• Aboriginals in North America
  • Beast Literature
  • Canadiana.1
  • Dances & Music
  • Europe
  • Fables and Fairy Tales
  • Fables by Jean de La Fontaine
  • Feasts & Liturgy
  • Great Books Online
  • La Princesse de Clèves
  • Middle East
  • Molière
  • Nominations
  • Posts on Love Celebrated
  • Posts on the United States
  • The Art and Music of Russia
  • The French Revolution & Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Voyageurs Posts
  • Canadiana.2

Micheline's Blog

~ Art, music, books, history & current events

Micheline's Blog

Daily Archives: December 6, 2013

Good Morning Everyone

06 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Music, Sharing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christmas, French Overture, Jean Hugueny, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Le Rappel des oiseaux, Sokolov, students

devin_village_colindevin_village_costume_colette
 
Colin & Colette, drawing by Jean Hugueny (1800 – 1850) (Photo credit: Blog Rousseau)
 

Sources: Le Devin du Village, J. J. Rousseau (1752)

http://www.allmusic.com/album/rousseau-le-devin-du-village-mw0001577344

This is not another post about Le Devin du village. However, for students who use my posts in their research, I should point out that the 5 December post includes a French overture. Italian-born Lully (28 November 1632 – 22 March 1687) created the French overture.  It also has a link to the complete lyrics.

Christmas is coming

It’s a cold day in Quebec and people are buying gifts and special food. Christmas is still a major event in this province, but it has changed. A long time ago, it consisted of reunions and meals. People celebrated from the 25th (Midnight Mass) until Epiphany, January 6th. They went from house to house, visiting.

In the very old days, transportation was easy. People had horses and sleighs with bells. Moreover, there were no telephones. Guests arrived uninvited, except that one could hear the grelots, the snow bells.

A very long time ago, there was a piano in every house. Singing was extremely important. People sang Christmas carols and other favourites. There were many good singers and Church organists were easy to find.

The four weeks of Advent were spent dreaming. Usually, snow had started to fall in late November or early December, sometimes earlier. I can hear the sound of boots on the hard snow.

When I was a child, gifts were not very important, but my mother and her Belgian friend, Mariette, made gifts for us. They used whatever as at hand. I so loved green that every Christmas, I got a new green dress. Sometimes it was an original design. Mariette had been wardrobe mistress for the Brussels Opera. It took her less than a day to make the dress.

We always attended the Christmas parade bundled up in warm clothes. My mother did not want us to miss out on anything. I was not interested in the Christmas parade. In fact, I had a doll and never played with it. I simply sat her on my bed and I looked at her admiringly. I didn’t want to touch her for fear I would break it.

However, I played my piano for hours on end and read.  We had books. 

Going to Midnight Mass was a magical event.  When we returned home for the réveillon, we put little Jesus in his crib.

So Christmas is coming. There will probably be a family Christmas dinner, but I do not know whether or not I will be invited.

Grigory Sokolov (b. 1950)
“Le Rappel des oiseaux”
Jean-Philippe Rameau (25 September 1683 – 12 September 1764)
 

Francois%20Boucher-547347

© Micheline Walker
6 December 2013
WordPress
 
 
Winter
François Boucher (1703-1770)
(Photo credit: Google images)

Micheline's Blog

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Europa

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,476 other followers

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Language Laws in Quebec: Bill 96
  • From the Rurik Dynasty to the first Romanov
  • Uvalde: Analysis Paralysis
  • The Second Amendment to the American Constitution: a Misunderstanding
  • The Rurikid Princes & the Tsardom of Russia
  • The Decline of Kievan Rus’
  • Ilya Repin, Ivan IV and his son Ivan on 16 November 1581, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
  • Ukraine’s Varangian Princes, its Primary Chronicle, the Russkaya Pravda …
  • Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a Cossack Hetman
  • Ruthenia vs Ukraine

Archives

Calendar

December 2013
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Nov   Jan »

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • WordPress.org

micheline.walker@videotron.ca

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker

Social

Social

  • View belaud44’s profile on Facebook
  • View Follow @mouchette_02’s profile on Twitter
  • View Micheline Walker’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View belaud44’s profile on YouTube
  • View Miicheline Walker’s profile on Google+
  • View michelinewalker’s profile on WordPress.org

Micheline Walker

Micheline Walker
Follow Micheline's Blog on WordPress.com

A WordPress.com Website.

  • Follow Following
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Join 2,476 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Micheline's Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: