The National Gallery of Art has an "in-depth
study" of Vermeer's "Woman Holding a Balance." The
site offers analyses of technique, composition, symbols and meaning...
"Vermeer"/Wenders images pulled from "Until
the End of the World": one
and two
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) composed "Songs and
Proverbs of William Blake" for solo voice in 1965. Mainly,the texts
are taken from Songs of Experience, with additions from Marriage
of Heaven and Hell and "Auguries of Innocence." We will
listen to this chamber work on Wednesday. Here is a starting
point for information about one of the great composers of the 20th
century.
I. In Doctor Faustus Mann's narrator, Severus Zeitblom,
tells of Wendell Kretzschmar's lectures and lessons on music and the
influence he believes they had on Leverkühn. He mentions several
compositions. I'll post files for some of them here:
pp. 55-60
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op.
111, second movement, "Adagio molto semplice e cantabile"
("Slowly, very simple and songful")
p. 86 ("A pearl, a miracle like Schumann's 'Moonlit
Night'"...)
Schumann, "Mondnacht"
from Liederkreis, Op. 39
It seemed as if the sky
Had quietly kissed the earth,
So that the earth with its shimmering blossoms
Could only dream of heaven.
The air went through the fields,
The ears of corn swayed gently,
The woods rustled softly,
The night was so clear and starry.
And my soul spread
Its wings out wide,
Flew through the quiet lands,
As if it were flying home.
II. Schoenberg musical examples played on Wenesday
and Thursday mornings:
The Book of the Hanging Gardens, Op. 15 [poems by
Stefan George]. “Spricht
Nicht Immer” (Feb. 1909).
Speak no more
about the leaves
thieved by the wind
nor about
ripebursting quinces
nor the tread
of winter’s vandals
down the year
nor the trembling
of the dragonflies
when rain falls
nor the candles
flickering in the fickle air.
Who is this woman? NY Times article
