On this day in history...

I thought it would be fun to take a look at happenings on this day in history: events, births, and deaths. I used various sources across the internet to compile the list and lighted on things that interested me. Your mileage may vary. 

1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope. (Quoted from Wikipedia.)

1908 – The largest “impact event” (asteroid or meteorite hitting Earth) recorded takes place in Eastern Siberia. The Tunguska Event flattened 80 million trees over 830 square miles.

1921 – President Harding appoints William Howard Taft (27th President) as Chief Justice of the United States.

1934 – “The Night of the Long Knives” is launched by Hitler to purge his political and military rivals.

1936 – Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell published.

1950 – President Harry Truman orders U.S. troops to assist South Korea against North Korea.

1953 – The first Corvette was made on this day.

1954 – A total eclipse of the sun is seen around the world.

1971 – Three Soviet cosmonauts were found dead from asphyxiation in their capsule upon its return to earth.

1997 – The British flag was lowered for the last time over the Government House in Hong Kong as the colony was to go back to Chinese rule the next day.

Births

1908 – Winston Graham, author of the Poldark series.

1917 – Lena Horne, songstress extraordinaire. Also, actress Susan Hayward.

1934 – Harry Blackstone Jr., magician

1966 – Mike Tyson, boxer

1985 – Michael Phelps, swimmer

Deaths

1973 – Nancy Mitford – author and journalist

1984 – Lillian Hellman, author and playwright

1995 – Gale Gordon, actor and most famously, nemesis for Lucille Ball

2001 – Chet Atkins, guitar god

2003 – Buddy Hackett, comedian

2003 – Robert McCloskey, children’s author and illustrator: Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal.

It’s also International Asteroid Day, probably because of that event in 1908. If you have interesting events that I missed, add them in the comment section.

 

 

Bernard Herrmann and his music

You’ve never heard of Bernard Herrmann (29 June 1911 – 24 December 1975)? Well, maybe you’ve never heard of him, but you have heard him if you’ve ever seen tv’s Twilight Zone or Have Gun – Will Travel or classic films such as Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Psycho, North by Northwest, Fahrenheit 451, or Taxi Driver. The music is all from the fertile, talented mind of Bernard Herrmann. 

Herrmann worked with Orson Welles on the radio on such programs as CBS Workshop, Welles’ Mercury Theater on the Air, and Campbell Playhouse. This led to Welles having Herrmann score two of his films, Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons.

Herrmann also had great success in working with Alfred Hitchcock: The Trouble with Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) where Herrmann is seen conducting the concert at the Royal Albert Hall, The Wrong Man (1956), Vertigo (1957), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and Marnie (1964). He was also sound consultant on 1963’s The Birds; there was no music score, just bird sounds.

You’ll recall the music to the Twilight Zone that goes dada dada dada dada. That’s not Bernard Herrmann. His theme was used in the early years of the show and, in my opinion, is the better of the two. Its atmospheric and sinister bent is much more in keeping with the disturbing ideas of the episodes.

He was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning only once in 1941 for The Devil and Daniel Webster. However, his music has been used or sampled in everything from Volkswagon and Dodge commercials to songs by Busta Rhymes and Lady Gaga and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1. Even so, it’s best to listen to Herrmann’s music in context and for its own greatness. Here are two samples: the first is a suite from Psycho, including the infamous shower scene music and then his Twilight Zone theme music. Enjoy!

Shakespeare's Sonnets: X

The theme of Sonnet X carries on from the previous poem. The “beauteous roof to ruinate” might be the house or lineage of a royal personage, although it could apply to anyone. If he wishes to repair it, he must have it carry on by marriage and family.

Sonnet X

For shame deny that thou bear’st love to any,

Who for thyself art so unprovident.

Grant, if thou wilt, thou art beloved of many,

But that thou none lov’st is most evident:

For thou art so possessed with murderous hate,

That ‘gainst thyself thou stick’st not to conspire,

Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate

Which to repair should be thy chief desire.

O! change thy thought, that I may change my mind:

Shall hate be fairer lodged than gentle love?

Be, as thy presence is, gracious and kind,

Or to thyself at least kind-hearted prove:

                Make thee another self for love of me,

                That beauty still may live in thine or thee.

 

 

St. John the Baptist

Tomorrow is the feast day of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (June 24). The last great prophet of the Old Testament (before the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah), John was brave, humble, and devoted to God. He leapt in his mother’s womb when she was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was carrying Jesus in hers. John recognized the Messiah even then. He knew he was not worthy to baptize Jesus, but conceded to His wishes and then witnessed the dove descending from Heaven on Jesus and the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” John also previously had described himself as not being worthy to loosen the thongs of Jesus’ sandals. After the baptism, John declares that he must decrease while Jesus must increase.

St John’s bravery can be seen in his very actions of preaching the Messiah and baptizing people, even though it was a dangerous time with pressure from the Jews and the Roman authorities. His declaring the truth about sin and the need for repentance brought him no end of trouble. He publicly criticized Herod for marrying his brother’s wife Herodias and John ended up in prison. Herod’s step-daughter Salome agreed to dance for Herod if he would give her whatever she asked for. He did and she did and she asked for John the Baptist’s head. The Bible doesn’t reveal what then happened to Salome, but in Richard Strauss’ opera, based on the play by Oscar Wilde, Herod has her killed.

On hearing of John’s death, Jesus responds, “I tell you, among those born of woman none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Certainly John’s reward for his faithfulness was greater than any suffering he endured in his life and death on Earth.

St. John the Baptist, pray for us. 

Minor Prophets

The minor prophets aren’t called that because their value is less than, say, an Isaiah or Ezekiel. The books are shorter and are grouped together, even though they lived at different times, but they all contain valuable material. The prophets were called by God – some against their wishes – and were often mistreated, ignored, or reviled. Remember the parable of the wicked husbandmen (found in the three synoptic Gospels) who tended the vineyards of the owner who went away for a time. When he sent a servant to gather some of the fruits, the tenants beat one, stoned one, and killed another. They did likewise to other servants the owner sent. Finally he sent his son and they killed him too. If they did this to the Son, is it any surprise the prophets were treated poorly? People of any time don’t want to hear they are sinners.

As we learned in the books of Kings and Chronicles, the rulers and the people could plumb the depths of depravity and disobedience to the Lord God. The job of the prophets was to bring this to their attention in order to give them the chance to repent. That they often failed was not the fault of the prophets; it speaks more to the hardness of heart and stubbornness of the people. As we also know, God is always ready to forgive and welcome back the repentant sinner (the Prodigal Son).

The twelve minor prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (whose name means “my messenger”). They appear in the Bible just before the last Old Testament book, Maccabees. It seems appropriate that the stories of these messengers of God’s love are placed in proximity to the Son Himself, fulfilling the Messianic prophecies in the New Testament.

Crime and Punishment

Our last book club selection for the season was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A blast of summer fun it wasn’t. Did I like it? I can’t say “like” is the right word. It was a dense book and reading it was like slogging through knee-deep snow. But though the journey was slow, it was worth it. It’s always more difficult to read a book that has to do with a character’s internal struggle or moral dilemma than a plot that is full of action.

Most of the characters were unlikeable but I think that was to prove a point in what Dostoevsky was trying to say about certain philosophies and the world. He was concerned about the Russian nihilism that was overtaking the country at that time and the characters revealed the consequences of these practices. The transformation of Raskolnikov was what Dostoevsky wanted for the country.

The theme of the books we read this year was the Year of the Sister. The sisters that appeared in Crime and Punishment on the surface might have seemed similar, but I think were quite different. In Sonya, the self-sacrificing was genuine. She became a prostitute in order to provide for her family, but her heart and soul always were saintly. Dunya, (Raskolnikov’s sister) on the other hand, was also self-sacrificing, but it seemed to be much more of a “hey, look at me” type. It was passive-aggressive more than humble. 

The men, with the exception of Razumikhin, were beastly. They treated the women – and themselves – brutally, falling to drunkenness, murder, and suicide. Only Raskolnikov escaped, because of Sonya’s selfless love. It was a bleak, dark, godless landscape and story. Only at the end when repentance and suffering were understood to give life meaning and love was finally accepted and given (because God is love) was there a glimmer of hope.

Two items on a lighter note: the creators of the tv series Columbo admit that his character was partially based on the police inspector Porfiry Petrovich, with his relentless pursuit of Raskolnikov, pushing him to confess. And, for fans of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, the bad-guy character Boris Badenov used to curse by exclaiming “Raskolnikov.” The influences of great literature lead to strange places. 

American Popular Song 3

Cole Porter (9 June 1891 – 15 October 1964) was known for his erudite, witty, and sometimes risqué lyrics. Unlike some other of the famous composers of American Popular Song, he wrote both words and music.

He wrote shows for the stage (Broadway and London) and scores for Hollywood movie musicals, some more successful than others. His best known were mostly from the 20s and 30s, but his biggest hit came in 1948 with Kiss Me Kate. It ran for a combined 1400+ performances in New York and London and was made into a popular motion picture in 1953. Many of his songs from these shows became instant hits in their day and were recorded by all the biggest singers of the jazz and pop field. 

Ella Fitzgerald recorded the Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook in 1956. One of the songs she did was “In the Still of the Night,” a short, smooth styling of the song. Written for Nelson Eddy in the 1937 movie Rosalie, it was not the basic AABA format and Eddy found it difficult to sing, asking for a replacement. Eddy lost that battle because it stayed in the film and he even sang it in his concerts. So did a lot of other people.

I like the song because it isn’t the standard form and uses an internal rhyming scheme that could be juvenile in other hands, but becomes crisply sentimental with Porter’s talent. 

Here are the lyrics and the 1956 Ella Fitzgerald performance. Enjoy!

In the Still of the Night

In the still of the night

As I gaze from my window

At the moon in its flight

My thoughts all stray to you

 

In the still of the night

While the world is in slumber

All the times without number

Darling when I say to you

 

Do you love me, as I love you

Are you my life to be, my dream come true

Or will this dream of mine fade out of sight

Like the moon growing dim, on the rim of the hill

In the chill, still of the night