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Tag Archives: Handel

Mostly Diderot & Catherine II ‘the Great’

25 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Despotism, Enlightenment, Sharing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Catherine II the Great, Denis Diderot, Diderot's Regrets..., Handel, Karina Gauvin, Louis-Joseph Vernet, Madame Geoffrin's salon, the Shipwreck

Claude-Joseph Vernet, The Shipwreck, 1772, oil on canvas, Patrons’ Permanent Fund and Chester Dale Fund, 2000.22.1 (National Gallery of Art, UK)

vernet_horace

Horace Vernet Joseph Vernet Tied to a Mast in a Storm, c. 1822, Musée Calvet, Avignon, photograph by André Guerrand

This post isn’t about Claude-Joseph Vernet, Horace Vernet‘s grandfather, nor is it about Händel. It is about me, briefly, but my main characters are philosophe Denis Diderot  (1713 – 1784) and Catherine II the Great (1729 – 1796) of Russia, an enlightened despot. Denis Diderot was a co-editor, with Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, of the very ambitious Encyclopédie (1751 – 1766). He admired artist Claude-Joseph Vernet, whom he praised in his delightful Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre (Regrets on my Old Dressing Gown), a short text. I believe Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre (text) has been translated into English, but I could not find a translation. Catherine II the Great was a German princess, the daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, who became Empress of “all the Russias.”

Russian despots, Peter I the Great and Catherine II, the Great, enlarged Russia. Peter wanted access to various seas, the Baltic Sea, to begin with. He defeated the Swedish Empire shortly after Charles XII, a despot, was killed at the Siege of Fredriksten, in 1718. In 1703, Peter I the Great founded Saint Petersburg and, in 1721, Russia became an empire as Sweden entered its Age of Liberty.

Enlightened despotism is quite the topic. For instance, Russian despots, Peter I the Great  and Empress Catherine II the Great westernized Russia, which is not insignificant. Catherine befriended Denis Diderot. When Diderot tried to provide his daughter with a dowry, his only recourse was the sale of his library, a considerable collection. Catherine bought it and made him custodian of his collection. He did not have to part with his books. He travelled to Russia and spent several months at Catherine’s court. When he was dying, she rented a comfortable room for him.

In 1745, Catherine married Russian Tsar Peter III, who was assassinated. Catherine gave serfs to her lovers and a castle to at least one of her favourites, Grigory Potemkin, whom she may have married, but the ‘affair’ was over in 1776. Although I am certain Voltaire did not approve of serfdom, he entertained a long friendship, letters mainly, with Empress Catherine II the Great.

Madame Geoffrin’s salon in 1755, by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier. Oil on canvas, Château de Malmaison, Rueil – Malmaison, France

Diderot did not enter a profession. He wanted to write. At one point, Madame Geoffrin, the famous salonnière, gave him furniture and a new dressing gown. He may have spent money. In Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre, Diderot writes that he should not have parted with his old dressing gown.

Mes amis, gardez vos vieux amis. Mes amis, craignez l’atteinte de la richesse. Que mon exemple vous instruise. La pauvreté a ses franchises ; l’opulence a sa gêne.

[My friends, keep your old friends. My friends, fear the infringement of riches. Let my example be a lesson to you. Poverty has its freedoms; opulence, its constraints.]

Diderot would gladly have discarded everything, so there would again be coherence and, therefore, beauty to his lodgings. But he would not let go of a painting by Claude-Joseph Vernet. Everything matched: a lovely ensemble.

Si vous voyiez le bel ensemble de ce morceau ; comme tout y est harmonieux ; comme les effets s’y enchaînent ; …

[If you saw…]

—ooo—

My little story is barely worth telling. I tried to make a doctor’s appointment for my friend who suffers from Ménière’s Disease. He’s nearly deaf. So, I wanted to talk to my doctor to see if he could help. My friend’s doctor is an intern and my doctor supervises interns. It’s the same office, but he can do things interns cannot do. This doctor always returns my calls, but this time, he didn’t. Last evening, I wrote to my friend to inform him that I doubted my doctor would phone. But, as I was about to press “send,” tears welled up in my eyes…

This morning, I turned to music, my refuge. I love this aria by Händel. The singer is Canada’s Karina Gauvin FR / Karina Gauvin EN.

Sources and Resources

Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre is a Wikisource publication FR

Love to everyone  💕

“V’adoro, pupille” from Händel’s Giulio Cesare

Händel by Balthasar Denner

© Micheline Walker
24 October 2018
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Condolences

24 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in Sharing

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alfred Deller, Anti-Islamophobia Motion, condolences, Handel, John James Audubon, London attack

John James Audubon (Photo credit: wikiart.org)

I have neglected my blog this week. Illness.

Two days ago, London was attacked. Britain’s Magna Carta and its Parliament are symbols of democracy.

At times, such events can be expected. Why did the attacker convert to Islam? Why did he become radicalized? We will never know, but he may have felt rejected. How else does one feel when US President Donald Trump bans Muslims from entering the United States?  The attacker committed a horrible crime, but why?

Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion

Yesterday, the Canadian government passed an anti-Islamophobia motion. The vote was not unanimous. The problem may be with the term. But Muslims are being denied access to the United States which may explain the choice of the term Islamophobia. Many Canadians are afraid, but I believe our new Canadians: Muslims, Syrians, Iraqis, Armenians, Afghans, Syriacs and Yazidis, will be fine citizens, which will reassure everyone. A few members of Parliament voted against the motion, but it was passed. Migrants and survivors of a genocide who might perish, such as the Yazidis, should be given a home.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/canada-parliament-anti-islamophobia-motion-pass-muslim-irqa-khalid-david-anderson-racism-faith-a7647851.html

Current Activity

I am creating a page listing my posts on Beast literature. I retrieved most of the posts on this subject. If one has no list, one is lost. New posts will be written, but I would prefer not to be too repetitive.

Condolences

I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the dead and wounded.

Love to everyone ♥

Alfred Deller – Ode for the Birthday of Queen Ann – Handel

John James Audubon (Wikiart)

© Micheline Walker
24 March 2017
WordPress

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Remembering, Varia & the News

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Sharing

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Gazette, Handel, Harmonious Blacksmith, Ilya Repin, Le Devoir, Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, National Post, Sviatoslav Richter, The New York Times, the saddest day, United States, WordPress

 

Apples and Leaves (1879), by Ilya Repin (State Russian Museum)

Photo credit: Wikipedia
 

9/11

It was the saddest of days.  I was in my office, but was told to come and see what was happening in New York.  We were crying.  All flights to the United States were redirected to Canada and in localities where there were no hotels, motels, inns, such as Gander, Newfoundland, local families took in bewildered passengers.

I worried.  If they needed medication, did they have enough?  Did they have their nightgowns or pyjamas.  Little things.  I think my concerns were of a motherly kind.

However, later that day, I received a telephone call from a person of considerable influence in Ottawa, Allan J. MacEachen.  We discussed the attacks.  He wanted to know what I would do under such circumstances.  I answered that, personally, if I were the President of the United States, I would not do anything.  I explained that, in my opinion, the terrorists had to be tracked down, but that the United States should not engage in a war.

And what would you do as a Canadian, he asked.  I answered that, in my opinion, we were doing what we could and should do.  Planes headed for the United States were landing in Canada.  We had to be compassionate, hospitable, generous.  We had to be good neighbours.

President Obama’s Campaign

As a Canadian, I cannot even imagine life without the social programs put into place about 50 years ago.  The person I mentioned above, had lost his elections and was coming back to Antigonish, Nova Scotia.  However, Lester B. Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972), an extraordinary Canadian, asked him to stay in Ottawa and design social programs: universal health care, students loans, the Canada Pension Plan, which he did.  We are very fortunate.  I have written a blog about this person, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen.

Related Blog: The Honourable Allan J. MacEachen: Nationhood and Leadership

The pictures : I will let it be

Regarding yesterday’s posts, I have decided to feel flattered and let things be.  I am not engaging in hostilities as it could harm some of my colleagues at WordPress.  They could lose a sponsor.

The News

English
The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/
The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The Montreal Gazette: http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html
The National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/index.html
Le Monde diplomatique: http://mondediplo.com/ EN
 
CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/
CTV News: http://www.ctvnews.ca/
 
French
Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr/
Le Monde diplomatique: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/
Le Devoir: http://www.ledevoir.com/
La Presse: http://www.lapresse.ca/
 
German
Die Welt: http://www.welt.de/
 
© Micheline Walker
September 11, 2012
WordPress
 
composer: Händel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)
piece: The Harmonious Blacksmith
performer: Wilhelm Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991)  
Handel by Philip Mercier

Handel by Philip Mercier

© Micheline Walker
September 11, 2012
 
45.408358 -71.934658

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The Blessed Virgin: Mariology

24 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by michelinewalker in Feasts, Liturgy, Music

≈ Comments Off on The Blessed Virgin: Mariology

Tags

Alma Redemptoris Mater, Antiphon, Ave Regina Coelorum, Canonical Hours, Handel, Hermann of Reichenau, Mozart, Regina Coeli, Salve Regina, Vivaldi

Annunciation by Paolo de Matteis, 1712. The white lily in the angel's hand is symbolic of Mary's purity in Marian art.

Annunciation by Paolo de’ Matteis, 1712. The white lily in the angel’s hand is symbolic of Mary’s purity in Marian art. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hymns to the Virgin Mary, or Marian hymnology, as I will call it, constitute a substantial part of sacred music. Moreover, Marian art is abundant. Mary’s main feasts are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception, three of which are related to the Nativity Cycle. The exception would be the Assumption. Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven.

1. The Annunciation

The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the day on which the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to announce that she would bear and give birth to the son of God. The Feast of the Annunciation (see Rubens, below) is celebrated on 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas Day, when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. The above image is by Paolo de’ Matteis (9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728). 

2. The Nativity

The central Marian feast is the Nativity. The Nativity is in fact a celebration of the birth of Christ, but Marian feasts are rooted in the Nativity cycle. Where Marian art is concerned, the Nativity includes portrayals of the Shepherds in adoration, of the visit by the Kings of Orient, as well as portrayals of the Presentation of Jesus as firstborn son, and the Purification of Mary. Just below, I have inserted a visit by the Shepherds, by Gerard van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656), a Dutch Golden Age artist who is also called Gerrit van Honthorst.

honthorst_aanbidding_herders_1622_grt

The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622

3. The Assumption

Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven and her Assumption is celebrated on 15 August. In the Eastern Church, Byzantine Emperor Maurice selected 15 August as the date of the feast of Dormition and Assumption. The 15th of August is also the Acadian’s Feast Day. Acadians are the French-speaking inhabitants of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. Their national anthem is the Ave Maris Stella. 

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, by Rubens, 1626

(Please click on the picture to enlarge it.)

4. The Immaculate Conception

According to Roman Catholicism, Jesus was conceived without stain or macula. This dogma is disputed as it is linked with the notion of an inherent fault, the original sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve. Newborns or infants who die before Baptism do not go to heaven. They are sent to Limbo.

—ooo—

THE FOUR ANTIPHONS (Antiennes)

Marian hymnology

As for Marian hymnology, it originally consisted of four antiphons (antiennes, in French) sung in Gregorian Chant. Two (the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Salve Regina were composed by Hermann of Reichenau, and would have been Gregorian chants. The four Marian antiphons are in fact linked to the Liturgy of the Hours, the Canonical Hours, and commemorate the four seasons.

  • Alma Redemptoris (Advent through February 2)
  • Ave Regina Cælorum (Presentation of the Temple through Good Friday)
  • Regina Cœli (Easter season)
  • Salve Regina (from first Vespers of Trinity Sunday until None of the Saturday before Advent)

Antiphons are “responsories” or the response by the choir or the congregation to a psalm or hymn. But they may involve responsorial singing by alternating choirs. Simply expressed, antiphons resemble a refrain. “The refrain was called an antiphon (A). The resulting musical form was A V1 A V2…”[1] Antiphons are not restricted to Marian hymnology. We should also note that Marian feasts are associated with the seasons, as are other Christian feasts. Antiphons are not restricted to Marian hymnology.

The Marian liturgical calendar is divided as follows:

  • first, of Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Pre-Lent, Lent, Easter Triduum, Eastertide, Ascensiontide
  • second, of some 32 feast days
Magnificatio, by Sandro Botticelli

Magnificatio, by Sandro Botticelli

(Please click on the picture to enlarge it.)

DETAILS ON THE ANTIPHONS

The Alma Redemptoris Mater

Traditionally, the Alma Redemptoris Mater is sung at the end of Compline, one of the Canonical Hours. It is said to have been composed by Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054).

The Ave Regina Cælorum

Traditionally, the Ave Regina Cælorum has been sung at the end of each Canonical Hours, but mainly Compline, between 2 February (Candlemas or Chandeleur in French) until the Holy Week. Candlemas is the day commemorating the Presentation of the Jesus at the Temple and the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

The Regina cœli 

The Regina Cœli or Cæli (Queen of Heaven), is a night prayer (Compline or Vespers).  Its authorship has not been determined but it was sung by Franciscans in the twelfth century.  It was sung in place of the Angelus from Holy Saturday through Pentecost.  It is therefore associated with the celebration of Easter.

The Salve Regina

The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) is sung at Compline from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. (Wikipedia).  It was composed by German monk Hermann of Reichenau, the above-mentioned Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054), the composer of the Alma Redemptoris Mater.

—ooo—

However, to the four antiphons, we may add the above-mentioned Ave Maris Stella, Mozart’s breathtaking Ave Verum Corpus, various Ave Maria‘s, the most famous of which are Schubert’s Ave Maria, and the Ave Maria Charles Gounod composed on the first prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Wohltemperierte Klavier (BWV 846-893).  I will discuss these in my next blog.

—ooo—

(Please click on the title to hear the music.)

  • Alma Redemptoris, Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548 – 27 August 1611)
  • Alma Redemptoris, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)
  • Alma Redemptoris, Antifona gregoriana, t. simplex, Studio di Giovanni Vianini, Milano, Italia
  • Alma Redemptoris Mater Gregorian, monophonic
  • Ave Regina Cælorum, Andrea Mattioli, Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor
  • Salve Regina, Monteverdi, Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor
  • Salve Regina in C minor (RV 616) – Part I, by Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
  • Salve Regina in G minor HWV 241, by Handel (1685 -1759)
  • Salve Regina, Tomás Luis de Victoria
  • Regina Cæli Lætare, Antifona gregoriana, Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, direttore Giovanni
  • Regina Cæli Lætare, Tomás Luis de Victoria
  • Regina Cœli, Marco Frisina (b. 1954)
  • Regina Cœli, Mozart  (1756 – 1791)

[1] “antiphon.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 23 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/28480/antiphon>

thvr01ubhn

Madonna by Raphaël

© Micheline Walker
3 February 2017
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