SIMONE DINNERSTEIN J.S. BACH GOLDBERG VARIATIONS

This CD has been rotating persistently on my privy jukebox for three days. Simone Dinnerstein is a rising star in classical circles, and has recorded a perfect Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach. I`m a bit foggy on these forms, but it seems to be about mathematical precision and celestial architectonics-balance, harmony, order, & that sort of thing. She used an old piano that survived the bombing in England in WWII, then was restored by Klavierhaus in New York City. The recording was made at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, on March 11-13, 2005. It was picked up by TELARC and released last August, and now everyone is listening to it. I heard about it through the NY Times piece on November 30, 2007: Strings and Things: Classical`s Best and Brightest. I look for these classical music critics` best picks every year, since they seem to know something about these titles (classical music is still new to me). Ann Midgette recommended Simone Dinnerstein, and I`m glad she did; now I`m aware of her! It is very much a miracle, so go pick it up and play it a couple of thousand times.

RENDER UNTO CAESAR WHAT IS...??

I just found out that this is an actual death mask of Julius Caesar; I do not know how reliable this is, but I`m glad to be able to peer on his authentic likeness (rather than mythic likeness), perhaps. When you study, say John Kennedy, you have the benefit of gazing at photographs and film footage, and are able to comprehend who this man really was. You are not afforded this same opportunity with Julius Caesar, since he flourished in the first century BCE, before the camera obscura. I have finally finished "Caesar" by Adrian Goldsworthy, and have been reading on it for well over a year. I like to digest little pieces of it at time, and contemplate the state-of-affairs in say, Caesar`s campaigns in Gaul, the Civil Wars, his consolidation of power, then finally his demise. The issues at stake are great, and my understanding of these issues are tantamount to my command of Roman history. For Caesar thrived in a time that was on the virtual fulcrum of history, when the Republic of Rome was compromised and the dictatorships of the Julio-Claudian line began. Also, Caesar predates by about 100 years the establishment of a little cult known as Christianity, that started to grow in the Holy land and Asia Minor, primarily as a result of the mission of Saint Paul. Caesar was stabbed to death `neath the statue of Pompeii-indeed an irony-and after, unknowingly, a new era was initiated. I see this as the very center of history; yes Dante was correct in his ripe-medieval assessment of the Western cosmology presented in the Inferno. It is very significant that Adrian Goldsworthy has published this biography in 2006; I never had access to a work like this when I was studying (1970s) Roman history zealously. Please read this review of his book here. Yes, I know that there is not enough time to dwell on Caesar now, since it is the holdays, but I`ve come to believe that Caesar is the most important figure in history, save John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ himself (just funning a little)! Caesar himself took Alexander the Great that seriously, and visited his tomb when he floundered with Cleopatra in Alexander. I saw this on the movie "Cleopatra" with Liz Taylor as the queen, so I will have to check the facts on this. I have been dwelling on this movie because I desire visual images that will put a face on these apocraphal events and people. Goldsworthy argues for the many possible takes on her visage; hey, she may have been somewhat ugly, but I will think of her likeness as the ravishing Elizabeth Taylor. That`s one of those mirages that you just have to live with. I found this great web page that summarizes Julius Caesar`s life very simply; you then can read Goldsworthy with better control over the facts. He dissects all the battles with a surgeon`s tool, and the maps of the battles are wonderful (to the left the Battle against Ariovistus in the First Campaign in Gaul-58 BC). I always like to look at maps of the ancient world while I am studying, and could stand to pick up a good atlas of the ancient world. A moment ago I was reviewing the career of Sulla, because I come to believe that Caesar had him mind when he made many strategic decisions of warfare, so I read about Sulla on this web page, then I went to Goldsworthy and reviewed a bit of Caesar`s early career. Sulla colored Caesar`s thinking during the Civil War, and I suspect that Caesar used restraint and mercy on the various civil populations during the Civil Wars for the very reason that Sulla had been so cruel in the Social Wars. Caesar was able to harness more political power by being merciful, and he was able to conquer Gaul in a similar way by alliegences with the various tribes. Napoleon meditated on the Commentaries while exiled on Alba, and saw the precision in Caesar`s campaigns and writings. Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote the lines for Marc Anthony 'ambition should be made of sterner stuff'. After Caesar`s death no one knew what to think of him, as to whether he had left a good or bad impression on Rome, and this befuddlement continued throughout history, as some saw him as good but some as bad. I see myself as a groupie of sorts, a zealous gatherer of Caesar ephemera, maybe just as frothy fans collect everything on Elvis, The Beatles, or the Kennedys. I have stood on the very spot where Caesar was allegedly stabbed by an array of conspirators. I have already collected many movies, books, images, & web sites on Caesar, and only for one purpose: if I can understand his place in history, then much of everything else will fall in place. He is that important.

TRIO MEDIAEVAL

The record of the year is Trio Mediaeval`s Folk Songs. Please read of their traditions here. They are a kind-of medieval Norway tripping Roaches...in a round-about-way! The harmonies are rich in these 20 traditional Norway folk songs, like...Sun Prayer, The Thieves, The Song of Roland etc...Many are accapello and some with a little bass and drums...very punk in an odd kind of way! Check it out, you won`t stop playing it! Very cultural...The Roaches singing Gregorian chants comes to mind!

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI...??

This clumsy scan of Botticelli`s La madonna della Melagrana is in the Uffici in Firenze, and I saw it in October of 2000. I bought a print of it and I believe I will put it on the wall soon; don`t know why I haven`t before, but I believe it is because I discovered the dusty print, and did not particularly remember possessing it. It is a miracle nonetheless! I have been looking for my favorite Adoration of Magi, (this print looks faded on this Wiki page) and I believe that Botticelli`s is my favorite, but I will have to look at many others. The story of the wisemen coming from the east to pay tribute to new born prophet is a familiar one to us all, but I am intrigued by it, and wonder if it might have some historical basis. i`m sure theologians have spilled buckets of ink over it, but I don`t know if I`m willing to wade through the scholarship. Maybe I`ll thumb through my Oxford Guide to the Bible for some info? I`ve found myself thinking much about Italy too after reading an article in Thursday`s New York Times about the malaise that exists there now. I sure would love to visit her again so that I could gaze on the art and enter the old churches for spiritual solace I would assume. The baby is holding the pomegranite and the Madonna is exquisitly saintly, and erotic too. This is the Neoplatonism in play, I should think! A fusion of eroticism and religion at once; the best of both worlds! That`s why I have often loved Sandro Botticelli more than any other artist. The idealization is even greater in his madonnas than Leonardo or Raphael`s, or better rendered perhaps. Okay, I found a link for the painting presented here, so that you can see it better.

I even did my own version a couple of years ago. I wanted mine to be primitive and Byzantine, and it looks like I got my wish! I forgot to rotate it a minute ago, so I hope you don`t mind studying it sideways! One Magi is but a pauper but the other is a wealthy merchant with a funny eastern hat. Oh well...I guess I need to search for other famous versions of this legend from the Good Book.

SACCO & VANZETTI

I just viewed this documentary two times and have benefited immensely from it. There are lots of photographs, film footage, art, and talking head interviews from people in the know. This is a familiar story to most, but you might benefit from reviewing here. Lincoln Robbins knows the story best, and he fills in much of the details. The music of Woody Guthrie is included, and this is making me want to get a CD of his. These Italians were not treated too good in 1920. They had two things going against them: they were anarchists, and they were Italian immigrants. The story of their arrest and trials were in the headlines constantly in the 1920s. You can really get a good sense of the importance of this case by watching this documentary.

IMAGES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

John`s clothes were made from camel`s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. Many people came from Jerusalem and Judea and all the area around the Jordan River to hear John.

One can not help but be fascinated by John the Baptist. This painted and gilded wood sculpture completed in 1438 by Donatello is my favorite version of the raggedy prophet. Anyone who consumed locusts on a regular basis was bound to have a fiery vision or two, one would think. I do not know exactly why I have been thinking about him, but when I take my walks I often see some of the downtrodden with scruffy clothes and a wrinkled/faded party-shirt from the mid-sixties, and tangled locks & beard that recall this image. We usually see his head brought by Salome to King Herod on a platter, so it`s nice to see it still attached to his body sometimes. This version makes him seem real and provocative, & perhaps burdened by his visions in the desert. He got to baptize Christ and he prophesized the Coming of Christ just as it was predicted in Isaiah. In many of the important paintings of the Renaissance, he is included with a gallery of saints. When I visited the Uffizi, I remember seeing Domenico Veneziano`s Madonna with Child painted in 1445. The rendering of John is nice here too, although he is more scantily clad and holds a sceptor. Be sure that you enlarge the painting, then hit full resolution, in order to see the detail therein. I know this painting is in the Uffizi, not the National Museum of Serbia, so be sure to note that. I should contact Wikipedia about that error. Another nice version of John the Baptist is the one by Piero Della Francesco, The Baptism of Christ-1450. John is much more graceful, melifluous and rested here. I can not say why exactly I have been seeking out his image, but he must have been a sight to behold if you could have heard him preach more than two thousand years ago. Not necessarily for religious reasons or anything, but simply as a character of interest, you see.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST JOHN

St. John did not die here, but was only tortured. This took place in Rome before Porta Latina during the persecution of the Christians by Domitian. A church was built on this site, and I went into it in October of 2000, when I went to Italy. At that time I was not entirely aware of what I was witnessing. When you go through the Roman Forum many things are just stumps and rubble, such as the location of Julius Caesar`s assassination, but you can still feel energy of the event frothing from the stone.

DRINKING THE WORD

This woodcut of Albrecht Durer`s shows John consuming the word of God, ie the Book of Revelation. Mystically the Lord gives him the vision to write this unusual piece of prose. There is also the question of whether John is the same author of the gospel too. irenaeus dates the book to the time of Domitian (81-96 CE). The anti-Christ may well be Nero, who it was feared would return from the dead. Dionysius of Alexandria, writing in the third century, saw John as a different writer from the gospel author. Durer`s woodcut of his martyrdom is merely a German tradition, where he is boiled to death. There is a great amount of numerology in the Book of Revelations, with the four series of seven (letters, seals, trumpets, & bowls). The seven heads of the beast represents the Roman Empire. It must have been treacherous to be a Christian in the 1st century CE, & maybe more so in the West than the East of Asia Minor. This is similar, for me, to say growing your hair long and being against the War in Texas in say 1967!

THE FOUR HORSEMEN

I have been staring at this woodcut by Albrecht Durer all of my life. For me it is the real way that Judgement Day will go down. I still can not believe that I saw an actual print of it a few weeks ago when I attended that Durer show at UT. The clarity of the print was phenomenal, say compared to this scanned image, from yet another copy in a bloody book. I have recently read the Book of Revelations by John the Divine, because I wanted to see how Durer interpreted it. In the book the horsemen each appear separately, and each symbolizes God knows what, but its wrath against the people on earth for their multitude of sins. I do at least know that much. I like it better with the horsemen together; it`s more apocalyptic you see! Yea, when my Second Coming comes around, it will look just like this, I hope! The animation, the sheer sweep of terror `cross the plain makes this the definitive image of the wrath of the Almighty. John the Divine`s is very last book of the bible, and maybe the most referenced one. I wouldn`t be surprised though if more people think of this image when they think of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

12/05/2007 I found a clearer link of this amazing woodcut, if you want to see it better. The Four Horsemen right yonder! Be sure that you supersize. John the Divine`s reference to Armaggedon may actually be a reference to Megiddo, a battle where the Egyptians defeated the Isralites in the 13th century BCE. The history channel has a good little special on it. There is an early Christian church there which may have experienced the Great Persecution of the reign of Diacletian. Then you can maybe see why John thought that things were getting a little unraveled, ie the Apocalypse was just around the corner. This keeps surfacing too over the next 2000 years. THe issue of Mediddo seems to stir my interest...umm...think I`ll work this angle some more.