Happy World War One Begins Day!
Today is Saturday, 28 July 2007.
A day rich in historical associations.
1655 – Death of Cyrano de Bergerac, soldier and writer
1750 – Death of Johann Sebastian Bach
1794 – Death of a great leader of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre
1866 – Birth of Beatrix Potter, beloved author and illustrator
1868 – Fourteenth Amendment to the USA/USE Constitution formally ratified
1887 – Birth of Marcel Duchamp, one of the founders of Conceptual Art
1914 - World War I begins as Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
1945 – In heavy fog, an off-course B-24 bomber crashes into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building
Instead of sermonizing personally, allow me to quote Theodore Ziolkowski’s introduction to the original HH’s masterpiece, Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game): “The Glass Bead Game is an act of mental synthesis through which the spiritual values of all ages are perceived as simultaneously present and vitally alive”.
By extension: I find that pondering, through acts of mental synthesis, the mash-up which is any given day’s Events Today in History, reveals links and realizations one never knew existed.
And now, pure delight: Bach on the accordion:
A day rich in historical associations.
1655 – Death of Cyrano de Bergerac, soldier and writer
1750 – Death of Johann Sebastian Bach
1794 – Death of a great leader of the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre
1866 – Birth of Beatrix Potter, beloved author and illustrator
1868 – Fourteenth Amendment to the USA/USE Constitution formally ratified
1887 – Birth of Marcel Duchamp, one of the founders of Conceptual Art
1914 - World War I begins as Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
1945 – In heavy fog, an off-course B-24 bomber crashes into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building
Instead of sermonizing personally, allow me to quote Theodore Ziolkowski’s introduction to the original HH’s masterpiece, Das Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game): “The Glass Bead Game is an act of mental synthesis through which the spiritual values of all ages are perceived as simultaneously present and vitally alive”.
By extension: I find that pondering, through acts of mental synthesis, the mash-up which is any given day’s Events Today in History, reveals links and realizations one never knew existed.
And now, pure delight: Bach on the accordion:
posted by HH at 5:09 AM
2 Comments:
Much to consider today. Thanks.
And also thanks for the surprising accordion performance--just close your eyes and hear Bach playing the organ.
Wow!! That almost redeems the accordion for all of those Polkas and Saturday evenings with Myron Floren, et. al.
Accordion
n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin. from "The Devil's Dictionary," by Ambrose Bierce
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