WEBER'S CLARINET CONCERTO

“The ability to play the clarinet is the ability to overcome the imperfections of the instrument. There’s no such thing as a perfect clarinet, never was and never will be.” - Jack Brymer
 
A wonderful Saturday with a grateful return to routine. A lovely evening all round.
 
For Music Saturday a marvellous Clarinet Concerto by that master of the theatrical in music, Carl Maria von Weber  (1786-1826). Here is his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F Minor, played by Karl Leister (Clarinet) accompanied by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Rafael Kubelik.
 
Weber’s compositions for woodwind instruments occupy an important place in the musical repertoire. His compositions for the clarinet, which include two concertos, a concertino, a quintet, a duo concertante, and variations on a theme (posthumously), are regularly performed today. His Concertino for Horn and Orchestra requires the performer to simultaneously produce two notes by humming while playing—a technique known as “multiphonics”. His bassoon concerto and the Andante e Rondo Ungarese (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists.
 
The first movement of this clarinet concerto is operatic in style and scope, the middle movement quietly reflective, while the last movement is a joyous celebration of life that has a comic overtone, which nonetheless carries an undertone of the melancholy about it in some sections. The whole concerto is a masterpiece of the romantic concerto genre that provides for an enjoyable listening experience, but which is fiendishly difficult to play even for accomplished clarinetists!

FOOD FRIDAY - ROSE CANDY

“But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

For Food Friday, some traditional sweetmeats. Rose candy, that tastes of times past and is for the romantic at heart!
 
ROSE CANDY
Ingredients

1    400 g can of full cream, condensed, sweetened milk
1    canful of water
50     g butter
1/2    teaspoonful vanilla essence
2 to 3    drops of rose essential oil (edible!)
1/2    drop each of pink food dye
450    g granulated sugar
Desiccated coconut flakes (optional)
 
Method

Pour the milk into a saucepan, fill the can with water and add it to the milk. Stir and add the butter, vanilla essence and sugar. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then boil steadily, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (116˚C on a sugar thermometer). For a softish candy remove from the heat immediately and add the rose oil and food colour, stirring all the while. You may divide the mixture into two, colour one half pink and the other leave white, for layered candy. Grease a 20 cm square tin with a little butter and pour in the unbeaten mixture. Allow to become almost cold and then mark into squares. Wrap the squares in cellophane once they are cold. (If you prefer a crisper candy, once the soft ball stage has been reached, boil slowly at 116˚C for a further 1-2 minutes, then treat as previously). Desiccated coconut flakes can be used to coat the candy (optional).

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

PARENTALIA, FERALIA, CARISTIA

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” - Marcus Tullius

The Parentalia, was a Roman religious festival held in honour of the dead. The festival, which began at noon on February 13 and culminated on February 21, was a private celebration of the rites of deceased family members. It was gradually extended, however, to incorporate the dead in general. During the days of the festival, all temples were closed and no weddings could be performed. On the last day a public ceremony, the Feralia, was held, during which visits to the tombs of dead relatives occurred.

On the Feralia, ancient Romans travelled to the tombs of their ancestors (called “Manes”), taking with them offerings of wreaths, grain, salt, and bread soaked in wine, which would be left in the tomb. Violets would be scattered around and in the tombs. The wealthy families of Rome would prepare lavish public feasts at the tombs in honour of their ancestors and a means of appeasing the gods of the Underworld. The Feralia was considered a time for mourning. Marriages were banned during this time and public worship of the gods was suspended. No incense was burned on the altars and hearth fires were often left unlit.

The Feralia is a likely contender as one of the forerunners of Halloween. At midnight on the day of Feralia the heads of the Roman families would address the less pleasant ancestors and evil spirits. The Feralia rituals were intended to control these malevolent entities and force them to return to the spirit world for another year. Failure to properly observe the rites of Feralia could lead to the spirits remaining on the earth where they would appear as ghosts and bring misfortune throughout the coming year.

One ancient story tells of a time when the Feralia was ignored during wartime, causing spirits to rise from their graves and haunt the streets of Rome until proper tribute as dictated by ritual was made, which confined the spirits in their tombs once again. Once the “exorcism” of the Feralia was complete Romans could enjoy the happy family feast of Caristia on the next day, February 22nd. The similarity between Feralia-Caristia and Halloween-All Saints’ Day is striking.

The Caristia, also known as the Cara Cognatio, was an official but privately observed holiday that celebrated love of family with banqueting and gifts. Families gathered to dine together and offer food and incense to the Lares (household gods). It was a day of reconciliation when disagreements were to be set aside, but the poet Ovid observes satirically that this could be achieved only by excluding family members who caused trouble…

The Cara Cognatio remained on the calendar long after the Roman Empire had come under Christian rule. It appeared in the Chronography of 354, and the calendar of Polemius Silvius (449 AD) juxtaposed the old holiday with a feast day commemorating the burial of St. Peter and St. Paul. As a “love feast”,  the Caristia was not incompatible with Christian attitudes and some scholars have detected an influence of the Parentalia and Caristia on the Christian Agape feast, with the consumption of bread and wine at the ancestral tomb replaced by the Eucharist. In the 5th century, some Christian priests even encouraged participation in funerary meals.

HEAVENLY FISH

“I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.”― Arthur C. Clarke

What part does astrology play in your life? In this day and age of high tech, enormous scientific progress, rationalism and skepticism, it is surprising how many people still read their daily horoscope (or have it cast professionally). It is perhaps a reaction against the bamboozling and mind-blowing progress in science and technology, which most people cannot understand and are mystified by. The “New Age” movement is another manifestation of this, I think.

Some people believe deeply in astrology and where strong belief begins, rational argument ends. Others view astrology as an interesting psychological exercise and a means by which one can do some soul-searching and get to know oneself a little better – a self discovery and assessment tool, if you will. In some societies astrology still plays an immense role in everyday life and something like a marriage would not be seen favourably unless the astrological profiles of the bride and groom were compatible, while the date of the wedding is also arranged on a propitious conjunction of the planets.

Astrology was one of the ancient “soft sciences” and it begat our modern day “hard science” of astronomy. Science and philosophy in the past were more connected than in the present day. Astrology as a philosophical concept is quite interesting and the study of the development of astrological systems is a fascinating subject as it is quite telling in terms of the human psyche and mind. Doubtlessly, astrology has had an enormous impact on human history and it has also stimulated a great deal of enquiry into human existence, the universe and our place in it. Countless works of art have also been inspired by astrological themes and ideas.

For the astrologically inclined, today the Sun enters the sign of the fish: Pisces…
 
PISCES THE FISH February 20th - March 20th. Ruled by Neptune. A mutable, negative, feminine, water sign. Polar or opposite sign is Virgo.  Fixed Star: Al Rischa.
 
Adaptable, Artistic, Compassionate, Creative, Deep, Elusive, Gentle, Imaginative, Instinctive, Moody, Musical, Philosophic, Sensitive, Sensual, Spiritual, Unworldly.
 
The Piscean may be summarised with the verb: “I believe”. The Piscean is romantic and mystical, often poetic and artistic.  A Piscean quote: “If you wander around in enough confusion, you will soon find enlightenment.” H. Blossom.
 
As a Piscean, the native is extremely sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. Lack of strong willpower is made up by their sympathy for those they come in contact with, especially the poor, weak, or downcast. Generosity is occasionally bountiful, but usually to those who are “worthy” of natives. As a rule, the Piscean is good-natured and benevolent but is frequently shy and reserved around others. “Moderation” is a key word for the Piscean, as the duality of this sign keeps him or her on an even keel, content in the background, frequently keeping them from speaking up and taking a stand on an issue.  This is sometimes to the extent that the Piscean will have a neutral personality and will be the proverbial “fence-sitter”.
 
While often impractical, these people tend to be highly imaginative, creative, artistic and romantic.  This makes them vulnerable and they can be taken advantage of.  The Piscean needs to identify with someone strong and assertive, especially someone that can be admired and act as a source of inspiration and guidance.  The Piscean can, however, be occasionally brilliant, especially if their imagination is let to reign supreme and their artistic flair allowed to act unopposed.  The Piscean dislikes criticism, arguments, discord and will naturally seek a partner who is kindly, considerate, strong and supportive.  If their partner can make the decisions and provide the support needed by the Piscean, the relationship will be long and successful.
 
The Piscean will choose a profession that allows them to interact with other people and care for them; nursing, medicine, social work, psychology, paramedical fields are often attractive to them and they make very good professionals in these areas.  The Piscean can be a successful writer, artist, poet, musician, actor or dancer.  They are not very competitive or highly ambitious and therefore may lead a relatively quiet life even in what are considered to be very flamboyant occupations.  They will enjoy water sports, like swimming, diving, sailing although they rarely will become competition sports people.
 
The Piscean can be attracted to the occult and may be characterised as a “mystic”, although sometimes it is their introspective and rather moody nature that may be responsible for their seeming esotericism.

A WINTER'S JOURNEY

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” - William Shakespeare
 
Magpie Tales has used as a prompt the painting “Wind of History” by Jacek Yerka, about whom I have blogged before here. My offering, inspired by this painting is below:
 
A Winter’s Journey
 
Revisiting all the places of my past pain
Is my destiny, as Winter drags on year-long,
And endless sheets of falling cold, grey rain
Envelop landscapes in monotonous song.
(Forget I should what I must and mustn’t do…)
 
The distant goal of all my journeys is the same,
Approach so close and then so far again to be,
A cruel, repeated, endless, pointless game,
Treading the circling spirals of my traces, never to flee
(Forget I must what I should and shouldn’t do…)
 
The ruts of my previous journeys run deep,
But past experience futile, knowledge vain;
Each trek brings new torment, as I creep
Towards redemption – a goal I won’t attain.
(Forget I ought what I’m obliged and not obliged to do…)
 
As night falls my desperation grows more acute,
Memories haunt me, suffering grows strong –
The ruins of my former life form a familiar route
How could I live in such error, all my choices wrong?
 
Forget at last what I ought and oughtn’t do,
To live a life that’s fresh, unshackled by the past;
Escape from reminiscences, build all anew,
Tread paths unknown, my destiny recast.

MOVIE MONDAY - SURVIVING CHRISTMAS

“All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy.” - Spike Milligan
 
At the weekend we raided the specials box at the local video store and got some bargain videos. Two of them were excellent films that we wanted to see for a long time, but we also bought a film that looked like a typical Hollywood romantic comedy/moral fable and the only reason we bought it was that three films were cheaper than two and nothing else in the box was even remotely interesting. We were in mood for mindless drivel at the weekend and we watched (rather unseasonably) this 2004 Mike Mitchell movie, “Surviving Christmas”, starring Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate and James Gandolfini.
 
As we suspected this was typical Hollywood grist for the mill, a rather unoriginal and mundane didactic B grade tale based on the premise “money can’t buy you happiness” (but it can sure cause you to be a gigantic pain in the behind for a lot of other people).  The story is heavy-handed and the acting is over the top, direction is slapdash and the improbability of the story makes for cringeworthy viewing. We suffered through it and swallowed the flavourless pap to the end to form a defensible opinion of the movie, if nothing else.
 
Drew Latham (Affleck) is a highly successful advertising executive leading an empty, shallow life devoted to his job and to making more and more money. All is going well for him until another lonely Christmas looms ahead. His lack of a family causes him to break up with his girlfriend and driven to desperation at the prospect of facing Christmas alone, Drew revisits his old childhood home with a view of rekindling some old memories. When he arrives, he finds that the house in which he was raised is no longer the home in which he grew up. It is inhabited by another family, of rather obnoxious character. Drew offers a substantial financial reward to the paterfamilias (Gandolfini) provided he allows Drew to pretend to be a member of the family over Christmas. Greed allows Drew to enter the family as a grown-up “son” but the family get more than they bargained for because Drew is overeager to celebrate Christmas in the way that he has always wanted. The family’s daughter (Applegate) provides he romantic interest.
 
This is a pedestrian movie designed to pull the heartstrings, but its fakeness, over-the-top schmaltz and weak attempts at humour make it quite tiresome. The sheer predictability of the plot and the average, to less than average, effort in making this film make it a C grade studio potboiler. The characters are inconsistent and the plot makes little sense, giving the impression that the movie was made from a rough draft of a slapdash scenario made on the premise of a rich guy paying a family to let him spend Christmas with them. Watch at your own peril, you have been warned…

ART SUNDAY - ME!

“So many of my dreams were to actually be able to make a living of what I did as a hobby.” - Rick Baker
 
Ever since I can remember there have been pens, pencils, paper, paints, canvas, notebooks, drawing cartridge and coloured pencils at our house. It does help if one;s parents are artistically inclined and the stimulus to use all of these lovely things is immediate and uninterrupted. I started to draw even before I learnt to write, as most children, but I also started to paint with oil paints even before I learn to write. It's a pity that none of my very early efforts have survived, but that was the beginning of a very long love affair with art and the basis of one of my good hobbies - for I am only an amateur.
 
I have continued to draw and paint - whenever I have some spare time (which is less and less nowadays. What I still do is maintain a visual diary into which I scribble ideas and get to use the vast array of pens, markers, coloured pencils, and pastels that are on my desk. Here are two pages from such a visual diary. It relaxes me, allows my imagination free rein and it uses the part of my brain that my work often does not allow me to use as much as I would like...

SATURDAY WITH SCHUBERT

“To love beauty is to see light.” - Victor Hugo
 
A Schubert symphony for Music Saturday. Amongst the classical composers, Franz Schubert (1797-1828) is one of my favourites in terms of his tuneful melodies, lovely harmonies and wonderful musicality. Besides his amazing lieder, there is a treasure trove to be discovered in his orchestral works.
 
The fifth of Schubert's nine numbered symphonies was written in 1816 and was performed in October, a month after its composition, at the house of Otto Hatwig, a violinist in the Burgtheater orchestra. The musicians concerned were otherwise amateurs from the group that had been accustomed to meet at the house of Schubert’s father.
 
The music is in the tradition of what Schubert in his diary that year described as the magic sound of Mozart, the immortal. It is scored for flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons and horns, with strings, while the Unfinished Symphony was to make use of a larger orchestra that included clarinets, trombones, trumpets and drums.
 
The first movement leads us through the charm of its principal melodic material to an excursion into stranger keys, until a recapitulation that opens with the first theme in the key of E fiat, before the original key of the movement is restored. There follows a slow movement that is in that essentially Viennese operatic idiom of which Mozart was the greatest exponent, succeeded by a lively Minuet and Trio in the keys of G minor and G major respectively. The symphony ends with a finale that contains all the dramatic contrasts that the customary form encourages.
 
Here are Les Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Mark Minkowski playing this bright and beautiful symphony.
Enjoy!
 

FOOD FRIDAY - SPINACH QUESADILLA

“One man’s poison ivy is another man’s spinach.” - George Ade
 

For Food Friday, a tasty and nutritious vegetarian quick meal, perfect for lunch.
 

Spinach Quesadillas
Ingredients
 

1 tbsp olive oil
120g baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
3 green onions, very finely chopped
50g parmesan cheese, grated
2/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2/3 cup tasty cheese, grated
Ground pepper
6 flour burrito tortillas
 

Method
Heat the oil in a pan and lightly toss the onion and spinach until they wilt. Remove from heat and combine with cheeses. Season with pepper.
Preheat the sandwich press and brush cooking plates with olive oil. Place one tortilla in press. Spread spinach mixture over tortilla. Top with another tortilla. Cook until golden. Stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve, garnished with tomato and capsicum pieces and drizzle some mayonnaise on top, if desired.
 

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

ST VALENTINE & HIS DAY

“Who loves not forever, is not a lover.” – Euripides

The history of St Valentine, the patron saint of lovers, is shrouded in mystery. February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. Saint Valentine became associated with ancient fertility rites at the period of christianisation of Italy and the syncretisation of pagan and Christian beliefs.

The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realising the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl, possibly his jailer’s daughter, who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed: “From your Valentine”, an expression still in use today.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is obscure, the stories all emphasise his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial (probably occurred around A.D. 270) others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianise” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15.

Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or “lupa”. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat's hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide.

Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed, as it was deemed “un-Christian”, at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.

MEMORY

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” Norman Cousins
 
Magpie Tales is showcasing the work of artist Joseph Lorusso, born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1966 and receiving his formal training at the American Academy of Art. He went on to receive his B.F.A. degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. Born of Italian descent, Lorusso was exposed to art at an early age. Through several early trips to Italy, his parents introduced him to the works of the Italian Masters. Lorusso would look to these influences throughout his early artistic development and they are still evident in his work today.
 
Here is my offering inspired by this painting.
 
Memory
 
The memory of a kiss
Is enough to sustain me
In the desert of your absence,
Its cooling draught
Relief for my parched lips.
 
The memory of an embrace
Will preserve my sanity
In the chaos of my singularity,
Its heat to warm
The frozen interstellar void.
 
The memory of a song,
To help me overcome
An existence without music,
The sound of your voice
A caress for my deaf ears.
 
The memory of a meeting
Is balm for my mangled heart –
A black frozen wasteland,
Its vacuum populated
By the shining sun of your existence.
 
We kissed and we embraced
When we met,
And music played –
To be remembered as our song, thereafter.
 
We parted and long after the goodbyes,
Memories still haunt me,
Wounding and healing
At the same time…

MOVIE MONDAY - DANIEL DERONDA

“What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?” - George Eliot
 

George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann, or Marian, Cross, née Evans) who was born November 22, 1819, in Chilvers Coton, Warwickshire, England and died December 22, 1880, London, is an English Victorian novelist. She developed the method of psychological analysis characteristic of modern fiction. Her major works include “Adam Bede” (1859), “The Mill on the Floss” (1860), “Silas Marner” (1861), “Middlemarch” (1871–72), and “Daniel Deronda” (1876).
 

At the weekend we watched a mini-series based on her novel “Daniel Deronda”, which is also Eliot’s last novel. The BBC production directed by Tom Hooper was excellent, and it starred Hugh Dancy, Romola Garai, Hugh Bonneville, Jodhi May, Greta Scacchi and Edward Fox.  As with similar BBC costume dramas, this was an amazing production looking and feeling extremely authentic. The acting was magnificent and every single character was brought to vivid life. The costumes, sets, music and direction were faultless. Andrew Davies has done a great job in producing a wonderful screenplay out of Eliot’s complex novel with its two intertwined plots.
 

Hugh Bonneville as the dastardly Henleigh Grandcourt is the true star of the series, stealing each scene he appeared in. Jodhi May and Greta Scacchi play well in the difficult supporting roles, and both women bring great depth to their roles, the first a desperate, haunted Jewess and the second Grandcourt’s scorned, bitter mistress. Romola Garai and Hugh Darcy both play competently, but even though their roles are the largest, they are certainly not the juiciest!
 

In brief, the plot is as follows: A spoiled and beautiful young woman, Gwendolyn (Garai), chooses to marry for money and social position so as to be rescued from a life of poverty and need when her family loses their money. Her husband, the evil and heartless Grandcourt (Bonneville), is a landowner whose sole pleasure lies in tormenting those around him. Be it his wife or dogs, this sadistic villain never takes greater pleasure than in dangling something before those around him and then taking pleasure in tearing it away again, only to give it temporarily to someone else. The second plot line, centred on Daniel Deronda (Dancy), a presumed illigitimate boy who has been raised to be a country gentleman by his guardian (Fox). One day while out boating he saves a beautiful Jewish songstress (May) from drowning herself, and sets out to discover his own true identity through finding her family.
 

Eliot’s masterly interweaving of the two plots and the depth of characterisation are preserved in the dramatisation and the series made for engaging and interesting viewing, which was satisfying on an artistic as well as an emotional level. The two interrelated plots (although one can argue that the novel is really two different novels fused into one) function well in the film. Gwendolyn’s story illustrates well the tension between ideals and the rules of society, selfishness and vanity, and the role of women in the Victorian marriage. On the other hand, Daniel’s story is one that focusses on heritage, nationality and family, and takes into account the nascent ideas of Zionism and the search for a Jewish homeland.
 

This is an excellent mini-series and if you can get your hands on it, do watch it. Failing that, go to your nearest public library and borrow the novel to read!

ART SUNDAY - IL GUERCINO

“A picture is a poem without words.” – Horace

For Art Sunday today, the life and art of “Il Guercino”. This artist’s real name is Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (born February 8, 1591, Cento, near Ferrara, Papal States, Italy – died December 22, 1666, Bologna). He was an Italian painter whose frescoes freshly exploited the illusionistic ceiling, making a profound impact on 17th-century Baroque decoration. His nickname Il Guercino (“The Squinting One”) was derived from a physical defect.

Guercino received his earliest training locally, but the formative influence on his style came from Bologna, especially from the naturalistic paintings of Lodovico Carracci. Such early works as “Madonna in Glory with Saints and a Donor” (1616; Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels) have large forms, strong colour, and broad, vigorous brushwork. His method of using light and shadow was unrelated to the discoveries of Caravaggio and was derived from Bologna and Venice, which Guercino visited in 1618.

In 1621 Guercino went to Rome, where he played an important role in the evolution of Roman High Baroque art. Among many other commissions, he decorated the Casino Ludovisi. The main fresco, “Aurora,” on the ceiling of the Grand Hall, is a spirited romantic work, painted to appear as though there were no ceiling, so that the viewer could see Aurora’s chariot moving directly over the building. Yet it already reveals something of the crucial experience of his stay in Rome, his contact with Pope Gregory XV’s private secretary, Monsignor Agucchi, a propagandist for the classicism of Annibale Carracci’s balanced and restrained Roman style.

Guercino seems to have tried to make his own style conform with Carraccesque principles, an effort reflected in his “Sta. Petronilla” (1621; Capitoline Museum, Rome). On the death of Gregory XV in 1623, Guercino opened a studio in Cento. Then, upon the death of Guido Reni (1642), whose position in Bologna as heir to Annibale Carracci had been unassailable, he moved to that city, where he was the leading painter until his death. Some of Guercino’s late works, such as “Abraham Driving Out Hagar and Ishmael” (1657–58; Brera Picture Gallery, Milan), are impressive achievements, but other paintings seem weak or sentimental.

Guercino was remarkable for the extreme rapidity of his executions: he completed no fewer than 106 large altarpieces for churches, and his other paintings amount to about 144. He was also a prolific draughtsman. His opus includes many drawings, usually in ink, washed ink, or red chalk. Most of them were made as preparatory studies for his paintings, but he also drew landscapes, genre subjects, and caricatures for his own enjoyment. Guercino’s drawings are known for their fluent style in which “rapid, calligraphic pen strokes combined with dots, dashes, and parallel hatching lines describe the forms”. Guercino continued to paint and teach until his death in 1666, amassing a notable fortune. As he never married, his estate passed to his nephews, Benedetto Gennari II and Cesare Gennari.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” - Confucius

It is Chinese New Year’s Eve today and tomorrow the Year of the Snake begins. The year will be 4711 of the Chinese Calendar. Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival. Chinese New Year is the main Chinese festival of the year and it is not a religious event.

As the Chinese use the Lunar calendar for their festivals the date of Chinese New Year changes from year to year. The date corresponds to the new moon in either late January or February. Traditionally, celebrations last for fifteen days, ending on the date of the full moon. In China the public holiday lasts for three days and is the biggest celebration of the year.

The Chinese zodiac follows a twelve-year cycle, each of the years being named after an animal. The Chinese believe that people born in a particular year take on the characteristics of the animal associated with that year. For example, if you are born in the Year of the Snake, you are likely to be charming and a good thinker. You love the finer things in life, so only the best is good enough. Snake people are good at making and saving money. While they are patient, charming and wise, they prefer not to rely on other people.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, here is some traditional Chinese music, 闗山月 – “The Moon Over Wall Gate at the Frontier”.

新年好 – Happy New Year!

CHOC DESSERT

“Work is the meat of life, pleasure the dessert.” - B. C. Forbes

Although we should eat a healthful diet, occasionally we may indulge ourselves a little and have a decadent dish or two. This is especially the case with rich, creamy, chocolaty desserts. The key take home point is moderation: Don’t have these too often and don’t have large portions. Otherwise, indulge yourself.
 
Chocolate Cream Dessert
Ingredients

1 package of choc ripple biscuits

250 grams mascarpone cheese
200 mL heavy whipping cream
200 mL milk
100 mL Frangelico liqueur (may substitute Crème de Cacao or Bailey’s)
100 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Nutella spread
Chocolate (grated for garnish); and/or chopped nuts; and/or crushed biscuit crumbs
Whipped cream for garnish (optional)
 
Method

Whip the cream in a large bowl and refrigerate. Soften the mascarpone cheese, mashing it well. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and half of the sugar. Mix well and add to the whipped cream, stirring through until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
You may assemble the dessert in individual containers (e.g. old fashioned dessert glasses or champagne bowls) or alternatively in a larger crystal bowl).
Mix the milk, Frangelico and the rest of the sugar. Dip a couple of the biscuits in the milk. Leave it for 20-30 seconds to become soft (be careful not to leave the biscuits too long, cause they will disintegrate).
Place a layer of biscuits in the serving plate. Dribble a couple spoonfuls of softened Nutella (microwave it for 5 seconds) over them. Add one layer of the mascarpone and cream mixture over that.
Repeat the steps until your cream cheese mixture and biscuits finish. Garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight and serve cold.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

COSMIC WATCH

“Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.” - Plato
 
Next week, an asteroid will approach Earth in what is being described as a historic “close shave”. Astronomers say that there’s no chance that the rock will crash into our planet on this occasion. The 45 meter long asteroid 2012 DA14 will approach earth and on February 15 will be as close as 27,700 kilometres. This is extremely close and personal on cosmic terms, coming nearer than the ring of satellites that are in geosynchronous orbit. This will be the closest distance of approach that we know of in advance for such a large asteroid, however, there is no need to predict doom.
 
NASA has a special department called the “Near-Earth Object Program Office” and this can accurately predict the asteroid’s path with the observations and measurements already obtained. It is known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. The approach, however, will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.
 
Asteroid 2012 DA 14 was discovered in February last year by astronomers with the La Sagra Sky Survey in Spain. The asteroid has been orbiting the sun once every 368 days, though next week’s close pass will reduce its orbital period to 317 days. At its closest approach on February 15, the rock will be just 1/13th as far from Earth as the moon is and will whiz by our planet at about 28,000 km/h as it makes its closest pass for at least the next 30 years.
 
The asteroid will be visible as a point of light through binoculars and small telescopes during the close encounter. The best observing will be from Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia, NASA officials said. 2012 DA 14 will have faded considerably by the time Earth’s rotation brings the object into view for people in the continental United States. Radar astronomers plan to take images of the asteroid about eight hours after closest approach using the Goldstone antenna in California’s Mojave Desert, which is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network.
 
Several other known asteroids have approached Earth even more closely than 2012 DA14 will, but those objects were all smaller. Asteroids of the size of 2012 DA14 flit past earth about once every 40 years and actually hit Earth every 1,200 years or so. Other relatively large asteroids have probably zipped very close to Earth recently without being spotted. Astronomers have identified more than 9,000 near-Earth asteroids to date, but perhaps a million or more such space rocks are thought to exist. If 2012 DA14 did strike our planet, it would likely cause serious damage on a local scale. An object of similar size flattened 2,000 square km of forest when it exploded above Siberia's Podkamennaya Tunguska River in 1908.
 
The asteroid seems to have a very prosaic name, but it reflects the rule of nomenclature for minor heavenly bodies. I think I’ll call it “Valentino” given its discovery by Spanish scientists around about February 14! There is already an asteroid called “Eros”!
 
As if this cosmic even wasn’t enough, a comet is approaching our sun and some scientists say it could dazzle as a “comet of the century” later this year. Comet ISON was discovered in September 2012 by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using a 0.4-metre telescope of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON), near Kislovodsk. Incidentally, “ison” in Greek means a drone note, or a slow-moving lower vocal part, used in Byzantine chant and some related musical traditions to accompany the melody, thus enriching the singing, at the same time not transforming it into a harmonized or polyphonic piece. Hence the comet will enrich the music of the spheres!
 
Comet ISON will make its closest approach to the sun on November 28, when it will approach within 1.2 million km of our star’s surface. As of mid-January, the comet’s tail was more than 64,400 km. If the comet survives the approach, and does not fade or break apart, it could transform into a spectacular celestial sight, rivaling the full moon, scientists have said. The comet will make its closest approach to Earth on Dec. 26, when it will fly within 64 million km of our planet. It poses no impact threat to the Earth, NASA scientists said.

SETSUBUN

花鳥風月 (Kachou Fuugetsu) Literally: “Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon” -This means: Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself.
 

Setsubun (節分) in Japan is traditionally the day before the beginning of spring. Setsubun literally means “seasonal division,” but it is most commonly in reference to the division between winter and spring, more specifically called Risshun. It is celebrated annually on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival (Haru Matsuri). In its association with the lunar new year, Setsubun was traditionally thought of as a sort of New Year’s Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This custom is called mamemaki or literally “bean-throwing.”
 

Mamemaki is still performed at most shrines and temples all over Japan. It is also enthusiastically espoused by children who go about throwing beans at one another at school, in playgrounds and at home. It is customary at home for an adult to wear an evil mask and get pelted with beans! Roasted soybeans (called “fortune beans”) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an oni (demon) mask, while the people recite “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” (Demons out! Fortune in!) and slam the door. A similar ritual in the West is the throwing of rice at weddings – banish evil attract good fortune for the newlyweds.
 

The beans are thought to drive away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them, so the custom of mamemaki is a purification ritual. Another part of ensuring good luck is to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one’s life, and in some areas, one for each year of one’s life plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come. Stores sell a long uncut makizushi (sushi) roll called eho-maki (literally, “lucky direction roll”). It’s to be eaten in silence on Setsubun while facing the yearly lucky compass direction, determined by the zodiac symbol of that year.
 

At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines all over Japan, there are celebrations for Setsubun. Priests and invited guests will throw roasted soy beans (some wrapped in gold or silver foil), small envelopes with money, sweets, candies and other prizes. In some bigger shrines, even celebrities and sumo wrestlers will be invited; these events are televised nationally. Many people come, and the event turns wild, with everyone pushing and shoving to get the gifts tossed from above. Monday, 11 February 2013 has been designated as the official Setsubun holiday when the temple celebrations will be carried out. It is not a national holiday.

THE DAY AFTER

“Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, nor care beyond today.” - Thomas Gray

The image supplied this week by Magpie Tales was a photograph of the Central Library, Manchester, U.K., taken by Robin Gosnall. As is my usual habit, I have rather changed the image (with apologies to Robin G). The original was one of rather melancholy atmosphere and what I started out as a colourisation that would make it cheerier, instead turned it into one of utter doom… No wonder the resultant poem is also tinged by grimness and desperation!
 
The Day After
 
The day after
Only a few cannibal carrion birds
Will fly above deserted streets
Shrieking in dismay
As all the dead have been vaporised.
 
As night falls
The silence profound and absolute,
As the last wild beast
Retreats limping weakly to its lair,
With empty stomach to expire.
 
The city empty
Dark, taciturn, but still imposing –
Like a stern emperor
Who even bereft of subjects
Will still pronounce hollow decrees.
 
The day after
Dawns as even the vermin die out:
Rats turning into decomposing, foul-smelling mush
And cockroaches into empty shells,
Leaving the world now completely lifeless.
 
As noonday sun shines and burns
And sterilises the putrescence,
Only the proud and tall edifices will proclaim
The short reign of Homo sapiens
Who came, conquered and destroyed
All that lived, even himself…

MOVIE MONDAY - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.” - Benjamin Disraeli

We watched the 2008 Tomas Alfredson film “Let the Right One In” yesterday. This is a Swedish film based on the John Ajvide Lindqvist novel, and stars Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson and Per Ragnar. It is an unconventional vampire tale, but the vampirism is not the main theme, it’s almost incidental. There is subtle horror and tragedy, however, the film is about mainly friendship, loyalty. love and schoolyard bullying.

The film is set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982 and concerns Oskar (Hedebrant), a bullied 12-year old boy. He is quite powerless to face up to the bullies as he lacks courage, only being able to dream of revenge. He meets Eli (Leandersson), a peculiar girl who lives in the flat next door. She is really strange: She doesn’t seem to feel the bitter winter cold, can’t stand the sun, is unable to eat food and in order enter a room she must to be invited in. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realises that Eli needs to drink other people’s blood to survive he is faced with a tough choice. How much can Oskar forgive once he becomes aware that as well being repelled by Eli, he also loves her…

The young lead actors are remarkable, giving performances that are restrained, subtly nuanced and displaying perfect chemistry between them. Similarly, production values are wonderful, with excellent technical care throughout. Lighting is fantastic, the original music by Johan Soderqvist quite appropriate, and Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is remarkable. This is not a cheap thrills horror movie, but a carefully crafted Hitchcockian tale with a tense psychological underpinning.

Although there is considerable violence in the film, it is not of the gratuitous type and one feels that it is absolutely necessary for the telling of the tale. The use of children to convey the gristliness of the tale is quite a masterstroke and one is reminded constantly of how cruel childhood can be. But there is also the yearning for friendship and acceptance and love that children (as well as adults!) need. The film is quite masterful cinematically, and thematically one almost rues the fact that a vampire has to be involved in the story – it somehow cheapens it, and yet it absolves the heroine in a wayward manner.

The film begs comparison with other vampire tales and movies. However, it would be doing it an injustice to be compared with the likes of the popular and quite dreadful “Twilight” series or the old and now rather caricature-like Hammer horror battle-axes. The 2010 remake “Let me In” by Matt Reeves is the one film that one should compare it with, however, I have not seen this one. If one gives credit to IMDB scores, the original Swedish film is scored at 8.0, while the remake is scored at 7.2. Perhaps I shall have a look at the new version in a few months time…

Do have a look at the original Swedish version, it is quite good and represents excellent film-making, although it is slow and it does deal with a strange mixture of themes and myths. It goes to show, I guess, that one can make an engaging and wonderful film about anything at all. Rather like Mozart setting his laundry list to exquisite music.

ART SUNDAY - ALBERT BLOCH

“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” - John F. Kennedy
 
Albert Bloch (1882-1961) was an American artist, born in St. Louis, Missouri, of Czechoslovakian and German-Jewish ancestry. He spent his early life in the Midwest, first He initially earned a living from commercial art, working between 1905 and 1908 as a caricaturist and illustrator for William Marion Reedy’s literary and political weekly “The Mirror”. Reedy noticed Bloch’s talent, and provided him with a monthly stipend to study abroad.
 
At the beginning of 1909, Bloch sailed for Europe and between 1909 and 1921, Bloch lived and worked mainly in Germany, making brief visits to other countries in Europe and to America. As he spoke German, he decides to settle in Munich, which was then a thriving art center. Reedy pressed Bloch to attend classes at the Royal Bavarian Academy in Munich, however, Bloch never enrolled, preferring instead to take lessons from painters working in the academic style outside the academy.
 
Initially Bloch displayed little interest in the modern art revolution that was sweeping through Europe around the turn of the century, but a 1910 trip to Paris exposed him to the work of Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Odilon Redon. The following year, he saw a catalogue of the second exhibition of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (the New Arts’ Union of Munich), which included reproductions of works by, among others, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Georges Rouault, and Wassily Kandinsky. Bloch identified with these artists.
 
He soon met Kandinsky and Franz Marc, both of whom invited him to participate in the first exhibition of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of modernist artists who broke away from Neue Künstlervereinigung. With his contribution of six canvases, Bloch was the only American represented in the show, which was held in December 1911 at Munich’s Thannhauser Gallery. The Blaue Reiter artists had no formal manifesto, but they shared a desire to express emotional and spiritual truth through painting and, in particular, through symbolic use of color. The group, active from 1911 to 1914, represents one current in the broader expressionist impulse that spread through Germany and beyond in the first half of the twentieth century.
 
Bloch established a successful career in Germany and remained there, exhibiting his work through World War I. In 1912, he showed at the second Blaue Reiter exhibition, and he was included in the 1912 Sonderbund Exhibition in Cologne, the most famous exhibition of modernism in Europe at that time. The only painting by Bloch accepted for this show was “The Duel”, a 1912 painting that recalls Edvard Munch’s work. That same year, Bloch showed at Herwarth Walden’s Der Sturm Gallery in Berlin, participating in a small exhibition that featured paintings rejected from the Sonderbund exhibit. Walden, one of the foremost proponents of modernism in Europe, fashioned this 1912 exhibition as a protest against the Sonderbund show that, he believed, had not adequately represented members of the Blaue Reiter group.

Bloch’s fame now reached America. Arthur Jerome Eddy, the Chicago collector and tireless promoter of modernism, began buying Bloch’s paintings at Kandinsky’s recommendation, and eventually added more than 25 of Bloch’s works to his collection. In 1915, Eddy’s collection of paintings by Bloch was the basis of a one-man show at the Art Institute of Chicago; the exhibition traveled to the St. Louis Art Museum.
 
In 1921, Bloch returned to the United States, greatly disappointed with what Germany had become. He lived in the USA until his death in 1961. To support himself, as he had little money, Bloch decided to become an art teacher. His first position began in 1922 at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, but lasted only one year. From 1923 until his retirement in 1947, Bloch was Professor and Head of the Department of Drawing and Painting at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

Bloch frequently chose biblical subject matter or sweeping emotional themes of anguish or exaltation. Wishing to remain behind the American art scene and unwilling to trade on his European connections, Bloch and his work faded from public view. Over time, Bloch’s reticence about discussing his former affiliation with the Blaue Reiter artists obscured his early contributions to an important passage in the history of art. Throughout his career, Bloch destroyed any paintings that, from his point of view, were unsuccessful. Regrettably, many more early works in German collections were destroyed in the bombings of World War II, while others were banished to Switzerland by the Nazis as “degenerate art.” Extant examples of his work from this early period are rare and valuable artistic documents.

The painting above is his “Three Pierrots and Harlequin” of 1914. While the characters of Commedia dell’ Arte are clearly identifiable, the darkness of the first World War can be discerned in the battleground-like setting which the figures populate. Exploding spheres of colour illuminate the environs eerily and Harlequin is in full flight, seemingly running to escape the sinister trio of Pierrots. This is a powerful and disturbing work making us privy to the artist’s state of mind in the historic context of his life at the time it was painted.