INTERVIEW WITH A MEMBER: Tejas

[idesofmarch01]

5 hours ago, Tejas said:

That is the same for me. I actually think that Bach is not only the greates composer/musician of all times, but his Mass in D Minor may very well be the greatest piece of art of all times. 

Although I'm a profoundly non-religious person, I do find amusing a saying that I once heard: "When the angels want to please God, they play Bach; when they want to please themselves, they play Mozart."

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by idesofmarch01

[JeandAcre]

Many thanks for all of your advice about the coins and the history, @Tejas.  And I had to chuckle at your being on the same page for Bach!  Granted, I'm very, very weak where his choral music is concerned.  We'll have to fix that!  If you'll (very) kindly pardon my linguistic xenophobia, I've said for years that only Bach manages to make German palatable as a vocal language.  ...I doubt that's really true to begin with (Schubert, maybe?), but regardless, the D Minor Mass is a project --just in time for a long weekend!  I'll be needing the libretto in translation....

[Tejas]

11 hours ago, JeandAcre said:

I've said for years that only Bach manages to make German palatable as a vocal language.  ...I doubt that's really true to begin with (Schubert, maybe?),

German is actually considered to be an excellent vocal language, because of its open vowels. To give you an example: in English the vowel "u" can be  pronounced as "/ʊ/" like in "put" or as "/ʌ/" like in "umbrella" or as "/ju:/" like in "unique". However, it is rarely pronounced as a real  "/u:/" like in "blue". In contrast,  in German it is always pronounced as "/u:/" (like in "blue"). These sounds "/ʊ/" and "/ʌ/" don't resonate well. In other words they don't sound very good when sung in a classical piece. Because of these open vowels (and because most of the classical repertoire is in German) many classical singers practice German pronounciation.

... and yes, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Bruckner, v. Weber, Wagner, Mendelsohn, Mahler to talk just about the 19th century 

 

 

 

[Tejas]

16 hours ago, idesofmarch01 said:

Although I'm a profoundly non-religious person, I do find amusing a saying that I once heard: "When the angels want to please God, they play Bach; when they want to please themselves, they play Mozart."

Or as Beethoven put it: "Bach is the immortal god of harmony"

[JeandAcre]

Thanks for the badly needed enlightenment, @Tejas!  I'd never given a thought to the esthetic power of the vowels.

...Generally, vocal and choral music is my 'Achilles heel.'  After Palestrina and Vivaldi, I'm kind of lost.  ...Still going to start with Bach, though!

[JeandAcre]

On 12/29/2023 at 6:55 AM, Tejas said:

This is a great family history. My family are all Lutheran Christians (with a few who converted to Russian Orthodoxy). Prussia is mostly known for its militarism, but another aspect of Prussia was its religious tolerance. The Prussian kings invited religious refugees from different regions, including French Hugonottes and Austrians, especially from the Salzburg area. Friedrich the Great famously said "In my kingdom everybody can find salvation in their own way" and the motto of his grandfather Friedrich I, which can also be found on Prussian coins of the time, is "Suum cuique", which is "to each their own". 

I've recently taken some interest in coins of the Polish Division, ie. territories that came to Prussia, Russia and Austria.

Here is a 3-Groschen piece of South Prussia, which was the region just west and north of Warsaw. These coins are common, but quite rare in decent conditions. Below is a 3 Groschen piece of the Grossherzogtum Posen (Grand Duchy of Posen), which was the are south of West Prussia. Both coins were minted at Breslau for these newly created Prussian regions.

Surely by now you've seen this fantastic post:

 

...I was thinking Albert, quoting Martin Luther on his coins, might qualify as a temporary qualification of the Prussian tradition of tolerance.  But you have to have orders of magnitude more context on that than I do!