Death

Mendelssohn suffered from poor health in the final years of his life, probably aggravated by nervous problems and overwork. A final tour of England left him exhausted and ill from a hectic schedule. The death of his sister Fanny on 14 May 1847 caused him great distress. Less than six months later, on 4 November, Mendelssohn himself died in Leipzig after a series of strokes. He was 38. His grandfather Moses, his sister Fanny and both his parents had died from similar apoplexies.^[55] Felix’s funeral was held at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, and he was buried at the Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof I in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The pallbearers included Moscheles, Schumann and Niels Gade.^[56] Mendelssohn had once described death, in a letter to a stranger, as a place “where it is to be hoped there is still music, but no more sorrow or partings”.^[57]

Personal life

Personality

 

View of Lucerne – watercolour by Mendelssohn, 1847

Although the image was cultivated, especially after his death in the detailed family memoirs by his nephew Sebastian Hensel,^[58] of a man always equable, happy and placid in temperament, this was misleading. The nickname “discontented Polish count” was given to Mendelssohn because of his aloofness, and he referred to the epithet in his letters.^[59] Mendelssohn was frequently given to alarming fits of temper which occasionally led to collapse. On one occasion in the 1830s, when his wishes had been crossed, “his excitement was increased so fearfully … that when the family was assembled … he began to talk incoherently, and in English, to the great terror of them all. The stern voice of his father at last checked the wild torrent of words; they took him to bed, and a profound sleep of twelve hours restored him to his normal state”.^[60] Such fits may be related to his early death.^[61]

Mendelssohn was a fine and enthusiastic artist in pencil and watercolour, a skill which he used throughout his life for his own amusement and that of his friends.^[62][63] His enormous correspondence shows that he could also be a witty writer in German and English – sometimes accompanied by humorous sketches and cartoons in the text.

Religion

On 21 March 1816, at the age of seven years, his parents prompted the baptism of Mendelssohn and his brother and sisters in a home ceremony by Johann Jakob Stegemann, minister of the Evangelical congregation of Berlin’s Jerusalem Church and New Church. Although Mendelssohn was a conforming (if not over-zealous) Christian as a member of the Reformed Church,^{[n 3]} he was both conscious and proud of his Jewish ancestry and notably of his connection with his grandfather Moses Mendelssohn. He was the prime mover in proposing to the publisher Heinrich Brockhaus a complete edition of Moses’s works, which continued with the support of his uncle Joseph Mendelssohn.^[64] Mendelssohn was notably reluctant, either in his letters or conversation, to comment on his innermost beliefs; his friend Devrient wrote that “[his] deep convictions were never uttered in intercourse with the world; only in rare and intimate moments did they ever appear, and then only in the slightest and most humorous allusions”.^[65] Thus for example in a letter to his sister Rebecka, Mendelssohn rebukes her complaint about an unpleasant relative: “What do you mean by saying you are not hostile to Jews? I hope this was a joke […] It is really sweet of you that you do not despise your family, isn’t it?”.^[66] Some modern scholars have devoted considerable energy to demonstrate either that Mendelssohn was deeply sympathetic to his ancestors’ Jewish beliefs, or that he was hostile to this and sincere in his Christian beliefs.^{[n 4]}

Mendelssohn and his contemporaries

Throughout his life Mendelssohn was wary of the more radical musical developments undertaken by some of his contemporaries. He was generally on friendly, if sometimes somewhat cool, terms with the likes of Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, but in his letters expresses his frank disapproval of their works, for example writing of Liszt that his compositions were “inferior to his playing, and [..] only calculated for virtuosos”;^[67] of Berlioz’s overture Les francs-juges “the orchestration is such a frightful muddle […] that one ought to wash one’s hands after handling one of his scores”;^[68] and of Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le diable “I consider it ignoble”, calling its villain Bertram “a poor devil”.^[69] When his friend the composer Ferdinand Hiller suggested in conversation to Mendelssohn that he looked rather like Meyerbeer – they were actually distant cousins, both descendants of Rabbi Moses Isserlis – Mendelssohn was so upset that he immediately went to get a haircut to differentiate himself.^[70]

In particular, Mendelssohn seems to have regarded Paris and its music with the greatest of suspicion and an almost puritanical distaste. Attempts made during his visit there to interest him in Saint-Simonianism ended in embarrassing scenes.^[71]

It is significant that the only musician with whom he remained a close personal friend, Ignaz Moscheles, was of an older generation and equally conservative in outlook. Moscheles preserved this outlook at the Leipzig Conservatory until his own death in 1870.

Marriage and children

Mendelssohn’s wife Cécile (1846) by Eduard Magnus

Mendelssohn married Cécile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud (10 October 1817 – 25 September 1853), the daughter of a French Reformed Church clergyman, on 28 March 1837.^[72] The couple had five children: Carl, Marie, Paul, Lilli and Felix. The second youngest child, Felix August, contracted measles in 1844 and was left with his health impaired; he died in 1851.^[73] The eldest, Carl Mendelssohn Bartholdy (7 February 1838 – 23 February 1897), became a distinguished historian, and professor of history at Heidelberg and Freiburg universities, dying in 1897 in a psychiatric institution in Freiburg.^[74] Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841–1880) was a noted chemist and pioneered the manufacture of aniline dye. Marie married Victor Benecke and lived in London. Lili married Adolph Wach, later Professor of Law at Leipzig University.^[75] The family papers inherited by Marie and Lili’s children form the basis of the extensive collection of Mendelssohn manuscripts, including the so-called ‘Green Books’ of his correspondence, now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.^[76]

Cécile Mendelssohn Bartholdy died less than six years after her husband, on 25 September 1853.^[77]

Jenny Lind

 Jenny Lind

In general Mendelssohn’s personal life seems to have been fairly conventional compared to those of his contemporaries Wagner, Berlioz, and Schumann – except for his relationship with Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, whom he met in October 1844, and with whom, it was rumoured, he became emotionally involved. Papers confirming this were alleged to exist, although their contents had not been made public.^{[78][n 5]} In 2013 George Biddlecombe confirmed in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association that “The Committee of the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation possesses material indicating that Mendelssohn wrote passionate love letters to Jenny Lind entreating her to join him in an adulterous relationship and threatening suicide as a means of exerting pressure upon her, and that these letters were destroyed on being discovered after her death.”^[80]

Mendelssohn met and worked with Lind many times, and started an opera, Lorelei, for her, based on the legend of the Lorelei Rhine maidens; the opera was unfinished at his death. He is said to have tailored the aria “Hear Ye Israel” in his oratorio Elijah to Lind’s voice,^[81] although she did not sing this part until after his death, at a concert in December 1848.^[82] In 1847 Mendelssohn attended a London performance of Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable – an opera which musically he despised – in order to hear Lind’s British debut, in the role of Alice. The music critic Henry Chorley, who was with him, wrote “I see as I write the smile with which Mendelssohn, whose enjoyment of Mdlle. Lind’s talent was unlimited, turned round and looked at me, as if a load of anxiety had been taken off his mind. His attachment to Mlle. Lind’s genius as a singer was unbounded, as was his desire for her success”.^[83]

Upon Mendelssohn’s death Lind wrote, “[He was] the only person who brought fulfillment to my spirit, and almost as soon as I found him I lost him again”. In 1849 she established the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation, which makes an award to a British resident young composer every two years in Mendelssohn’s memory.^[78] The first winner of the scholarship was Arthur Sullivan, then aged 14, in 1856. In 1869 Lind erected a plaque in Mendelssohn’s memory at his birthplace in Hamburg.

Mendelssohn as musician

See also: List of compositions by Felix Mendelssohn and Category:Compositions by Felix Mendelssohn

Composer

Richard Taruskin points out that, although Mendelssohn produced works of extraordinary mastery at a very early age,

he never outgrew his precocious youthful style. […] He remained stylistically conservative […] feeling no need to attract attention with a display of ‘revolutionary’ novelty. Throughout his short career he remained comfortably faithful to the musical status quo – that is, the “classical” forms, as they were already thought of by his time. His version of romanticism, already evident in his earliest works, consisted in musical “pictorialism” of a fairly conventional, objective nature (though exquisitely wrought).^[84]

In this way he differed substantially from contemporaries such as Wagner and Berlioz, and even from Schumann and Chopin. The absence of real stylistic ‘development’ during Mendelssohn’s career makes it appropriate to consider his works by genre, rather than in order of composition.

Early works

The young Mendelssohn was greatly influenced in his childhood by the music of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, traces of whom can be seen in the 12 early string symphonies, which were mainly written for performance in the Mendelssohn household and not published or publicly performed until long after his death. He wrote these from 1821 to 1823, when he was between the ages of 12 and 14.

Mendelssohn’s first published works were his three piano quartets, (1822–1825; Op. 1 in C minor, Op. 2 in F minor and Op. 3 in B minor); but his capacities are especially revealed in a group of works of his early maturity:

• the String Octet (1825)
• the Overture A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826), which in its finished form also owes much to the influence of Adolf Bernhard Marx, at the time a close friend of Mendelssohn.
• the two early quartets: Op. 12 (1829) and Op. 13 (1827), which both show a remarkable grasp of the techniques and ideas of Beethoven’s last quartets that Mendelssohn had been closely studying^[85]

These four works show an intuitive grasp of form, harmony, counterpoint, colour, and compositional technique, which justify claims frequently made that Mendelssohn’s precocity exceeded even that of Mozart in its intellectual grasp.^[86]

Symphonies

Mendelssohn’s mature symphonies are numbered approximately in the order that they were published, rather than the order in which they were composed. The order of actual composition is: 1, 5, 4, 2, 3. The placement of No. 3 in this sequence is problematic because he worked on it for over a decade, starting sketches for it soon after beginning work on No. 5, but completing it after both Nos. 5 and 4.

The Symphony No. 1 in C minor for full-scale orchestra was written in 1824, when Mendelssohn was aged 15. This work is experimental, showing the influences of Beethoven and Carl Maria von Weber.^[87] Mendelssohn conducted this symphony on his first visit to London in 1829, with the orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society. For the third movement he substituted an orchestration of the Scherzo from his Octet. In this form the piece was a success, and laid the foundations of his British reputation.^[88]

During 1829 and 1830 Mendelssohn wrote his Symphony No. 5, known as the Reformation. It celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran Church. Mendelssohn remained dissatisfied with the work and did not allow publication of the score.^[89]

The Scottish Symphony (Symphony No. 3 in A minor) was written and revised intermittently between 1829 (when Mendelssohn noted down the opening theme during a visit to Holyrood Palace)^[90] and 1842, when it was given its premiere in Leipzig, the last of his symphonies to be performed in public. This piece evokes Scotland’s atmosphere in the ethos of Romanticism, but does not employ any identified Scottish folk melodies.^[91]

Mendelssohn’s travels in Italy inspired him to write the Symphony No. 4 in A major, known as the Italian Symphony. Mendelssohn conducted the premiere in 1833, but did not allow the score to be published during his lifetime, as he continually sought to rewrite it.^[92]

Mendelssohn wrote the symphony-cantata Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise) in B-flat major, posthumously named Symphony No. 2, to mark the celebrations in Leipzig of the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press; the first performance took place on 25 June 1840.^[93]

Other orchestral music

Trumpet part, including main theme, of the Wedding March from Mendelssohn’s Op. 61

Mendelssohn wrote the concert Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave) in 1830, inspired by visits to Scotland around the end of the 1820s. He visited Fingal’s Cave, on the Hebridean isle of Staffa, as part of his Grand Tour of Europe, and was so impressed that he scribbled the opening theme of the overture on the spot, including it in a letter he wrote home the same evening.

Throughout his career he wrote a number of other concert overtures. Those most frequently played today include an overture to Ruy Blas, commissioned for a charity performance of Victor Hugo‘s drama, which Mendelssohn hated; Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt), inspired by a pair of poems by Goethe; and The Fair Melusine.

The incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Op. 61), including the well-known Wedding March, was written in 1843, seventeen years after the overture.

Opera

Mendelssohn wrote some Singspiels for family performance in his youth. His opera Die beiden Neffen (The Two Nephews) was rehearsed for him on his 15th birthday.^[94] 1829 saw Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde (Son and Stranger or Return of the Roamer), a comedy of mistaken identity written in honor of his parents’ silver anniversary and unpublished during his lifetime. In 1825 he wrote a more sophisticated work, Die Hochzeit des Camacho (Camacho’s Wedding), based on an episode in Don Quixote, for public consumption. It was produced in Berlin in 1827, but coolly received. Mendelssohn left the theatre before the conclusion of the first performance, and subsequent performances were cancelled.^[95]

Although he never abandoned the idea of composing a full opera, and considered many subjects – including that of the Nibelung saga later adapted by Wagner – he never wrote more than a few pages of sketches for any project. In Mendelssohn’s last years the opera manager Benjamin Lumley tried to contract him to write an opera from Shakespeare’s The Tempest on a libretto by Eugène Scribe, and even announced it as forthcoming in 1847, the year of Mendelssohn’s death.^[96] The libretto was eventually set by Fromental Halévy. At his death Mendelssohn left some sketches for an opera on the story of the Lorelei.

Concertos

Violin Concerto op.64, main theme of second movement

The Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844), written for Ferdinand David, has become one of the most popular of all of Mendelssohn’s compositions. David, who had worked closely with Mendelssohn during the piece’s preparation, gave the premiere of the concerto on his Guarneri violin.^[97]

Mendelssohn also wrote a lesser-known, early concerto for violin and strings in D minor (1822); four piano concertos (“no. 0” in A minor, 1822; 1 in G minor, Op. 25, 1831; 2 in D minor, Op. 40, 1837; and 3 in E minor, Op. posth., a fragment from 1844); two concertos for two pianos and orchestra, E major (MWV O5), which he wrote at 15, and A-flat major (MWV O6), at 17; and another double concerto, for violin and piano (1823). In addition, there are several single-movement works for soloist and orchestra. Those for piano are the Rondo Brillante, Op. 29, of 1834; the Capriccio Brillante, Op. 22, of 1832; and the Serenade and Allegro Giocoso Op. 43, of 1838. He also wrote two concertinos (Konzertstücke), Opp. 113 and 114, originally for clarinet, basset horn and piano; Op. 113 was orchestrated by the composer.^[98]

Chamber music

Mendelssohn’s mature output contains numerous chamber works, many of which display an emotional intensity lacking in some of his larger works. In particular, his String Quartet No. 6, the last of his string quartets and his last major work – written following the death of his sister Fanny – is both powerful and eloquent. Other mature works include two other string quintets; sonatas for the clarinet, cello, viola and violin; and two piano trios. For the Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Mendelssohn uncharacteristically took the advice of his fellow composer, Ferdinand Hiller, and rewrote the piano part in a more romantic, “Schumannesque” style, considerably heightening its effect.^[99]

Choral works

 Part of the overture to ‘Elijah’ arranged by Mendelssohn for piano duet (manuscript in the Library of Congress)

Mendelssohn’s two large biblical oratorios, St Paul in 1836 and Elijah in 1846, are greatly influenced by Bach. His unfinished oratorio, Christus, consists of a recitative, a chorus “There Shall a Star Come out of Jacob,” and a male trio; the chorus is sometimes performed.

Strikingly different is the more overtly romantic Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night), a setting for chorus and orchestra of a ballad by Goethe describing pagan rituals of the Druids in the Harz mountains in the early days of Christianity. This remarkable score has been seen by the scholar Heinz-Klaus Metzger as a “Jewish protest against the domination of Christianity”.^[100]

Mendelssohn also wrote many smaller-scale sacred works for unaccompanied choir and for choir with organ. Most are written in or translated into English, and remain highly popular. Amongst the most famous is Hear My Prayer, whose second half contains “O for the Wings of a Dove,” which became extremely popular as a separate item. The piece is written for full choir, organ, and a treble or soprano soloist who has many challenging and extended solo passages. As such, it is a particular favourite for choirboys in churches and cathedrals and has frequently been recorded as a treble solo. Mendelssohn’s biographer Todd comments “The very popularity of the anthem in England […] later exposed it to charges of superficiality from those contemptuous of Victorian mores“.^[101]

The hymn tune Mendelssohn – an adaptation by William Hayman Cummings of a melody from Mendelssohn’s cantata Festgesang (Festive Hymn) – is the standard tune for Charles Wesley‘s popular hymn Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. This extract from an originally secular 1840s composition, which Mendelssohn felt unsuited to sacred music,^[93] is ubiquitous at Christmas.

Songs

Mendelssohn wrote many songs, both for solo voice and for duet, with piano. Many of these are simple, or slightly modified, strophic settings. Some, including Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On Wings of Song), became popular. Nine of Mendelssohn’s songs, including Auf Flügeln des Gesanges and Neue Liebe (New Love, set to a poem by Heinrich Heine) were transcribed for piano solo, in a virtuoso style, by Franz Liszt.

A number of songs written by Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny originally appeared under her brother’s name; this may have been partly due to the prejudice of the family, and partly to her own retiring nature.^[102]

Piano music

Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words (Lieder ohne Worte), eight cycles each containing six lyric pieces (two published posthumously), remain his most famous solo piano compositions. They became standard parlour recital items even during the composer’s lifetime,^[103] and their overwhelming popularity has itself caused many critics to underrate their musical value.^[104] Other composers who were inspired to produce similar pieces of their own, included Charles-Valentin Alkan (his five sets of Chants, each ending with a barcarole), Anton Rubinstein, Ignaz Moscheles, and Edvard Grieg.

Other notable piano pieces by Mendelssohn include his Variations sérieuses, Op. 54 (1841), the Rondo Capriccioso, the set of six Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35 (written between 1832 and 1837), and the Seven Characteristic Pieces, Op. 7 (1827).

Organ music

 Advertisement for the Organ Sonatas in the Musical World, 24 July 1845

Mendelssohn played the organ and composed for it from the age of 11 to his death. His primary organ works are the Three Preludes and Fugues, Op. 37 (1837), and the Six Sonatas, Op. 65 (1845), of which Eric Werner wrote “next to Bach’s works, Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonatas belong to the required repertory of all organists”.^[105]

Performer

Mendelssohn was renowned during his lifetime as a keyboard performer, both on the piano and on the organ. One of his obituarists noted:

First and chiefest we esteem his pianoforte-playing, with its amazing elasticity of touch, rapidity, and power; next his scientific and vigorous organ playing […] his triumphs on these instruments are fresh in public recollection.^[106]

In his concerts and recitals Mendelssohn performed both his own works and those of his predecessor German composers, notably works of Weber, Beethoven and (on the organ) J.S. Bach.^[107]

Both in private and public performances, Mendelssohn was also renowned for his improvisations. On one occasion in London, when asked by the soprano Maria Malibran after a recital to extemporise, he created a piece which included the melodies of all the songs she had sung. The music publisher Victor Novello who was present remarked ‘He has done some things that seem to me impossible, even after I have heard them done.’^[108] At another recital in 1837, where Mendelssohn played the piano for a singer, Robert Schumann ignored the soprano and wrote ‘Mendelssohn accompanied like a God’.^[109]

Conductor

Mendelssohn was a noted conductor, both of his own works and of other composers. At his London debut in 1829, he was noted for his innovatory use of a baton (then a great novelty).^[110] But his novelty also extended to taking great care over tempo, dynamics and the orchestral players themselves – both rebuking them when they were recalcitrant and praising them when they satisfied him.^[111] It was his success at conducting at the Lower Rhine music festival of 1836 that led to him taking his first paid professional position as director at Düsseldorf. Amongst those who appreciated Mendelssohn’s conducting was Hector Berlioz, who in 1843, invited to Leipzig, exchanged batons with Mendelssohn, writing “When the Great Spirit sends us to hunt in the land of souls, may our warriors hang our tomahawks side by side at the door of the council chamber”.^[112] At Leipzig, Mendelssohn led the Gewandhaus orchestra to great heights; although concentrating on the great composers of the past (already becoming canonised as the ‘classics’) he also included new music by Schumann, Berlioz, Gade and many others (including of course his own music).^[113] One critic who was not impressed however was Richard Wagner; he accused Mendelssohn of using tempos in his performances of Beethoven symphonies that were far too fast.^[114]

Editor

Mendelssohn’s interest in baroque music was not limited to the Bach St Matthew Passion which he had revived in 1829. He was concerned in preparing and editing such music, whether for performance or for publication, to be as close as possible to the original intentions of the composers, including wherever possible a close study of early editions and manuscripts. This could lead him into conflict with publishers; for instance, his edition of Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt for the London Handel Society (1845) evoked an often contentious correspondence, with Mendelssohn refusing for example to add dynamics where not given by Handel, or to add parts for trombones. Mendelssohn also edited a number of Bach’s works for organ, and apparently discussed with Robert Schumann the possibility of producing a complete Bach edition.^[115]

Teacher

Although Mendelssohn attributed great importance to musical education, and made a substantial commitment to the Conservatoire he founded in Leipzig, he did not greatly enjoy teaching and undertook only a very few private pupils; these he took only if he believed they had notable qualities or potential.^[116] Amongst such students were composer William Sterndale Bennett, the pianist Camille-Marie Stamaty, the violinist and composer Julius Eichberg, and Walther von Goethe (grandson of the poet).^[117] At the Leipzig Conservatoire Mendelssohn taught classes in composition and ensemble playing.^[118]

Reputation and legacy

The first century

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Mendelssohn monument in 1900 (removed in 1936)

In the immediate wake of Mendelssohn’s death, he was mourned both in Germany and England. However, the conservative strain in Mendelssohn, which set him apart from some of his more flamboyant contemporaries, bred a corollary condescension amongst some of them toward his music. Mendelssohn’s relations with Berlioz, Liszt and others had been uneasy and equivocal. Listeners who had raised questions about Mendelssohn’s talent included Heinrich Heine, who wrote in 1836 after hearing the oratorio St. Paul that his work was “characterized by a great, strict, very serious seriousness, a determined, almost importunate tendency to follow classical models, the finest, cleverest calculation, sharp intelligence and, finally, complete lack of naïveté. But is there in art any originality of genius without naïveté?”^[119][120]

Such criticism of Mendelssohn for his very ability – which could be characterised negatively as facility – was taken to further lengths by Richard Wagner. Mendelssohn’s success, his popularity and his Jewish origins irked Wagner sufficiently to damn Mendelssohn with faint praise, three years after his death, in an anti-Jewish pamphlet Das Judenthum in der Musik:

[Mendelssohn] has shown us that a Jew may have the amplest store of specific talents, may own the finest and most varied culture, the highest and tenderest sense of honour – yet without all these pre-eminences helping him, were it but one single time, to call forth in us that deep, that heart-searching effect which we await from art […] The washiness and the whimsicality of our present musical style has been […] pushed to its utmost pitch by Mendelssohn’s endeavour to speak out a vague, an almost nugatory Content as interestingly and spiritedly as possible.^[121]

This was the start of a movement to downgrade Mendelssohn’s status as a composer which lasted almost a century, the echoes of which still survive today in critiques of Mendelssohn’s supposed mediocrity.^{[n 6]}

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche expressed consistent admiration for Mendelssohn’s music, in contrast to his general scorn for “Teutonic” Romanticism:

At any rate, the whole music of romanticism [e.g. Schumann and Wagner] … was second-rate music from the very start, and real musicians took little notice of it. Things were different with Felix Mendelssohn, that halcyon master who, thanks to his easier, purer, happier soul, was quickly honored and just as quickly forgotten, as a lovely incident in German music.^[122]

Some readers, however, have interpreted Nietzsche’s characterization of Mendelssohn as a ‘lovely incident’ as condescending.^[123]

In the 20th century the Nazi regime and its Reichsmusikkammer cited Mendelssohn’s Jewish origin in banning performance and publication of his works, even asking Nazi-approved composers to rewrite incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (Carl Orff obliged.)^[124] Under the Nazis, “Mendelssohn was presented as a dangerous ‘accident’ of music history, who played a decisive role in rendering German music in the 19th century ‘degenerate’.”^[125] The German Mendelssohn Scholarship for students at the Leipzig Conservatoire was discontinued in 1934 (and not revived until 1963). The monument dedicated to Mendelssohn erected in Leipzig in 1892 was removed by the Nazis in 1936. A replacement was erected in 2008.^[126] His grave however remained unmolested during the National Socialist years.^[127]

 The reconstructed Mendelssohn monument near Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church, dedicated in 2008^[128]

Mendelssohn’s reputation in England remained high throughout the 19th century. Prince Albert inscribed (in German), a libretto for the oratorio Elijah in 1847:

To the noble artist who, surrounded by the Baal-worship of false art, has been able, like a second Elijah, through genius and study, to remain true to the service of true art.^[129]

In 1851 an adulatory novel by the teenaged Sarah Sheppard was published, entitled Charles Auchester.^[130] The book features Mendelssohn as the “Chevalier Seraphael”, and remained in print for nearly 80 years. In 1854 Queen Victoria requested that the Crystal Palace include a statue of Mendelssohn when it was rebuilt.^{[n 7]} Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream was played at the wedding of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Victoria, The Princess Royal, to Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1858, and it remains popular at marriage ceremonies.^[131] Mendelssohn’s sacred choral music, particularly the smaller-scale works, remains popular in the choral tradition of the Church of England. However many critics, including Bernard Shaw, began to condemn Mendelssohn’s music for its association with Victorian cultural insularity; Shaw in particular complained of the composer’s “kid-glove gentility, his conventional sentimentality, and his despicable oratorio-mongering”.^[132] In the 1950s the scholar Wilfrid Mellers complained of Mendelssohn’s “spurious religiosity which reflected the element of unconscious humbug in our morality”.^[133]

A contrasting opinion came from the pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni, who considered Mendelssohn “a master of undisputed greatness” and “an heir of Mozart”.^[134] Busoni and other pianists such as Anton Rubinstein^[135] and Alkan^[136] all regularly included Mendelssohn’s piano works in their recitals.

Modern opinions

 German postage stamp issued on the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth

Charles Rosen in a chapter on Mendelssohn in his 1995 book The Romantic Generation both praises and criticizes the composer, calling him a “genius” with a “profound” comprehension of Beethoven and “the greatest child prodigy the history of Western music has ever known”. Although Rosen feels that in his later years, without losing his craft or genius, the composer “renounced … his daring”, he calls Mendelssohn’s relatively late Violin Concerto in E minor “the most successful synthesis of the Classical concerto tradition and the Romantic virtuoso form”. Rosen calls the Fugue in E minor (later included in Mendelssohn’s Op. 35 for piano) a “masterpiece”; but in the same paragraph calls Mendelssohn “the inventor of religious kitsch in music”.^[137]

Such opinions are evidence of how a more nuanced appreciation of Mendelssohn’s work has developed over the last 50 years, together with the publication of a number of modern biographies placing his achievements in context.^[138] Mercer-Taylor comments on the irony that “this broad-based reevaluation of Mendelssohn’s music is made possible, in part, by a general disintegration of the idea of a musical canon”, an idea which Mendelssohn “as a conductor, pianist and scholar” had done so much to establish.^[139]

A large portion of Mendelssohn’s 750 works still remained unpublished in the 1960s, but most of them have now been made available.^[140] A scholarly edition of Mendelssohn’s complete works and correspondence is in preparation but is expected to take many years to complete, and will be in excess of 150 volumes. This includes a modern and fully researched catalogue of his works, the Mendelssohn-Werkverzeichnis (MWV).^[141] All of Mendelssohn’s oeuvre – including the most popular works such as the E minor Violin Concerto and the Italian Symphony – has been explored more deeply, and prior concepts about the Victorian conventionality of the oratorio Elijah have been shed.^{[n 8]} The frequently intense and dramatic world of Mendelssohn’s chamber works has been more fully recognized. Virtually all of Mendelssohn’s published works are now available on CD, and his works are frequently heard in the concert hall and on broadcasts.^[142] An English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Mendelssohn was placed at 4 Hobart Place in Belgravia, London, in 2013.^[143] As the critic H. L. Mencken concluded, if Mendelssohn indeed missed true greatness, he missed it “by a hair”.^[144]

Historic Musical bits: Dvořák / String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 “American” |Cleveland Quartet

Dvořák / String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 “American” (Cleveland Quartet)

scrymgeour34

Published on Jan 5, 2013

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, B. 179 “American” (1893):

Movements:

00:00 – Allegro ma non troppo
09:08 – Lento
16:14 – Molto vivace
20:00 – Finale. Vivace ma non troppo

Performed by the Cleveland Quartet (Telarc, 1991).

“From its first performance, Dvořák’s ‘American’ Quartet has enjoyed lasting popularity for its tunefulness, its rhythmic verve, and its happy interplay of the four instruments. Given all the publicity afforded Dvořák’s ideas on American music, one might reasonably ask just how ‘American’ Op. 96 really is. A theme in the third movement qualifies as having been borrowed from an American: ‘a damned bird (red, only with black wings)’ that kept singing where he was working. Dvořák worked the native bird’s song into the scherzo (measures 21 and following). Beyond that we are on less firm ground. Many of the themes are entirely or nearly pentatonic, and some have wanted to see in this the influence of the black spiritual. But in fact Bohemian music is just as frequently pentatonic, and similar themes can be found in Dvořák’s music long before he came to America. The opening of the work was based on Smetana’s First Quartet, though Dvořák’s mood is entirely different — lighter and livelier throughout, with the poignant exception of the lyrical second movement, the plaintive melody of which — echoed between violin and cello — is a wonderful foil to the high spirits of the remaining three movements.” – Steven Ledbetter

Painting: Airborne (1996), Andrew Wyeth

this day in the yesteryear: Zoot Suit Riots Come to an End (1943)

Zoot Suit Riots Come to an End (1943)

Named for the style of clothing favored by the mainly Mexican-American victims of these clashes, the Zoot Suit Riots erupted between American servicemen stationed in Los Angeles, California, during World War II and the city’s minority residents. While the local press lauded the attacks by the servicemen and described them as having a “cleansing effect,” First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt denounced them as “race riots” rooted in discrimination. What happened to the nine sailors arrested in the riots? More… Discuss

image of the day: D-Day Invasion

D-Day Invasion

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower–shown here paying an eleventh-hour visit to the men of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division–landed on five beachheads in Normandy, France. In addition, U.S. and British airborne forces landed behind the German lines and U.S. Army Rangers scaled the cliffs at Pointe de Hoc. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a tenuous beachhead that would lead to an offensive that pinned Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich between two pincers–the Western Allies and the already advancing Soviets–accelerating the end of World War II.

Photo: National Archives

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
June 5

1099		Members of the First Crusade witness an eclipse of the moon and interpret it as a sign they will recapture Jerusalem.
1568		Ferdinand, the Duke of Alba, crushes the Calvinist insurrection in Ghent.
1595		Henry IV’s army defeats the Spanish at the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise.
1637		American settlers in New England massacre a Pequot Indian village.
1783		Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier make the first public balloon flight.
1794		The U.S. Congress prohibits citizens from serving in any foreign armed forces.
1827		Athens falls to Ottoman forces.
1851		Harriet Beecher Stow publishes the first installment of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in The National Era.
1856		U.S. Army troops in the Four creeks region of California, head back to quarters, officially ending the Tule River War. Fighting, however, will continue for a few more years.
1863		The Confederate raider CSS Alabama captures the Talisman in the Mid-Atlantic.
1872		The Republican National Convention, the first major political party convention to includes blacks, commences.
1880		Wild woman of the west Myra Maybelle Shirley marries Sam Starr even though records show she was already married to Bruce Younger.
1900		British troops under Lord Roberts seize Pretoria from the Boers.
1940		The German army begins its offensive in Southern France.
1944		The first B-29 bombing raid strikes the Japanese rail line in Bangkok, Thailand.
1947		Secretary of State George C. Marshall outlines “The Marshall Plan,” a program intended to assist European nations, including former enemies, to rebuild their economies.
1956		Premier Nikita Khrushchev denounces Josef Stalin to the Soviet Communist Party Congress.
1967		The Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan begins.
1968		Sirhan Sirhan shoots Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy after Kennedy’s victory in the pivotal California primary election.
1973		Doris A. Davis becomes the first African-American woman to govern a city in a major metropolitan area when she is elected mayor of Compton, California.
2004		Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan dies at age 93. Reagan was the 40th president of the United States.
Born on June 5
1723		Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist.
1878		Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Mexican revolutionary and guerrilla leader.
1883		John Maynard Keynes, economist.
1884		Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, British author.
1898		Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and dramatist.
1915		Alfred Kazin, critic and editor (A Walker in the City).
1919		Richard Scarry, Children’s author and illustrator.
1926		David Wagoner, poet and novelist (The Escape Artist).
1932		Christy Brown, Irish novelist and poet (My Left Foot).
1939		Margaret Drabble, English novelist (The Millstone, The Realms of Gold).
1947		David Hare, British playwright and director (A Map of the World, Slag).
1949		Ken Follett, novelist (Eye of the Needle, On The Wings of Eagles).

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

Today in History June 3

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

1098		Christian Crusaders of the First Crusade seize Antioch, Turkey.
1539		Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1861		Union troops defeat Confederate forces at Philippi, in western Virginia
1864		Some 7,000 Union troops are killed within 30 minutes during the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia.
1888		The classic baseball poem “Casey at the Bat,” written by Ernest L. Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner.
1918		The Finnish Parliament ratifies a treaty with Germany.
1923		In Italy, dictator Benito Mussolini grants women the right to vote.
1928		Manchurian warlord Chian Tso-Lin dies as a result of a bomb blast set off by the Japanese.
1938		The German Third Reich votes to confiscate so-called “degenerate art.”
1940		The German Luftwaffe hits Paris with 1,100 bombs.
1942		Japanese carrier-based planes strafe Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands as a diversion of the attack on Midway Island.
1952		A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje prison camp in South Korea is put down by American troops.
1965		Astronaut Edward White becomes the first American to walk in space when he exits the Gemini 4 space capsule.
1969		74 American sailors died when the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans was cut in two by an Australian aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
1974		Charles Colson, an aide to President Richard Nixon, pleads guilty to obstruction of justice.
1989		The Chinese government begins its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Hundreds are killed and thousands are arrested.
Born on June 3
1726		James Hutton, Scottish scientist, pioneer in the field of geology.
1804		Richard Cobden, English economist and politician.
1808		Jefferson Davis, President of Confederate States of America.
1904		Charles R. Drew, American physician, researcher of blood plasma.
1906		Josephine Baker, dancer and singer.
1922		Alain Resnais, French film director.
1926		Allen Ginsberg, American poet (Howl).
1936		Larry McMurtry, novelist (The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.OIqWuMus.dpuf

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this day in the yesteryear: Edward White Becomes First American to Conduct a Spacewalk (1965)

Edward White Becomes First American to Conduct a Spacewalk (1965)

The first spacewalk by an American astronaut was conducted by Edward White during NASA’s Gemini IV mission, which was itself the first multi-day space flight undertaken by the US. Assisted and photographed by fellow astronaut James McDivitt and tethered to the spacecraft for safety, White floated in space for 22 minutes. His spacewalk occurred just months after Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov executed the first ever extravehicular activity. How did White describe his reentry of the craft? More… Discuss

American voters reject Washington as it is.#uniteblue #BernieSanders— AlterNet (@AlterNet)

American voters reject Washington as it is. #uniteblue #BernieSanders http://t.co/lGtxPNPkTG pic.twitter.com/vdxMDzt1JI

— AlterNet (@AlterNet) June 3, 2015

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Just a Thought: The oldest Christian Faith is here ( it is the rock on which the roots gave a 2000 Years old oak tree…of many branches

Just a thought: “The oldest Christian Faith is here: it is the rock on which the roots gave a 2000 Years old oak tree…of many branches… they would not exist without the common roots of  our  common FAITH.”

-George-B

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Video: Watch: Edward Snowden Q&A live stream – Telegraph

 

By Telegraph Video, Video source: Amnesty International

 

6:35PM BST 02 Jun 2015

 

Watch as Edward Snowden answers questions from a British audience via video link at an Amnesty International event tonight.

 

The former NSA contractor was granted a three-year residence permit in Russia in 2014, a year after he sensationally leaked top-secret documents on mass surveillance in the US and worldwide.

 

Snowden is expected to appear on screen before an audience at Amnesty’s London headquarters.

 

He will answer questions about his whistleblowing and the ramifications of the leaks.

 

• Edward Snowden cost British taxpayer money, says Theresa May

 

• Edward Snowden admits to John Oliver: I didn’t read all of leaked NSA material

 

• Edward Snowden: the true story behind his NSA leaks

 

People following the live-stream can ask questions to Snowden by tweeting @AmnestyUK using the has tag #AskSnowden.

 

via Video: Watch: Edward Snowden Q&A live stream – Telegraph.

 

today’s birthday: Martha Washington (1731)

Martha Washington (1731)

Martha Washington was the wife of first US president George Washington. They married in 1759, nearly two years after the death of her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. During the American Revolution, she spent winters in army camps with her husband and organized a women’s sewing circle to mend clothes for the troops. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she is considered the first “First Lady” of the US. She is also the only woman whose portrait has appeared on what? More… Discuss

Life Savers

Life Savers

Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped mints and fruit-flavored hard candy known for its colorful packaging. It was created in 1912 by the father of the poet Hart Crane, Clarence Crane, who was in search of a new summer candy. The pill manufacturer he contracted to press his new line of hard mints found that production improved when the mints were stamped with a hole in the middle. What flavor of the candy exhibits “triboluminescence?” More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Johnstown Flood Kills 2,209 (1889)

Johnstown Flood Kills 2,209 (1889)

When the South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, collapsed after several days of heavy rains, it sent 20 million tons (18.1 million cubic meters) of water cascading downriver at speeds of 20–40 mph (30–60 km/h). Less than an hour after the breach, a 30-foot (9-m) wall of water smashed into Johnstown, killing more than 2,200 people. The American Red Cross’s response was one of its first major disaster relief efforts. Why did some blame the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club for the tragedy? More… Discuss

Behavior of Military Lawyer in Boondoggle HQ Inquiry Under Scrutiny – ProPublica

Behavior of Military Lawyer in Boondoggle HQ Inquiry Under Scrutiny

Several U.S. Senators and military lawyers say they are concerned by Col. Norm Allen’s attempts to thwart an investigation into why the U.S. Military built an unneeded luxury headquarters in Afghanistan.

by Megan McCloskey

ProPublica, May 28, 2015, 12:13 p.m.

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Col. Norman F. Allen, right, receives the Legion of Merit from Gen. David M. Rodriguez in 2013. (Jim Hinnant, U.S. Army Forces Command Public Affairs)

An investigation released last week into why the U.S. military built a $25-million headquarters in Afghanistan that it never used condemned the behavior of one officer in particular: the top commander‘s lawyer.

In a series of emails to other officers in 2013 and 2014, Army Col. Norm Allen said that he wanted to “slow roll” investigators, that he wouldn’t personally cooperate out of loyalty to the command, and that he would consider it inappropriate for others to do so. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)

via Behavior of Military Lawyer in Boondoggle HQ Inquiry Under Scrutiny – ProPublica.

this day in the yesteryear: Andrew Jackson Kills Charles Dickinson in a Duel (1806)

Andrew Jackson Kills Charles Dickinson

in a Duel (1806)

In 1806, nationally famous duelist and expert marksman Charles Dickinson—whose dueling career included 26 kills—was goaded by political opponents of future US President Andrew Jackson to insult Jackson’s wife. A duel was arranged between the men, and Jackson took a shot to the ribs before firing what would be a fatal shot at Dickinson—the only man Jackson ever killed in his 13 duels. Jackson’s wife died in 1828, two weeks after Jackson was elected president. Whom did Jackson blame for her death? More… Discuss

Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 28th, 2015: Bl. Margaret Pole

Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 28th, 2015

Bl. Margaret Pole

Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and Richard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole. Margaret … continue reading

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St. Justus of Urgel St. Paul Hanh St. Podius Bl. Robert Johnson St. Senator Bl. Thomas Ford St. William of Gellone

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Rick Santorum, Catholic and Republican, to run for US president :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

 

Rick Santorum. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Pittsburgh, Pa., May 28, 2015 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Second-time presidential candidate Rick Santorum announced his campaign for the U.S. presidency on Wednesday, standing behind his goals to shrink the government, heal the middle class, and focus on social issues, while honing in on his image as a “blue collar conservative.”

“I am proud to stand here among you and for you, the American workers who have sacrificed so much, to announce that I am running for president of the United States,” Santorum stated May 27 in his home state of Pennsylvania.

Santorum will try to appeal to Catholic voters in the 2016 race, although he is among two other Republican contenders with a Catholic affiliation – Jeb Bush, a convert from Episcopalianism, and Marco Rubio.

Santorum’s 2012 campaign for president bolstered his transparency on faith, revealing his belief that God and the importance of religion are pivotal in American democracy. The former U.S. Senator has made it clear over the years that he is devoted to his faith, and that the Church has helped shape some of his political stances.

“I am proud of being Catholic. I’m proud of the teachings of the Church,” Santorum told CNA in 2011, upholding the belief that faith and reason go hand in hand.

“When the reason is right and the faith is true, they end up in the same place,” Santorum continued.

The New York Times called Santorum the “boldest candidate in the race” because of his stance opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, making him stand apart from what could be a dozen republican runners.

During his two terms as a U.S. Senator, Santorum worked resolutely to ban partial-birth abortion and continues to oppose the practice. He also told CNA that the “faith teaches very clearly that life is life at the moment of conception.”

Santorum also defended religious-based organizations and helped them receive more assistance during his time as a senator in the 1996 welfare overhaul. He has also spoken out against homosexual acts and supports marriage between one man and one woman, publicly supporting the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996.

Although Santorum admitted on NBC earlier in the year that he had spoken rashly about some sensitive issues during his 2012 campaign, but he is still resolved to speak openly about the importance of family and traditional values.

The former senator, age 57, joins an already crowded race, but his history of winning 11 states against Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican primaries could prove helpful in the continuously brimming bids.

Although recent polls place him 10th among his fellow Republicans, Santorum will work to make his way towards the early debates in August, pushing his themes of restoring traditional American values and defence against the country’s enemies.

Santorum spoke boldly this week about the impending threat of radical Islam, saying he has been dubbed as an enemy by the Islamic State in one of their English-language magazines. Nevertheless, Santorum believes America should be wary of the brewing storm that extremist Islam may pose.

Other candidates for the Republican nomination include former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Texas senator Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson, a retired surgeon.

Tags: 2016 Presidential Race

via Rick Santorum, Catholic and Republican, to run for US president :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

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today’s image: Civil War Soldier Col. Alfred N. Duffie, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, U.S.A

Civil War Soldier
Col. Alfred N. Duffie, 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, U.S.A. is poses for a photo during the American Civil War. Note the flag in the tent behind him.

Photo: Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.JWmKPwMR.dpuf

Lone Christian in Iraqi Delegation, a Nun, Denied Visa by Obama State Dept. | The Stream

Read the article “Lone Christian in Iraqi Delegation, a Nun, Denied Visa by Obama State Dept.” here: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417679/malice-toward-nun-nina-shea

Sister Diana wants to tell Americans about ISIS persecution of Christians in Iraq, but the State Department won’t let her in. Why is the United States barring a persecuted Iraqi Catholic nun — an internationally respected and leading representative of the Nineveh Christians who have been killed and deported by ISIS — from coming to Washington to testify about this catastrophe? Earlier this week, we learned that every member of an Iraqi delegation of minority groups, including representatives of the Yazidi and Turkmen Shia religious communities, has been granted visas to come for official meetings in Washington — save one. The single delegate whose visitor visa was denied happens to be the group’s only Christian from Iraq. Sister Diana Momeka of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena was informed on Tuesday by the U.S. consulate in Erbil that her non-immigrant-visa application has been rejected.

via Lone Christian in Iraqi Delegation, a Nun, Denied Visa by Obama State Dept. | The Stream.

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Iraqi Christians have lost everything – except their faith, nun tells Congress :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

By Matt Hadro

Photo:  Sister Diana Momeka, OP appeared before the House of Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. on May 13, 2015. Credit: Matt Hadro/CNA.

Washington D.C., May 13, 2015 / 03:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Having lost their homes, their heritage and their sense of dignity, Iraqi Christians victimized by the Islamic State feel abandoned by earthly powers, but their faith in God has only grown, an Iraqi nun told members of Congress May 13.

The faith of homeless Iraqi Christians is “increasing more and more,” Sister Diana Momeka, O.P., told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Many of the displaced lived in devastating conditions – families taking shelter in containers, parents without jobs and children without an education.

But Sister Diana insisted the spirit of the people has not been broken by the adversity.

“It’s making us stronger,” she said.

“We were displaced, yet we feel that the hand of God is still with us…In the midst of this darkness, this suffering, we see that God is holding us,” she explained, adding that it is a “gift of the Holy Spirit” to be able to stay and have faith through hardship.

Sister Diana was part of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, originally from Mosul in Northern Iraq. Islamist militants bombed their convent in 2009, and after the prioress sought protection from the local government and found none, Sister Diana and the community moved to Qaraqosh.

The ISIS onslaught caught up to them last summer. As the Islamic State swept through parts of Iraq and Syria, establishing a strict caliphate, more than 120,000 Iraqis were displaced on the Nineveh Plain, faced with the decision to convert to Islam, stay and pay a jizya tax to ISIS, or leave immediately.

The religious community moved again, this time to Kurdistan. “We were driven out of our homes in a couple of hours,” the nun described, “without any warning.”

Almost no Christians are left in Mosul, Sister Diana said, except for about 100 Christian hostages of ISIS.

Slated to testify before a congressional committee as part of an Iraqi delegation, Sister Diana’s application for a visa was initially denied by the local U.S. Consulate because of her status as an internally-displaced person.

Amid mounting pressure, she was later able to enter the United States and testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee May 13 regarding “ISIS’s war on religious minorities.”

“I am but one, small person – a victim myself of ISIS and all of its brutality,” Sister Diana stated in written testimony before the committee.

“Coming here has been difficult for me – as a religious sister I am not comfortable with the media and so much attention,” she admitted. “But I am here and I am here to ask you, to implore you for the sake of our common humanity to help us.”

The Christians in Northern Iraq lost “most everything” when ISIS destroyed and desecrated churches, shrines, and other sacred sites, she said.

“We lost everything that today, every Christian that’s living in the region of Kurdistan, we feel we don’t have dignity anymore. When you lose your home, you lose everything you have. You lose your heritage, your culture.”

When monasteries that have existed for centuries have been destroyed, it is a sign that “your history is gone, you are nothing anymore,” the Iraqi nun explained.

Children are growing up without proper education and whole families’ lives have “changed tremendously,” she said. “We’re abandoned, that’s how we feel.”

The local and regional authorities have been of little help to the displaced, Sister Diana said in her testimony, calling their reaction to the crisis “at best modest and slow.” The Kurdish government allowed Christian refugees to enter its borders but did not offer any more significant aid.

The Church in Kurdistan has been a big help to Christians, though, providing food, shelter, and other support, she noted.

Ultimately, the displaced want to return home and not to be re-settled elsewhere, witnesses at the hearing insisted.

“There are many who say ‘Why don’t the Christians just leave Iraq and move to another country and be done with it?’“ Sister Diana stated in her testimony. “Why should we leave our country? What have we done?”

“The Christians of Iraq are the first people of the land,” she said. “While our ancestors experienced all kinds of persecution, they stayed in their land, building a culture that has served humanity for the ages.”

“We want nothing more than to go back to our lives; we want nothing more than to go home.”

Tags: Refugees, Faith, ISIS, Iraqi Christians

via Iraqi Christians have lost everything – except their faith, nun tells Congress :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

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They lived Christianity: Italy’s saints of social action :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

By Andrea Gagliarducci

Turin, Italy, May 15, 2015 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Turin is an opportunity to reflect on the outstanding group of saints whose lives embodied Catholic social teaching in 19th century Turin, when the Piedmont region underwent an industrial revolution and secularizing trends amid struggles to build a unified Italian state.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Holy See’s emeritus Secretary of State, stressed the importance of these “social action saints” ahead of the June papal visit to Turin, the Piedmont regional capital.

Cardinal Bertone spoke to CNA from the Turin International Book Fair, where he was presenting his book “Faith and the Common Good: Christian Proposals for Contemporary Society,” published by Vatican Publishing House. The work is a collection of his writings and speeches about Catholic social teaching.

The cardinal is from Piedmont and is a member of the Salesian congregation, founded by St. John Bosco. This saint dedicated himself to the betterment of Torinese youth in the 19th century. He founded the Salesians to educate the impoverished young and to prepare them for occupations.

Cardinal Bertone stressed that the social action saints “contributed in shaping the society with a multiplicity of charitable works, social and educational initiatives, thus bringing the name of Piedmont to the farthest lands.”

These saints helped Italian immigrants and indigenous peoples who needed assistance and education “to achieve an integral development.”

Pope Francis will be in Turin June 21-22 in the midst of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of St. John Bosco’s birth, thus paying homage to one of the most prominent social action saints from Piedmont. During his trip, the Pope on June 21 will visit the St. Joseph Cottolengo institute, named for another of these social action saints, to meet with sick people.

According to Cardinal Bertone, the presence of the “social saints” prove that Italian society was shaped by Christian values despite the fact that the movement towards the establishment of the Italian state appeared to take a path far from Christian values.

The social action saints flourished in mid-19th century Turin and its vicinities, such as the small northern Italian State of Savoy, whose territory included sections of the present-day Italian regions of Piedmont, Liguria and Sardinia.

Many of these social action saints took inspiration from one another, Cardinal Bertone recounted.

“St. John Bosco was the founder of the Salesian family, apostle to the young people,” the cardinal explained. “He was inspired and guided by St. Joseph Cafasso.”

St. Joseph Cafasso, a Piedmont priest, was also an inspiration for his nephew, Bl. Joseph Allamano, who founded the Missionaries of the Consolation. These missionaries “brought the Gospel and human progress to Africa.”

Cardinal Bertone then discussed St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, “the apostle of the very least ones, who – as Pope Francis would put it – opposed the ‘throwaway culture’ and took care of the sickest and most abandoned people.”

Among St. John Bosco’s collaborators was St. Leonardo Murialdo, who founded the Congregation of St. Joseph. Cardinal Bertone said he may be considered “the apostle of workers, as he was close to workers unions.”

St. Luigi Orione took inspiration from St. John Bosco and St. Leonardo Murialdo in his work with young people. He drew on the example of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo for his care for the sick.

Cardinal Bertone said St. Luigi Orione founded charitable works “according to the needs he would discover in Italy, Europe and in America.”

Finally, Cardinal Bertone recalled the example of Blessed Francis Faa di Bruno, an engineer and mathematician who took care of women workers, a new reality in the industrial era.

Cardinal Bertone said that the experience of these social action saints developed further and would reach out to “the extreme frontiers.”

Among the various initiatives, Cardinal Bertone recounted that Salesian missionaries from Piedmont in 1905 traveled to the distant Argentine town of Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world. There they promoted the cultivation of potatoes and livestock.

Cardinal Bertone said there are Salesian weather stations from Piedmont established in the Italian region of Liguria and in the far south of Argentina that are still in operation.

Tags: Cardinal Bertone, Catholic Social Teaching, St. John Bosco, St. Joseph Cafasso

via They lived Christianity: Italy’s saints of social action :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

The Black Death

The Black Death

The Black Death was a form of bubonic plague

The bubonic plague described by Athanasius Kircher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

that was pandemic throughout Europe, the Middle East, and much of Asia in the 14th century. Thought to have been caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, it killed between one-third and half of Europe’s population and at least 75 million people worldwide. Recently, it has been argued that the Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague, at all, but by what? More… Discuss

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A woman says she was fired after she deleted an app that her boss used to track her, 24/7: — CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) May 13, 2015

 

A woman says she was fired after she deleted an app that her boss used to track her, 24/7 http://t.co/GPZ0mHQfoH pic.twitter.com/lfBwpN7yCN

— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) May 13, 2015

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this day in the yesteryear: Battle of Palmito Ranch Ends (1865)

Battle of Palmito Ranch Ends (1865)

More than a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, ending the American Civil War, fighting continued in other regions. The Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought in Texas on May 12-13, 1865, and was the last major clash of arms in the war. It ended with a Confederate victory, with 118 Union soldiers killed and a few dozen rebels wounded. Who was the last casualty of the battle—and likely the last of the war? More… Discuss

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Picture of the day: Photographs of the American West: 1861-1912 (A Pioneer Family in Loup Valley, Nebr., ca. 1886. Cropped from Item 134. (69-N-13606C)

Photographs of the American West: 1861-1912

Cover photograph: A Pioneer Family in Loup Valley, Nebr., ca. 1886. Cropped from Item 134. (69-N-13606C)

By 1848 the United States had acquired official title to the contigous land stretching westward to the Pacific, south to the Rio Grande, and north to the 49th parallel. Americans had long since explored and settled in many of these areas, but legitimate possession created an impetus for development that began to crystallize as other timely occurrences brought a greater influx of people to the West. The religious persecution of the Mormons had led them to begin their migration westward by this time. The discovery of gold would soon draw thousands more across the country.

This transition from a “wild” western frontier into organized segments of a federal union is documented in photographs. Private citizens and Government officials took the recently developed camera on their western adventures to record nature’s curious sights and the marks that they as men and women made on the landscape. It is indeed a wonder that so many photographs have survived the hardships of the western experience, for early negatives were made of large glass plates. Some of these photographs have found their way into the National Archives as record materials of several Federal bureaus and offices, such as the Bureaus of Land Management, Indian Affairs, Public Roads, Weather, Agricultural Economics, and Reclamation; the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Geological Survey, boundary and claims commissions and arbitrations, the Corps of Engineers, the Forest Service, and the Signal Corps. The photographs listed below were selected from the records of these agencies now on deposit in the National Archives.

While the records of Federal agencies continue to document changes on the face of western America and the efforts toward effecting some kind of progress, an arbitrary cutoff date of 1912 has been used. At that time Arizona, the last of the contiguous 48 United States, was admitted to the Union. Having arrived at its destiny, the “Wild” West was in a sense officially terminated.

The captions in quotation marks are those of the photographer or the person who cared for the photographs before they came into the custody of the National Archives. Within quoted captions, bracketed material has been added by the compiler. Information following quoted captions and all captions without quotes has been provided by the compiler. The name of the photographer together with the date of the item is given if available. The listings are arranged by subject–such as transportation, lndian life, military life, and mining–and thereunder chronologically. An index appears at the end of the list. The index is arranged by State, the names of which usually are the same as their former territorial designations. Some entries appear under more than one State; others could not be indexed by State.

The back cover of this leaflet explains how to order complete sets of slides of all photographs described in this pamphlet and in the other Select Audiovisual Records leaflets. To order individual prints, negatives, or slides, write to the Still Picture Branch for a current pricelist. Many photographs of the American West are not included in this list. Separate inquiries about them should be as specific as possible, including names, dates, places, and other details.

The research, selection, and arrangement in preparing this select list was done by Charlotte Palmer, who also wrote these introductory remarks.      More

quotation: In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls. Honore de Balzac

In diving to the bottom of pleasure we bring up more gravel than pearls.

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) Discuss

 

this day in the yesteryear: Soviet Union Lifts Blockade of Berlin (1949)

Soviet Union Lifts Blockade of Berlin (1949)

One of the first major crises of the Cold War, the Berlin blockade began in June 1948 during the multinational occupation of post-WWII Germany. In an attempt to force its former wartime allies—the US, the UK, and France—out of Berlin, the USSR began a blockade of all rail, road, and water traffic through East Germany to West Berlin. Rather than withdraw, the Western powers bypassed the blockade by airlifting thousands of tons of supplies into the city each day. What was Operation Little Vittles? More… Discuss

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today’s holiday: Frost Saints’ Days

Frost Saints’ Days

These three consecutive days in May mark the feasts of St. Mammertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatus. In the wine-growing districts of France, a severe cold spell occasionally strikes at this time of year, inflicting serious damage on the grapevines; some in rural France have believed that it is the result of their having offended one of the three saints, who for this reason are called the “frost saints.” French farmers have been known to show their displeasure over a cold snap at this time of year by flogging the statues and defacing the pictures of Mammertus, Pancras, and Servatus. More… Discuss

Dust Bowl: Dust Storm Hits Great Plains (1934) (Watch the documentary!)

Dust Bowl: Dust Storm Hits Great Plains (1934)

In the 1930s, severe drought conditions in the Great Plains region of the US and decades of farming without crop rotation led to a series of devastating dust storms. The storms, called “dusters” or “black blizzards,” caused widespread ecological and agricultural damage. In May 1934, one of the worst storms to hit the Dust Bowl blew massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil all the way to the East Coast and dumped the equivalent of how many pounds of debris on Chicago, Illinois? More… Discuss

Stinging Dust & Forgotten Lives: The Dust Bowl (2008)

Tempestas et Caelum Films

Uploaded on Aug 30, 2011

Ponder for a moment that you are huddled around a dimly lit lamp in a vast dusty room with your family. All eyes have a look of fear from the gusty winds shaking your home. The next morning, after the storm blows over, you look outside to find your house, barn, animals, fence, and water well have all been buried by feet of soil. All is lost. You must live…but how?

Over a hundred years ago people left the American east to find a better life. They migrated and established homestead throughout the Great Plains. There, they would prosper with fields of plenty, until, they exhausted the land. Again, they migrated westward to find a better life and provide opportunities for their starving children. STINGING DUST & FORGOTTEN LIVES presents the effects of the Dust Bowl on humanity during the 1930s. Meteorological conditions are often the first to blame, however, it was economic gain of the nation that doubled the unfortunate fate of the dusters.

For more information visit tcpfilms.com/​sdfl

Copyright 2008 by Cameron Douglas Craig and Kevin Harker Jeanes

Fr Gustavo Gutierrez: the poor are the starting point of liberation theology :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez Merino, O.P., who is regarded as the father of liberation theology. Photo courtesy of Notre Dame/Matt Cashore

Vatican City, May 8, 2015 / 01:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Attention to the poor was the point of departure for liberation theology claimed Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez Merino, widely acknowledged as the founder of the movement, in a May 8 article in the Vatican‘s newspaper.

Fr. Gutierrez underscored that this attention to the poor came from what liberation theologians experienced in their own lives and lands.

“We referred to the poor as non-persons, but not in philosophical sense, because it is obvious that each human being is a person, rather in a sociological sense; the poor, that is, are not accepted as persons in our society. They are invisible and have not rights, their dignity is not recognized,” the Peruvian theologian wrote.

The publication of the article may be considered a sort of response to the assertions of Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former general in communist Romania’s secret police during the Cold War who defected to the West in the 1970s. In an interview with Catholic News Agency, Pacepa said the KGB created liberation theology and helped to foster it in Latin America, a claim which garnered attention within the Vatican’s walls.

The article published in L’Osservatore Romano is in fact an excerpt from one of Fr. Gutierrez’ books. It begins by saying there are two schools of thought about poverty, and both come from the Gospel: the first is focused on Christ’s sensitivity toward the poor and their suffering, and the second, that Christ himself “had lived a life of poverty, and so Christians, from their origin, understood that in order to be his disciples they also had to live a life of poverty.”

“Both of these schools are true,” he said, but “we have to interpret these two points of view on the bases of our historical context and of our lives.”

Fr. Gutierrez said the first perspective may be found in Luke’s version of the beatitude of the poor (Blessed are you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours), while the second is reflected in Matthew’s (Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven).

“I think both lines of thought – poverty as scandal and poverty of spirit – can be useful, although their meaning must be actualized in our historical period,” reflected Fr. Gutierrez.

He explained that “a new notion of poverty” has emerged in the past century. “Poverty, in Bible and in our times, is not a merely economic issue. Poverty is very much more than this. The economic dimension is important, perhaps primary, but it is is not the only one.”

Noting that we have become more aware of the multiple dimensions of poverty, Fr. Gutierrez said, “poverty was clearly the starting point of liberation theology, though we had not fully understood its complexity or variety.”

The Dominican priest, who will speak at next week’s general assembly of Caritas Internationalis, stressed that liberation theologians referred to the poor in a sociological sense, as persons “who are invisible and and have no rights.”

“We also defined them as the “insignificant.” It is possible to be insignificant for several reasons: if you do not have money, in our society you are insignificant; the colour of your skin may be another reason to be deemed insignificant … what is common among the poor is insignificance, invisibility, and a lack of respect,” Fr. Gutierrez said.

He then added that “these mutual complexities are different from one another” and that “the sense of non-person can be caused by several prejudices,” whether based on race, sex, culture, or economic status.

Fr. Gutierrez provided the example of a black Protestant pastor, who began a 1969 speech with the words: “We must feel that we exist!” “That strong declaration is the shout of the poor,” Fr. Gutierrez said.

The Dominican also provided the example of Peru’s indigenous people, who “are invisible, irrelevant … this is the sad story of an Indian’s daily life: even when he goes to the hospital to be cured, he is ignored,” wrote Fr. Gutierrez.

He then added that “poverty today is a phenomenon of our globalized civilization. For centuries, the poor have been close to us, they lived more or less near us, in the city or in the countryside. However, today we have realized that poverty goes very much beyond our gaze, it is a global phenomenon, if not universal. The majority of human beings in the world live in the condition we call poverty.”

This is a turning point, according to Fr. Gutierrez. He emphasized that in spiritual, moral or liturgical books of the past, writers “merely spoke of how to directly help the poor, who were close to us.” But “today we should be aware that our neighbors are both near and far. We must understand that a relation of ‘neighborhood’ is the result of our commitment.”

via Fr Gustavo Gutierrez: the poor are the starting point of liberation theology :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

picture of the day: The Swedish Nightengale

The Swedish Nightengale

Swedish-born Jenny Lind (1820-1887), the greatest operatic and concert soprano of her age, was already the toast of Europe when she was approached by American showman P.T. Barnum in 1847. Even before hearing her voice, Barnum signed the ‘Swedish Nightingale‘ for 150 American concerts at the enormous sum of $150,000. With the help of Barnum’s matchless marketing, Jenny Lind mania swept America, with crowds of the rich and famous and ordinary music lovers alike falling at her feet. This 1850 daguerreotype of Miss Lind was taken by Matthew Brady.

Image: Library of Congress

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.WIyDvPBO.dpuf

today’s holiday: Mother’s Day (United States)

Mother’s Day (United States)

The setting aside of a day each year to honor mothers was the suggestion of Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose own mother had died on May 9, 1906. She held a memorial service and asked those attending to wear white carnations—a gesture that soon became a tradition. By 1914, President Woodrow Wilson had proclaimed a national day in honor of mothers, and some people still wear carnations on the second Sunday in May—pink or red for mothers who are living and white for those who have died. More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: The Panic of 1837 (1837)

The Panic of 1837 (1837)

In 1836, US President Andrew Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order requiring purchases of government land to be made only with gold and silver currency, or specie. A shortage of specie soon made loans harder to acquire, and the US economy suffered. When the speculative bubble burst in 1837, every bank in New York City stopped payment in specie. The Panic was followed by a nationwide depression involving record bank failures and unemployment levels. Who was blamed for the Panic? More… Discuss

Pope Francis and the drink of Peace: Yerba Mate | Look South

:

Ucranian immigrants cropping yerba mate in Tres Capones, Misiones, Argentina. House of V. Hnatiuk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plantation in Misiones, Argentina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

Pope Francis and the drink of Peace: Yerba Mate

 

June 21, 2013 · by Look South · in Argentina, South America, Tourism, Tours, Travel. ·

 

In the midst of political, religious, national, economic or personal problems, there is one thing that unites all Argentines: Mate.

Mate (pronounced máh-teh) despite what many people may say, is NOT in fact a herbal green tea although it is similar to one. Mate is a tea-like drink made from a green-colored jerboa (herb) that is a lot more robust than tea. For Argentines, mate is the very heart of life and is part of their tradition. It is drunk by the old and young, rich and poor, Peronists and Radicals, parents and children, during winter and summer

After years of conflict, Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner greeted the new Pope Francis with a beautiful mate set – el “mate de la paz” – after which the pope asked her to stay for lunch with “unos mates” to follow”. Rocco Palmo noted on the occasion that: “A longstanding Vatican protocol forbids the Pope being seen consuming anything but the Eucharist”, but this did not stop him being photographed enjoying the drink.

via Pope Francis and the drink of Peace: Yerba Mate | Look South.

 

 

Pope Pope Beedict XVI receives Yerba Mate cup from ambassador of Uruguay to Vatican

Pope Beedict XVI receives Yerba Mate cup from ambassador of Uruguay to Vatican

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Biography: Pepe Romero, World Renouned Classic Guitar Player

Pepe Romero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPepe Romero (born March 8, 1944 in Málaga, Spain) is a world-renowned classical and flamenco guitarist. He is particularly famous for his outstanding technique and colorful musical interpretations on the instrument.

Pepe Romero
Pepe Romero in 2000
Background information
Born	March 8, 1944 (age 71) Málaga, Spain
Genres	Classical music, flamenco
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, arranger
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	fl. ca. 1959 – present
Labels	Philips Records
Associated acts	The Romero Guitar Quartet
Website	www.peperomero.com
Notable instruments
Torres 1856

Biography

As a soloist Pepe Romero has appeared in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and many countries around the world with the Toronto, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh, Boston, San Francisco and Dallas Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the New York, Bogota and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the London Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, I Musici, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Hungarica, the Hungarian State Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Spanish National Radio/Television Orchestra, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, The New Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Springfiled Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the American Sinfonietta and the Bournemouth Symphony. He has been a special guest at the festivals of Salzburg, Israel, Schleswig-Holstein, Menuhin, Osaka, Granada, Istanbul, Ravinia, Garden State, Hollywood Bowl, Blossom, Wolf Trap, Saratoga and Hong Kong.

Since his first recording (at the age of 15) he has recorded over 50 solo albums and 30 albums as part of the famed guitar quartet The Romeros. He has played for Presidents Carter and Nixon, the Queen of the Netherlands, the Prince of Wales and Pope John Paul II. He has numerous international recording awards to his credit and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Music from University of Victoria.

His contributions to the field of classical guitar have inspired a number of distinguished composers to write works specifically for him, including Joaquín Rodrigo, Federico Moreno Torroba, Rev. Francisco de Madina, Lorenzo Palomo, Michael Zearott, Enrique Diemecke, and Celedonio Romero.

Pepe Romero is the second son of Celedonio Romero, who was his only guitar teacher. His first professional appearance was in a shared concert with his father when Pepe was only seven years old. In 1957 Celedonio Romero left Franco‘s Spain for the United States with his family.

On February 11, 2000, King Juan Carlos I of Spain knighted Pepe Romero and his brothers, Celin and Ángel, into the Order of “Isabel la Catolica.” The official ceremony of this high honor took place at the USC Thornton School of Music, and included a gala performance by The Romeros with the Thornton Chamber Orchestra. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Classical Guitar at the Thornton School, where he was named “Distinguished Artist in Residence” in 2004.^[1][2]

Although originally a classical guitarist, he is talented in Flamenco and a popular Flamenco performer. His most famous Flamenco-only album is called ¡Flamenco Fenómeno!

The Romero Guitar Quartet

The Romero Guitar Quartet

• 1960–90: Celedonio Romero, Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Ángel Romero
• 1990–96: Celedonio Romero, Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Celino Romero
• since 1996: Celin Romero, Pepe Romero, Celino Romero, Lito Romero

Related Stories:    HERE

https://euzicasa.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/pepe-romero-plays-fantasia-para-un-gentilhombre-by-joaquin-rodrigo-great-compositionsperformances/

Eating healthy is much more expensive than 10%— Fitness Motivation

?????? pic.twitter.com/r6602Re83q

— Fitness Motivation (@LiveHeaIthy2Day) May 8, 2015

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
May 8

1450		Jack Cade’s Rebellion–Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
1541		Hernando de Soto discovers the Mississippi River which he calls Rio de Espiritu Santo.
1559		An act of supremacy defines Queen Elizabeth I as the supreme governor of the church of England.
1794		The United States Post Office is established.
1846		The first major battle of the Mexican War is fought at Palo Alto, Texas.
1862		General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson repulses the Federals at the Battle of McDowell, in the Shenendoah Valley.
1864		Union troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House to find the Confederates waiting for them.
1886		Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton invents Coca Cola.
1895		China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki.
1904		U.S. Marines land in Tangier, North Africa, to protect the Belgian legation.
1919		The first transatlantic flight by a navy seaplane takes-off.
1933		Hahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike to protest British oppression in India.
1940		German commandos in Dutch uniforms cross the Dutch border to hold bridges for the advancing German army.
1942		The Battle of the Coral Sea between the Japanese Navy and the U.S. Navy ends.
1945		The final surrender of German forces is celebrated as VE (Victory Europe) day.
1952		Allied fighter-bombers stage the largest raid of the war on North Korea.
1958		President Eisenhower orders the National Guard out of Little Rock as Ernest Green becomes the first black to graduate from an Arkansas public school.
1967		Boxer Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.
1984		The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Summer Olympics planned for Los Angeles.
1995		Jacques Chirac is elected president of France.
Born on May 8
1668		Alain Rene Lesage, French writer (The Adventures of Gil Blas, Turcaret).
1753		Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican nationalist.
1828		Jean Henri Dunant, Swiss philanthropist, founder of the Red Cross and YMCA, first recipient (jointly) of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1829		Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American pianist.
1884		Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953).
1895		Edmund Wilson, American critic and essayist.
1906		Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director.
1910		Mary Lou Williams, jazz pianist and composer.
1920		Sloan Wilson, American author (The man in the Gray Flannel Suit, A Summer Place).
1928		Theodore Sorenson, advisor to John F. Kennedy.
1930		Gary Snyder, beat poet.
1937		Thomas Pynchon, novelist (Gravity’s Rainbow).
1940		Peter Benchley, novelist (Jaws, The Deep).
1952		Beth Henley, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Crimes of the Heart).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.JwQmRBg9.dpuf

this day in the yesteryear: The Hard Hat Riot (1970)

The Hard Hat Riot (1970)

Four days after four students were shot and killed while protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Ohio, several hundred anti-war protesters gathered near New York City Hall to hold a memorial for the shooting victims and protest the war. At around noon, 200 construction workers attacked the approximately 1,000 protesters—most of whom were high school and college students—resulting in dozens of injuries and six arrests. Who organized the construction workers in the counter-protest? More… Discuss

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word: empirical

empirical

Definition:	(adjective) Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.
Synonyms:	objective
Usage:	Scientists insist on empirical results, not mere speculation, to support their theories. Discuss.

How to Prepare Gaucho Mate (powdery yerba mate)

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• Six Health Benefits of Yerba Mate Tea
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“Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben” Lucia Popp , Vienna Haydn Orchestra, István Kertész (1972 Decca Music Group Limited) , A Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart: Zaide, K.344 / Act 1 – “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes

Leben”

#LuciaPopp

Published on Jan 13, 2015

“Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben”

Lucia Popp
Vienna Haydn Orchestra
István Kertész

℗ 1972 Decca Music Group Limited

Author: Schachtner, Johann Andreas
Composer: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Today In History. What Happened This Day In History

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.

Today in History
May 7

558		The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapses. Its immediate rebuilding is ordered by Justinian.
1274		The Second Council of Lyons opens in France to regulate the election of the pope.
1429		Joan of Arc breaks the English siege of Orleans.
1525		The German peasants’ revolt is crushed by the ruling class and church.
1763		Indian chief Pontiac begins his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan.
1800		Congress divides the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part will becomes the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remains the Northwest Territory.
1824		Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” premiers in Vienna.
1847		The American Medical Association is formed in Philadelphia.
1862		Confederate troops strike Union troops at the Battle of Eltham’s Landing in Virginia.
1864		The Battle of Wilderness ends with heavy losses to both sides.
1877		Indian chief Sitting Bull enters Canada with a trail of Indians after the Battle of Little Big Horn.
1915		The German submarine U-20 torpedoes the passenger ship Lusitiania, sinking her in 21 minutes with 1,978 people on board.
1937		The German Condor Legion arrives in Spain to assist Fransico Franco’s forces.
1942		In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attack each other with carrier-launched warplanes. It is the first time in the history of naval warfare where two fleets fought without seeing each other.Two crucial battles in 1942 marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
1943		The last major German strongholds in North Africa–Tunis and Bizerte–fall to Allied forces.
1945		Germany signs an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II in Europe.
1952		In Korea, Communist POWs at Koje-do riot against their American captors.
1954		French troops surrender to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu.
1958		Howard Johnson sets an aircraft altitude record in F-104.
1960		Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the Soviet Union.
Born on May 7
1812		Robert Browning, English poet.
1833		Johannes Brahms, German composer.
1840		Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer.
1870		Marcus Loew, film executive, consolidated studios to create MGM.
1892		Josip Broz [Tito], leader of Yugoslavia during after World War II.
1892		Archibald MacLeish, American poet and statesman.
1901		Gary Cooper, film actor (High Noon, Friendly Persuasion).
1909		Edwin Herbert Land, inventor of the Poloroid Land Camera.
1919		Eva (Evita) Perón, first lady of Argentina.
1932		Jenny Joseph, English poet and novelist (The Thinking Heart, The Inland Sea).
1943		Peter Carey, Australian writer (Illywhacker, Oscar and Lucinda).

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.nPmBqJGM.dpuf

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• May 7 in history

image of the day: V-E Day

V-E Day

After five years, World War II in Europe ended on May 7, 1945, when Colonel General Alfred Jodl, the last chief of staff of the German Army, signed the unconditional surrender at General Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s headquarters at Rheims, France. The next morning, President Harry S. Truman‘s radio announcement of V-E Day touched off celebrations in Allied areas throughout the world. Happy Stars and Stripes staffers in London are shown here reading copies of the surrender announcement as they roll off the presses. – See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.gX5PNcj2.dpuf

Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 7th, 2015: St. Rose Venerini

Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 7th, 2015

St. Rose Venerini

Blessed Rose was born at Viterbo in 1656, the daughter of Godfrey Venerini, a physician. Upon the death of a young man who had been paying court to her, she entered a convent, but after a few months … continue reading

Rose of Viterbo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More Saints of the Day

St. Rose Venerini St. Domitian of Huy St. Flavius St. John of Beverly St. Juvenal of Benevento St. Liudhard

Bl. Michael Ulumbijski St. Peter of Pavia St. Placid St. Quadratus St. Serenidus & Serenus St. Villanus

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today’s holiday: Festa di San Nicola

Festa di San Nicola

The Festa di San Nicola (Festival of St. Nicholas) is celebrated in Italy on the anniversary of the transfer of the saint’s relics by a group of 11th-century sailors from Bari. Thousands of pilgrims come to the Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, Puglia, to worship at the saint’s tomb and to ask for his help. There is a procession on this day in which a group of Barese sailors take the saint’s image down to the water, where it is placed on a flower-decked boat and taken out to sea. At night the statue is returned to its place of honor on the altar of San Nicola’s crypt. More… Discuss

today’s birthday Olympe de Gouges (1748)

Olympe de Gouges (1748)

Born Marie Gouze, de Gouges was a French author whose feminist writings during the French Revolution demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding. In 1791, alarmed that the new constitution did not address woman’s suffrage, she wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, challenging the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. Why was she executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror? More… Discuss

Pope John Paul II Visits Mosque (2001)

When Pope John Paul II visited Syria’s Umayyad Mosque, where the head of John the Baptist—a holy figure in both Christianity and Islam—is said to be interred, he became the first Catholic Pope to enter and pray in an Islamic mosque. The address he delivered there, promoting peace between Muslims and Christians, reflected his ongoing ecumenical efforts, which included meeting with religious leaders from other faiths and denominations. While in Syria, the pope aroused controversy by kissing what? More… Discuss