New Year's Eve, The Seventh Day Of Christmas

 

"Good Health" 1911                                  Heines Kalmsteiner

Welcome to the seventh day of Christmas 2024, 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 great musical tradition of Wales has provided us with the melody for the most appropriate carol for the day, Deck the Halls. A wide variety of lyrics emerged over the last three centuries. The video below provides one example and a partial translation. The video concludes with the more familiar Deck the Halls lyrics written in 1862.

Cold is the man who can't love,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

The old mountains of dear Wales,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

To him and his warmest friend,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

A cheerful holiday next year,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Cold is the snow on Mount Snowdon,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Even though it has a flannel blanket on it,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Cold are the people who don't care,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

To meet together on New Year's Eve,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

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 2025!

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

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
theviennasuccession.com

Text:
bbc.co.uk

Andrew Wyeth: Master Of Fine Illustration

My career often involved planning and producing a broad variety of visual media including publications, audiovisuals, and museum exhibits. The work made me aware of any number of artists, illustrators and styles both historic and contemporary. It's led me to appreciate the work of two artists in particular. One is Walter Inglis Anderson. There'll be a post about him in September. On this day we note the birth of another favorite, Andrew Wyeth. He was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, in 1917 and died there in 2009 after a lifetime of painting individuals and landscapes near his home and at his summer residence in Maine. He represented the second of three generations of famous painters in the Wyeth family. His father, N. C. Wyeth, was a renowned illustrator and painter. His son, Jamie, who turned 75 last week, continues painting in his father's footsteps in Pennsylvania and Maine.

I can best characterize his work as compelling, thought-provoking dreamscapes on canvas, not quite real, not quite abstract. Here are three painting by Wyeth offering a comfortable contrast to the season of his birth. Readers can see the full range of his subjects at his authorized website.

Ice Pond 1969

My aim is to escape from the medium with which I work; to leave no residue of technical mannerisms to stand between my expression and the observer. To seek freedom through significant form and design rather than through the diversion of so-called free and accidental brush handling.

Branch in the Snow 1980

My aim is not to exhibit craft, but rather to submerge it, and make it rightfully the handmaiden of beauty, power and emotional content.

Shredded Wheat 1982

What you have to do is break all the rules.

Thanks to the BBC and Michael Palin we have a fine documentary of Andrew Wyeth, his craft and emotion, and especially his sense of place. Hope you take the time to enjoy it.

Sources

Text:
quotations, art-quotes.com

Easter 2025

 

Easter Changes Everything!

Christ is Risen!

The Angel Rolling The Stone Away From the Sepulchre, William Blake, ca. 1808

Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son;

endless is the victory, thou o'er death hast won;

angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.

Refrain:

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son,

Endless is the vict'ry, thou o'er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;

Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;

let the Church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;

for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;

life is naught without thee; aid us in our strife;

make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love:

bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

Christ As The Redeemer Of Man,  William Blake, ca. 1808

He is Risen indeed!

Brahms: Ein deutches Requiem, Part 6 For here have we no continuing city
(English translation follows the German text)

Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt,

sondern die zukünftige suchen wir. 

Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis:  

Wir werden nicht alle entschlafen,

wir werden aber all verwandelt werden, 

und dasselbige plötzlich, in einem Augeblick, 

zu der Zeit der letzten Posaune. 

Denn es wird die Posaune schallen, 

und die Toten werden auferstehen unverweslich,

und wir werden verwandelt werden. 

Dann wird erfüllet werden das Wort, das geschrieben steht: 

Der Tod ist verschlungen in den Sieg. 

Tod, wo ist dein Stachel? 

Hölle, wo ist dein Sieg? 

Herr, du bist würdig zu nehmen Preis und Ehre und Kraft, 

denn du hast alle Dinge geschaffen, 

und durch deinen Willen haben sie das Wesen 

und sing geschaffen.

 

For here have we no continuing city,

but we seek one to come. 

Behold, I tell you a mystery: 

we shall not all sleep, 

but we shall all be changed in a moment, 

in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. 

For the trumpet shall sound, 

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 

and we shall be changed. 

Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 

Death is swallowed up in victory. 

O death, where is thy sting? 

O hell, where is the victory?

Thou are worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honour and power: 

for thou hast created all things 

and by thy will they are 

and were created.

Sources


Photos and Illustrations:
Blake images, collections.vam.ac.uk, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Holy Saturday 2025

 

Holy Saturday . . . is the sound of perfect silence. Yesterday's mockery, the good thief's prayer, the cry of dereliction - all of that is past now. Mary has dried her tears, and the whole creation is still, waiting for what will happen next.

Christ in the Sepulchre William Blake, 1808

Today, there is a great silence. The Savior has died. He rests in the tomb. Many hearts were filled with uncontrollable grief and confusion. Was He really gone? Had all their hopes been shattered? These and many other thoughts of despair filled the minds and hearts of so many who loved and followed Jesus.

It is on this day that we honor the fact that Jesus was still preaching. He descended to the land of the dead, to all the holy souls who had gone before Him, so as to bring them His gift of salvation. He brought His gift of mercy and redemption to Moses, Abraham, the prophets and so many others. This was a day of great joy for them. But a day of great sorrow and confusion for those who watched their Messiah die on the Cross.

Holy Saturday should be a reminder to us that even those things which seem to be the worst of tragedies are not always what they seem. God the Son was obviously doing great things as He laid in the tomb. He was accomplishing His mission of redemption. He was changing lives and pouring forth grace and mercy.

With the altar stripped bare and the Divine Service unspoken, the wait in silence resonates.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74285/the-angels-hovering-over-the-watercolour-blake-william/

Text:

The opening quotation was taken from an excerpt from Death on A Friday Afternoon, by Richard John Neuhaus. The excerpt was posted on firstthings.com in 2007.
Second quotation, cathoicreadings.org, Holy Saturday entry

Good Friday 2025

 

For contemplation on this holy day...

Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)               Salvador Dali, 1954

Christ of Saint John of the Cross                     Salvador Dali, 1951

For more information on the Christian dimension of Dali's surrealistic interpretation of the Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) go here and here, for Christ of Saint John of the Cross go here and here, and for the Good Friday music(Verwandlungsmusik) from Wagner's opera, Parsifal, go here.

He Captured The Character Of The Vanishing West And Shaped Its Image For The World

 

When the Land Belonged to God                 C. M. Russell, 1914

In 2009 my wife and I made a detailed journey along the Missouri River following the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06). It took us from the mouth of the river in Saint Louis to its headwaters at the continental divide on the Montana-Idaho border. One of our destinations was the very appropriately named city of Great Falls, Montana. The Lewis and Clark expedition reached this same series of forbidding obstacles to navigation in June 1805 and spent a month portaging around them. A century later, the city that grew up around the falls would become the home to artist and writer, Charles M. Russell, one of the finest interpreters of the landscape of the American West, its Indian inhabitants, and the cowboy.

Photo portrait of Russell taken around 1900

Russell was born on March 19, 1864, in St. Louis, Missouri, and developed a fascination with the West as a young boy. It never left him. When his parents sent him to boarding school in New Jersey to overcome his obsession, he merely filled his notebooks with sketches of cowboys and Indians until his parents relented and sent him to the frontier with a trusted friend. As a participant-observer, Russell captured Montana in a brief period of perhaps thirty years when boundaries separating the sublime natural setting, Native American culture, and western frontier cowboy culture began to dissolve. In that period his work developed depth and detail and by 1910 he was well-known among art circles from coast to coast. In addition, he had a huge influence on the interpretation of western culture in print and especially in film making. For many years he was the nation's highest earning artist. When he died in 1926, he left a legacy of thousands of illustrations, paintings, sculptures, letters and other material documenting the three themes. Much of that work is displayed today at the C. M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. Within the museum, visitors can see the nature of the Northern Rockies and High Plains and the full range of cultures of those who lived and worked in this beautiful and challenging place. One can see and feel the full range of Russell's personality, from serious to whimsical, by exploring his home and studio.

Russell's Christmas greeting in 1914

Best wishes for your Christmas 

Is all you get from me.

 'Cause I ain't no Santa Claus— 

Don't own no Christmas tree. 

But if wishes was health and money 

I'd fill your buck-skin poke, 

Your doctor would go hungry 

An' you never would be broke.

In the last century, any boy or girl who played "cowboys and Indians," enjoyed stories, illustrations, films, and televisions programs with western themes did so  through Russell's interpretation of his experience. Today, he remains a fascinating example of the reality and mythology of a man who lived his dreams, captured the soul of a vanishing culture, and planted its seeds for others to nuture in their own way. And for citizens of the United States, he is a national treasure. For Big Sky Montana, he is a beloved favorite son.

If you ever find yourself in Great Falls, Montana, pay Charlie a visit. You will not be disappointed.






Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
When the Land Belongs to God, replica, Montana Historical Society, public domain
portrait, public domain
Christmas greeting, Montana Historical Society, public domain

Text:
C. M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana
wikipedia.org
C. M. Russell and the American West, An Unfinished Work, Montana Public Broadcasting Service

The First Sunday After Epiphany: The Feast Of The Baptism Of The Lord

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On this day, the First Sunday After Epiphany, many Christians celebrate the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  

The Baptism of Christ                    William Blake, about 1799

From Mark 1:4-11 (NIV)

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[a] water, but he will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

 And from Martin Luther's 1534 sermon on the baptism of Jesus:

So we should learn to understand baptism and cherish it, because it contains the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—or even just the name of Christ, as reported in Acts.10 It is sufficient to be baptized in the name of Christ, because the Father and the Holy Spirit are there [where he is]. So don’t separate the water from the word, but say, “The water is ordained by God to make us pure for Christ’s sake, for the sake of the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are there in the water to purify us from sin and death.” Whoever is in sin, stick them in the baptism[al water], and their sin will be extinguished. Whoever is in death, stick them in the baptism[al water], and death will be swallowed up. For baptism has divine power, the power to break sin and death. That’s why we are baptized. If later we fall into error or sin, we have not thereby demolished our baptism; we return to it, and say, “God has baptized me, plunged me into the baptism[al water] of his Son, of the Father and the Holy Spirit. There I return, and I trust that my baptism will take away my sin—not for my sake, but for the sake of the man Christ, who instituted it.”

Here is some music for the day, J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 7, "Christ our Lord came to the Jordan." Titles for its seven sections are based on the first line of each stanza of a Martin Luther hymn of the same name.  

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Wikimedia Commons, File: William Blake - The Baptism of Christ

Text:

 Word & World, Volume XVI, Number 1 Winter 1996

Epiphany 2025

Today is Epiphany, the celebration of the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, and their recognition or revelation of Him as the King of Kings.

The Adoration of the Kings              William Blake, 1799

There is but one popular American carol for the celebration of Epiphany. It was written by the Episcopal clergyman, John Henry Hopkins, Jr., and appeared in print in 1863 in a collection of his sacred music.

And here is a piece I first wrote in 2009 about the celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas, an event that often ends in Twelfth Night parties or the presentation of gifts on Epiphany:

We can only imagine what it must have been like to celebrate Christmas for twelve days. The festivities, including the giving of one gift a day, then opening all of them on Twelfth Night or the following day (Epiphany). It must have delighted children. I suspect that a few of those gifts were modest by today's standards, perhaps as simple as an orange or bag of special candy. My dad once told me that as far back as he could remember, his Aunt Lizzie (shown here in 1912

when she was 24) had always given her nieces and nephews several gifts including a popcorn ball wrapped in colored cellophane. I'm sure they were a part of Lizzie's childhood in the late 1880s and 90s when popcorn was wildly popular. Like many women of her era Lizzie never married choosing instead to care for her parents and brothers. When my dad's generation married and had children of their own, she continued her generosity, including the distribution of those popcorn balls up through her last Christmas in 1958. By that time, her popcorn ball making had turned into a small industry - we were a large family.

And so, every Christmas for my first twelve years, I eagerly accompanied my parent to Lizzie's home to exchange gifts and return home with a bag of popcorn balls. For some reason, my parents never carried on Lizzie's tradition, nor have I. It may be too late for my kids, and grandchildren are rather unlikely in the near future. Still, I think it's never too late to enjoy a batch.


Aunt Lizzie's Christmas Popcorn Balls

8 cups of popcorn
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup of sorghum syrup
1/3 cup of water
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Red and green cellophane or similar transparent wrap
String


Combine the sugar, sorghum, water, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches about 250 degrees or hardens when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour over the popcorn. Working quickly, mix thoroughly, butter your hands and shape popcorn into balls about four inches wide. Let them cool on wax paper. Wrap each ball in red or green cellophane and secure with a ribbon. Distribute to wide-eyed youngsters or oldsters alike.


Sounds like a tradition in the making.

The Tenth Day Of Christmas 2024-25

This Tenth Day of Christmas is another quiet day on the church calendar. To match that mood here is some profoundly simple and beautiful music written in 1894 by the American modernist composer, Charles Ives. He moved quickly from traditional composition to experimental music which sadly left him unrecognized during his lifetime. Years after his death he would emerge as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

Little star of Bethlehem!

Do we see Thee now?

Do we see Thee shining

O'er the tall trees?

Little child of Bethlehem!

Do we hear Thee in our hearts?

Hear the angels singing:

Peace on earth, good will to men!

Noel!

O'er the cradle of a King

Hear the Angels sing:

In Excelsis Gloria, Gloria!

From his Father's home on high,

Lo! for us He came to die;

Hear the Angels sing:

Venite adoremus Dominum

And in case you didn't meet a chimney sweep or kiss a pig on New Year's Day to ensure yourself a year of good fortune, perhaps these postcards from the Vienna Succession's Wiener Werkstatte will work.

And if two chimney sweeps, a pig and a pretty girl don't leave you with high hopes for the new year, this music from the genius of Igor Stravinsky should do it. The music is the finale from The Firebird, composed in 1910 for a ballet based on a Russian fairy tale about a mythical bird who helps a prince conquer evil. The Firebird is a brilliant work as fresh today today as the day it was composed. I like to think of it as a symbol of the promise of a fresh new year bringing an end to a rather anxious 2024.  Enjoy.

Out of the remains of an old year a new year rises.







Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
postcards, theviennasecession.com

New Year's Eve, The Seventh Day Of Christmas 2024

 

"Good Health" 1911                                  Heines Kalmsteiner

Welcome to the seventh day of Christmas 2024, 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 great musical tradition of Wales has provided us with the melody for the most appropriate carol for the day, Deck the Halls. A wide variety of lyrics emerged over the last three centuries. The video below provides one example and a partial translation. The video concludes with the more familiar Deck the Halls lyrics written in 1862.

Cold is the man who can't love,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

The old mountains of dear Wales,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

To him and his warmest friend,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

A cheerful holiday next year,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Cold is the snow on Mount Snowdon,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Even though it has a flannel blanket on it,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Cold are the people who don't care,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

To meet together on New Year's Eve,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

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 2025!

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

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
theviennasuccession.com

Text:
bbc.co.uk

The Fifth Day Of Christmas 2024

In our exploration of Christmastide this year we have reached the day when followers of Catholic and Anglican traditions celebrate the Feast of Thomas Becket. During the reign of Henry II, Becket was confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. A long-standing dispute over church authority led to his murder by four of the king's knights on December 29, 1170, inside Canterbury Cathedral.

Leaf from Carrow Psalter, ca. 1250, depicting Thomas Becket's assassination

The carol of the day comes from a 15th century manuscript that survived Henry VIII's attempt to obliterate all memorials to Becket. This setting was composed by Stephen Barker for the 2020 Canterbury Medieval Festival and the 850th anniversary of Becket's murder in the cathedral.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
wikipedia.org, Carrow Psalter leaf, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Public domain in the United States.

Text:
catholicculture.org
wikipedia.org

John Marin: Blazing The Path To Moderism

 

Blue Sea                                                        John  Marin, 1945

In 1969, I first saw paintings by John Marin (1870-1953) when my history professor, David Grimsted, took his class to the Phillips Collection (Dupont Circle, Washington) for an exploration of American culture through the artist's eye. Not sure how much history was absorbed that day but I left with a deep appreciation of John Marin's work that is still going strong after 50 years. Marin's style largely influenced my interest in the watercolors of the Southern artist, Walter Inglis Anderson, a decade later. By that time visual arts had taken on a far more significant role in my career, a role never imagined, but one I came to appreciate and enjoy.

Marin was born on this day in Rutherford, New Jersey, in the midst of the nation's struggling recovery from the Civil War. He was trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Anderson attended there 1923 - 1928) then spent a few years searching for his muse in Europe before returning to his home country where he continued perfecting his technique in watercolors. He was almost forty before his serious breakthrough into the art world that included an exhibit at the famous Armory Show of 1913. A decade later he had attracted the attention of major collectors including Duncan Phillips whose world-renowned collection of modern art would form the core of the Phillips Memorial Gallery, now known as the Phillips Collection.

Lower New York From The Bridge         John Marin, 1914

The period from 1870 to 1920 was a transitional one as the United States evolved into the world's leading economy. As one of the first modernists in American art, John Marin had a strong influence on the transition of painting and illustration well into the 20th century. I enjoy his balance of realism and abstraction, the opacity of color, and the fact that he interpreted a sense of place incorporating both nature and its cultural overlay.

For more information on the techniques that made Marin so significant, here is a brief video, "John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism," produced by the Art institute of Chicago:

How to paint the landscape: First you make your bow to the landscape. Then you wait, and if the landscape bows to you, then, and only then, can you paint the landscape.

                                                John Marin

Lower Manhattan                                                  John Marin, 1920

Advent 2024

The word, "advent," comes from the Latin "adventus," meaning "arrival." Today in the western Christian tradition there are two arrivals on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, that of a new church year as well as its first season, Advent. The journey through the season anticipates both the birth of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World, his presence among believers today, and his return at the Last Judgement.

As we enter into the season of Advent today and that of Christmastide beginning December 24 it is time once more to explore almost two thousand years of words, music, and visual arts created for this holy time.

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.

                                        from William Blake's poem, Jerusalem

Today's music is Conditor Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night), a plainsong dating from the 7th century.

Here is some background on the hymn including its original text and an English translation. For a more detailed exploration of the hymn and its many variations over the past 1500 years, go here.

Reformation Day 2024

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted ninety-five theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenburg, Germany. He could no longer tolerate what he thought were errors within the Catholic church, including the collection of increasingly commercialized indulgences said to reduce the punishment of sinners seeking salvation. Today, Protestants commemorate this event every October 31 as Reformation Day. Luther chose this day, All Hallows Eve, because he knew the church would be filled with influential people within and outside the church as they gathered for a vigil in preparation for All Saints Day on November 1 and on the festival day itself. Luther's action became the tipping point for reformation within the Christian church.

Luther As An Augustinian Monk   Lucas Cranack the Elder, 16th century

Eight years later, Johann Sebastian Bach, the musical voice of the Reformation in the Baroque period, wrote the following cantata for Reformation Day 1725:


Gott der Her ist Sonn und Schild

1. Chorus

God the Lord is sun and shield.
The Lord gives grace and honor,
He will allow no good to be lacking from the righteous.

2. Aria A

God is our sun and shield!
Therefore this goodness
shall be praised by our grateful heart,
which He protects like His little flock.
For He will protect us from now on,
although the enemy sharpens his arrows
and a vicious hound already barks.

3. Chorale

Now let everyone thank God
with hearts, mouths, and hands,
Who does great things
for us and to all ends,
Who has done for us from our mother's wombs
and childhood on
many uncountable good things
and does so still today.

4. Recitative B

Praise God, we know
the right way to blessedness;
for, Jesus, You have revealed it to us through Your word,
therefore Your name shall be praised for all time.
Since, however, many yet
at this time
must labor under a foreign yoke
out of blindness,
ah! then have mercy
also on them graciously,
so that they recognize the right way
and simply call You their Intercessor.

5. Aria (Duet) S B

God, ah God, abandon Your own ones
never again!
Let Your word shine brightly for us;
although harshly
against us the enemy rages,
yet our mouths shall praise You.

6. Chorale

Uphold us in the truth,
grant eternal freedom,
to praise Your name
through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Martin Luther Seminary, Mequon, Wisconsin

We can only imagine the exhilaration Luther had on posting his objections. He placed his worldly apprehensions in the hands of Jesus, continued to call for reform within the Catholic Church, and eventually developed a new vision of faith all the while professing he ramained a Catholic. Luther wrote a number of hymns based on scripture during his last three decades. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein feste Berg ist unser Gott) is perhaps the best known.

Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason-I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other-my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.

                                Luther, the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521







Sources:

Photos and Illustrations:
Conrad Schmitt Studios, Milwaukee, Wisconsin


Text:
Bach translation, emmanuelmusic,org

Picasso: Master Of Influence

Picasso in 1962

The world-renowned artist, Pablo Picasso, arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century, was born on this day in 1881 in the city of Malaga, Spain. When he died 91 years later in 1973, Alden Whitman said this about him in the opening paragraphs of his New York Times obituary:

There was Picasso the neoclassicist; Picasso the cubist; Picasso the surrealist; Picasso the modernist; Picasso the ceramist; Picasso the lithographer; Picasso the sculptor; Picasso the superb draftsman; Picasso the effervescent and exuberant; Picasso the saturnine and surly; Picasso the faithful and faithless lover; Picasso the cunning financial man; Picasso the publicity seeker; Picasso the smoldering Spaniard; Picasso the joker and performer of charades; Picasso the generous; Picasso the Scrooge; even Picasso the playwright.

 

A genius for the ages, a man who played wonderful yet sometimes outrageous changes with art, Pablo Picasso remains without doubt the most original, the most protean and the most forceful personality in the visual arts in the first three-quarters of this century. He took a prodigious gift and with it transformed the universe of art.

The artist in 1908

To learn more about Picasso read his biography here. The New York Times obituary continues here. It's impossible to select a representative display of his work in this small post; therefore, I recommend readers visit the extensive website of the Musee Picasso Paris where over 300 Picasso works can be viewed. The Wikipedia Picasso page has several external links that may be of interest.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
1908 photo, Musee Picasso Paris
1962 photo, public domain