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Monthly Archives: July 2015

“Belling the Cat:” more Bells

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Animals in Literature, Fables

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Abstemius, Aesop's Fables, An Argosy of Fables, Belling the Cat, La Fontaine, Le Conseil tenu pas les rats, Luqman, Perry Index 613, Romulus, Ysopet-Avionnet

John Edwin Noble, 1876-1941 (Photo credit: Bridgeman Images)
John Edwin Noble, 1876-1941 (Photo credit: Bridgeman Images)

John Edwin Noble (Photo credit: Bridgeman Images)

This post is a continuation of recent posts featuring bells.  It also belongs to a series on Fables and other works featuring animals.

Sources and Classification

  • the Perry Index 163
  • Aesop

Aesop (620 and 560 BCE) was a Greek story teller who told Fables. It could be that he also wrote the fables he told, but these appear to have been transmitted orally from generation to generation. They therefore belong to an oral tradition as is the case with fairy tales. It has been claimed Aesop was a  “Levantin,” i.e. from the Middle East,[1] that he was a freed slave, that he was forced to jump to his death or pushed down a cliff, but the truth is that we do not know whether or not there ever lived an Aesop.

Aesop however is not the first Greek story teller to write fables. A “Goose with the Golden Eggs,”entitled  “Une femme et une poule,” is attributed to Luqman (c. 1100 BCE).

Biographies of Aesop

  • Maximus Planudes
  • Jean de La Fontaine

Yet, not only do we have written collections of fables by Aesop, but biographies, hence the information given above. The main biography of Aesop is by Maximus Planudes (c. 1260 – c. 1305), a Greek monk and scholar who lived in Constantinople, the former Byzantium and current Istanbul (Turkey). Planudes was a compiler of the Greek Anthology, yet was also famed for his command of Latin and polished translations of Aesop’s Fables. Planudes published the first annotated collection of Aesop’s Fables.

La Fontaine also wrote a short biography of Aesop entitled La Vie d’Ésope, le Phrygien. It prefaces his first collection of fables, 6 books, published in 1668.

India and the Middle East

La Fontaine’s second collection shows the influence of fables originating in the Sanskrit Panchatantra by Vishnu Sharma and versions of Abdullah Ibn Al-Muqaffa‘s Persian Kalīlah wa Dimnah, fables based on the Panchatantra. There are two more renditions of Kalīlah wa Dimnah, but all three are linked to one another and to the Panchatantra because the story-teller within the book is Pilpay, Bidpai, or Bidpaï.

  • Ibn Al-Muqaffa’s Kalīlah wa Dimnah. Ibn Al-Muqaffa (died c. 756-759) was a Muslim Persian scholar;
  • Kalīleh o Demneh (12th century CE; author not specified) Persian;
  • Kashefi’s Anvār-e Soheylī, or “The Lights of Canopus” (15th century) Persian.

Had Jean de La Fontaine (8 July 1621 – 13 April 1695) read Gilbert Gaulmin‘s 1644 Livre des lumières before publishing his first volume of fables, we could suggest a direct oriental influence. I am writing “direct” because India and the Middle East are the birthplace of a substantial number of fables and, in particular, fables featuring animals. Gilbert Gaulmin’s Livre des lumières is probably rooted in Kashefi‘s “The Lights of Canopus.”  Lumières means “lights.”

However, La Fontaine had not read Gaulmin’s Livre des lumières when he wrote his first volume of fables (6 of 12 books). “Le Conseil tenu par les rats” (“The Mice in Council”) is included in La Fontaine’s first of three recueils (collections) of fables, published in 1668, 1678, and shortly before 1695, the year he died.

Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
J. J. Grandville
J. J. Grandville
Auguste Vimar
Auguste Vimar

Gustave Doré
J. J. Grandville
Auguste Vimar
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An Oral and a Learned Tradition

  • Phaedrus 1st century CE (Latin)
  • Babrius 2nd century CE (Greek)
  • Flavius Avianus 5th century CE (Latin)

In the absence of a text, Aesop’s Fables have been considered an example of the oral tradition, fables transmitted orally from generation to generation. It seems Aesop’s Fables did not enter a “learned” tradition until Latin author Phaedrus, who lived in the 1st century CE, published a book of fables attributed to Aesop (Gutenberg [EB #25512]). So did Greek author Babrius (Gabrias), in the second century CE. Babrius may have been a Levantin (from the Middle East).

Collections of fables by Aesop are based on the learned tradition inaugurated by Phaedrus and Babrius. But neither Phaedrus nor Babrius wrote a “Mice in Council.”

A third early translator of Aesop is Flavius Avianus (400 CE/5th century), the author-translator of 42 Aesopic fables. However, “The Mice in Council” is not included in Avianus’ translations.

L’Ysopet-Avionnet

  • Avianus, (Avionnet, 5th century)
  • Walter of England (12th century)

After some reflection, I looked for a copy of the Ysopet-Avionnet on the internet and found “The Mice in Council.” The Ysopet-Avionnet is a collection of fables that was used as a school text from the Middle Ages until the early part of the 20th century. It is an Internet Archive publication, p. 191, printed near the end of the book (please click on Internet Archive). In the Ysopet-Avionnet, “The Mice in Council” is entitled “Des Souris qui firent concile contre le chat”(“De muribus concilium facientibus contra catum”). 

However, the Ysopet-Avionnet’s “The Mice in Council”  or “Belling the Cat” seems to have come out of nowhere. Neither 5th-century Avianus nor 12th-century Anglo-Norman fabulist Walter of England, Gualterus Anglicus, wrote a “Mice in Council.” Yet, the fables published in the Ysopet-Avionnet are by Walter of England for the most part. Walter of England, who wrote in Anglo-Norman, is also known as the “anonymous Neveleti.” The Neveleti we know is Isaac Nicholas Névelet, the Swiss author of a 1610 Mythologia Aesopica, La Fontaine’s main source.[3] 

Consequently, although it was published in the Ysopet-Avionnet, 15th-century Italian fabulist Laurentius Abstemius’ is considered the first writer—i.e. the “learned” as opposed to the oral tradition—of “The Mice in Council.” His Hecatomythium was published in 1495, nearly three centuries after the publication of the Ysopet-Avionnet. (See French site shanaweb.net.)

An English Tradition

  • William Caxton (translator, printer, diplomat) (1484)
  • Sir Roger L‘Estrange‘s Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists (1692) (Abstemius’ Hecatomythium, 1495)
  • Samuel Croxall (c.1690 – 1752), the author of The Fables of Aesop; with Instructive Applications. Aesop’s Fables 100 Cuts

Laurentius Abstemius‘ Hecatomythium (1495) is the source of Sir Roger L’Estrange‘s Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists (1692). A collection of fables by Aesop had been printed and possibly translated by famed English translator and printer William Caxton, in 1484, too early to include Abstemius’ “Mice in Council.” Caxton printed The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton, in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio, now again edited and induced. A third English fabulist was Samuel Croxall (c. 1690 – 1752), the author of The Fables of Aesop; with Instructive Applications. Aesop’s Fables 100 Cuts. Croxall was an Anglican churchman. Moralizing would be his chief objective.

Ysopets and Romulus

  • the 12th century
  • Aesop>Ysopet
  • Romulus>a Romulus
  • Marie de France

The 12th century is a turning-point and a culmination. In fact, it has been called a Renaissance. Marie de France lived at the end of the 12th century and Walter of England published his fables a smidgen earlier but in the 12th century. In France, collections of fables by Aesop were by then called Ysopets or Isopets and became textbooks used in schools. An Ysopet could also be called a Romulus. As well, Reynard the Fox was born in 1148-1149 as Reinardus in the Ysengrimus, a beast epic not intended for children.

There may have been a fabulist named Romulus, who wrote Latin prose fables, but he is now considered a legendary figure. However a Romulus could be a collection of prose fables written in Latin and rooted in Phaedrus. (See Romulus, Wikipedia.) We have several and among these:

  • The Romulus Ordinarius (Romulus Vulgaris), 83 tales known in a 9th-century text;
  • The Romulus Roberti;
  • The Romulus of Vienna;
  • The Romulus of Nilant or (Romulus Nilantinus), 45 fables, published in 1709 by Johan Frederik Nilant (Jean-Frédéric Nilant).
  • The Novus Aesopus was put together at the end of the twelfth century by Alexander Neckam

These may have been versified by Walter of England  Gualterus Anglicus, Alexander Neckam (Novus Aesopus), Adémar de Chabannes (c. 989 – 1034; 67 fables), and other translators or fabulists.

French author Marie de France used a Romulus as a source for her collection of 102 fables written in Anglo-Norman. (My copy has 103 fables.) Marie de France is a major author who will be discussed in a later post.

The texts

La Fontaine’s “Le Conseil tenu par les rats” (1.II.2) (full text)
La Fontaine’s “The Council held by the rats” (1.II.2) (full text)

The Mice in Council, Milo Winter
The Mice in Council, Milo Winter
The Mice in Council, Milo Winter
The Mice in Council, Milo Winter

Milo Winter
(Photo credit: The Gutenberg Project [EBook #19994])

Belling the Cat

The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day.

Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough. At last a very young Mouse got up and said:

“I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful. All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat’s neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming.”

All the Mice were much surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old Mouse arose and said:

“I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will bell the Cat?”

It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it.

Comments

Prudence or foresight is the moral of nearly all Aesopic fables. One has to think. Prudence makes it unrealistic for a mouse to try to hang a bell down a cat’s neck. In La Fontaine’s fable, the solution to the rats’ main peril, being devoured by the cat, would cause a rat to be devoured, certain death and, therefore, the greater peril. No rat can bell a cat.

In An Argosy of Fables,[4] the translator, Thomas James, has the mice applaud when it occurs to them that they need simply bell the cat. A mouse then gets up and asks the relevant question: Who will bell the cat?

In La Fontaine, we have what he calls a comedy: “[u]ne ample Comédie à cent [one hundred] actes divers.” (“Le bûcheron [the lumberjack] et Mercure” [1.V.1].) The cat is named after François Rabelais‘ Rodilardus (the Latin form of Rodilard [round and fat]). There is, moreover, a reference to the French court, which 1s to be expected from Jean de La Fontaine, whose patron had been Nicolas Fouquet. Courtiers waste time. They are mindless.

In English, the “who will Bell the Cat” is idiomatic. It has entered the English language and is now proverbial. Fables are the illustration of a proverb, but in our fable the illustration has returned to a proverb, which probably means that the illustration, or exemplum is very powerful.

Conclusion

The “Mice in Council” may be difficult to trace and is sometimes confused with “The Cat and the Mice.” However, it was included in the widely-read Ysopet-Avionnet, as well as Laurentius Abstemius’ Hecatomythium (1495). So it appears to date back to the 12th century and the 15th century, except that we do not know who wrote the 12th century “Mice in Council.”

“Belling the Cat” is Jean de La Fontaine’s Le Conseil tenu par les rats, Walter Crane left an image and it is incorporated in the Aesop for Children, exquisitely illustrated by Milo Winter [EBook #19994]. It is also featured in the An Argosy of Fables, 1921, a Wikisource publication where it is attributed to Abstemius. Laura Gibbs has classified it as Aesopic, which makes perfect sense since it is featured in the Aesop for Children, 1919. (See MythFolklore.net.)

It seems to me that Wikipedia’s view of the provenance of “Belling the Cat” is also very sensible.

“In the classificatory system established for the fables by B. E. Perry, it is numbered 613, which is reserved for Mediaeval attributions outside the Aesopic canon.”

The Mice in Council

The Mice in Council by Nora Fry

An Argosy of Fables

An Argosy of Fables, 1921 (Wikisource)

 

Warm greetings to all of you. ♥ 

Sources and Resources

Nora Fry YouTube
The Aesop for Children, Project Gutenberg [EBook #19994] EN
Laura Gibbs, Latina Bestiaria EN
The Fables of Pilpay, Internet Archive EN
Les Fables de Pilpay, philosophe indien; ou la Conduite des rois (Google Books) FR
The Fables of Phaedrus, Project Gutenberg [EBook #25512] EN
Robinson Ellis, The Fables of Phaedrus, Internet Archive EN
Ysopet-Avionnet, Internet Archive, p. 191 Latin FR
Aesop’s Fables by William Caxton, Internet Archive EN
Fables de Loqman le Sage, J. Derembourg, 1850 Internet Archive FR

____________________
[1] Stated in Les Fables de Pilpay, philosophe indien; ou la Conduite des rois. (See Internet Archive FR.)

[2] Avianus is possibly Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, the author of Saturnalia. (See Macrobius, Wikipedia.)

[3] La Fontaine’s main source was Swiss fabulist Neveleti’s who used Avianus. Névelet or the anonymous Neveleti, did not write a “Belling the Cat.”
http://www.shanaweb.net/esope/nevelet/les-fables-esope-selon-nevelet.html
http://www.shanaweb.net/des-rats-tenant-conseil/
http://www.shanaweb.net/origine-des-fables-de-jean-de-la-fontaine/

[4] Frederic Taber Cooper (ed.) and Paul Bransom (illust.), An Argosy of Fables, a Representative Selection from the Fable Literature of every Age and Land (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers, 1921).

Aaron Copland plays “The Cat & the Mouse”

Robinson Ellis, a fabulist

Latin Literature, Spy in Vanity Fair, 1894

© Micheline Walker
29 July 2015
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45.403816 -71.938314

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A Progress Report

23 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Russian Music, Sharing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Great Gate of Kiev, Modest Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Viktor Hartmann

Great Gate of Kiev by Hartmann

Great Gate of Kiev by Viktor Hartmann (architect)

A Progress Report

I am or was in the process of selling my apartment or, to be more precise, my one-ninth of a small apartment building. The first person who visited made an offer I considered acceptable.

However, the co-owners of this building will not allow anyone to take a mortgage to pay for his or her ninth of the building. It has to be paid in full. My portion was bought by proxy. What a mistake!

At any rate, I have not been able to write since learning that I am unlikely to find a buyer for my property.

Bells in Russian Music

However, we have more bells in Russian music. Modest Mussorgsky was one the “Five” composers, the “mighty handful,” who wanted to give an identity to the music of Russia.

I have used Hartmann’s design in an earlier post, but in a different context and in relatively finer days for the Ukraine.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • All the bells will ring (13 July 2015)
  • Viktor Hartmann & Modest Mussorgsky (8 September 2012)

I send all of you my kindest regards. ♥

Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Douglas Gamley, arranger & conductor
 

Ilya_Repin_-_Портрет_композитора_М_П_Мусоргского_-_Google_Art_Project© Micheline Walker
23 July 2015
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Modest Mussorgsky
by Ilya Repin
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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I remember Srebenica…

16 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Genocide, Sharing, War

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

"Hear my prayer", Auschwitz, Guernica, Henry Purcell, Picasso, Srebrenica Massacre

Guernica by Picasso (Photo credit: abcgallery.com)

Guernica by Picasso (Photo credit: abcgallery.com)

“Did you do this?” asked a Nazi officer. Picasso replied: “No, you did.”

—ooo—

I’ve just come away from reading Ina Vukic’s latest posts.

http://inavukic.com/2015/07/12/is-defending-serbias-aleksandar-vucic-at-srebrenica-the-same-as-defending-adolf-hitler-at-Auschwitz/

Some people claim Auschwitz never happened. It did, and so did the Srebrenica massacre. The cameras were there. 

No one would defend Hitler at Auschwitz, so what was Aleksandar Vucic doing at Srebrenica this past Saturday? The massacre took place a mere twenty (20) years ago, in July 1995.

People forgive and live a “normal” life, but they remember.

I remember Srebenica…

picasso44

Choir of Clare College Cambridge singing Henry Purcell‘s “Hear my prayer”

Peace, Picasso
A Dove, Picasso

© Micheline Walker
16 July 2015
WordPress 

45.403816 -71.938314

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Les Trois Cloches: Edith Piaf & les Compagnons de la chanson

14 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Songs

≈ Comments Off on Les Trois Cloches: Edith Piaf & les Compagnons de la chanson

Tags

Édith Piaf, Bells, Jean Villard Gilles, Les Compagnons de la chanson

Edith Piaf

Édith Piaf as featured in a weblog named Love happens blog, by Koket (Photo credit: Love happens blog, by Koket)

Let us first return to Guillaume Apollinaire’s poem “Marie,” set to music by Léo Ferré in order to introduce Édith Piaf’s Les trois cloches.

1. Vous y dansiez petite fille (This is where you dance as a little girl)/ 2. Y danserez-vous mère-grand (Will you dance there as a grandmother or Is this where you’ll dance as a grandmother)/ 3. C’est la maclotte qui sautille (maclotte is a old dance) (This is maclotte [an old dance] hopping about)/ 4. Toutes les cloches sonneront (All the bells will ring)/ 5. Quand donc reviendrez-vous Marie  (So when will you come back Marie or When will you be back Marie)

Marie: the bells

As indicated in Marie, the Words to a Love Song, Guillaume Apollinaire‘s imagery is extremely rich. It evokes the masques, as in a masquerade or the commedia dell’arte. There are also references to other poems, such as François Villon‘s Ballade des dames du temps jadis (neige d’antan or snows of yesteryear) and Pierre de Ronsard‘s famous Sonnet pour Hélène (carpe diem or seize the day). Marie is a fine example of intertextualité, texts referring to other texts. Love is compared to a disease and life, to a rose, etc.

However, we are now emphasizing the fourth line of the first stanza of Guillaume Apollinaire’s “All the bells will ring” (octosyllabic [8]) poem: Toutes les cloches sonneront (Tou-tes-les-clo-ches-son-ne-ront): All the bells will ring.

I have singled out this particular line because of the role bells play in the life of many human beings, Christians in particular. Traditionally, in the Western and Eastern Church, bells rang on three of the most important events in life: birth (baptism), marriage and death. Marriage is a legitimate substitute to life, both brief and eternal, because human beings can have children. This allusion is confirmed by the words “petite fille” (little girl) and “mère-grand” (grandmother) (lines 1 & 2). As a child, Marie could dance, but will she dance as a grandmother?

The Three Bells

Édith Piaf and les Compagnons de la chanson sang “Les trois cloches,” a Swiss song written in French by Jean Villard Gilles. Piaf and les Compagnons de la chanson performed The Three Bells, at the beginning of their American tour, 1945-1946.

Summary

In Les trois cloches, a child is born in a village deep within the valley, on a starry night (nuit étoilée). He has chubby cheeks (joufflu) and is tender and pink. He will be baptized the following day (demain: tomorrow) and will be named Jean-François Nicot.

Bells are ringing and, from echo to echo, they announce the birth of Jean-François and welcome this new soul. He is a flower yet to bloom under the light (day). He is like a flame freshly lit, fragile. He will require protection, care and love.

When he marries la douce Élise, before God in the old church, Jean-François Nicot is only 19 years old. Élise, whom he is marrying, is as white as the blossoming flowers of an apple tree.

Bells are ringing. It is Jean-François’ wedding day. “One heart, one soul, and forever,” says the priest. “Be a pure flame rising and proclaiming the greatness of your love.”

In a village, deep within the valley, many days and many nights have passed. Time has fled. On a starry night, a heart falls asleep, François has died… For all flesh is like the grass. It is like a wildflower, corn, ripe fruit, bouquets and wreaths. Alas, everything dries up…

A bell is tolling. Jean-François’ allotted days on earth are over. His life is our life. We are born, we have a family and we return to eternal life.

The following link takes you to the French poem and its English translation.  This performance is difficult to access.

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/les-trois-cloches-three-bells.html

Les Trois Cloches

Village au fond de la vallée
Comme égaré, presqu’ignoré (lost)
Voici qu’en la nuit étoilée (the starry night)
Un nouveau-né nous est donné (A newborn)
Jean-François Nicot il se nomme (he is named)
Il est joufflu, tendre et rosé (chubby cheeks)
À l’église, beau petit homme, (At church, little man [pronounced pe-ti-thom])
Demain tu seras baptisé…

Une cloche sonne, sonne (A bell rings)
Sa voix d’écho en écho (Its voice)
Dit au monde qui s’étonne: (people are astonished)
“C’est pour Jean-François Nicot” (It’s)
C’est pour accueillir une âme (to welcome a soul)
Une fleur qui s’ouvre au jour (opens)
A peine, à peine une flamme (Barely)
Encore faible qui réclame (weak, asks for)
Protection, tendresse, amour…

Village au fond de la vallée
Loin des chemins, loin des humains (Far from roads)
Voici qu’après dix-neuf années (after nineteen years)
Coeur en émoi, le Jean-François (His heart fluttering)
Prend pour femme la douce Élise (Marries Élise)
Blanche comme fleur de pommier (apple tree)
Devant Dieu, dans la vieille église (Before God, in the old church)
Ce jour ils se sont mariés… (On that day they married)

Toutes les cloches sonnent, sonnent
Leurs voix d’écho en écho (Their voices)
Merveilleusement couronnent (Marvelously crown)
La noce à François Nicot (François’ wedding)
“Un seul coeur, une seule âme”, (Only one heart, only one soul)
Dit le prêtre, “et pour toujours (Says the priest, forever)
Soyez une pure flamme (Be a pure flame)
Qui s’élève et qui proclame (That rises)
La grandeur de votre amour.”

Village au fond de la vallée
Des jours, des nuits, le temps a fui (time has fled)
Voici qu’en la nuit étoilée
Un cœur s’endort, François est mort… (A heart falls asleep, François has died)
Car toute chair est comme l’herbe (For all flesh is like the grass)
Elle est comme la fleur des champs (the wildflower)
Épis, fruits mûrs, bouquets et gerbes, (Corn, ripe fruit, bouquets, wreaths)
Hélas tout va se desséchant…  (all dries up)

Une cloche sonne, sonne (A bell tolls)
Elle chante dans le vent (Sa voix d’écho en écho)
Obsédante et monotone (Dit au monde qui s’étonne)
Elle redit aux vivants: (It tells the living again) (La mort de…) (The death of…)
“Ne tremblez pas coeurs fidèles
Dieu vous fera signe un jour! (God will call you one day) 
Vous trouverez sous son aile (You will find under His wing)
Avec la vie éternelle
L’éternité de l’amour…” (Eternal love)

I send all of you my kindest regards. ♥

Marie Laurencin, 1924

Marie Laurencin, 1924

© Micheline Walker
14 July 2015
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All the bells will ring …

13 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Music

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Apollinaire, Bells in music, Hélène Grimaud, Rachmaninov, Russian Music, Tchaikovsky, Vasily Surikov, Vladimir Ashkenazi

belfry-ivan-the-great-1876

Belfry Ivan the Great by Vasily Surikov, 1876 (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

Toutes les cloches sonneront

Vous y dansiez petite fille
Y danserez-vous mère-grand
C’est la maclotte qui sautille
Toutes les cloches sonneront
Quand donc reviendrez-vous Marie

(See Marie: the Words to a Love Song)

This post is a continuation of a discussion of “Marie,” a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire  set to music by Léo Ferré. “Marie” is a love poem. Apollinaire was romantically involved with Marie Laurencin, a well-known French artist who was a frequent guest in many salons. In the first stanza, Apollinaire writes: “Toutes les cloches sonneront,” if Marie as a grandmother can dance as she did as a young girl. 

Bells are a powerful symbol. For instance, the line “[t]outes les cloches sonneront” brings to mind  “Les trois cloches,” (The Three Bells), a Swiss song written in French by Jean Villard Gilles that won Édith Piaf and les Compagnons de la chanson a great deal of praise. It is the subject-matter of my nearly complete next post. In “Les trois cloches,” bells ring when Jean-François Nicot is baptized. They ring on his wedding day. And they ring at his funeral. These are the key events of his life, our life, and bells ring.

Bells, however, church bells, are particularly important in Russia and are one of the distinguishing elements of Russian music.

Bells in Russian Music

  • liturgical use
  • other uses (secular)
  • an institution
  • the carillon

It is not uncommon for Russian composers to imitate the sound of bells in their music or include bells among musical instruments. In Russia, bells, church bells, were/are used for both liturgical and secular purposes This is also the case in the Western Church, but to a much lesser extent.

In other words, bells in Russia are little short of an institution.

The language of bells

Not all bells produce an identical sound. For instance they differ in size. A large bell is a louder bell. When mixed and depending on the rhythmic pattern, bells may therefore be used to convey a rather wide spectrum of messages, liturgical and secular. Some bells can be heard from afar and transmit a message that other bells can retransmit: D’écho en écho (Les trois cloches).

The Carillon

There is an instrument made of bells: the carillon. It may use a large number of bells. Ottawa’s Peace Tower has a carillon of 52 bells (see carillon, Wikipedia), played by Dr Andrea McGrady, the Dominion carillonneur. The carillon is an instrument that reminds me of a church organ. There are carillons all over the world and in places such as university campuses and parliaments. In Germany, a carillon is called a Glockenspiel. Elsewhere a Glockenspiel resembles a zylophone.

Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris

In Victor Hugo‘s Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame), published in 1831, the cathedral’s bells are central to the novel. Quasimodo, the hunchback, is brought up to be the bell-ringer and swings from a rope to save Esméralda from the gallows.

The Canonical Hours 

Bells are also linked to the eight Canonical Hours or Liturgy of the Hours and the more secular, but devotional, Book of Hours. In “Frère Jacques,” a 17th-century song, the eponymous Frère Jacques rings the canonical hour called matins:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

—ooo— 

But let us return to Russia.

Although church bells are used in many cultures, for both liturgical and secular purposes, in Russia, they play a more central role than they do in the Western Church. However, the phenomenon I wish to emphasize is, first, their being imitated in music and, second, their being used as a musical instrument.

Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky composed music which, unlike the compositions of the Group of Five, did not attempt to be a national idiom, which does not mean that their music is not Russian. It features bells.

Sergei Rachmaninov

  • Prelude in C-sharp minor
  • Piano Concerto Op 18/2

A discussion of bells could lead to a very long post. For the time being, let us note that Russian composers use musical instruments to reproduce the sound of bells ringing and that they may used bells as instruments. As we have seen above, there is an instrument made of bells: the carillon. However, we will listen to two works for the piano composed by Sergei Rachmaninov and imitating the sound of bells. We will also listen to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture: bells and cannons.

The very end of Sergei Rachmaninov‘s Prelude in C-sharp minor 🎶 (Op. 3/2)  the sound of bells. One may not hear the bells immediately, but we are definitely listening to a reproduction of the sound of bells in a piece for the piano. I am including a performance by Russian-born pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Prelude in C-sharp minor (Op. 3/2)

Piano Concerto Op. 18/2 🎶

One can also hear bells at the very beginning of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto Op 18/2. I am embedding Hélène Grimaud‘s performance of this concerto. According to Wikipedia:

“[t]he opening movement begins with a series of bell-like tollings on the piano that build tension, eventually climaxing in the introduction of the main theme.”
(See Piano Concerto Op 18/2, Wikipedia.)

Tchaikovsky: chimes and cannons

The 1812 Overture, with chimes and cannons, is a celebration of the defeat of Napoléon‘s Grande Armée in Russia. An excerpt of the 1812 Overture closes this post.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Marie: the Words to a Love Song (20 June 2015)
  • The Canonical Hours or the Divine Office (19 Nov 2011)
    (links are being refreshed)

Sources and Resources

  • Bells in Russia (CD)
  • Russian Orthodox Bell Ringing (Wikipedia)
  • Liturgy of the Hours

With kindest regards to all of you. ♥
____________________

Edward V. Williams, The Bells of Russia: History and Technology (Princeton University Press, 2014 [1986])

belfry-ivan-the-great-1876© Micheline Walker
12 July 2015
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The Creative Blogger Award

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Awards

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

De-ale copilariᾰi, Hands on Bowie, Messy Mandela, Mr. Militant Negro, Oneanna.65, Shiva Acharya, The Fifth Column, Todd Lohenry, Vultureşti, Xena

tcba

Thank you Aquileana

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/

Aquileana

Aquileana

It is a privilege to me nominated for an award by a knowledgeable and very generous person. Aquileana’s contribution to the internet is Greek mythology, the story of a civilization accompanied by images, visual representations that portray the human experience.

Add the logo to your post

Micheline's Blog

Micheline’s Blog

https://michelinewalker.com/

Nominate Ten Bloggers

My nominees are:

http://brightshinyobjects.net/ Todd Lohenry
http://theobamacrat.com/ Mr. Militant Negro
http://kstreet607.com/about-kstreet607/ The Fifth Column
https://blackbutterfly7.wordpress.com/author/blackbutterfly768/ Xena
http://messymandella.com/ Messy Mandella
https://atdoru.wordpress.com/ Vultureşti
https://hopedog.wordpress.com/ Hands on Bowie
https://thelittleclaycart.wordpress.com/author/astroshiva/ Shiva Acharya
https://rantzz.wordpress.com/tag/oneanna65/ Oneanna.65
http://danaiana.com/about/ De-ale copilariᾰi

Rules for these this award

  1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award. This is not necessary.
  2. Add the logo to your post.
  3. Nominate ten (10) bloggers of your choice and
  4. Tell them about the nomination
If you haven’t the time to follow the rules or have an award-free weblog, please accept this nomination for the fine work each one of you is doing.
Mr. Militant Negro
Mr. Militant Negro
Xena
Xena

 —ooo—

Samuel Barber‘s Adagio for Strings

Vase de fleurs, Marie Laurencin, 1950
Vase de fleurs, Marie Laurencin, 1950

© Micheline Walker
9 July 2015
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La Saint-Jean-Baptiste & Canada Day

06 Monday Jul 2015

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, History, Rebellions

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alexis de Tocqueville, Bilingualism, Canada's National Day, Confederation, democracy, Insurrections of 1837-1838, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Responsible Government, Robert Baldwyn, Wiliam Mackenzie King

Mackenzie House 2012 (photo © by James Marsh).
Mackenzie House 2012 (photo © by James Marsh).

William Lyon Mackenzie’s house on Bond Street in downtown Toronto.

Canada’s National Holiday

On Wednesday, July 1st, Canadians celebrated their National Holiday. As for the citizens of Quebec, they celebrated their National Holiday on 24 June which is Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, the former Saint-Jean. The date on which Saint-Jean-Baptiste is celebrated is on or near the summer solstice or Midsummer Day, the longest day of the year. This year, the summer solstice occurred on the 22 June.

Midsummer Dance by Anders Zorn, 1897 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Midsummer Dance by Anders Zorn, 1897 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As for Canada Day, it is celebrated on the anniversary of Confederation, the day Canada became a Dominion of Great Britain: 1st July 1867. I have written posts telling the story of Confederation and have listed them at the foot of this post.

Although the people of Quebec do not celebrate Canada day, the province of Quebec was one of the four initial signatories of the British North America Act. Quebec’s Premier was George-Étienne Cartier, named after George III, hence the English spelling of George, i.e. no final ‘s’. The other three provinces to join Confederation on 1st July 1867 were Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Discrepancy: Quebec and Ottawa

As you know, a large number of Québécois are nationalists and many advocate the separation, to a lesser or greater extent, of the Province of Quebec from the remainder of Canada. This explains why Quebec, one of the first four signatories of the British North America Act, does not observe Canada Day.

It could be argued that the province of Quebec was Lower Canada risen from its ashes, land apportioned by Britain itself, under the terms of the Constitutional Act of 1791, to the descendants of the citizens of New France defeated by British forces on 13 September 1759 at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.* The battle had claimed the life of both its commanding officers: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, aged 47, and  General James Wolfe, aged 32, but it had lasted a mere fifteen minutes. 

*The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is thus called, i.e. Abraham, because it was fought on land belonging to Abraham Martin.  

The Greater Loss to Quebecers 

  • 1759, the Battle of the Plains of Abraham
  • 1840, the union of Upper and Lower Canada

Of the two, first, the loss of Lower Canada’s motherland, ceded to Britain in 1763, and, second, the Act of Union of 1841 which followed the Rebellions of 1837-1838, the greater loss may well be the loss of Lower Canada. One cannot know the fate awaiting Nouvelle-France had France won the Seven Years’ War (1856-1763), called the French and Indian War in North America. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, France chose to keep its sugar-rich Caribbean colonies, as well as the islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland. 

However, Quebec had been granted a period of grace after the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763. The citizens of the former New France knew they had become a colony of Britain, but they had yet to feel the full impact of their condition as British but ‘conquered’ subjects.

A Reprieve

  • the Treaty of Paris
  • the Quebec Act of 1774
  • the Constitutional Act of 1791
  • betrayal

There had been a reprieve. First, France negotiated the cession of Nouvelle-France. Britain would not deprive its new subjects of their language, their religion, their property and their seigneuries. It didn’t. Second, by virtue of the Quebec Act of 1774, the citizens of the former New France had become full-fledged citizens of a British Canada. Third, less than two decades after the Quebec Act of 1774, 17 years to be precise, the Constitutional Act of 1791 had divided the vast province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.

Whatever its purpose, the Constitutional Act of 1791 created Lower Canada and, in the eyes of Canadiens, Lower Canada was their country, or terroir, which they were now losing. Therefore, if one takes into account the loss of Lower Canada and the determination to assimilate Canadiens, the Act of Union of 1841 was betrayal on the part of Britain, not Upper Canada.

(Courtesy The Canadian Encyclopedia)
(Charles William Jefferys)

(Photo credit: Wikipedia [2])

William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie
Toronto Marching down Yonge Street
Toronto Marching down Yonge Street
Battle of Saint-Denis, Quebec
Battle of Saint-Denis, Quebec
Battle of Saint-Eustache (Quebec)
Battle of Saint-Eustache (Quebec)

Twin Rebellions

  • similar motivation
  • Mackenzie and Papineau as allies
  • patriots and  patriotes

The Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 occurred in both Canadas: Upper and Lower Canada. These could be perceived as twin rebellions orchestrated by Louis-Joseph Papineau (7 Oct 1786 – 25 Sept 1871), in Lower Canada, and William Lyon Mackenzie (12 March 1795 [Scotland]-28 August 1864 [Toronto]), in Upper Canada.

However, Papineau and William Lyon Mackenzie were not fighting against one another. Both Papineau and Mackenzie were “patriots” and allies. Their common  motivation was to be granted a responsible government and, consequently, greater democracy.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the citizens of Upper Canada were English-speaking Canadians living on British soil. As for the citizens of Lower Canada, they were a conquered people, former French subjects, living on British soil and realizing that they had been conquered. Not all of Lower Canada’s rebels were Canadiens. One was Dr Wolfred Nelson (10 July 1791 – 17 June 1863), a patriote and a future Mayor of Montreal.[1]

The majority however were descendants of the citizens of a defeated Nouvelle-France. In short, the rebels of Upper Canada differed from the rebels of Lower Canada. The patriots and the patriotes were not on an equal footing, so it is somewhat difficult to speak of the rebellions as twin rebellions. They weren’t, at least not entirely and not according to a reality of the mind.

The Rebellions in Lower Canada

  • different intensity
  • repressive measures, harsher

There were two rebellions in Lower Canada. The first took place in 1837 and the second, in 1838. The rebellions in Lower Canada were more intensive than their equivalent in Upper Canada.[2] Six battles had been waged in Lower Canada. Repressive measures were therefore much harsher:

“[b]etween the two uprisings [in Lower Canada], 99 captured militants were condemned to death but only 12 went to the gallows, while 58 were transported to the penal colony of Australia. In total the six battles of both campaigns left 325 dead, 27 of them soldiers and the rest rebels. Thirteen men were executed (one by the rebels), one was murdered, one committed suicide, and two prisoners were shot.” (Peter Buckner, “Rebellion in Lower Canada,” The Canadian Encyclopedia.)

Most importantly, as we will see below, Lord Durham had recommended the assimilation of Canadiens, which was devastating to the people of Lower Canada. In Upper Canada, three men were hanged and William Lyon Mackenzie fled to the United States. He lived in New York until he was pardoned in 1849. Louis-Joseph Papineau also fled to the United States and then sailed to France. As for Dr Wolfred Nelson, he was unable to flee and was exiled to Bermuda. It was a brief period of exile.

Dispossession

  • Act of Union of 1840-1841
  • Lower Canada, the homeland of French-speaking subjects

Clearly, for the former citizens of Lower Canada, the Act of Union of 1840-1841 was dispossession. During the years that preceded the Rebellions, it had occurred to Louis-Joseph Papineau, the leader of the Parti canadien, that Lower Canada should seek independence from Britain. Although Nouvelle-France had been ceded to Britain, by virtue of the Constitutional Act of 1791, Lower Canada belonged to Britain’s French-speaking subjects. Britain could not help itself to the vaults of both Upper and Lower Canada, its North American colony.

Lord Durham

Lord Durham (Courtesy The Canadian Encyclopedia)

Lord Durham’s Report

  • an ethnic conflict
  • a United Province of Canada
  • the assimilation of French-speaking Canadians
  • a responsible government
  • Tocqueville: a nation

It should be pointed out that  in the Report John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham  submitted after he investigated the rebellions in the two Canadas, he concluded that the Rebellions were an ethnic conflict, which is not altogether true nor altogether false. The rebellions were a quest for responsible government which Lord Durham himself proposed in his Report. The motivation was the same in  both Canadas: responsible government.

However, in his Report, Lord Durham proposed not only the Union of both Canadas, but also recommended the assimilation of French-speaking Canadians whom he viewed as a people possessing “neither a  history nor a literature.” Never were French-speaking Canadians so offended! The Act of Union of 1841 created a United Province of Canada.

Moreover, when  the United Province of Canada was created, the land apportioned English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians made French-speaking Canadians a minority. It should also be noted that the United Province of Canada  was not granted a responsible government, which had been the reason why the two Canadas rebelled and one of Lord Durham’s recommendations.

The time had come for both Canadas, now united, to be mostly self-governed. During a trip to Lower Canada, Alexis de Tocqueville noticed and noted that the French in Lower Canada had become what I would call a nation, but a conquered nation that had yet to enter the Industrial Age and whose people had not acquired the skills they required to leave their farms, or thirty acres, trente arpents, the acreage provided to the settlers of Nouvelle-France.

Alexis de Tocqueville in Lower Canada

  • a nation, but a nation conquered

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) and Gustave de Beaumont (16 February 1802 – 30 March 1866) took a little time off from their duties in the United States, to visit the inhabitants of France’s former colony, believing they had become British, or  assimilated, which was not the case. Their language, religion, land and seigneuries had not been taken away from French-speaking Canadians. They were  a nation, albeit a conquered nation.

Canadiens wanted news of “la vieille France,” old France, but there was no “vieille France,” not after the French Revolution. What was left of vieille France, Tocqueville and Beaumont found in Lower Canada. According to Tocqueville, the villain in the loss of New France was Louis XV of France. Louis XV had abandoned France’s colony in North America.

It is astonishing that, in 1831, a few years before the Rebellions and during a brief visit to Lower Canada, Tocqueville should express the opinion that the “greatest and most irreversible misfortune that can befall a people is to be conquered:”

Je n’ai jamais été plus convaincu qu’en sortant [de ce tribunal] que le plus grand et le plus irrémédiable malheur pour un peuple c’est d’être conquis.

(See RELATED ARTICLES, below.)

The above is significant. In the wake of the Acte d’Union, Antoine Gérin-Lajoie wrote his plaintive “Un Canadien errant,” dated 1842. Moreover, as mentioned above, French-speaking Canadians had begun creating a “literary homeland,” (la Patrie littéraire) the name given to the  period of French-Canadian literature during which French-speaking Canadians set about proving Lord Durham wrong, which they did successfully.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Baldwin and Lafontaine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robert Baldwyn and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

  • Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
  • ‘Assimilation’ cancelled (1842)
  • the responsible government achieved (1846)

Matters would also be redressed ‘politically,’ so to speak. In 1842, shortly after the Act of Union was passed (1840-1841) Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine (4 October 1807 – 26 February 1864) was elected Joint Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada, a position he shared with Robert Baldwin whose jurisdiction was the western portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham’s proposed assimilation of Britain’s French-speaking subjects was never implemented.  Finally, although it would not happen immediately, the Baldwin-LaFontaine team would achieve the objective pursued by the rebels of 1837 and 1838, responsible government, which meant greater democracy.

LaFontaine resigned one year after his appointment as Prime Minister because Britain was not delivering on responsible government. However, in 1848, James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin, who had been named governor general of the United Province of Canada in 1846, asked Lafontaine (also spelled LaFontaine) to form a responsible government.

“LaFontaine thus became the first prime minister of Canada in the modern sense of the term. During this second administration, he demonstrated the achievement of responsible government by the passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill, despite fierce opposition and violent demonstrations. His ministry also passed an Amnesty Act to forgive the 1837-38 rebels, secularized King’s College into the University of Toronto, incorporated many French Canadian colleges, established Université Laval, adopted important railway legislation and reformed municipal and judicial institutions.” (Jacques Monet, S. J., “Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine,” The Canadian Encyclopedia.)

Confederation

So a mere twenty-six (26) years after passage of the Act of Union, Quebec, under the leadership of George-Étienne Cartier, entered Confederation. Sir George-Étienne Cartier asked that Quebec retain its recently-acquired Code civil and that primary education remain compulsory. These requests were granted.

Confederation had the immense benefit of returning to Canadiens their former Lower Canada. They regained a territory or patrimoine (a homeland), however mythical. And they have bestowed on their patrimoine its National Day, la Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

At the last meeting of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Premier Dr Philippe Couillard, stated that Quebec was a patrimoine to Québécois and Canada, their country.

My kindest regards to all of you and apologies for being away from my computer and late in every way. Yesterday was Independence Day. Belated wishes to my American readers. Next, I will write about an award. ♥

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Alexis de Tocqueville on Lower Canada (01 January 2014)←
  • Three Conferences, Confederation and now: Civil Unrest (27 May 2012)
  • From Coast to Coast: The Iron Horse, Part 2 (25 May 2012)
  • From Coast to Coast: The Iron Horse, Part 1 (24 May 2012) (the railroad)
  • From Coast to Coast: Louis Riel as a Father of Confederation (22 May 2012)
  • From Coast to Coast: the Fenian Raids (20 May 2012)
  • From Coast to Coast: the Oregon Country (18 May 2012)
  • Parliament to the Rescue: the Hidden Resource (28 April 2012)←
  • La Capricieuse & Crémazie’s Old Soldier (25 April 2012)
  • The Rebellion in Upper Canada: Wikipedia’s Gallery (24 April 2012)
  • The Act of Union: the Aftermath (24 April 2012)
  • The Act of Union 1840-41 (15 April 2012)
  • Upper & Lower Canada (12 April 2012)
  • See Canadiana Pages

____________________

[1] See Lower Canada Rebellion, Wikipedia.
[2] Ibid.

Canada’s National Anthems

images7NTB48LO

© Micheline Walker
5 July 2015
(revised 6 July 2015)
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