Christmas 2018: The Seventh Day

"Good Health" 1911                                                             Heines Kalmsteiner

Welcome to the seventh day of Christmas 2018, the last day of the year. That means it's also New Year's Eve. We bookend our post tonight with two fine examples of the work of the superb illustrators and graphic artists who were part of the Wiener Werkstatte, a Vienna Succession movement in the early 20th century in Europe.

In much of Christian Europe this day is also known as Silvester or the Feast of Sylvester. Some of the more interesting iterations of celebrating the arrival of the new year occur in the Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland. In Wales "New Year's Eve" translates to "Nos Galan," a day to pay off all debts, visit from house to house (first-footing) to sing carols, exchange gifts, drink a refreshing beverage or two, and enjoy mincemeat pie and rice pudding.  The day is known as Hogmanay in Scotland. It's a nice blend of old and new elements including fireworks, bonfires, torchlight processions, partying, and the driving out of trolls. The many features of Hogmanay will be repeated throughout this day as the new year sweeps across the face of the planet. Virtually all the these activities will involve the gathering of family and friends. Whether they celebrate among millions or simply with immediate family there will come a time to end the celebration and look forward to the sun rising on the first new day of the new year. In the western world, perhaps any place touched by British traditions, that gathering will end with the singing of Robert Burns's poem, Auld Lang Syne, set to an ancient Scottish folk melody. At least three centuries before Burns's lyric became popular, there was another song shared among departing English, Irish, and Scots friends on the eve of the new year. We offer The Parting Glass to you tonight as we ring out 2018 and ring in 2019 as a year of hope overflowing with blessing and goodwill for all. 

Happy New Year 2019!

Happy New Year, Postcard 149                                         Karl Dellavilla, ca. 1908

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

theviennasuccession.com

Text:

bbc.co.uk

Christmas 2018: The Sixth Day

We're only half way through Christmastide, the traditional celebration of the season that lasts over twelve days beginning with Christmas Day. December 30 is a relatively quiet day in the liturgical calendar; therefore, we have an opportunity to enjoy a different kind of Christmas celebration, the Boar's Head Feast. The feast we know has its origin in legend almost 700 years ago at Oxford College Cambridge. Today the feasts occur across Great Britain and the United States particularly on university campuses and among Episcopal congregations.

The perfect musical accompaniment for the feast is the Boar's Head Carol. This interesting macaronic   song  dates from 15th century England. The presentation and feast it describes likely has pagan origins as do many of our Christmas traditions. In the U.S. interest in the restoration of this traditional whole pig roast, complete with apple, appears to be growing. Here is a bold treatment of the carol by Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior:

The boar's head in hand bear I,

Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary.

I pray you, my masters, be merry

Quot estis in convivio (Translation: As many as are in the feast)

CHORUS

Caput apri defero (Translation: The boar's head I offer)

Reddens laudes Domino (Translation: Giving praises to the Lord)

The boar's head, as I understand,

Is the rarest dish in all this land,

Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland

Let us servire cantico. (Translation: Let us serve with a song)

CHORUS

Our steward hath provided this

In honour of the King of Bliss;

Which, on this day to be served is

In Reginensi atrio. (Translation: In the Queen's hall)

CHORUS

My dad loved the Christmas season and instilled in me an appreciation for the twelve-day festivity of Christmastide. I instilled that appreciation in my children in hope that they would understand the joy to be found that begins with Christmas Day and ends with Epiphany, the celebration of the rebirth of Jesus in baptism. I think it's a far better way to observe the liturgical season rather than the stressful, contemporary , and highly commercial  "one and done" approach we have today. I trust you will agree and if so moved by tradition introduce Christmastide to your friends and family.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

everfest.com; Boars Head and Yule Log festival, Corpus Christi, Texas

Text:

wikipedia.org
boarsheadfestival.com

Christmas 2018: The Fifth Day

As we approach the middle of the Twelve Days of Christmas or Twelvetide, it's time for a childhood memory. In days of old, the Potomac Farms milkman made deliveries door-to-door in the early hours of the morning. It was my responsibility to retrieve the milk bottles from the small insulated box the company provided to keep it safe from summer sun and all-season predators. One morning, probably during the week before Christmas in 1953, I popped open the lid to that box and found this around the neck of one of the bottles:

It was a nice gesture on the part of the company, and a treasure to at least one seven year old. Ever since, Santa and his elf have bid their season's greeting to all as a decoration on the family Christmas tree. Today, our adult children are quick to point it out. I have yet to decide how to divide it into three sections so the "kids" can carry on the tradition with their families.

And what music could we share other than a tune about the symbolism of the Christmas tree!

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

ornament, family archives

tree photo, E.E. Beck, 2018

Christmas 2018: The Fourth Day

On this day of Christmas we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. The Innocents are the young male children of Bethlehem killed by King Herod in his attempt to eliminate the threat to his power from a newborn King of the Jews.

Slaughter of the Innocents      Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1611

Music for the day is the "Coventry Carol" , a song from the mystery play, The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. Guild plays in Coventry, England, date to the 14th century but the documentation of their contents did not appear until the mid 1500's.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his owne sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh,

For thy parting neither say nor sing,

Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Massacre, National Museum, Warsaw
wikipedia.org

Christmas 2018: The Third Day

December 27 is the Third Day of Christmas and the feast day of Saint John the Evangelist and Apostle. John was one of the Twelve. He stood at the foot of the cross at the Crucifixion. At the direction of Jesus, he cared for Mary until her death. Most Bible scholars credit John with the authorship of the Gospel of John, three Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation.

St. John and the cup                                                                            El Greco, ca. 1600

Here is a seasonal evoking St. John's message.

This is the truth sent from above, 

The truth of God, the God of love; 

Therefore don’t turn me from your door, 

But hearken all both rich and poor. 

The first thing which I do relate 

Is that God did man create; 

The next thing which to you I’ll tell: 

Woman was made with man to dwell. 

Then after this ’twas God’s own choice 

To place them both in Paradise, 

There to remain from evil free, 

Except they ate of such a tree. 

And they did eat, which was a sin, 

And thus their ruin did begin; 

Ruined themselves, both you and me, 

And all of their posterity.

Thus we were heirs to endless woes, 

Till God the Lord did interpose, 

And so a promise soon did run 

That he would redeem us by his Son.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

This work is in the public domain. 

Details at  commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Greco_034.jpg

Christmas 2015: The Second Day

Stoning of St. Stephen                                                   Paolo Occello, ca. 1435

Today is December 26, the second day of Christmastide. On this day in the western church we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, an early church deacon and the first Christian martyr. His death in the name of charity had led this day to be associated with the distribution of food and other essentials to those in need. A thousand years later stories about the life and death of another generous Christian, Wenceslas of Czechoslovakia, would eventually lead to the writing of a mid-19th century Christmas carol that would forever link the two martyrs.

Here is some quiet music for the end of a day in which many of us reflect on and recover from the festivities of the previous day as well as look forward to the remaining days of Christmas, if not the season of Christmastide itself.

Sources:
Photos and Illustrations:
commons.wikmedia.org; the painting is located in the Duomo Prato, Italy.

A Full Moon And Full Winter's Day 2018

Today features the first full day of winter in the northern hemisphere as well as December's full moon, the Cold Moon.  That's enough to awaken thoughts of sub-freezing temperatures, howling winds and depths of drifting snow measured in feet. In fact there's a 325 year-old song - a much older legend as well - where Cupid rouses Cold Genius, the spirit of Winter, to assist King Arthur in a search for his fiance, Princess Emmeline. Cold Genius is not particularly happy being awakened from his icy slumber. It is a surprisingly modern sounding piece of work from the semi-opera, King Arthur, by Henry Purcell and librettist, John Dryden . 

What power art thou, who from below,

Hast made me rise unwillingly and slow,

From beds of everlasting snow?

See'st thou not how stiff and wondrous old,

Far, far unfit to bear the bitter cold,

I can scarcely move or draw my breath;

Let me, let me freeze again to death.

Personally I don't look forward to cold temperatures, ice, assorted freezing slop, and black snow lining city streets for the next two months. On the other hand, the thought of lengthening days that arrived with yesterday's solstice brings a big smile to my face. This rebirth of the sun has brought happiness to humans for quite a long time.

The Newgrange Tumulus in County Meath, Ireland, is a nice illustration of this long-standing respect for the rebirth of light and warmth to a culture. The burial mound has a passage that aligns perfectly with the winter solstice sunrise. People have observed the illumination of the keystone at Newgrange long before Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids existed.

For the next six months the sun will climb a bit higher every day in the Northern Hemisphere. We won't notice heat from the "rebirth" of the sun until a month or so into this cycle. While we experience, perhaps enjoy, a world at quiet rest the lengthening days can give us hope that the "dead season" will soon come to an end.

Let us hope Cold Genius sleeps peacefully for most of the season.


Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Newgrange aerial photo, worldheritageireland.ie
Newgrange plan and section, public domain illustration, William Frederick Wakeman, Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Heritage (1903), archives.org

First Flight: Into the "Infinite Highway Of The Air"

The 27-mph wind was harder than they would have liked - their predicted cruising speed was only 30-35 mph. The headwind would slow their ground speed to a crawl but they proceeded anyway. With the wave of a bed sheet they signaled the volunteers from the nearby lifesaving station that they were about to try again.

It was Orville's turn. Remembering Wilbur's experience he positioned himself in the pilot cradle and tested the controls. The stick that moved the horizontal elevator controlled climb and descent. The cradle that he swung with his hips warped the wings and swung the vertical tails which in combination turned the machine. A lever controlled the gas flow and airspeed recorder. The controls were simple and few but Orville knew it would take all his finesse to handle the new and heavier aircraft. At 10:35 AM he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as the craft left the ground John Daniels, an amateur photographer and member of the lifesaving station, snapped the shutter on a preset camera In doing so he captured the historic image of the Wright Brothers flight that we know so well.

The Wright Flyer begins its first successful flight, December 17, 1903

As usual the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into that 27-mph wind the ground speed had been 6.8 mph. The total airspeed was 34 mph. The 12 second event was the real thing: controlled, sustained flight by a man in a heavier-than-air vehicle. It was an event dreamed of for millennia, but only possible beginning in the intellectual tinder of the Enlightenment.

The brothers took turns flying three more times that day getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds.

For comprehensive information on this historic event visit the National Park Services Wright Brothers National Memorial web page.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
unrestored version, 1903 photograph, John T. Daniels, Library of Congress

Text:

title quote, Wilbur Wright, www.loc.gov/exhibits/dreamofflight/dream-dream.html
National Park Service, Wright Brothers National Memorial

Couch, Tom D. (1989). The Bishop's Boys. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Co.

Third Sunday In Advent 2018: Gaudete

Madonna in the Rose Garden             Stefan Lochner, ca 1448

Prepare the way by proclaiming good news. The early church gave the title "Gaudete" to the third Sunday in Advent. The word simply means, "Rejoice!" When you are joyful about something, you share that good news. Think of the custom of the family Christmas letter. Many families will send out letters during these holidays, summarizing the joyful family news of the past year: the birth of a grandchild, a new job, etc. If such joyful events are considered worthy of sharing, how much more the goo news that the Son of God came into our world to save us from sins! Moreover, he is coming again to take believers to an eternity of glory. That is good news believers need to hear again and again. It is a message that we with joyful faith yearn to share with a world that is in desperate need of some good news.

The joyful nature of this Sunday is illustrated by the lone, rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath. It hints of the joyful birth that we are soon to celebrate.

For the seekers of antiquity among our readers here is the chanted Introit - with translation below - from which this Sunday gets it name:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.

                                                                            Phillipians, 4:4-6: Psalm 85(84):1



May your day be filled with rejoicing!

Sources

Text:

The opening quotation appeared in the 2013 Gaudete Sunday Bulletin, Abiding Grace Lutheran Church, Covington, Georgia..

Gaudete translation source: Wikipedia page for Gaudete Sunday.

Second Sunday In Advent 2018

In lighting the second candle of the Advent wreath today, we acknowledge the messengers sent to prepare the way for Christ. John prepared people for Christ's first coming. Today's messengers prepare people for Christ's return. God wants us to view these messengers as evidence of his love. He wants us to listen to their message, through which God himself makes us ready.

John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord by preaching repentance.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God's salvation.”

The Descent of Peace                                      William Blake

I give you the end of a gold string.

Only wind it in a ball,

It will lead you to Heaven's gate

built in Jerusalem's wall.

                                                                      William Blake, "Jerusalem"

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2018

Today marks the 77th anniversary of the Imperial Japanese Navy's attack on the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Photo taken by a Japanese pilot during the torpedo attack on Battleship Row, visible on the far side of Ford Island.

There were almost 4000 casualties that day, including 1200 dead.

The attack led to a war effort that included 16,000,000 American men and women in uniform. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans writes that only 1,700,000 of these veterans survive and they are dying at the rate of 740 a day. Soon, the relics, memorials and ceremony will be all that is left to testify to America's greatest generation at war. If we are to survive, we need to remember them now and in the future for what they did to crush evil in the world.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2004

The Gershwin Who Usually Wrote The Words

Mention the name "Gershwin" today and just about everyone will think you have "George" on your mind. Granted he wrote some spectacular music between 1917 and 1937, much of it as fresh today as the day it was written. But George and his melodies were only half of the story. His brother, Ira, born on December 6, 1896, added the poetry. Together they formed one of the most successful collaborations in American music history. While George's music has lived on, Ira's words survive primarily in the world of jazz and in the Great American Songbook niche among popular singers. 

George (l) and Ira (r) at Newark Airport in 1936

This excerpt from the Ira Gershwin bio at the Song Writers Hall of Fame website will give readers an idea of the scope of their collaboration and bring to mind some of Ira's lyrics:

Their first collaborations were for Broadway: Lady, Be Good! (1924, including "Fascinating Rhythm" and, although it was cut from the show, "The Man I Love"), Tip Toes (1925, including "Sweet and Low Down"), Oh Kay! (1926, including "Clap Yo' Hands", "Do-Do-Do", "Maybe", and "Someone To Watch Over Me"), Funny Face (1927, including '"S Wonderful"), Rosalie (1928, including "How Long Has This Been Going On"), Show Girl (1929, including "Liza"), Strike Up the Band (1930, including "I've Got A Crush On You" and "Soon"), Girl Crazy (1930, including "But Not For Me", "Embraceable You", "Bidin' My Time", and "I Got Rhythm"), Delicious (1931, including "Blah Blah Blah. "), Of Thee I Sing (1931, the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize and which included "Of Thee I Sing", "Love Is Sweeping The Country", and "Who Cares").

The complete picture includes their work in Hollywood, the Broadway opera Porgy and Bess, and Ira's collaboration with a host of songwriters following his brother's death in 1937. Forty years before his own passing in 1983 Ira Gershwin began a long collaboration with the Library of Congress to collect and preserve their legacy. Today the George and Ira Gershwin Collection is the leading archive for the study of the Gershwin brothers and their impact on cultural history around the world. Read more about the collection here.

Sources

Text:
Songwriters Hall of Fame, songwritershalloffame.org
Library of Congress, loc.gov

Photos:
Library of Congress, loc.gov

Krampus: A Christmas Dichotomy

Some kids - not many I'd guess - still hear about receiving a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking as reward for a year of bad behavior. So much for gifts as a sign of grace at Christmastide. On the other hand, given the state of behavior of too many children these days perhaps we are a bit overdue on restoring some form of reward - punishment if you will - for the erosion of good conduct.


We don't have to create something new for this plan. Some years ago I stumbled on an Old World solution that's been around for centuries in many central and eastern European cultures. To boot, for the last thousand years or so he has been associated with the most benevolent and generous of figures, Sinterklaas, or as we know him today, Saint Nicholas or Santa. So who is this Bad Santa, the other half of the holiday team? His name is Krampus. Unfortunately, he is extreme to the point of terrifying for children. In fact, an unexpected visit from this visage in the dead of night would insure obedience from most rational adults.

St. Nicholas and Krampus            Arnold Nechansky, Wiener Werkstatte, 1912

I first discovered Krampus through an interest in post cards. When I began looking at cards from central Europe, especially those printed by the magnificent Wiener Werkstatte in the early decades of the 20th century, I noticed that two figures often appeared on the Christmas cards depicting a visit to a welcoming family. One was a traditional Saint Nicholas character dressed in ornate flowing robes and carrying a bag of gifts. The other was a shabbily dressed rather grotesque if not devil-like creature carrying a bundle of switches and a bag. The intention of the visit was to leave a nice gift for the good children or a lump of coal for the "behaviorally challenged." While good children enjoyed their presents, moderately bad boys and girls could expect a swat or two from the switches. The worst cases went into the bag and carried off to who know where or what.

Do understand I'm not advocating whipping, kidnapping, and cooking as a corrective for youth beyond the bounds of civilized coexistence. Rather, I'd just like a little balance for all the feet jabbed into my Economy Class back between Atlanta and anywhere, the screaming tantrums endured at finer restaurants, and the toxic aerosol clouds projected my way by sneezing toddlers. Yes, it is time to modernize the deliveryman and bring on the coal acknowledging of course that the traditional Krampus needs plenty of modification to work as a disciplinarian in the 21st century!

Tonight, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, is the Night of the Krampus. Although this night for European adults has taken on an almost Halloween-like character often fueled by alcohol, it remains a fascinating, ancient story of the dichotomous nature of our existence. Those who understand that good does not stand without evil, just as there are no mountains without valleys, can learn more about the Krampus tradition here.

May we always remember that Santa Claus hasn't always been the only one coming to town!

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
https://www.theviennasecession.com/a-history/

Text:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/71999/9-facts-about-krampus-st-nicks-demonic-companion