Time flies. So I am not altogether finished a post on Sweden’s Age Liberty which began a little before Peter the Great defeated the Swedish Empire and ended in 1821 and lasted until Swedish King Gustav III‘s self-coup of 1872, which takes us to the House of Bernadotte (27 September 2018).
Borodin is exceptional. He was a doctor and scientist. Music was not his profession, but who could tell? His lyricism is a major characteristic of Borodin’s compositions and these are numerous. In the Steppes of Central Asia has an exotic flavour. It is a tone poem, one continuous and rather short piece of music.
The piece I selected does not feature bells. It therefore differs from Modest Mussorgsky‘s Night on Bald Mountain, Une nuit sur le mont chauve, 🎶which is the very first piece of music I was introduced to. Among my early memories of the red brick house are my father’s late night gatherings with music lovers. Chauve means bald. We could see chauves-souris (bats) flying about.
So, we will not hear bells in Borodin’s In the Steppes of Central Asia (Mongolia), composed in 1880. However, a wide range in volume is typical of the music of the Five, and Borodin’s.
My main source is Wiki2.org.’s entry on Borodin’s lovely piece and my own knowledge. I have studied music, every aspect, all my life.
Among the despots named above, Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, is our most prominent figure. He belonged to the Hohenzollern dynasty. But we must step back to Peter I (the Great) (9 June 1662, Moscow – 8 February 1725, Saint Petersburg) who defeated the Swedish Empire, and Catherine II (the Great) (21 April 1729, Prussia – 6 November 1796, Russia) who did not allow a disastrous marriage to rob her of her “profession” as an aristocrat. Both Peter I and Catherine II were despots, but they expanded and developed Russia in every way. They are as Britannica defines enlightened despots. In this regard, both looked to Europe as a model and, in the case of Catherine II, mainly France. In the 18th century, French became the language of the Russian court and courtiers dressed as did Europeans. But soon Catherine dazzled Europe.
Posthumous Portrait of Peter the Great by Paul Delaroche, 1838 (Photo credit: Wiki2.org.)
The Neva flows into the Gulf of Finland, thereby providing access to European countries and facilitating the westernization of Russia which, to a large extent, characterizes Russian enlightenment. Peter I (the Great) was ordained Emperor of “all the Russias” after defeating the Swedish Empire, in 1721, three years after King Carl XII of Sweden was killed at the Siege of Fredriksten, in 1718.
Peter I, the son of tsar Alexis of Russia, had been exiled from the Kremlin during the regency of his half-sister Sophia (1782 – 1789), by his half-brother Fyodor III (1676 – 1782). Contrary to his siblings, Peter was very healthy and played at war, organizing battles, with boys of lesser birth. (See Peter the Great, Britannica.) He also mingled with Moscow’s intellectually freer European citizens who “kindled” his interest in navigation and the mechanical arts. He shared his mother Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina‘s progressive ideas. Peter founded the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1724.
He was extremely neurotic, rebellious, obstinate, perhaps impotent, nearly alcoholic, and, most seriously, a fanatical worshipper of Frederick II of Prussia, the foe of the empress Elizabeth [Peter I’s successor].
Catherine therefore resolved to become Empress of Russia. She relinquished her name, Sophie, and learned Russian. By marriage, she belonged to the House of Romanov, the ruling house of Russia, but her mother was Princess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Although Catherine had lovers before she became Empress, it seems that she bore Peter III at least one child, a Romanov, who would reign as Paul I of Russia (1796 – 1801).
Catherine II was charming.
It was easy for Catherine, with the help of the senators, high officials, and officers of the guard regiments (led by her lover Grigory Orlov and his brothers), to overthrow Peter on June 28 (July 9, New Style), 1762. Thus began the long and important reign of Catherine II, whom her admiring contemporaries named ‘the Great.’
This was a coup d’état. Peter III had to abdicate and was assassinated eight days later. We cannot ascertain that Catherine played a role in Peter III’s assassination. At any rate, Peter III had blemished his image by disengaging a victorious Russia from the Seven Years War against Prussia. However, before Peter III‘s death on 17 July 1762, he and Catherine II issued a Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, which “freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service.” (See Catherine II the Great, Wiki2.org.) As noted in an earlier post, in 1774, twelve years after Peter III’s assassination, Catherine may have married Grigory Potemkin, who also played a public role during the reign of Catherine II. (See Catherine II (the Great), Britannica.)
Would that Catherine II had abolished serfdom. She planned to do so, but didn’t. Catherine owned serfs and gave serfs to former lovers. But it should be noted that during most, nearly all, of Catherine the Great’s reign (1729 – 1796), slavery had not been abolished. Nor had serfdom been repressed in France and other European countries. (See History of Serfdom, Wiki2.org.) Scandinavian countries were an exception. They had no serfs, but several European monarchs profited from the slave-trade. In Russia, serfdom was abolished in 1861, under Tsar Alexander II (29 April 1818 – 13 March 1881).
Catherine did not frame a constitution, but Catherine’s Instruction could be considered a draft of this constitution, or its white paper.
Catherine admired Montesquieu and Rousseau. As we have seen, she bought Denis Diderot‘s library, making him its custodian for the rest of his life. Moreover, she and Voltaire shared letters. Despots, however, fear the people they control, and their fear leads them to control even more. After the terror Yemelyan Pugachov‘s Cossack troops inspired in 1774, Catherine was afraid.
Catherine now realized that for her the people were more to be feared than pitied, and that, rather than freeing them, she must tighten their bonds.
Catherine, like all the crowned heads of Europe, felt seriously threatened by the French Revolution. The divine right of royalty and the aristocracy was being questioned, and Catherine, although a ‘friend of the Enlightenment,’ had no intention of relinquishing her own privileges: ‘I am an aristocrat, it is my profession.’
But Catherine was born, rather than elected, to privilege.
Conclusion
Despots they were. But Peter the Great and Catherine II (the Great), Peter in particular, enlarged Russia considerably, as the third map above indicates (See Digital Collection). They also organized Russia. Catherine II created several towns and promoted intellectual and cultural growth. As noted above, Peter’s model had been Europe, but France was Catherine’s chief model. However, the execution, by guillotine, of French King Louis XVI dampened Catherine’s admiration for France. Louis XVI was a fellow aristocrat by profession, as Catherine saw aristocrats. She was then approaching her own sudden death.
France and Europe may have been Peter I and Catherine II’s models. But our two enlightened despots’ leadership may also be considered a model.
Turkey has shot down a Russian fighter jet so Russian President Vladimir Putin, not a choirboy, is therefore saying that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will regret “for a long time” downing the Russian fighter plane. It was flying in Turkey’s airspace.
Having a “right” to…
Erdoğan will not apologize. He had a “right” to shoot down this Russian fighter jet because it was flying in Turkey’s airspace.
According to this logic, if a child, a brother, (1) has hurt his sister (2) the day before, the sister (2) has the right to hurt her brother (1) the following day. I believe that if a responsible parent sees his or her children fighting, the sister (2) will not be allowed to hurt her brother (1) and that both will be told they are acting irresponsibly. If the sister (2) has hurt her brother, both might be sent to their respective rooms to “think.”
No one has the “right” to hurt another person willfully. As for revenge, it is immature behaviour. One apologizes and, if losses were incurred, reasonable compensation may be necessary.
But it could be that I am reading a different page, or a different book.
With respect to pilots, prudence was advisable. It is safer for pilots not to enter another country’s airspace if doing so is a violation or if there is enmity between their nation and the one whose airspace they have foolishly penetrated. There were two pilots. One man died, but the other was rescued. However, none of this was appropriate.
FlyingMachines Leonardo
How can anyone expect Isis to end the atrocities perpetrated against the people of Paris and against inhabitants of the Middle East, if Russian President VladimirPutinallowsRussian pilots to fly in Turkey’s airspace and President Erdoğan orders the Turkish military to shoot the plane down?
Therefore, the leaders themselves are showing Isis that it is acceptable to retaliate every time a drone attack occurs. In other words, They are showing Isis that if Syria is bombed, it should dig in its heels by attacking countries outside Syria, not to mention Syrians themselves who may fall into the hands of terrorists.
More heads will fall, more people will be burned alive or locked into cages that will be lowered into water. Isis will also capture women and turn them into sex slaves, not to mention other ignominies.
Worst of all, Syrians will continue to pour out of their country.
The West has long meddled in the affairs of the Middle East. What comes to mind immediately are George W Bush’s wars, the 2000s. But, let us not forget the Crusades nor colonialism.
In fact, let us not forget that harm done to Islam by the West cannot justify Isis’ barbaric behaviour? It’s retaliation gone astray and untargeted. Yet, can strikes be targeted and just who should strike?
Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who lived in occupied Palestine, did not leave a manuscript. However, he is reported to have said: “Turn the other cheek.” It was a metaphor and cannot be read or interpreted literally. Yet, in the context of current events, it makes sense. Or could it be that I am once again reading a different page and, perhaps, the wrong book?
An Arab and his Dogs by Jean-Léon Gérôme(Photo credit: WikiArt.org)
My lost post resurfaced. I added missing links to the published post, but did not change its contents. However, one of my links led to more information. It seems Isis is offending Russia. It appears a Russian has been beheaded.
The trading of white women is something French and French Canadian women have known about. But I have never heard anyone speak about the capture and enslavement of white women outside Quebec or France.
9/11
It is quite true that the wars of the 2000s triggered many of the acts of terrorism we are witnessing. But the attacks of 9/11 were acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United States. It was retaliation. So there is more to that story.
King regards to everyone. ♥
On the Desert by Jean-Léon Gérôme (Photo credit: The Walters Art Museum)
This week, we remember the attacks of 9/11: the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and flight 93.
I was in my office. A colleague came rushing in and pulled me to a television set. The second tower was about to crumble and, to everyone’s horror and disbelief, it did crumble. The person who had filmed the catastrophe had started filming before the attacks. Therefore, when the video was replayed, we saw the first plane hit one of the towers and then people jumping out the windows. Another plane hit the second tower. Firefighters were now on the scene and many died when the second tower crumbled.
What does one do when one loses the one person who makes a difference in one’s life?
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Ironically, this year, the United States is facing another attack. It did not take place on American soil but it is a serious violation of international law.
One cannot use chemical weapons and citizens of a nation do not attempt to exterminate fellow citizens. What is happening in Syria is genocide. Those are crimes against humanity and such a matter requires the attention and intervention of a united world.
This is what I am now seeing.
The citizens of the US oppose another war in the Near East, now called the Middle East.
President Obama is demonstrating “ambivalence,” with respect to a strike. I am quoting CNN’s Gloria Borger.
There is little the United Nations can do because of the presence in its midst of powerful nations that can veto decisions that could help the Syrians. In other words, paradoxically, the UN may serve rather than hinder Assad’s regime.
Despite its debt, the US remains a superpower and possesses a formidable arsenal.
I suspect that the wars waged during a previous administration may have been interpreted as provocation or “meddling” on the part of the Middle East.
Given that Russia supports Assad’s regime, I am tempted to say that old habits die hard, but I could be wrong.
I will therefore conclude by stating that, in my opinion, the current situation is a dead end. I cannot see just how a military engagement on the part of the US can be narrow, limited and targeted. There has to be another resolution.
However, what do I know? There is information a government cannot disclose without jeopardizing a “narrow” but possibly successful intervention in Syria.
May this be the moment when superpowers close shop? What precisely did the historical Jesus of Nazareth mean when he said “turn the other cheek,” and what is the meaning of Leo Tolstoy‘s The Kingdom of God Is Within You (first published in Germany in 1894)?
Nikolai Timkov often depicted winter. However, the painting above is a fine but very personal portrayal of winter. As we will see, it is reminiscent of the “lyrical landscapes” of nineteenth-century Russia. Moreover, it can be associated with impressionism, a French art movement that flourished during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
Yet, the creator of this winter landscape, Nikolai Timkov, is a twentieth-century artist, born at settlement of Nakhichevanskaya Dacha, close to Rostov-on-Don, in the Russian Empire. He studied art at the Repin Institute of Arts and graduated in 1939. Four years later, he became a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists (St Petersburg), beginning in 1943. Although Tomkin has explored other areas of painting, such as genre art, the portrayal of people engaged in everyday activity, he is known mainly for his lyrical landscapes.
Russian Lyrical Landscapes
Alexei Savrasov (24 May 1830 – 8 October 1897) is the creator of this mellow style that also characterizes the art of Isaac Levitan‘s (30 August 1860 – 4 August 1900) mood landscape. So how is the above painting, by Timkov, a lyrical landscape? Well, Timkov has colored winter in a lyrical or poetical manner. For him winter is essentially blue. In this regard, “Russian Winter. Hoarfrost” resembles the paintings associated with impressionism, an art movement developed in France in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
Impressionism
Impressionism was a French art movement, but it had considerable influence outside France. Its masters are Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro, Manet, Sisler, Berthe Morisot, Marie Bracquemont, American-born Mary Cassat, etc. Starting with Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, who are labelled post-impressionists, paintings present distortions, but were otherwise precise.
Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), by Claude Monet, 1872, oil on canvas, Musée Marmottan
However, the goal of earlier impressionists was to convey the essence of the object or subject they depicted: landscapes, still lifes, persons, etc. Such a goal can lead to a more personal depiction of objects or subjects, but during the early years of the movement, works produced by impressionists were characterized by a degree of imprecision. They were impressions and “suggestions” of objects or subjects.
The Colour Blue
But let us return to Timkov. Timkov provides us with mostly realistic paintings, i.e. the various components of his paintings are not impressions. Yet, in one painting, Russian Winter. Hoarfrost, he has transformed a winter landscape into a study in blue, where details are a relatively secondary element. For instance, there are very few details to his trees. Timkov uses little black or indigo lines that “suggest” branches and give depth to the landscape. Moreover, to the right of the painting, we see roofs and houses. They are almost imperceptible unless one looks closely, but they “suggest” the presence of a village and, because they are small, they too give depth, or perspective, to the painting.
As for the river, in the foreground, Timkov has used a very dark blue to carve it out of the canvas. This dark blue lends the painting a very firm and mostly horizontal base, except to the right, where the river bends in the direction of the village. There is texture to the river and to every component of the painting. The river, its shore or banks, the foliage of the tree, all combine a dark and paler shade of the same blue. This confers not only texture to the painting, but also dimensionality, particularly the trees. The same is true of the banks and the sky.
Yet, this painting is mainly monochromatic: shades of blue,and it cannot be considered a truly realistic portrayal of winter. It is not foggy or blurry, but it is nevertheless an impression of winter and subjective. In this one painting, Timkov’s winter is essentially blue, which gives Russian Winter. Hoarfrost a certain intimacy.This is not winter; this is Timkov’s Russian winter.
If the painting were realistic, a little blue would help shape the snow. But fir trees, the evergreens, would be green, and deciduous trees would not have foliage, which they do in Timkov’s painting, blue foliage.
As a result, the painting is both representational: a landscape, and fanciful and poetical, or an impression of winter seen as essentially blue and, therefore, a subjective impression.
composer: Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975)
piece: Valse N° 2
Alexandre or Alexander Benois (3 May 1870, St. Petersburg – 9 February 1960, Paris)was born to a family of artists, architects and intellectuals. His father, Nicholas Benois, born of French parents, was a prominent Russian architect as was his son Leon Benois (born 1856 in Peterhof – died 1928 in Leningrad [St. Petersburg]). Leon Benois is the grandfather of Sir Peter Ustinov. Alexandre’s other brother, Albert Nikolayevitch Benois (March 14, 1852 – May 16, 1936 [Fontenay-aux-Roses]) was a notorious painter.
As for Alexandre, he started out as a painter in the early years of the twentieth century. He painted using watercolours mainly. After visiting Versailles, he was inspired to produce a series of watercolours depicting the Last Promenade of Louis XIV, the Sun-King. These were historical paintings as is the painting featured at the top of this post.
Alexandre’s Versailles paintings were exhibited and attracted the attention of Sergei Diaghilev and of Ballets Russes artist Leon Bakst. The three men went on to found a journal, Mir iskusstva (World of Art) and promoted the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau. Benois was an intellectual.
Scenic Director & Illustrator
Alexandre had a successful career as an artist, but in the broader acceptation of this term. In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, home to the Imperial Russian Ballet, but at that time he also worked for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. In 1905, he moved to Paris, though not permanently, and worked as a stage designer and decorator.
During that period of his life, Benois also published several monographs on 19th-century Russian art and Tsarskoye Selo, the Royal Village. In 1903, he illustrated and published illustrations to Pushkin‘s poem Bronze Horseman, written in 1833. He therefore gained notoriority before the Revolution of 1917
The Revolution of 1917
After the Revolution of 1917, Benois was appointed curator of the Old Masters in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (the former Leningrad). However, he did not remain in Russia for very long. In 1927, he moved to Paris permanently where he worked mainly as a set designer.
1. Petrushka (ballet)
2. The Bronze Horseman (poem)
3. The Nightingale (opera & ballet)
4. Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (Molière)
5. Alexandre Benois, Leon Bakst, 1894
Tags
1. Petrushka: ballet, folklore, Vaslav Nijinsky, Ballets Russes, 1910-11, Fokine (choreographer) music by Igor Stravinsky (revised in 1947), straw puppet comes to life)
2. The Bronze Horseman: narrative poem, Pushkin (1833), illustration, 1904
3. The Nightingale: opera, folklore, Igor Stravinsky, Stepan Mitussov (libretto, based on Hans Christan Andersen), 1914 (as opera), also a ballet (Ballets Russes)
4. Le Bourgois gentilhomme: play, Molière, watercolour, probably for the Turkish
cérémonie décor)
composer: Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971)
music: Petrushka
performer: Andrey Dubov (piano)
Yvan Bilibin (16 August 1876 – 7 February 1942) was born in Saint Petersburgh and was trained at the Anton Ažbe Art School in Munich. He then studied under Ilya Repin in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of Mir iskusstva, founded in November 1898, by a group of artists who wanted to break away from the constraints of academic art.
The Ballets Russes
Bilibin was associated with Sergei Diaghilev‘s Paris–based but itinerant Ballets Russes, performing work related to Léon Bakst‘s functions. However, he was inspired by Slavic Folklore, as were many artists, musicians, painters, illustrators and writers in various countries. Interest in folklore grew exponentially after the Congress of Vienna (1814-15).
Fairy Tales & Pushkin
So, although Bilibin worked for the Ballets Russes, he owes his fame to an 1899 set of illustrations of Russian fairy tales. He is remembered in particular for his illustrations of fairy tales re-told by Alexander Pushkin (6 June, 1799 – 10 February 1837) who, despite his early death in a duel, was a productive writer and remains a widely–read Russian author.
Yvan Bilibin illustrated Pushkin’sThe Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d’or), with music by Nikolai Rimsky–Korsakov(18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908). In 1905, he also illustrated Pushkin’s Tale of Tsar Saltan. He dedicated his book to Rimsky-Korsakov who had written an Opera on the Tale of Tsar Saltan, first performed in 1900, in Moscow.
Yvan Bilibin was interested not only in Russian folklore, but also in Russian architecture. He published his findings in a monograph entitled Folk Arts of the Russian North in 1904. Moreover, Bilibin was influenced by traditional Japanese prints, as were many artists in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The October Revolution
The October Revolution (1917) led Bilibin to settle in Paris in 1925. In Paris, he earned a living as a decorator of mansions and Orthodox churches. However, he was homesick. After decorating the Soviet Embassy in Paris, in 1936, he therefore returned to Russia and delivered lectures at the Soviet Academy of Arts until 1941.
[O.S. 24 July]: O. S. means Old Style. There is a discrepancy of twelve days between the Julian Calendar and the Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582. For instance, according to the Gregorian Calendar, Christmas occurs on the 25th of December, the date closest to the longest night, but in the Eastern Church the Nativity is celebrated on January 6th, twelve days later. On that day, the Western Church celebrates the rapidly disappearing Epiphany. So, when you see O. S., add twelve days to switch from the old style to the new style.
In my last blog, I noted the existence of a site containing Russian and Canadian art. I have since been exploring Russian Art. I have discovered a picture of rafts of wood in rivers. Does this mean there were Russian draveurs as in Félix-Antoine Savard‘sMenaud, Maître-Draveur, men who risked their lives driving rafts or cages of wood down rivers, like the Canadian raftsmen?
As for the Barge Haulers of the Volga, to a certain extent, they resemble the Canadiens voyageurs who were at times spared a painful portage by standing on the two sides of a waterway hauling canoes. But the boats the Volga River boatmen pulled were extremely heavy.
I have also seen villages and towns that are quite similar to Canadian and particularly Quebec villages and towns. A church stands at the centre, above other buildings, except that the pointed clochers (steeples) of Quebec villages are onion domes or steeples in Russia or pear-shaped domes, in the Ukraine. But these domes, sometimes swirly in shape, are also found in other countries, Bavaria for instance, and on various buildings, including the Vatican, the
But to return to our Russian villages and towns, the church dominates the landscape, because of its clocher, as it does in Quebec villages and small towns.
I am not including the news. But I have chosen to insert Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff‘s (18 May 1914 – 28 June 1993) interpretation of the Song of the Volga Boatmen.
