Another gorgeous aria by J.S.Bach: Wohl euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen

.

I'm always rediscovering these arias, aren't I!

This one (I don't know what the words mean) is available on YouTube in several versions.

The first one is by Bach Collegium Stuttgart, conducted by Helmut Rilling, and in this recording sung, I believe by Helen Watts.  The Stuttgart uses modern instruments, in contrast to other orchestras that more increasingly use original instruments.  As you can hear, modern instruments (which, most significantly, use steel strings on the violins and violas, etc.) sound fine on Bach arias.  The flutes are regular silver flutes, in contrast to original instrument ensembles, which use recorders.  (I'll try to put in a picture of a recorder sometime.)  Unfortunately, sister Helen seems to be simply singing the piece without much real feeling.  But Bach certainly can be performed like that.

Another version is by The English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, with Magdalena Kozena singing the aria.  Magdalena manages to inject a little more conviction into her interpretation, but it is still still cool singing for Ms Kozena.  (Perhaps the words mean something fairly neutral, such as The Sun Rises In The East.  Wait; euch means y'all.  It means "Y'all should jolly well auserwählten yourselves.")  Here you can clearly hear the recorders, which have a lovely limpid sound, particularly attractive to romantics and antiquarians such as myself.  This version, at least, goes all the way to the end (grumble-grumble).

The photo (a composite from Google Images) shows three different sizes of recorders.  The young fellow seems to be playing a soprano, the woman with him an alto, and the lady above is playing a particularly ornate tenor recorder (probably at a renaissance fair somewhere).  There are also bass, and sopranino recorders.

[Added later: I have just found out that Helen Watts died on October 9, 2009.  This great Welsh contralto has given us a great many wonderful arias in the oratorio repertoire.  May she be remembered long.]

Arch

Growing up Male or Female in America

.

Thomas Bartlett recently wrote an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about being a boy: The Puzzle of Boys.  (The title of this post links to the article ---at least I hope so.)

The fascinating thing about gender differences to me --certainly in humans--- is that they're so hard to think about objectively, and yet they're so fascinating when someone does write about them.  After thirty years, since feminism was first given the stature of a popular movement in the seventies, it seems that bringing up girls to be the way they had been for millennia: pretty and nurturing, is still going on in quite ordinary homes all over the world, and bringing up boys to be willful and aggressive (and "mission-oriented") is also taking place.  There was a limited movement towards a more gender-neutral approach to child-rearing, started as early as Benjamin Spock, but declining greatly during the more conservative times in the US, though enlightened conservatives must certainly be aware of the dangers of too enthusiastic gender-reinforcement in early childhood.

I suspect that there may be a subconscious belief in most Americans that the gender differences, even reinforced by feelings of discrimination among both genders, is what provides the tension that makes the social-cultural-economic dynamics of this society work.  There might be a suspicion that since it is Sex that drives the marketplace, too much unisex anything is bad for business.

I'm determined to write at greater length on this topic, but I'm going to close for now.

Arch

The Irish Dance to "Mr Blue Sky"

.

Quite by accident, I got interested in a song by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO):  Mr Blue Sky, which was 'performed' during a recent rally in Ireland---having to do with some funding for the Arts issue.  ELO seem to have recorded this song before I got to be aware of them as the band that was featured in the eighties musical Xanadu, starring Olivia (what a babe) Newton-John (and, of course, Gene Kelly, of "Singing in the Rain" fame).

ELO originated in Birmingham, and perhaps it's this fact that causes their dialect to be so thick; even the Beatles at their worst would sing quite clearly.  (In fact, when singing, the Beatles seemed to mimic American pronunciation.)  From Gerry & the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits and the Monkees, for instance, you got very thick dialect.  (I realize these other bands were not from Birmingham!)

The song, Mr Blue Sky has all the innocent delight of Here Comes the Sun.  (Someone evidently loved the four opening chords of Paul McCartney's Yesterday, and used them to open Mr B.S. to good effect.)

On YouTube, there is a delightful cover of MrBS by the British artist Lily Allen, who has a very charming voice, remarkably suited to this particular song. But  I wonder whether that pounding beat can't be replaced by something just as energetic, but perhaps a little more sophisticated?  [On second thoughts, Ms Allen wreaks her own kind of havoc on the lyrics, with those glottal stop things they do over there.  Perhaps there's something about the song that requires a sort of strong regional accent...]

Arch

December Named National Awareness Month

.

The Onion reports that December has been named National Awareness Month.  All the details are at their site (just click on the heading of this post).

Well; there doesn't seem a lot more to be said; the old Onion seems to have said it all.  Also look on this site for reported alternatives for President Obama's war plan.

Arch, very worried