St. Ambrose - Veni Redemptor Genitum

This is the oldest Christmas Carol that we know of. 

St. Ambrose is often described as one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church*, influential theologians who established the foundations of the church in the fourth century.  Unlike his compatriot Doctors, Ambrose was a most unusual saint.  He was the Roman governor of the province around Milan when he (kind of accidentally) became bishop of Milan.  He was quite popular as Governor and when the crowd was beginning to get rowdy debating who would become the next bishop, someone called out his name as a suggestion.  Suddenly it was a done deal.

Except there was this little problem: not only was Ambrose not a priest, he wasn't even baptized as a Christian.  The crowd wasn't about to let minor issues like that stand between them and their new bishop.  So Governor Aurelius Ambrosius became Bishop Ambrose.

He was a force to be reckoned with, even excommunicating Emperor Theodosius the Great (I think that this was the first time this had ever happened).

He also composed the first Christmas Carol, Veni Redemptor Genitum (Come, Redeemer of the Nations).  It is still performed today, 1650 years later.

Latin:

Veni, redemptor gentium;
ostende partum Virginis;
miretur omne saeculum:
talis decet partus Deum. 

English translation:
Come, Redeemer of the nations;
show forth the Virgin birth;
let every age marvel:
such a birth befits God.

Now the Christmas season is upon us.  It seemed right to start our annual christmas music posts with the very first Christmas carol.

* The others are St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory the Great.  It was sort of a Murderer's Row lineup of the early Church batting order.

Alan Jackson - Let It Be Christmas

 

Joe Bonamassa - Christmas Boogie

Now that it's after Thanksgiving, it's officially Christmas music season.  Well, here at least.

Music from St. Catherine's Monastery

St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai is said to be the oldest continually inhabited monastery, founded by Emperor Justinian the Great around 550AD.  It has a library that has survived the ages, perhaps because they have a document said to be signed by Mohammad himself saying that the Monastery was under his protection.  Even if it was a forgery, it seems to have been an effective forgery.

It has perhaps the most impressive collection of icons in the world.  For example, the oldest known icon of Kristos Pantokrator, dating from the 6th century:

St. Catherine's has just offered full size (or reduced size) museum quality reproductions of many of its icons:

For the first time in its 1,500-year history, Saint Catherine’s Monastery is offering certified replicas of its most famous Byzantine icons. These replicas, available in actual size and true-to-life color, allow people worldwide to own a piece of this sacred art.

This groundbreaking project is the result of a three-year collaboration between the Monastery, the Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery, and Legacy Icons. Dr. Peter Chang, President of the Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery, called the partnership a “significant milestone in our ongoing mission to support Saint Catherine’s Monastery and its invaluable contributions to Christian spirituality and global civilization.”

The first set of replicas includes some of the Monastery’s most treasured works:

• Christ Pantocrator (6th century)
• Moses and the Burning Bush (c. 13th century)
• Saint Catherine with Scenes of her Life (18th century)

You can view (and purchase, if you'd like) the reproductions here.  They look to be very high quality (to me, at least).  As the original linked article says:

These replicas are created using high-resolution scans, capturing even the tiniest details. “To be able to look into the depths of the cracks and original paint strokes with this clarity is breathtaking and we look forward to shipping these for all to appreciate,” said David DeJonge, founder of Legacy Icons. The replicas are printed on high-quality Hahnemühle Photo Rag paper and mounted on solid hardwoods, ensuring they are as authentic as possible.

A portion of the purchase goes to support the Monastery's preservation activities.  Remember, this Monastery has been working and collecting manuscripts continually for 1500 years.

Here is a recording of traditional music from the Monastery.

But I Am Living Still

Kris Kristofferson, 88.

UPDATE 30 SEPTEMBER 2024 12:35 [Borepatch]: I first posted about Kristofferson here.  Quite a man.

Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons (L'autunno)

Yesterday marked the Autumn Equinox, the first day of autumn.  The Silicon Graybeard posts about what this means in Florida; he's on the Atlantic coast so it's a little cooler there than here.  But the forecast here is calling for temperatures to drop into the mid 80s during the day and even below 70 (!!!) at night this coming week.  Autumnal indeed.

As you'd expect, there's terrific classical music for this occasion; as a matter of fact, you've probably heard it.

Antonio Vivaldi was one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his Four Seasons suite of four violin concertos is without doubt his most famous work.  Sadly for him, it didn't help him very much - the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died before appointing him court composer, and Vivaldi (like Mozart after him) died in poverty.

But there aren't many who leave behind a legacy such as this.  Vivaldi's life story in a way matches the mood of autumn, with a glorious youth behind it and a cold, poor finish ahead of it.

But don't let me harsh your mellow!  The music is sublime, and the temperature (in Florida at least) will barely drop below 70 ...
 

Antonín Dvořák - Introduzione from the oratorio Saint Ludmila

Tomorrow is the feast day of Saint Ludmila of Bohemia, grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus of Christmas Carol fame.  As queen, she was instrumental in converting the kingdom to christianity but was murdered by her daughter-in-law (mother of Wenceslaus).

By the 19th century St. Ludmila took on aspects of national hero, and the preeminent composer of 19th century national music wrote this oratorio in her honor.

Seth Weeks: Polka Caprice for Mandolin and Piano

Seth Weeks is an interesting composer for a couple reasons: he composed for the mandolin, and he was black - back in the 19th and early 20th centuries when that was a definite limitation on how musical society would accept him.  Despite that, he was the prime mover in bringing on what is called the mandolin's golden period.  He became prominent enough that he toured in Europe and lived there before World War I and in the 1920s.

It was in Europe that he recorded his music, with Edison Records in London and Gerliner Gramophone in Berlin.

Born on this day in 1868, he lived to the ripe old age of 85.  There are not a lot of performances of his music on Youtube, and this doesn't have a lot of views.  That's a shame - he was an unusually interesting composer.

Calvin Jackson and George Stoll - Concerto For Index Finger featuring Gracie Allen

The Queen Of The World and I like watching the old TV shows ('50s, '60s, and '70s).  One of these is The George Burns Show, the star of which really is Gracie Allen who would steal the show pretty much every time.  Well, TQOTW discovered this gem from the last film appearance by Gracie, the 1944 film Two Girls And A Sailor.  It had an all star cast but Gracie stole the show with this hilarious number.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Richard Strauss - Elektra

So they tried to assassinate Donald Trump.  The question is whether they will try again.  The next question will be what will be the reaction if they succeed.

It's that second question that made me think of Strauss and his ferocious opera Elektra.  That girl had family issues: Her father was Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks against Troy.  He sacrificed her sister to the Gods to gain favorable winds for the invasion fleet.  Her mother Klytemnestra murdered her father in revenge.  Her brother Orest kills their mother in revenge.  Mad with fury, Elektra dances in the blood of the guilty.

Quite a story.  The Nazis quite admired it, the necessity of bloodletting to purify the family.  Yesterday's events made me think on what might befall should they succeed in their manic desires to stop Trump by any means necessary.

May God save this Honorable Republic.

Happy Birthday, Eduardo Falu!

In keeping with The Queen Of The World's birthday, here's a composer from a part of the world I had never heard of.  I grew up on classical music, and for guitar that meant Andres Segovia (with a tip of the old chapeau to Julian Bream).  I had never heard of Eduardo Falu, Argentina's great guitarist.  He's been dead these ten years or more but many of his songs are on Youtube.  This is an entire concert he gave in Seville in 1978.  He would be 101 years old today.

Aaron Tippin - Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly

The Queen of the World and I were talking today, remembering the bicentennial celebration in 1976.  She pointed out that two years from now will be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  Wow.

It's still worth celebrating.

Henri Vieuxtemps - Souvenir d'Amerique, Variations Burlesques sur "Yankee Doodle"

We are all the way to the middle of the year, and hard up against Independence Day this week.  I have long thought that you can better know your own country by visiting others (at least, this has been my experience).  Sometimes a foreigner can tell you something you hadn't known about your own land.

Henri Vieuxtemps was a Belgian composer and violin player in the first part of the 19th century.  A child prodigy, he toured all over playing for the Great and the Good.  In the 1840s he came to tour America.  He left us this, what is perhaps his most famous composition, at least on these shores.  It's quite different from other versions of the song, which makes it interesting (at least to me).

Dad Joke CCCXXVII

I made a playlist for hiking.  It has music from Peanuts, The Cranberries, and Eminem.

I call it my trail mix.

Jo Dee Messina - Heaven Was Needing A Hero

Memorial Day is the traditional start of summer.  Beach, swimming pools, and backyard barbecue is the agenda for most.  But that's not what the day is about.  I posted this twelve years ago and it still captures the spirit of this weekend.  Christian Golczynski is around twenty five years old now.

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Memorial Day isn't about barbecues for Christian Golczynski.  He was eight years old when LTC Ric Thompson handed him the flag that had draped his father's coffin.  That was five years ago.

This weekend will be the fifth Memorial Day where he won't be thinking about barbecues.  Next month will be the fifth Father's Day with an empty chair at the dinner table.

That is what Memorial Day is about.

I've posted this song a number of times over the last year or two, as it captures in music the sound of a heart breaking.  The song alternates between memories of the loved and lost, and the stumbling emptiness as the singer tries - and fails - to make sense of the loss.  It's not your typical sentimental Country music song, it's pure, 100 proof grief.

For some, that is what Memorial Day is about.

There is no official music video for this song; Messina is no longer the chart topping singer that she was in the 1990s.  But people have taken this music and found photographs that amplify the music and make it personal.  The second picture is one that I found particularly moving - nearly as much as the one of young Master Golczynski shown here.

This is what Memorial Day is about. 



Heaven Was Needing A Hero (songwriter: Jo Dee Messina)

I came by today to see you
Though I had to let you know
If I knew the last time that I held you was the last time,
I'd have held you and never let go
Oh it's kept me awake night wonderin'
Lie in the dark, just asking "why?"
I've always been told you won't be called home until it's your time

I guess Heaven was needing a hero
Somebody just like you
Brave enough to stand up for what you believe and follow it though
When I try to make it make sense in my mind
The only conclusion I come to
Is that Heaven was needing a hero like you

I remember the last time I saw you
Oh you held your head up proud
I laughed inside when I saw how you were, standing out in the crowd
You're such a part of who I am
Now that part will just be void
No matter how much I need you now
Heaven needed you more

'Cause Heaven was needing a hero
Somebody just like you
Brave enough to stand up for what you believe and follow it though
When I try to make it make sense in my mind
The only conclusion I come to
Is that Heaven was needing a hero like you

Yes, Heaven was needing a hero...that's you.

Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby is justly famous:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Christian Golczynski also laid a sacrifice on that same altar of our freedom, a sacrifice costly beyond our reckoning.  I hope that the fullness of time will ease his anguish as well.  I fear that it will not.

That is what Memorial Day is about.  Not a barbecue in sight, just pure, 100 proof grief.  This weekend as you go about your normal business of life, remember SSgt Marcus Golczynski.  And Christian.  And what that sacrifice means.  May this Republic be worthy of them.

Mozart - Requiem in D

The older I get, the grumpier I get.  Sometimes I look on our society and feel like I am getting my Jeremiah on, which is never a good look.

Memorial Day is one of the times that this reliably happens.  Look, people, this holiday is not about barbecues and beach.

Remember them, that their memory not fade.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.  Et lux perpetua luceat eis.  Amen.

Manuel Maria Ponce - Sonata Mexicana

I don't think I've ever highlighted a Mexican composer here, but Cinco de Mayo is a great excuse.  Andres Segovia performs on guitar.

John Prine - My Old Kentucky Home

It is a tradition at the Kentucky Derby for the crowd to sing "My Old Kentucky Home".  It's also a tradition for the crowd not to know any of the lyrics except for weep no more my lady.   It's mumble mumble mumble WEEP NO MORE MY LADY.

So as a public service for this 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, here is the late John Prine with all the lyrics.

Efron Zimbalist, Sr. - Carmen Fantasie

Many of our readers are of an age to remember the actor Efron Zimbalist, Jr, who starred in "The F.B.I." among other TV shows (I particularly like 77 Sunset Strip), or his daughter Stephanie (star of "Remington Steele).  Few have ever heard of his father Efron Zimbalist, Sr. - who like Louis XIII was famous only for Louis XIV.  But he was a famous violinist in the early years of the 20th century and a prolific composer.

This recording is far from HiFi, but gives a flavor of his work.  I found it quite enjoyable.

Obligatory music for the eclipse

Because of course it is.