Tag Archives: Feasts

The Twelve Days of Christmas

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Epiphany, Feasts, Hymnology

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hb_43_98_1

The Journey of the Magi by Stefano di Giovanni Sassetta, 1435 (Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY)

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/43.98.1

Twelfth Night

A list of articles based on the Nativity was posted on 16 December 2015. It can be found at the foot of the current post. This year’s Nativity post is based on Twelfth Night & Carnival Season (8 January 2014), and the story of Epiphany, celebrated on January 6th. We are closing the “twelve days of Christmas.”

12-days-title

The Twelve Days of Christmas

  • Mirth without Mishief, 1780 (origin of lyrics)
  • cumulative and chain-song (type of song)
  • Roud Folk Song Index number of 68 (classification)
  • Frederic Austin, 1909 (composer)

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is a song published in England in 1780 in a book of children’s songs entitled Mirth without Mischief. The song has a longer title: “The Twelve Days of Christmas Sung at King Pepin’s Ball.” There was a King Pépin, Pépin the Short, Pépin le Bref or, literally, Pepin the Brief, the first Carolingian to be king. And the song may be French in origin:

Cecil Sharp observed that from the constancy in English, French, and Languedoc versions of the ‘merry little partridge,’ I suspect that ‘pear-tree’ is really perdrix (Old French pertriz) carried into England”; and “juniper tree” in some English versions may have been “joli perdrix,” [pretty partridge]. Sharp also suggests the adjective “French” in “three French hens”, probably simply means “foreign”. (See The Twelve Days of Christmas, Wikipedia.)

It is a cumulative song, in folklore and Stith Thomson calls it a “chain song” in his Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1955-1958). It is Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. 

On each of the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, January 6th, a new gift is offered to the loved one: a ‘partridge in a pear tree,’ 2 turtle doves, 3 French hens, 4 Calling Birds, 5 Gold Rings, 6  Geese a-Laying,  7 Swans a-Swimming, 8 Maids a-Milking, 9 ladies Dancing, 10 Lords a-Leaping, 11 Pipers Piping, 12 Drummers Drumming.

The song’s current musical form was set by Frederic Austin (30 March 1872 – 10 April 1952) and dates back to 1909.

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Botticelli_-_Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Zanobi_Altar)_-_Uffizi

Adoration of the Magi by Sandro Botticelli, 1475 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We Three Kings…

Associated with the Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas, or January 6th, is “We Three Kings.” The three kings are Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. Spellings vary.

“[A]ccording to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India.” (Encyclopædia Britannica.) They brought gifts to Jesus. (See Biblical Magi, Wikipedia.)

The Julian & Gregorian calendars: Eastern & Western churches

The Western church does not celebrate Christmas on the same days as the Eastern church, the Orthodox church. In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. The difference is due to the Orthodox church’s use of the Julian (45 BCE) rather than Gregorian calendar (1582 CE) to situate Christmas. Gregory VIII‘s (7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) calendar introduced the leap year. In Russia, festivities begin on December 31st and end on January 10th. The Orthodox church has fewer days of Christmas. (see Christmas in Russia, Wikipedia ), but Advent begins on 28 November and lasts until December 31st. (See whychristmas.com.)

In the Western church, Christmas is celebrated on or near the Winter Solstice which, this year, was December 22nd. Protestant churches celebrate Christmas on the same day as Roman Catholics. But both the Western Christmas (Catholic and Protestant) and Eastern Christmas are celebrated at the same time as a former ‘pagan’ feasts. Therefore, the seasons have remained the marker. The Christianization of Kievan Rus’  dates to the year 988 CE, when Vladimir the Great was baptized in Chersonesus and then went on to baptise members of his family and the people of Kiev (Ukraine). (See Christmas in Russia, Wikipedia.)

Babushka

In Russia, a story is associated with the Kings of Orient (the Wise men), that of Babushka, who gives the kings a room to rest. They leave without her noticing. She goes to Bethlehem, but the kings have left. The origin of this story may be American. (See whychristmas.com.)

http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/russia.shtml

With kind regards to every one. ♥

Nativity Feasts and Hymnology

Robert Shaw Chorale

800px-Sandro_Botticelli_083© Micheline Walker
5 December 2016
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Sandro Botticelli (detail)
Adoration of the Magi
(self-portrait)

Feasts and Hymnology

16 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Feasts, Hymnology

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Head of Christ by Rembrandt, c. 1650 – 52  (Photo credit: WikiArt.org)

The posts listed below tell the story of our Seasons, Feasts, Festivals and feature Christian Hymnology. Our first feast is Christmas (“The Four Seasons…”), the origin of comedy, and posts related to the birth of Christ.

This post will become a page, or a category, entitled “Feasts and Hymnology.”

Feasts and Hymnology

(to be continued)

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Presentation of Christ at the Temple by Giovanni Bellini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giovanni Bellini  (c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) (art)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554-57 – 12 August 1612) (music)
Exultavit cor meum
O Jesu mi dulcissime from Sacrae Symphoniae, 1615
Concerto Palatino Ensemble 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W3a9w2ZMi4&w=854&h=480

Giovanni_Bellini_018

© Micheline Walker
16 December 2015
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Naked Young Woman in Front of the Mirror, Bellini’s first female nude, painted when he was about 85 years old, circa 1515)
(Giovanni Bellini, Wikipedia)

 

Happy Mother’s Day

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Feasts, Sharing

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Awakening by Charles François Jalabert (French, 1819-1901) (Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, US)

“This painting, once believed to be a reduced autograph replica (a copy by the original artist) after the prime Salon version exhibited in 1872, is now known to be a preparatory sketch dated 1863. Jalabert was a devoted student of Paul Delaroche, working with him in Paris and for three years in Italy. Delaroche’s mentoring of Jalabert gained him access to an elite circle of artists, including Géricault, Delacroix, and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Delaroche encouraged Jalabert to exhibit at the Salon, as well to compete for the coveted Prix de Rome. Faithful, like his teacher, to the beautiful forms of antiquity and its revival during the Renaissance, Jalabert chose to specialize in scenes of everyday life with the anecdotal appeal of this tender rendition of mother and child. After he first exhibited a work at the Salon of 1847, Jalabert was presented by Gérôme to the art dealer Adolphe Goupil. Goupil’s accounting books record this sketch as having been sold to William Walters for 2,400 francs on May 9, 1864, supporting the earlier date recently discovered by Walters’ conservators while cleaning the painting.” (Walters Art Museum)
The links are mine.

Yesterday, I looked for more depictions, by Alfred Jacob Miller (2 January 1810 – 26 June 1874), of the life of Amerindians. My search took me to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, an excellent source of paintings by Miller. I went for a second visit today and found the “painting of the day.”

Alfred Jacob Miller

After opening a studio in Baltimore, but finding no success, Alfred Jacob Miller went to New Orleans where he met Scottish “adventurer” Sir William Drummond Stewart, 7th Baronet (26 December 1795 – 28 April 1871). Stewart asked Miller to accompany him on a trip to the north west where Miller made sketches for several paintings. The Walters Art Museum owns a large number of paintings by Miller, watercolors mainly, sometimes enhanced by what seems touches of gouache).

Let the above image be my offering to all mothers.

My next post is a continuation of the Proclamation of 1763.

A Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere, and my kindest regards to all of you. ♥

Brahms’ Lullaby
Johannes Brahms – Wiegenlied, Op. 49/9
Das Slovakische Kammerorchester

Charles François Jalabert

© Micheline Walker
10 May 2015
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Charles François Jalabert
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Candlemas: its Stories & its Songs, updated

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in Feasts, Hymnology

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Putti, by Raphaël

Putti (Chérubins), by Raphaël

Marian Antiphons (Antiennes)

Today, 2 February 2015, we are entering the Marian year’s second season, the first takes us from Advent to Candlemas (la Chandeleur), once an observed feast commemorating the presentation of the child Jesus at the Temple. The second lasts until Good Friday.

In other words, as of today the Marian song is the Ave Regina Cælorum. From the beginning of Advent until today, it had been the Alma Redemptoris Mater. Several composers have set the words of the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the same is true of the Ave Regina Cælorum.

In the Church of England, today, Candlemas, is the end of the Epiphany season which follows the Christmas season.

The “Nunc dimittis” or Canticle of Simeon (Cantique)

Also sung today is the Nunc dimittis (“Now you dismiss…,” Luke 2:29–32), The Song of Simeon or Canticle of Simeon). Simeon had been promised he would see Jesus and did.  A canticle is a song of praise. In this respect, the Nunc Dimittis resembles the Magnificat, or Canticle of Mary.  Mary sang the Magnificat when she heard her cousin Elizabeth was with child. To listen to the Nunc Dimittis and read its story, simply click on one of the links below:

Groundhog Day

Moreover, today is Groundhog Day. How long will winter last? See the link below.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/groundhog-day-what-do-meteorologists-think-1.2940617

Humans have always situated their feasts when a change occurs in the weather. We go from season to season and the following year, we also go from season to season and this continues year after year.

The Labours of the Months

Remember Jean de France’s Très Riches Heures. (See Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry). It’s a Book of Hours, but it is also a calendar. The Très Riches Heures has a large illuminated (enluminures) page for each month of the year illustrating the Labours of the Months.  With Jean de France, there was another motive. In the background of each page, we see one of his castles.

Greek poet Hesiod, who is believed to have been active between 750 and 650 BCE, wrote Works and Days, a book Wikipedia describes as a farmer’s almanac. In Works and Days, he is teaching his brother Perses about the agricultural arts. (See Works and Days.)

Although we are leaving the first Marian season, I am including both the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Ave Regina Cælorum.

—ooo—

During Canonical Hours, the Antiphon (antienne) is a liturgical chant that precedes and follows a Psalm or a Canticle.  In a Mass, it is also a chant to which a choir or the congregation respond with a refrain.  It is therefore a call and response chant.

Sources and Resources

Hesiod’s Works and Days (r. 700 BCE) is an online publication (click on the title).

—ooo—

Posts on Marian Hymnology & More

composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (3 February 1525 or 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594)
piece: Alma Redemptoris Mater
performers: Cappella Gregoriana (Tokyo, Japan)
From First Vespers of Christmas until the Presentation
 
piece: Ave Regina Cælorum
performers: Philippe Jaroussky (French countertenor, b. 13 February 1978)
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Quebec contralto, b. 26 June 1975)
From the Presentation of the Lord through Good Friday
Raffael_027© Micheline Walker
2 February 2013
WordPress
updated
2 February 2015

News, Comments & Andrea Mantegna

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by in Art, Sharing

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Présentation de Jésus au temple, Andrea Mantegna, 1465
Présentation de Jésus au temple, Andrea Mantegna, 1465
Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 13 September 1506) Italian Renaissance
Photo credit: Wikipedia
 

More on Candlemas

Today is February 3rd, but there are more Candlemas stories to tell.  For instance, Candlemas is also “pancake feast,” la fête des crêpes, a tradition that goes back to ancient Greece.  In ancient Greece, Lupercus was the god Pan.  In ancient Roman, the feast was called Lupercalia (lupus, loup) but it was usually celebrated in mid-February, on the 13th.  It had to do with keeping the wolf away from innocent sheep.  Lupercus was the god of shepherds.  I will tell more stories next February 2nd.

We now have three posts on Candlemas and know about

  • the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple,
  • the Nunc dimittis, a canticle, Simeon’s song of praise,
  • the Purification of the Virgin,
  • the beginning of a new Marian season,
  • the antiphon of the season “Ave Regina Cælorum,”[i]
  • and Groundhog Day.

I realize that fewer people go to a service on Sunday or attend Mass, but music and the fine arts have kept alive religious, mythological and mythical “reality.”  Aert de Gelder (or Arent, 26 October 1645 – 27 August 1727), a student of Rembrandt, painted Simeon holding the child Jesus and, as noted above, Simeon sang the Nunc dimittis when he saw Jesus, as he had been told by none other than the Holy Ghost.  (See Nunc Dimittis, Wikipedia).  Religious feasts are usually associated with the seasons, mythologies give us a past, myths provide metaphors, and feed the imagination.  Yet myths are the fruit of imagination.

William Byrd (English Renaissance) composed a very fine “Nunc Dimittis.”  It is featured in a post entitled: Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s Song of Praise (2 February 2012).  A second “Nunc Dimittis,” composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (3 February 1525 or 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594), is featured in Candlemas: the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple & a Festival of Lights (2 February 2012).

Palestrina is known for composing “transparent” polyphonic (many voices) music.  Although the voices blend, one can still hear the text.  This was important because the Reformed Churches favoured simple songs.  I have found precious gems in the Church of England’s anthems.  They engaged the faithful who were invited to sing.  The English wrote lovely, melodious anthems.  Martin Luther wrote hymns, the most famous of which is Ein’ feste Burg is unser Gott  (A Mighty Fortress is our God).

In the News

Canadian Conrad Black, no choirboy himself, has stated that “[t]he election of Kathleen Wynne and Pauline Marois’ Scotland visit might incite fear that much of Canada is being led by nasty women.”  (See The National Post.)

He could be right; women can be as nasty as men.  I know, from personal experience, that women can in fact surpass men in cruelty, jealousy, hypocrisy, etc.  They can be extremely manipulative, devious and vindictive.  Think of my little blue house.  (See From House to House.)  My “case manager” was a woman employed by a fine insurance company.  She did not lose her position.

One day, a “good” woman posted the results of an examination on the door of her office, listing her students’ marks, not next to a number, but next to a name.  I talked with her gently, but she did not know what I was talking about…   However, a little later, such behaviour became an official violation.  This may seem a detail, but good educators respect their students.  That’s rule number one.

Not that men are better.  I am thinking of that student in India, raped and probably impaled to death.  The poor young woman and her poor parents!  And there is violence in the Middle East.  Why?  Also in the news is suicide.  Young people are committing suicide!

The News

English
The Globe and Mail
The Montreal Gazette
The National Post
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Le Monde diplomatique EN 
 
CBC News
CTV News
CNN News
 
French 
Le Devoir
La Presse
Le Monde
Le Monde diplomatique
 
German 
Die Welt
_________________________

[i] or Cœlorum.  The two are used.

Andrea Mantegna was capable of crying.

madonna_with_childb5f2© Micheline Walker
February 3, 2013
WordPress

Candlemas: its Stories & its Songs

02 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Feasts, Marian Hymnology

≈ 7 Comments

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Putti, by Raphaël

Putti (Chérubins), by Raphaël

Marian Antiphons

Today, 2 February 2013, we are entering the Marian year’s second season, the first takes us from Advent to Candlemas (la Chandeleur), once an observed feast commemorating the presentation of the child Jesus at the Temple. The second lasts until Good Friday.

In other words, as of today the Marian song is the Ave Regina Cælorum. From the beginning of Advent until today, it had been the Alma Redemptoris Mater. Several composers have set the words of the Alma Redemptoris Mater to music and the same is true of the Ave Regina Cælorum. 

In the Church of England, today, Candlemas, is the end of the Epiphany season which follows the Christmas season.

The “Nunc dimittis” or Canticle of Simeon

Also sung today is the Nunc dimittis (“Now you dismiss…,” Luke 2:29–32), The Song of Simeon or Canticle of Simeon). Simeon had been promised he would see Jesus and did.  A canticle is a song of praise. In this respect, the Nunc Dimittis resembles the Magnificat, or Canticle of Mary. Mary sang the Magnificat when she heard her cousin Elizabeth was with child. To listen to the Nunc Dimittis and read its story, simply click on one of the links below:

Groundhog Day

Moreover, today is also Groundhog Day. Punxutawney Phil has not seen his shadow which means that we are nearing spring. (See the Washington Post.) So, humans have always situated their feasts when a change occurs in the weather. We go from season to season and the following year, we also go from season to season and this continues year after year.

The Labours of the Months

Remember Jean de France’s Très Riches Heures. (See Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry).  It’s a Book of Hours, but it is also a calendar. The Très Riches Heures has a large illuminated (enluminures) page for each month of the year illustrating the Labours of the Months. With Jean de France, there was another motive. In the background of each page, we see one of his castles.

Greek poet Hesiod, who is believed to have been active between 750 and 650 BCE, wrote Works and Days, a book Wikipedia describes as a farmer’s almanac. In Works and Days, he is teaching his brother Perses about the agricultural arts. (See Works and Days.)

Although we are leaving the first Marian season, I am including both the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Ave Regina Cælorum.

—ooo—  

During Canonical Hours, the Antiphon (antienne) is a liturgical chant that precedes and follows a Psalm or a Canticle. In a Mass, it is also a chant to which a choir or the congregation respond with a refrain. It is therefore a call and response chant. The following links take one to Notre-Dame de Paris:

Sources and Resources

Hesiod’s Works and Days is an online publication.

—ooo—

Posts on Marian Hymnology & More

composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (3 February 1525 or 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594)
piece: Alma Redemptoris Mater
performers: Cappella Gregoriana (Tokyo, Japan)
From First Vespers of Christmas until the Presentation
piece: Ave Regina Cælorum
performers: Philippe Jaroussky (French countertenor, b. 13 February 1978)
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Quebec contralto, b. 26 June 1975)
From the Presentation of the Lord through Good Friday
 
Raffael_027© Micheline Walker
2 February 2013
WordPress

Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s Song of Praise

02 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by in Feasts, Hymnology, Liturgy

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Nunc Dimittis, Simeon's Song of Praise, by Aert de Gelder

Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s Song of Praise, by Aert de Gelder (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aert de Gelder (or Arent, 26 October 1645 – 27 August 1727) is one of Rembrandt’s last pupils while in Amsterdam (1661 to 1663) (Wikipedia)I discovered I had to know Christian liturgy, first, when taking courses in the Fine Arts and, second, as a student of musicology. Students of musicology simply have to learn liturgy and the Nunc dimittis is a good example. There was a demand for liturgical music. As a result, the development of polyphony, the combination of voices, occurred from liturgical chant to liturgical chant and from madrigal to madrigal, its secular counterpart. Liturgy also constitutes one of the main subject matters of the visual arts.

In my family Candlemas was celebrated, but I was not told that the Nunc dimittis was Simeon’s Song of Praise, a canticle. In fact, although I attended a Catholic school, we were never told that Candlemas was a commemoration of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and of Mary’s Purification after Childbirth.

Nunc dimittis

February 2nd is “Nunc dimittis” day and “Nunc dimittis” is Simeon’s Song of Praise. In yesterday’s poat I inserted Palestrina’s “Nunc dimittis,” but today we will hear William Byrd‘s “Nunc dimittis.”

Here are the words of the “Nunc Dimittis:”

English (Book of Common Prayer, 1662)
 
Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace;
Because my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:
A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.
 
Latin (Vulgate)
 
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel. 
 
_________________________
Religious art
 
composer: William Byrd (1540 or late 1539 – 4 July 1623, by the Julian calendar, 14 July 1623, by the Gregorian calendar) 
title: Nunc Dimittis 
performers: Alexander Kamerkoor

Jesus (Egypte)

© Micheline Walker
2 February 2012
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