HAPPY SOUTHERN SPRING!

“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” - Hal Borland

Today our calendar in the Southern Hemisphere marked the first day of Spring. The weather in Melbourne was absolutely glorious with sunshine, blue skies and a maximum temperature of 18˚C. It was a pleasure to shed some layers of clothing and go out walking and enjoying the fragrance of the jasmine and the pittosporum, the bright colours of the Spring bulb flowers and the blossom on the fruit trees.

Look at these beautiful Spring flowers in our garden and neighbourhood and if these are not enough here are some more!

It looks like the great weather will continue tomorrow, so more walks to enjoy the great outdoors. Winter seemed very long and harsh this year (although Melbourne does have very mild Winters, I know). In any case I am glad that the temperatures are climbing, that the sun is showing his face more and that the days are getting longer.

Here is Beethoven’s Violin Sonata.No.5, Op24 the “Spring Sonata”, with Anne Sophie Mutter (violin) and Lambert Orkis (piano).

MUSIC SATURDAY - THE RUINS OF ATHENS

“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” - Aristotle

Eurozone finance ministers agreed in principle on Friday to extend Greece’s financial rescue by four months, averting a potential cash crunch in March that could have forced the country out of the currency area. The deal, to be ratified once Greece’s creditors are satisfied with a list of reforms it will submit next week, ends weeks of uncertainty since the election of a leftist-led government in Athens which pledged to reverse austerity.

European Union paymaster Germany (and Greece’s biggest creditor), had demanded significant improvements in reform commitments by Athens before it would accept an extension of eurozone funding. The two main combatants around the table put a radically different gloss on the result. “Being in government is a date with reality, and reality is often not as nice as a dream”, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters, stressing Athens would get no aid payments until its bailout program was properly completed.

On the other hand, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the talks had shown elections could bring change to Europe. He insisted he had averted recessionary measures and said the government still hoped to raise the minimum wage and rehire some public sector workers. “Nobody is going to ask us to impose upon our economy and society measures that we don’t agree with”, Varoufakis said.

Given these current affairs, my choice of music for Music Saturday may seem a little ironic… German composer Beethoven writing music about Greece, and more specifically about Athens, in ruins after the Turkish occupation of 400 years.

The Ruins of Athens (Die Ruinen von Athen), Opus 113, is a set of incidental music pieces written in 1811 by Ludwig van Beethoven. The music was written to accompany the play of the same name by August von Kotzebue, for the dedication of a new theatre at Pest. A second overture was written in 1822 for the same play. It was composed especially for the reopening of Vienna’s Theatre in the Josefstadt in 1822. The second overture is now known as “The Consecration of the House”.

Perhaps the best-known music from The Ruins of Athens is the “Turkish March”, a theme that even many who are not avid classical music listeners are familiar with. The overture and the Turkish March are often performed separately, and the other pieces of this set are not often heard. Another of Beethoven’s compositions, “Six variations on an original theme”, Op. 76, uses the Turkish March as its theme. The music for “The Ruins of Athens” was reworked in 1924 by Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

Here are the Berliner Konzertchor and Berliner Symphoniker conducted by Hans Hubert Schönzeler, playing “the Ruins of Athens”.

Movements:

1. Overture, Op. 113, (Andante con moto, G minor - Allegro, ma non troppo, G major)

2. Chorus: Tochter des mächtigen Zeus (Andante poco sostenuto, E-flat major)

3. Duet (a Greek and a Greek girl): Ohne Verschulden Knechtschaft dulden (Andante con moto - Poco piu mosso, G minor)

4. Dervish Chorus: Du hast in deines Ärmels Falten (Allegro, ma non troppo - G major)

5. Turkish March (Vivace - B-flat major)

6. Music from the back of the stage (Allegro assai ma non troppo - C major)

7. March with chorus, Op. 114: Schmückt die Altare (Assai moderato - E-flat major)

8. Recital: Mit reger Freude

9. Chorus: Wir tragen empfängliche Herzen im Busen (Allegretto ma non troppo - G major)

10. Aria and Chorus: Will unser Genius noch einen Wunsch gewähren? (Adagio - C major) Er ist’s! Wir sind erhört! (Allegro con brio - C major)

11. Chorus: Heil unserm König! (Allegro con fuoco - A major).

A translation of the first two vocal pieces below gives you an idea of the tenor of the work:

Daughter of Mighty Zeus! Awake!

Her name resounds!

The years of wrath are past!

We are reconciled!

To suffer slavery, though guiltless, is misery!

Every day new sorrow to get our scrap of bread!

On its branch shines the fig tree’s sweet fruit,

Not for the slave that tended it but for the cursed master!

The people oppressed, bent low by his hand,

Ah! ah! ah! ah!

What has befallen you,

My poor fatherland!

MUSIC SATURDAY - BEETHOVEN: SPRING SONATA

“Sweet as sweetest Grecian honey will my song be when I sing, O Beloved, in the season of the Spring!” - Rubén Darío

Beethoven played the violin (and especially the viola) but his writing for the violin is often considered unfavourable to the instrument. In his sonatas for piano and violin (this is his order), besides their musical virtues, and though the piano continues to be the main instrument, the violin often takes a leading and independent role, which was rare (if existing at all) in previous works of the genre. With his sonatas for piano and cello, he actually invented the genre; this cannot be strictly said about his violin sonatas (Mozart wrote some masterworks in the genre before), but one could still say that he brought it to maturity in terms of the violin role, which, historically speaking, was to shape subsequent development.

This achievement was obtained gradually, where the sonatas op. 24, op. 30, and op. 47 hold a prominent place. The sonata No.5 in F op. 24 (“Spring”) was written in 1801 and dedicated, like its predecessor op. 23 in A minor, to count Moritz von Fries. Fries was one of Beethoven’s patrons and supporters in Vienna, mainly in the beginning of the 19th century (until he went bankrupt). He was also the dedicatee of the string quintet op. 29 of the same year, and of the much later seventh symphony op. 92.

The sonata has four movements. The name “Spring” was not given of course, by Beethoven. Its general calm and pastoral character stands in sharp contrast to the highly energetic and stormy mood of the preceding one in A minor (op. 23), which was originally intended to be published together with it.

BEETHOVEN FOR SATURDAY

“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.” - Ludwig van Beethoven

For Music Saturday today, some classic Beethoven, fro his Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92, the second movement, “Allegretto”. This is one of the most sublime and beautiful Beethoven themes, one that moves from dark and lugubrious introspection to a sunny repose, and then once again back into the dark spaces of a tortured soul.

PEACE FOR YOU ON SATURDAY

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” - Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai

I was invited by the University of Melbourne to give a guest lecture in a postgraduate program this morning. It all went well and the group of 30 or so students were alert, engaged, eager, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed – and they all laughed at the right spots too! It does make an academic’s job a pleasure to lecture to a group like that. It was so wonderful to be back at the University, this time not a student, but once again as an academic. It reminded of how fast the years are going by. It seems only yesterday I was on campus as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young thing myself…

At 1:00 pm we went to Cinema Nova in Carlton where we had tickets to the Leonardo Live program direct from the National Gallery in London. That was quite a magnificent production and we enjoyed it very much. But more of that tomorrow on Art Sunday on this blog!

For a little Saturday Serenity, here is the second movement ‘Adagio cantabile’ of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E flat, opus 20 performed by The Gaudier Ensemble. The Septet was first performed in 1800 and published in 1802. It is scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass. It is in six movements:

1. Adagio; Allegro con brio

2. Adagio cantabile

3. Tempo di minuetto

4. Tema con variazioni: Andante

5. Scherzo: Allegro molto e vivace

6. Andante con moto alla marcia; Presto

The overall layout resembles a serenade but Beethoven expands the form by the addition of substantial introductions to the first and last movements. The main theme of the third movement had already been used in Beethoven's Piano Sonata, (Op. 49 No. 2), which was an earlier work despite its higher opus number. The finale features a violin cadenza. The Septet was one of Beethoven’s most successful and popular works and circulated in many editions and arrangements for different forces. In about 1803 Beethoven himself arranged the work as a Trio for clarinet (or violin), cello and piano, and this version was published as his op. 38 in 1805.

The photo is taken from our back garden, last winter. This post is part of the Saturday Sareenity meme.

 

 

A CONTEMPLATIVE SATURDAY

“That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.” - Edgar Allan

A time to sit and contemplate today: Sickness, health, life, death, the universe and everything. What better to do it with than the sublime sounds of Beethoven’s music? Here is the Symphony 9, third movement, Adagio molto e cantabile, played by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Leonard Bernstein said of this piece that it is the most perfect slow movement in any symphony… Listen, enjoy and contemplate!

BEETHOVEN FOR RELAXATION

“When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.” - François de La Rochefoucauld

Another busy day, but on the home front today. Lots to do, many chores to complete, shopping and then I got a headache that wouldn’t go away. I don’t often get headaches, and if I do, an analgesic tablet will be enough to deal with them. Not so today. It lingered for hours and the analgesics didn’t touch it. It is quite a nuisance and I can understand how disruptive it must be for people who get them often.

Nevertheless it was good to be enjoying a dinner for two tonight, with some wine, nice food, music and then watch some TV. It relaxed me and even if the headache is still there, I battled it and hope that a good night’s sleep will finally cure it. I usually find that some soothing music is good for my headaches.

Here is a wonderful such relaxing piece, the second movement from Beethoven’s Septet in E flat op. 20 – Adagio Cantabile, played by The Gaudier Ensemble. It was first performed in 1800 and published in 1802. It is scored for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and contrabass. It is in six movements and resembles a serenade. Beautiful!

PENTRIDGE, COBURG LAKE & BEETHOVEN

“Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.” - Henri Frederic Amiel

After a frosty morning, the day bloomed into a perfect sunny winter’s day, warming up to about 14˚C. We had a leisurely breakfast and then ventured out to go and see our friend in the nursing home. One the way back we stopped at Coburg Lake. Coburg is a northern suburb of Melbourne and in the past one of its most notorious landmarks was Pentridge Prison. Coburg Lake is on the corner of Murray and Newlands Rds and this lake was originally created by prisoners from Pentridge Prison, which is only across the road. Its water comes from Merri Creek, which flows into the lake and then continues downstream past a weir, to join the Yarra River further south.

In the mid-19th century, Victoria’s gold rush brought about a greatly increased crime rate. The government decided to establish a number of penal stockades and also make use of abandoned ships. One of these stockades was set up at Pentridge (the old name for Coburg) to receive, in December 1850, sixteen prisoners from the overcrowded Melbourne Gaol. Pentridge was thought to be a good place for a prison, being near Melbourne, yet isolated from it. Moreover the village reserve was the only Crown Land left unsold. The purpose of the stockade was to provide labour for the construction of the newly proclaimed Sydney Road. There was a lot of bluestone in the area so the prisoners could do “hard labour” breaking up the stone and working on the unmade road.

Residents were frightened and angry because the stockade consisted only of log huts on wheels behind a low 1.2 metre wooden fence with prisoners guarded by an inadequate number of overseers. Because it was so insecure, mounted aboriginal troopers were employed to patrol its perimeter. The first superintendent of the stockade was Mr Samuel Barrow.

Prisoners worked, slept and were fed in chains. People passing sometimes talked to chain gangs working on the road and gave them tobacco. Prisoners slept on wooden benches and ate standing outside in all weather. Those who broke rules or refused to work were punished by wearing heavier irons or given solitary confinement on bread and water. Some were flogged. Prisoners could only have one letter or visit every three months. The worst punishment was to be sent to the hulks, the floating prison boats moored at Williamstown.

In the period 1857-64 the stockade was transformed into a typical Pentonville-type prison. Single cells replaced the dormitory accommodation of the earlier stockade, and high external bluestone walls with towers for sentries were built providing a much higher level of security. Prisoners worked in various industries such as the woollen mill, bakery, printery, tailor’s shop, garden, library or in the labour yard rock-breaking. A car number-plate manufactory was established in 1962. By 1945, prisoners were allowed one visit per month and to receive and send one letter a fortnight. In the 1950s and 1960s the prison became a bit more humane. Prisoners could study, join a debating team and some acted and put on plays. By 1970 there were over 1000 prisoners.

With the closure of the Melbourne Gaol in 1926 all executions in Victoria had been carried out in Pentridge. The last man hanged there was Ronald Ryan in 1967. He had been found guilty of killing a prison officer, George Hodson, during a prison escape attempt. Coburg Council tried fro a long time to have the prison moved or closed. From 1984, drugs and general unrest in the prisons gave rise to rioting and strikes. In 1994, the State Government announced its program to privatise prisons. In May 1997 the northern half of the prison was officially closed and the prisoners sent elsewhere. June 1997 saw the beginning of public tours of the prison. The southern part of the prison closed on 28 November that year and in 1999 the site was sold. It has since been developed as housing estates, parklands and a business precinct.

The afternoon walk along the creek and the lake was a very idyllic one and everywhere there people doing the same, or having barbeques along the shores of the lake. Children played in the playground, families fed the ducks, young lovers canoodled and everyone was enjoying the sunshine, while just a few tens of metres away the old prison walls were a stern memorial to old, sadder times – a souvenir unheeded by the majority of people having weekend fun along the shore of the Lake.

A piece of music came into my head while we were there, and it seemed to summarise the history of the place well… It is the second movement of Beethoven’s seventh symphony. Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, was begun in 1811. He worked on it while staying in the Bohemian spa town of Teplice in the hope of improving his health. It was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries. At its debut, Beethoven was noted as remarking that it was one of his finest works. The second movement Allegretto was the most popular movement and had to be encored immediately it was finished a the first performance. The instant popularity of the Allegretto resulted in its frequent performance separate from the complete symphony.