TRAVEL TUESDAY #90 - MILFORD SOUND, NZ

“Keep close to Nature’s heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” - John Muir 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Milford Sound (Piopiotahi in Māori) is a fjord in the south west of New Zealand’s South Island, within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world’s top travel destination in an international survey (the 2008 Travellers’ Choice Destinations Awards by Trip Advisor) and is acclaimed as New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling had previously called it the eighth Wonder of the World.

Milford Sound runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea at Dale Point - the mouth of the fiord - and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 metres or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at 1,517 metres, said to resemble an elephant’s head, and The Lion, 1,302 metres, in the shape of a crouching lion. Milford Sound has two permanent waterfalls all year round, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls. After heavy rain however, many hundreds of temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fiord. They are fed by rain-water drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.

With a mean annual rainfall of 6,813 mm on 182 days a year, a high level even for the West Coast, Milford Sound is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach 250 mm during a span of 24 hours! Lush rain forests cling precariously to the cliffs, while seals, penguins, and dolphins frequent the waters and whales can be seen sometimes. The sound has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it is a breeding site for Fiordland Penguins.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 22, SHESMU

“Odours have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odour cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.” ― Patrick Süskind 

Shesmu (alternatively Schesmu and Shezmu) is an Ancient Egyptian deity with a contradictory character. He was worshipped from the early Old Kingdom period. Shesmu was seldom depicted but when he was, he appeared as a man with a lion’s head holding a butcher’s knife. In later times he appeared as a lion. If only his name was mentioned it often appeared with the determinative of an oil press, and sometimes only the oil press was depicted.

Shesmu was a god with a dual personality: On one hand, he was lord of perfume, maker of all precious oil, lord of the oil press, lord of ointments and lord of wine. He was a celebration deity, likewise to the goddess Meret. Old Kingdom texts mention a special feast celebrated for Shesmu: Young men would press grapes with their feet and then dance and sing for Shesmu.

On the other hand, Shesmu was very vindictive and bloodthirsty. He was lord of blood, great slaughterer of the gods and he who dismembers bodies. In Old Kingdom pyramid texts several prayers ask Shesmu to dismember and cook certain deities in an attempt to give the food to a deceased king. The deceased king needed the divine powers to survive the dangerous journey to the stars. However, the interpretation remains open, if the word “blood” is to be taken literally, as the Ancient Egyptians symbolically offered red wine as “the blood of the gods” to several deities. This association was based simply on the dark red colour of the wine, a circumstance that lead to connections of Shesmu with other deities who could appear in red colours. Examples include deities such as Ra, Horus and Kherty.

The violent character of Shesmu made him a protector among the companions of Ra’s nocturnal ship. Shesmu protected Ra by threatening the demons and brawling with them. In the pyramid texts he does similar things. It appears that starting with the New Kingdom Shesmu’s negative attributes became gradually overshadowed by the positive ones, although on a 21st Dynasty papyrus his wine press appears to be filled with human heads in place of grapes (a depiction which was common earlier, on Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts). Then later, on the 26th Dynasty sarcophagus of the Divine Adoratrice Ankhnesneferibre, Shesmu is recorded as a fine oil maker for the god Ra. And even later, during the Graeco-Roman period, the manufacture of the finest oils and perfumes for the gods became Shesmu’s primary role.

Shesmu’s main cult centre was located at the Fayum. Later, there were further shrines erected at Edfu and Dendera.

ART SUNDAY - MARK HEARLD

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” - Lord Byron 

Mark Hearld was born in York in 1974. He studied Illustration at Glasgow School of Art from 1994-97 and went on to the Royal College of Art to study for an MA in Natural History Illustration. A fascination with animals and plants lies at the heart of Mark’s work. Hen runs, pigeon lofts and foxes appear often. Mark’s main inspiration is Picasso but he also greatly admires the work of Bawden, Ravilious and Piper from the 1930s - and the Neo-Romantic artist/illustrators of the 40s and 50s, Keith Vaughn and Craxton - something to do with their English particularity of vision, perhaps...

Hearld’s love of the British countryside, curiosity for objects and a magpie approach to collecting inspires his art. He is well known for his brightly coloured collages and lithographic prints; hand-painted wooden animals; three-dimensional, hand-decorated ceramics; collages in hand-painted frames, lino-cuts, and litho prints. His work is now exhibited all over the UK and commissions include set design for 2005 film Nanny McPhee and a range of ceramics for Tate. Hearld works closely with skilled craftsmen to realise his ideas, using Curwen Studio in Cambridge to make litho prints and Daniel Bugg at Penfold Press, Selby to produce linocuts.

Hearld has worked as a book illustrator, including Nicola Davies’ “Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature” (February 14, 2012); and has also written/illustrated his own “Mark Hearld’s Workbook” (January 15, 2013). Various other projects include his work with the Tate Gallery to produce a range of homewares, textiles and ceramics, as well as designs for a range of fabrics and wallpapers for the St. Jude’s Company.

The image above is his “Marine Life” from 2009, created for the exhibition “A Magpie Eye” at the Scarborough Art Gallery. Hearld is inspired by the joys of fishmongery, but also the precision of the scientific illustrator, inspired party from his real life observations, but also from antique natural history prints of 19th century zoologist Phillip Gosse (1854).

MUSIC SATURDAY - GIAMBATTISTA SOMIS

“The violin sings.” - Joshua Bell 

Giovanni Battista Somis, (also Giambattista Somis; 25 December 1686 in Turin – 14 August 1763) was an Italian violinist and composer of the Baroque era. Like his younger brother Giovanni Lorenzo Somis, he received his first musical training from their father Francesco Lorenzo Somis (1663-1736). Then Following in his father’s footsteps, he became a member of the Court Chapel of the Duke of Savoy in Turin.

From 1703 to 1706 Somis stayed in Rome, where he learned and deepened new bowing techniques and the art of ornamentation with his teacher, Arcangelo Corelli. It was from this time that he became acquainted with Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, to whom his Op. 4 is dedicated. Further travels took him to Novara and Sicily.

He then went to Paris in 1731, giving several concerts at the Paris residence of the Prince of Carignan. In Paris, Somis appeared in 1733 twice as a soloist, at the Concerts Spirituels; a report in the April 1733 “Le Mercure” praised his playing. On his return to Turin, he became the first soloist of the Hofkapelle, to which he belonged until his death. He remained with the chapel of Prince Carignan’s Turin residence all his life.

His most famous pupil was Jean-Marie Leclair, who introduced Somis to the French violin school. He also taught Gaspard Fritz, Jean-Pierre Guignon, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, Gaetano Pugnani, and his nephew, Carlo Chiabrano, all of whom also made a name for themselves as violinists and composers. From Op. 5 Somis increasingly uses elements of the gallant style and French ornaments (agrémens).

His younger sister was the soprano and vocal teacher Anne Antonia Christina Somis (1704-1785) and later wife of the French painter Charles André van Loo. They had met each other in Turin during a stay of the painter in Turin.  The couple had two children, Marie-Rosalie van Loo (1741-1762) and Jules César Denis van Loo (1749-1821).

It is recorded that he composed 152 violin concertos, which are largely lost as they were not published. More than 80 violin and trio sonatas were published in groups within eight Opus numbers. These works were published by publishers in Turin, Paris and Amsterdam.

Here are the Violin Sonatas of his Opus 1, performed by Kreeta-Maria Kentala, violin; Lauri Pulakka, violoncello; Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord.
Sonata no. 6 [D major]: 1 Adagio; 2 Allegro; 3 Allegro
Sonata no. 9 [G minor]: 4 Adagio; 5 Allegro; 6 Allegro
Sonata no. 5 [B flat major]: 7 Adagio; 8 Allegro; 9 Allegro
Sonata no. 7 [E flat major]: 10 Adagio; 11 Allegro; 12 Presto
Sonata no. 10 [C major]: 13 Adagio; 14 Allegro; 15 Allegro
Sonata no. 2 [E minor]: 16 Adagio; 17 Allegro; 18 Allegro
Sonata no. 1 [G minor]: 19 Adagio; 20 Allegro; 21 Allegro
Sonata no. 12 [E major]: 22 Adagio; 23 Allegro; 24 Allegro
Sonata no. 8 [A major]: 25 Adagio; 26 Allegro; 27 Allegro
Sonata no. 4 [D minor]: 28 Adagio: 29 Allegro; 30 Allegro
Sonata no. 3 [A minor]: 31 Adagio; 32 Allegro; 33 Allegro
Sonata no. 11 [F major]: 34 Adagio; 35 Allegro: 36 Allegro

 

The painting above is Gerrit van Honthorst's "Concert"

FOOD FRIDAY - MANDARIN MARMALADE

“Some fragrance lingers on the hands of those that give gifts of roses.” – Chinese Proverb.

We picked some ripe, juicy mandarins for the tree yesterday and as well as gorging ourselves on the tangy, fragrant, luscious fresh fruit we decided to make some mandarin marmalade. This is a delicious marmalade that makes morning toast zing with flavour. Friends that we’ve given jars to as presents always remark that it has a unique aroma and taste, and it is a pity that it is not available commercially for sale. Indeed, I wonder why...

Mandarin Marmalade
Ingredients
800g mandarins, whole and cleaned
Water, to cover mandarins in the saucepan
600g caster sugar
A squeeze of lemon juice 

Method
Ensure mandarins are free from blemishes and also if any stalks are present, remove them. Wash and lightly brush peel clean. Simmer whole mandarins in a saucepan of boiling water for 45 minutes. Drain, quarter, remove any tough fibres and de-seed. Chop up into small pieces. You may use a food processor if you desire a finer textured marmalade.
Return chopped mandarins to saucepan and add the sugar. Cook, stirring, over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer, stirring, for 35 minutes, squeezing some lemon juice into the marmalade just as you are finishing the cooking.

To test if set, place a saucer in the freezer for 5 minutes. Spoon marmalade onto a saucer. Wait for 1 minute and if marmalade wrinkles when touched, it’s set.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

ALL ABOUT DITTANY OF CRETE

“Alas, poor me, that the wounds of love cannot be healed by herbs!” – Ovid 

Origanum dictamnus (dittany of Crete, Cretan dittany or hop marjoram), known in Greek as δίκταμο (díktamo, cf. “dittany”) or in Cretan dialect έρωντας (erondas, “love”), is a tender perennial plant in the Lamiaceae family that grows 20–30 cm high. It is a healing, therapeutic and aromatic plant that only grows wild on the mountainsides and gorges of the Greek island of Crete, Greece. 

Dittany of Crete is widely used for food flavouring and medicinal purposes, and is also found as an ornamental plant in gardens. This small, lanate shrub is easily recognised by the distinctive soft, woolly covering of white-grey hair on its stems and round green leaves, giving it a velvety texture. Tiny rose-pink flowers surrounded by brighter purple-pink bracts add an exuberant splash of colour to the plant in summer and autumn. Dittany is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plant Species 1997. 

Origanum dictamnus is a many branched plant with discoid to ovate, grey-green leaves that are sited in pairs opposite each other. The slender arching stems and lanate leaves are covered in a velvety white down and are 13–25 mm in size. The flowers are pale pink to purple and have a deep lilac corolla with many deep pink-coloured overlapping bracts. The colourful flowers forming a cascade of elongated clusters are in bloom in the summer months and are quite a pretty sight in the rocky mountains of their native land. The flowers are hermaphrodite, meaning they have both male and female organs, and are pollinated by bees attracted to their scent and bright colour. The primary ingredients of the herb’s essential oil are carvacrol (68.96%), β-phellandrene (18.34%) and p-cymene (4.68%).

The herb symbolises love and is reputed to be an aphrodisiac. Traditionally, only the most ardent young lovers would scramble on mountainsides and go into the deep gorges of Crete gathering bunches of the pink blooms to present as love tokens. There are numerous deaths reported throughout the centuries by collectors of this magical herb. Even in recent times, the collection of dittany of Crete was a very dangerous occupation for the men who risked life and limb to climb precarious rock faces where the plant grows wild in the mountains of Crete. They were named erondádhes (“love-seekers”) and were considered very brave and passionate men to go to such dangerous lengths to collect the herb.

Dittany of Crete has always been highly prized; it is gathered while in bloom in the summer months, and is exported for use in pharmaceuticals, perfumery and to flavour drinks such as vermouth and absinthe. In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates prescribed plant cures to aid all manner of ailments, and considered dittany of Crete useful for stomach aches and complaints of the digestive system and as a poultice for healing wounds, as well as inducing menstruation.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle in his work “The History of Animals” (612a4) wrote: “Wild goats in Crete are said, when wounded by arrow, to go in search of dittany, which is supposed to have the property of ejecting arrows in the body.” The Greek scholar and philosopher Theophrastus agreed with Aristotle about the healing properties of dittany of Crete. In his work “Enquiry into Plants”, he noted that dittany was peculiar to Crete, and that it was: “Said to be true, that, if goats eat it when they have been shot, it rids them of the arrow.” (9.16.1).

Other scholars of Ancient Greece and later times have made reference to dittany, but probably referred to Dictamnus albus, known as false, or white, dittany. Today, the wild, naturally grown dittany of Crete is classed as “rare” and is protected by European law so it does not become extinct. Cultivation of the herb now centres on Embaros and the surrounding villages, south of Heraklion, Crete, and the product used to make herbal tea and for use in natural beauty preparations. It is used as a flavouring in sweet wine, its dried leaves mulled in the warm liquid. It is used as one of the flavourings in vermouth and Benedictine liqueur.

In Book XII.411-415 of Virgil’s “Aeneid”, Venus heals the wounded Aeneas with dittany: “Hereupon Venus, smitten by her son’s cruel pain, with a mother’s care plucks from Cretan Ida a dittany stalk, clothed with downy leaves and purple flowers; not unknown is that herb to wild goats, when winged arrows have lodged in their flanks.” In Canto XI of Tasso’s “Jerusalem Delivered” the crusader leader, Godfrey, is healed by means of a dittany salve. This scene is a reference to Virgil’s as the dittany used to heal Godfrey is fetched from Mount Ida and reference is also made to the idea that goats eat dittany when wounded.

In the language of flowers, a sprig of non-flowering dittany carries the message: “Heal my wounds”; while a flowering sprig means: “I am in love with you and only you can heal the wounds of my heart.”

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MIDWEEK MOVIES - THE LODGER

“Murder is like potato chips: You can’t stop with just one.” ― Stephen King 

We watched a thriller last weekend as we wanted something fairly non-intellectual, which required no deep thinking nor emotional investment. We do enjoy a good thriller as an entertaining and escapist “passive activity”, so to speak, but when we started to watch and I saw that the director (and screenwriter) was David Oondatje, I was a little cautious as I have no time for his more famous uncle Michael Oondatje whose infamous “The English Patient” I dislike (I must have started to read that book about five times and started to watch the movie three times, and I was unable to stomach it!)… 

The Lodger (2007) Thriller/Film noir - Director by David Oondatje; starring Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West. – 6/10

This is an oft-told tale of a serial killer, this time in West Hollywood. The movie has two converging plot lines: The first involves an uneasy relationship between a psychologically unstable landlady and her enigmatic lodger, while the second is about a troubled detective with family issues and unorthodox methods, who is engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with the elusive killer, who is imitating the crimes of Jack the Ripper.

Although the movie was fairly conventional it was watchable at least! The acting was fine and the plot and direction competent, although the movie was a little overplotted and not tight enough. The final twist saved the film, because otherwise it would have been disappointing, especially on account of the rather glib and premature psychological explanation given by Rebecca Pidgeon who played (rather woodenly) the resident psychologist. Nevertheless, an enjoyable enough low octane thriller/film noir good for our wintry Sunday matinée.

TRAVEL TUESDAY #89 - BRISTOL, ENGLAND

“You don’t stumble upon your heritage. It's there, just waiting to be explored and shared.” - Robbie Robertson 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 454,200 in 2017. The district has the 10th largest population in England, while the Bristol metropolitan area is the 12th largest in the United Kingdom. The city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, and around the beginning of the 11th century the settlement was known as Brycgstow (Old English “the place at the bridge”).

Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London in tax receipts. Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution. Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, became the first European since the Vikings to land on mainland North America. In 1499 William Weston, a Bristol merchant, was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America.

At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. The Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristol’s modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics and aerospace industries, and the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as centres of heritage and culture. The city has the largest circulating community currency in the U.K.- the Bristol pound, which is pegged to the Pound sterling.

The city has two universities, the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol and a variety of artistic and sporting organisations and venues including the Royal West of England Academy, the Arnolfini, Spike Island, Ashton Gate and the Memorial Stadium. It is connected to London and other major UK cities by road, rail, sea and air by the M5 and M4 (which connect to the city centre by the Portway and M32), Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations, and Bristol Airport. One of the UK’s most popular tourist destinations, Bristol was selected in 2009 as one of the world’s top ten cities by international travel publishers Dorling Kindersley in their Eyewitness series of travel guides. The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017, and Bristol also won the EU’s European Green Capital Award in 2015.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme. 

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post:

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 21, TAWERET

“Childbirth is more admirable than conquest, more amazing than self-defense, and as courageous as either one.” - Gloria Steinem 

In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret (also spelled Taurt, Tuat, Taouris, Tuart, Ta-weret, Tawaret, Twert, and Taueret, and in Greek, Θουέρις “Thouéris” and Toeris) is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility. The name “Taweret” (Tȝ-wrt) means “she who is great” or simply “great one”, a common pacificatory address to dangerous deities. The deity is typically depicted as a bipedal female hippopotamus with feline attributes, pendulous female human breasts, and the back of a Nile crocodile. She commonly bears the epithets “Lady of Heaven”, “Mistress of the Horizon”, “She Who Removes Water”, “Mistress of Pure Water”, and “Lady of the Birth House”.

From her ideological conception, Taweret was closely grouped with (and is often indistinguishable from) several other protective hippopotamus goddesses: Ipet, Reret, and Hedjet. Some scholars even interpret these goddesses as aspects of the same deity, considering their universally shared role as protective household goddesses.

The other hippopotamus goddesses have names that bear very specific meanings, much like Taweret (whose name is formed as a pacificatory address intended to calm the ferocity of the goddess): Ipet’s name (“the Nurse”) demonstrates her connection to birth, child rearing, and general caretaking, and Reret’s name (“the Sow”) is derived from the Egyptians’ classification of hippopotami as water pigs. However, the origin of Hedjet’s name (“the White One”) is not as clear and could justly be debated. Evidence for the cult of hippopotamus goddesses exists from the time of the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 – 2181 BCE) in the corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts entitled the Pyramid Texts.

It was not until the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BCE) that Taweret became featured more prominently as a figure of religious devotion. Her image adorns apotropaic magical objects, the most notable of which being a common type of “wand” or “knife” carved from hippopotamus ivory that was likely used in rituals associated with birth and the protection of infants. Similar images appear also on children’s feeding cups, once again demonstrating Taweret’s integral role as the patron goddess of child rearing.

Quite contrarily, she also took on the role of a funerary deity in this period, evidenced by the commonplace practice of placing hippopotami decorated with marsh flora in tombs and temples. Some scholars believe that this practice demonstrates that hippopotamus goddesses facilitated the process of rebirth after death, just as they aided in earthly births. These statues, then, assisted the deceased’s passing into the afterlife.

With the rise of personal piety in the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 BCE), household deities like Taweret gained even more importance. Taweret’s image has been found on an array of household objects, demonstrating her central role in the home. In fact, such objects were even found at Amarna from the reign of Akhenaten (c. 1352–1336 BCE), who promulgated the monotheistic cult of Aten.

Taweret’s survival in the artistic corpus found at Akenaten’s capital demonstrates her overwhelming significance in daily life. In this time period, her role as a funerary deity was strengthened, as her powers became considered not only life-giving, but regenerative as well. Various myths demonstrate her role in facilitating the afterlives of the deceased as the nurturing and purifying “Mistress of Pure Water”. However, Taweret and her fellow hippopotamus goddesses of fertility should not be confused with Ammit, another composite hippopotamus goddess who gained prominence in the New Kingdom. Ammit was responsible for devouring the unjust before passing into the afterlife. Unlike Ammit, the other hippopotamus goddesses were responsible for nourishment and aid, not destruction.

Taweret’s image served a functional purpose on a variety of objects. The most notable of these objects are amulets, which protected mothers and children from harm. Such amulets, appearing before 3000 BCE, were popular for most of ancient Egyptian history. She also consistently appeared on household furniture throughout history, including chairs, stools, and headrests.

ART SUNDAY - BRUCE SWANN

“I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror – The wide brown land for me!” ― Dorothea Mackellar 

Bruce Swann was born in 1925 in Brighton, a seaside suburb of Adelaide, and enjoyed sailing at Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club. After his schooling at Pulteney Grammar School, Bruce began work in 1941 for pastoral house and woolbroker, Goldsbrough Mort & Co. On his 17th birthday, Swann joined the Royal Australian Navy and spent four years at sea. His first ship was attached to the American Navy and his second, the Corvette HMAS Bendigo, sailed with the British Pacific Fleet. Even then he was sketching – the sea and boats.

Following World War II, Bruce Swann resumed work as a stock agent, and remained with Goldsbroughs and then Elder Smith, for 33 years. He dealt daily with woolgrowers and cattlemen on properties and in stockyards, in South Australia and the Northern Territory. He travelled continuously, forming long-lasting business and personal friendships and developed a keen insight into the culture of rural Australia, its natural beauty and its unique landscapes and architecture.

Bruce Swann married Clem in 1948, and they had two sons, Steve and Phil. Aged 39, Swann suffered his first of three heart attacks. Two years later, in 1967, he had a second attack and, while recovering at home for four months, he started to sketch, from memory, many of the places he knew and loved from his country travels. Bruce Swann’s first exhibition of drawings was held at Rachel Biven’s “Off The Beaten Track” Gallery in Sydenham Road, Norwood. The exhibition was highly successful and Bruce then went on to exhibit pen and wash drawings, followed by watercolours and then oil paintings. After his first two exhibitions at ‘Off The Beaten Track’, exhibitions were held regularly at various galleries.

In 1974, Bruce Swann left his job as a stock agent to concentrate full-time on his art. He was commissioned to produce a book of architectural drawings for the University of Adelaide for its Centenary Year. These works are held in the University’s collection. His work from across his career can further be appreciated through the nine books that were published, including “Swann’s South Australia”, “Swann at Home and Abroad”, as well as “The University of Adelaide”. In 1976, Bruce underwent open heart surgery from which he recovered well.

From 1977 onwards, Swann had become a well-known artist and his works were purchased for many important private and public collections not only in Australia but abroad. Important commissions also followed, including The S.A. Syndicate’s commission to produce a book of drawings and paintings of the America’s Cup challenge races in Fremantle in 1987. A large exhibition at the Waterfront Restaurant featured the paintings of the 12 metre yachts in action and the harbour views and the life of Fremantle and was a tremendous success in raising funds for the S.A. Syndicate.

The last one-man exhibition by Bruce Swann was in November 1986 at the Barry Newton Gallery, where the public and corporate support at the opening was so great that there was hardly standing room in the Gallery – and it was a complete sellout. The list of corporate collections with art by Swann within Australia and overseas is extensive, and was growing fast at that time. Sadly, Bruce Swann died in November 1987, aged 62. Bruce Swann’s heritage is a portfolio of art works in a wide range of media – pencil, ink, watercolour, gouache, pastel, acrylic and oil.

The painting above is a favourite of mine, “Dutton Township, South Australia”. It seems to encapsulate the vastness and arid beauty of Australia’s outback settlements. Implicit in this of course, also is the resilience, strength and ruggedness of the Australian people. Being able to not only survive in adversity, but make a success of one’s life is something that one encounters again and again in Australia – especially so in the Outback…

More information from the artist's site here.

MUSIC SATURDAY - TEODORICO PEDRINI

“The Kangxi Emperor also used to write music notes, and let me review, giving me his own pen, he made me write on his desk, and we often played together the same harpsichord, each with one hand” - Teodorico Pedrini’s letter of 1727 

Teodorico Pedrini, C.M. (June 30, 1671 – December 10, 1746), was an Italian Vincentian priest, musician and composer, but mainly missionary for 36 years at the Imperial Court of China. Pedrini was born in Fermo, in the Marche, then part of the Papal States. He was the founder of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Beijing (西堂). He was the music teacher to three sons of the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi Emperor, he was co-author of the first treatise on Western Music theory ever written in Chinese: the LǜlǚZhèngyì-Xùbiān, later included in the Siku Quanshu. His Chinese name was 德理格 – Dé Lĭgé.

He was baptised Paolo Filippo Teodorico Pedrini on July 6, 1671, in the parish church of St. Michael the Archangel, in Fermo in the Marche. His father, Giovanni Francesco Pedrini, who had been born in Servigliano on February 5, 1630, had worked as notary in his native town for two years from 1654 to 1656, before going to Rome for ten years, as Chancellor for the Auditor Camerae. He then became the most important notary in Fermo, from 1669 to his death in 1707. Teodorico’s mother was Nicolosa Piccioni, born in Fermo on March 14, 1650, daughter of another notary, Giovanni Francesco Piccioni, from Altidona.

Teodorico received his clerical tonsure in 1687, and the minor orders in Fermo in 1690. He attended the University in Fermo, graduating in Utroque Iure on June 26, 1692. From November 16, 1692 to August 7, 1697 he lived in the Collegio Piceno in Rome. In this period he joined the Academy of Arcadia in 1696, where he received the name of Dioro Taumasio. On December 21, 1697 he received the Subdiaconate; on February 23, 1698 he joined the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul (known as the Vincentians or Lazarists), in March 1698 he was ordained a deacon and two weeks later (on the Easter night of 1698) presbyter, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. In June 1698 he entered the Lazarist house of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Rome, where he remained until January 1702, when he was sent to China, as a missionary of the Propaganda Fide, after meeting Pope Clement XI.

Pedrini’s journey to China was very long, at first following the Via Francigena to Livorno, then by ship to Toulon, and then Paris, where the Nuncio was Filippo Antonio Gualterio, also born in Fermo. Although selected as a member of the first papal legation of Patriarch Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon, who had already left from Spain to the Canary Islands, Pedrini never managed to join him, and, after waiting a year and a half, sailed from Saint Malo with other missionaries, on December 26, 1703, on a French ship heading to South America. The ship landed in Peru December 31, 1704, and stayed there for more than one year. In 1705 he arrived in Mexico but only in March 1707 did he manage to sail from Acapulco, on a Manila galleon.

After reaching the Mariana Islands, Pedrini arrived in the Philippines, where he stayed for almost two years. In Mariveles he joined five other missionaries of the Propaganda Fide, among whom was Matteo Ripa (who later founded the Chinese College in Neaples, now Università degli studi di Napoli L’Orientale), and together they reached Macau in January 1710. Here they met Cardinal Tournon, who recommended Pedrini as a musician at court, in answer to a request from Kangxi himself. After assisting him on his death-bed on June 8, 1710, they set off for Beijing, where they finally arrived on February 6, 1711.

Being, along with Matteo Ripa, the first non-Jesuit missionaries to settle at the Chinese court, 100 years after Matteo Ricci’s death, in 1714 Pedrini spoke with the Kangxi Emperor about the Pope’s decisions over the Chinese Rites, so he could send back to Rome the emperor’s peaceful reactions on the matter. His reports to Rome met the negative reaction of the Jesuits, who strongly opposed the Decrees. This contrast marked all his missionary life, and led him to the dramatic events of 1721 when, at the end of the second Legation of the Patriarch Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba, he refused to sign the final document called Mandarin’s Diary, and was imprisoned in the residence of the French Jesuits in Beijing until 1723. The Yongzheng Emperor set him free in February 1723 but the whole fact caused the bitter polemics in Rome in the following years until 1730, which anticipated the final condemnation of the Chinese Rites, with the papal Bull Ex Quo Singulari in 1742.

In 1723 Pedrini bought the residence at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Beijing (popularly called Xitang or “Western Church”), where he established the first non-Jesuit Church in Beijing. Towards the end of his life Pedrini reconciled himself with the Jesuit missionaries, without denying his faithfulness to the Holy See, which had brought him so many problems in all his life, especially from 1714 to 1721. Pedrini died during the night of December 10, 1746, in his house at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel without ever returning to Italy, and was buried in the cemetery of Propaganda Fide, at the expenses of the Qianlong Emperor. Pedrini’s gravestone, visible till the first part of last century in the wall of the All Saints Church, does not exist anymore.

Besides being a priest, Pedrini was also a musician. This competence helped him first to be admitted to the court of the Chinese emperors and then to gain the favour of three successive emperors, ruling during his lifetime – the Kangxi Emperor (1662–1722), the Yongzheng Emperor (1722–1735) and the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796). As a musician, Pedrini was the teacher of three sons of the Kangxi Emperor, and he constructed musical instruments and mended those present at court.

In addition, carrying on with the work of his predecessor, the Portuguese Jesuit Tomas Pereira, Pedrini completed the text of the first treatise on Western music theory ever published in China, the LǜlǚZhèngyì-Xùbiān, which was later included in the huge encyclopaedic work called Siku Quanshu (1781). With this work Pedrini asserted himself as one of the main figures in the introduction of western music in China. Furthermore, Pedrini is the author of the only Western Baroque music compositions known in China in the 18th century: The Dodici Sonate a Violino Solo col Basso del Nepridi – Opera Terza whose original manuscript is still preserved in the National Library of Běijīng.

Here are some of his representative pieces, as they may have been performed in Chinese Court of his time, performed by Musique des Lumières XVIII-21.

1. Premier divertissement chinois
2. Sonata No. 1 for violin & continuo in A major (Adagio; Allegro; Largo; Adagio; Allegro)
3. Premier divertissement chinois
4. Sonata No. 7 for flute & continuo in B flat major (Grave; Vivace; Adagio; Balletto Allegro; Allegro)
5. Troisième divertissement chinois
6. Sonata No. 4 for cello & continuo in G minor (Grave; Cantabile; Allegro; Grave e Arcate Lunghe; Allegro)
7. Deuxième divertissement chinois
8. Sonata No. 10 for violin & continuo in C minor (Preludio; Corrente Andante; Grave; Sarabanda Vivace; Minuetto Allegro; Adagio; Giga Allegro)
9. Troisième divertissement chinois
10. Sonata No. 5 for flute & continuo in G major (Largo; Allegro; Vivace; Allegro; Adagio; Allegro).

FOOD FRIDAY - CHELSEA BUNS

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” ― C.S. Lewis 

A cold Winter’s day is simply begging for some hot, gooey, and very sweet baked buns. These Chelsea buns are lovely with lots of hot tea to have on a cold afternoon. Enjoy! 

Chelsea Buns
Ingredients - Dough
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 cup lukewarm milk
4 cups strong plain white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup caster sugar
60g butter
1 egg, beaten
Filling
1 cup mixed dried fruit
1/3 cup chopped mixed peel
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or mixed spice
30g butter, melted
2 tablespoons clear honey, warmed
Sugar, for sprinkling 

Method
For the dough, stir the caster sugar into 2/3 cup of the milk and whisk in the yeast. Cover the bowl and leave to stand in a warm place for 15 minutes, or until frothy, then stir in the remaining milk.
Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast liquid, add the beaten egg and mix to a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes. Put into a bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
Combine the fruit, peel, sugar and spice. Grease a 30 x 23 cm baking or roasting tin. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead for 2–3 minutes, then roll out to about 50 x 25 cm. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle evenly with the fruit mixture and roll up, like a Swiss roll, from one long side. Cut into 15 equal pieces and space evenly, cut sides up, in the greased tin. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave until doubled in size.
While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 190˚C. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and firm. Remove from the oven, brush immediately with the warmed honey and sprinkle with the sugar. Cool in the tin.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.

ALL ABOUT SOUTHERNWOOD

“The young habitually mistake lust for love, they're infested with idealism of all kinds.” ― Margaret Atwood 

Artemisia abrotanum (southernwood, lad’s love, southern wormwood) is a species of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. It is native to Eurasia and Africa but naturalised in scattered locations in North America. Other common names include: Old man, boy’s love, oldman wormwood, lover’s plant, appleringie, garderobe, Our Lord’s wood, maid’s ruin, garden sagebrush, European sage, sitherwood and lemon plant.

Southernwood has a strong camphor-like odour and was historically used as an air freshener or strewing herb. It forms a small bushy shrub, which is widely cultivated by gardeners. The grey-green leaves are small, narrow and feathery. The small flowers are yellow. It can easily be propagated by cuttings, or by division of the roots. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

A yellow dye can be extracted from the branches of the plant, for use in dying wool. Its dried leaves are used to keep moths away from wardrobes. The volatile oil in the leaves is responsible for the strong, sharp, scent that repels moths and other insects. It was customary to lay sprays of the herb amongst clothes, or hang them in closets, and this is the origin of southernwood’s French name, “garderobe” (‘clothes-preserver’). Judges carried posies of southernwood and rue to protect themselves from prisoners’ contagious diseases, and some church-goers relied on the herb’s sharp scent to keep them awake during long sermons.

The pungent, scented leaves and flowers are used in herbal teas. Young shoots were used to flavour pastries and puddings. In Italy, it is used as a culinary herb, especially with fatty meats. It has a strong, overpowering flavour and should be used sparingly in cooking.

In herbal medicine, Southernwood was used as an emmenagogue. It was said to be a good stimulant tonic, possessing some nervine principle. It was given in infusion of 1 ounce of the herb to 1 pint of boiling water, prepared in a covered vessel, the escape of steam impairing its value. Apparently, this type of infusion or tea is agreeable, but a decoction is distasteful, having lost much of the aroma. Considerable success was also attributed to it as an anthelmintic, being chiefly used against the worms of children, teaspoonful doses of the powdered herb being given in treacle morning and evening.

Southernwood should not be used by pregnant women. Some people are allergic to Southernwood and one should exercise caution in its use. People with hay fever may find its pollen bothersome and some experience contact dermatitis from the plant.

In the language of flowers, a sprig of southernwood foliage means “constancy”. A flowering stem means “A jest; good humour”.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MIDWEEK MOVIES - THE COBBLER

“Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out.” - Iris Murdoch 

“The Cobbler” (2014) Fantasy/Comedy – Director: Tom McCarthy; starring Adam Sandler, Melonie Diaz, Steve Buscemi – 5/10 

Max Simkin (Sandler) repairs shoes in the same New York shop that has been in his family for generations. Disenchanted with the grind of daily life, Max stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to step into the lives of his customers and see the world in a new way. Sometimes walking in another man’s shoes is the only way one can discover who they really are.

Well, we watched this last weekend and it was a rather tiresome film, even for a Sunday matinée. There was quite a bit of to do with magic and fluff but the film was not a typical fantasy film (it took itself too seriously to be that). There was an attempt at slapstick (but very heavy handed); there were good guys and bad guys and gals (but they were rather half-hearted at what they were about). Sandler looked bored or bewildered most of his screen time and Dustin Hoffman had a gratuitous presence that must have made his bank account look a little healthier. The romantic interests were tokenistic and the single idea of the film about “stepping into someone’s shoes to really understand them” wore thin by the first half hour.

If you haven’t seen this don’t bother hunting it out to watch and if it’s on and you have time to waste, watch it while you are doing the crossword perhaps.

TRAVEL TUESDAY #88 - PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO

“Mexico is a mosaic of different realities and beauties.” - Enrique Peña Nieto

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. 

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean’s Bahía de Banderas. The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta’s population as 255,725 making it the fifth largest city in the state of Jalisco, and the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. The City of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta, which comprises the city as well as population centres outside of the city extending from Boca de Tomatlán to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River). The city is located at 20°40′N 105°16′W.

The municipality has an area of 1,300.7 square kilometres. To the north it borders the southwest part of the state of Nayarit. To the east it borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián del Oeste, and to the south it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and Cabo Corriente. Puerto Vallarta is named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of Jalisco. In Spanish, Puerto Vallarta is frequently shortened to “Vallarta”, while English speakers call the city P.V. for short.

Puerto Vallarta was once named as La ciudad más amigable del mundo (The Friendliest City in the World), as the sign reads when entering from Nayarit. Today, the presence of numerous sidewalk touts selling time-shares and tequila render the city’s atmosphere more akin to tourist-heavy resorts like Cancun and Acapulco, but overall the city’s reputation remains relatively undiminished.

Tourism in Puerto Vallarta has increased steadily over the years and makes up for 50% of the city's economic activity. The high season for international tourism in Puerto Vallarta extends from late November through March (or later depending on the timing of the college Spring Break period in the USA.) The city is especially popular with US residents from the western U.S. because of the sheer number of direct flights between Puerto Vallarta and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and Phoenix. The city is also popular with tourists from western Canada with a number of direct scheduled and charter flights from western Canadian cities.

Puerto Vallarta is also a highly popular vacation spot for domestic tourists. It is a popular weekend destination for residents of Guadalajara (tapatíos), and a popular national destination for vacations such as Semana Santa (the week preceding Easter) and Christmas. Also in recent years Acapulco has experienced a rise in drug-related violence and consequently Puerto Vallarta has absorbed a lot of the Mexico City resort vacation business (Acapulco has long been a common destination for tourists from Mexico City). Puerto Vallarta has become a popular retirement destination for US and Canadian retirees. This trend has spawned a condominium development boom in the city.

The city has dozens of nightclubs, hundreds of restaurants and some of Mexico’s best beaches. The original colonial town with many historic landmarks still shines through an endless selection of shopping, art galleries, water and land activities, and hotels. Walk the malecon (boardwalk) and enjoy the views, holiday atmosphere and the numerous pieces of public art and sculpture. Museums, historical sites, interesting architecture and cultural activities will also tempt the more discriminating traveller.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

Add your own travel posts using the Linky tool below, and don't forget to be nice and leave a comment here, and link back to this page from your own post: 

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 20, IAH

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.” - Carl Sandburg 

Iah ( Egyptian: Jˁḥ, transliterated as Yah, Jah, Jah(w), Joh or Aah) is a lunar deity in ancient Egyptian religion. His name simply means “Moon”. By the New Kingdom, he was less prominent than other gods with lunar connections, Thoth and Khonsu. As a result of the functional connection between them he could be identified with either of those deities. He was sometimes considered an adult form of Khonsu and was increasingly absorbed by him.

Iah continued to appear in amulets and occasional other representations, similar to Khonsu in appearance, with the same lunar symbols on his head and occasionally the same tight garments. He differed in usually wearing a full wig instead of a child’s sidelock, and sometimes the Atef topped by another symbol.

As time went on, Iah also became Iah-Djuhty, meaning “god of the new moon”. Iah was also assimilated with Osiris, god of the dead, perhaps because, in its monthly cycle, the moon appears to renew itself. Iah also seems to have assumed the lunar aspect of Thoth, god of knowledge, writing and calculation; the segments of the moon were used as fractional symbols in writing.

ART SUNDAY - TEODOR AXENTOWICZ

“Every viewer is going to get a different thing. That's the thing about painting, photography, cinema.” - David Lynch 

Teodor Axentowicz (Armenian: Թեոդոր Աքսենտովիչ ; born May 13, 1859 in Braşov, Romania – August 26, 1938 in Kraków) was a Polish-Armenian painter and university professor. A renowned artist of his times, he was also the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. As an artist, Axentowicz was famous for his portraits and subtle scenes of Hutsul life, set in the Carpathians.

Axentowicz was born May 13, 1859 in Braşov, Hungary (now Romania), to a family of Polish-Armenian ancestry. In 1893 in Chelsea, London, he married Iza Henrietta Gielgud, aunt of Val Gielgud and John Gielgud of the theatrical dynasty. A son, Philip S.A.D. Axentowicz was born in Chelsea in 1893. Between 1879 and 1882 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From there he moved to Paris, where he was a student of Carolus-Duran and continued his education until 1895. During that time he started a long-time cooperation with various journals and started his career as a copyist, duplicating the works of Tizian and Botticelli for Le Monde illustré. He also made numerous travels to London and Rome, where he prepared a set of portraits, one of the first in his career.

In 1894 he started collaboration with Wojciech Kossak and Jan Styka during the preparation of the Racławice Panorama, one of the largest panoramic paintings in the history of Polish art. The following year he moved to Kraków, where he became a professor at the local Academy of Fine Arts. He was also active in the local society and cooperated with various societies devoted to propagation of arts and crafts.

In 1897 he founded an artistic conservatory for women and soon afterwards became one of the founders of the Sztuka society, whose members were such artists as Józef Chełmoński, Julian Fałat, Jacek Malczewski, Józef Mehoffer, Jan Stanisławski, Włodzimierz Tetmajer, Leon Wyczółkowski and Stanisław Wyspiański. In 1910 he became the rector of the Academy and since 1928 was also an honorary member of the Zachęta Society. He died August 26, 1938 in Kraków.

Throughout his life he had numerous exhibitions, both in Poland and abroad. He was awarded many gold metals at both national and international exhibitions. The most notable were organized in: Berlin (1896, 1913), St. Louis (1904), Munich (1905, 1935), London (1906), Vienna (1908), Rome (1911), Venice (1914, 1926), Paris (1921), Chicago (1927), and Prague (1927). His paintings can be found in almost all public collections in Poland and in numerous private ones there and abroad.

In 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair, Axentowicz received a Special Commemorative Award in recognition of distinguished service in connection with various national sections of the Department of Art. While in Paris, he received the prestigious title of Officier d’Académie Ordre des Palmes Académiques and Member of Académie des Beaux-Arts. In addition to Society of Polish Artists “Sztuka”, he was also a member of Hagenbund and a founding member of the Vienna Secession.

The painting above is his Święcenie (“Celebration”), typical of his folk scene paintings.

MUSIC SATURDAY - JOHANN PHILIPP KIRNBERGER

“The flute is the true magical rod that changes all it touches in the inward world; an enchanter’s wand at which the secret depths of the soul open. The inward world is the true world, the moonlight that shines into our hearts.”― Jean Paul Friedrich Richter 

Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also Kernberg; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Ingeborg Allihn, Kirnberger played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural exchange between Germany and Poland in the mid-18th century.

Between 1741 and 1751 Kirnberger lived and worked in Poland for powerful magnates including Lubomirski, Poninski, and Rzewuski before ending up at the Benedictine Cloister in Lvov (then part of Poland). He spent much time collecting Polish national dances and compiled them in his treatise “Die Charaktere der Taenze” (Allihn 1995, 211). He became a violinist at the court of Frederick II of Prussia in 1751. He was the music director to the Prussian Princess Anna Amalia from 1758 until his death.

Kirnberger greatly admired J.S. Bach, and sought to secure the publication of all of Bach’s chorale settings, which finally appeared after Kirnberger’s death; see Kirnberger chorale preludes (BWV 690–713). Many of Bach’s manuscripts have been preserved in Kirnberger's library (the “Kirnberger collection”).He is known today primarily for his theoretical work “Die Kunst des reinen Satzes in der Musik” (The Art of Strict Composition in Music, 1774, 1779).

The well-tempered tuning systems known as “Kirnberger II” and “Kirnberger III” are associated with his name, as is a rational version of equal temperament.

Here are some of his flute sonatas played by Frank Theuns (flute), Richte van der Meer and Ewald Demeyere (continuo).