1.
The Christmas Song
–
The Christmas Song is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé. According to Tormé, the song was written during a hot summer. In an effort to cool by thinking cool, the most-performed Christmas song was born. I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four written in pencil. Bob didnt think he was writing a song lyric and he said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written, I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the early in 1946. First recording, Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, label credit, The King Cole Trio. Not issued until 1989, when it was included on the various-artists compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits Rhino R170637 / R270637, second recording, Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, August 19,1946. Label credit, The King Cole Trio with String Choir, issued November 1946 as Capitol 311. Third recording, Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 24,1953 and this was the songs first magnetic tape recording. Label credit, The King Cole Trio with String Choir, issued November 1953 as the new Capitol 90036 / F90036. Correct label credit issued on October 18,1954 as Capitol 2955 / F2955, label credit, Nat King Cole with Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle. This recording is available on the 1990 Cole compilation CD Cole, Christmas, & Kids and it was also included, along with both 1946 recordings, on the 1991 Mosaic Records box set The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio. This version is played on the radio during the Christmas season and is nearly identical to the popular 1961 recording. It is easy to tell apart from the 1961 version in that the final notes sounds faster, fourth recording, Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30,1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is played on radio stations during the Christmas season. The instrumental arrangement is identical to the 1953 version, but the vocals are much deeper
The Christmas Song
–
"The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)"
2.
Come on Pilgrim
–
Come On Pilgrim is the debut mini-LP release by the American alternative rock band Pixies. Produced by Gary Smith, the album was released in September 1987 by 4AD, in March 1987, Pixies, entered Bostons Fort Apache Studios with Fort Apache owner/record producer Gary Smith to record a demo tape. The resulting 17-song cassette, later dubbed The Purple Tape eventually found its way to Ivo Watts-Russell, president, Pixies manager, Ken Goes, was also the manager of Throwing Muses, who had become the first American band to sign to 4AD a year earlier. Despite being initially unimpressed by the demo, Watts-Russell was urged to sign the band by his girlfriend, after her insistence, he walked the streets of New York listening to The Purple Tape on his Walkman and, in his words, finally got it. Watts-Russell hand-picked eight of The Purple Tapes 17 songs to make up a mini album. Pixies later re-recorded and included eight of the nine remaining Purple Tape tracks over the course of their albums, the only song not to be re-recorded and released was Rock A My Soul. This, along with the rest of the nine missing Purple Tape tracks were released as Pixies by the Canadian label Sonic Unyon in 2002. The title of the album derives from Christian rock singer Larry Norman, whose catchphrase was Come on pilgrim, you know He loves you, Come On Pilgrim showcased much of Pixies variety and set up the beginnings of many trends in their music. It includes two songs sung in Spanish which drew upon some of Franciss experiences in Puerto Rico. Two songs explicitly mention incest— Nimrods Son and The Holiday Song, ive Been Tired refers metaphorically to sex and rock & roll culture, and there are four songs with overt religious references or language. Ed Is Dead is about a girl known to Francis. The original 1987 UK release entered the UK indie album chart on October 24,1987, spending 29 weeks on the chart, Come On Pilgrim failed to secure distribution in the United States when it was first released. It was released in the United States in August 1988, when Rough Trade included it on their CD release of their first full-length album Surfer Rosa, at the same time, the two releases were issued on separate vinyl records by Rough Trade. Also in August 1988, 4AD released Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim on CD together in the UK and this has been the standard UK CD release ever since, only being out of print for about six months in 1998. Subsequent U. S. CD releases have them in two. In 1992, Elektra Records issued Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa on separate CDs in the US. After 4AD re-acquired the bands US distribution rights in 2004, they were released on CD separately. The album received far more attention from the British music press than in the United States and it was reviewed in Q Magazine, Sounds and NME
Come on Pilgrim
–
Come On Pilgrim
3.
Music
–
Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. The word derives from Greek μουσική, Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as the harmony of the spheres and it is music to my ears point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, There is no noise, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. There are many types of music, including music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal, within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art or as an auditory art. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, the word derives from Greek μουσική. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the music is derived from mid-13c. Musike, from Old French musique and directly from Latin musica the art of music and this is derived from the. Greek mousike of the Muses, from fem. of mousikos pertaining to the Muses, from Mousa Muse. In classical Greece, any art in which the Muses presided, Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. With the advent of recording, records of popular songs. Some music lovers create mix tapes of their songs, which serve as a self-portrait. An environment consisting solely of what is most ardently loved, amateur musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, and derive their income elsewhere. Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers or session musicians, seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings, There are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians take lessons with professional musicians, in community settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles such as community concert bands and community orchestras. However, there are many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is also recorded and distributed. Live concert recordings are popular in classical music and in popular music forms such as rock, where illegally taped live concerts are prized by music lovers
Music
–
A painting on an Ancient Greek vase depicts a music lesson (c. 510 BC).
Music
–
Jean-Gabriel Ferlan performing at a 2008 concert at the collège-lycée Saint-François Xavier
Music
–
The composer
Michel Richard Delalande, pen in hand.
Music
–
Funk places most of its emphasis on rhythm and
groove, with entire songs based around a
vamp on a single chord. Pictured are the influential funk musicians
George Clinton and
Parliament Funkadelic in 2006.
4.
Christmas and holiday season
–
It incorporates a period of shopping which comprises a peak season for the retail sector, and a period of sales at the end of the season. Christmas window displays and Christmas tree lighting ceremonies when trees decorated with ornaments, the term Advent calendar survives in secular Western parlance as a term referring to a countdown to Christmas Day from the beginning of December. Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity Saturn, held on December 17 of the Julian calendar, the poet Catullus called it the best of days. The tradition of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 appears to date from the 4th century when Christianity was adopted as the religion of the Roman Empire. In the Christian tradition the Christmas season is a beginning on Christmas Day. In some churches the season continues until the day before the Epiphany, If the Epiphany is kept on January 6, the Church of Englands use of the term Christmas season corresponds to the Twelve Days of Christmas, and ends on Twelfth Night. This short Christmas season is preceded by Advent, which begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, the Anglican Communion and some Protestant churches follow the Christmas season with an Epiphany season which lasts until Shrove Tuesday which is also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. Other European cultures have their own carnival festivities between new year and Lent, according to Yanovski et al. in the United States the holiday season is generally considered to begin with the day after Thanksgiving and end after New Years Day. According to Axelrad, the season in the United States encompasses at least Christmas and New Years Day, fire Administration defines the Winter Holiday Season as the period from December 1 to January 7. According to Chen et al. in China the Christmas and holiday season is considered to begin with the winter solstice. Some stores and shopping malls advertise their Christmas merchandise beginning after Halloween or even in late October, the precise definition of feasts and festival days that are encompassed by the Christmas and holiday season has become controversial in the United States over recent decades. The exchange of gifts is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and this comprises a peak time for the retail sector at the start of the holiday season and a period of sales at the end of the season, the January sales. Although once dedicated mostly to white sales and clearance sales, the January sales now comprise both winter close-out sales and sales comprising the redemption of gift cards given as presents. Young-Bean Song, director of analytics at the Atlas Institute in Seattle, states that it is a myth that the shopping season starts with Thanksgiving. January is a key part of the holiday season, stating that for the U. S. e-commerce sector January sales volumes matched December sales volumes in the 2004/2005 Christmas and holiday season. Many people find this time particularly stressful, as a remedy, and as a return to what they perceive as the root of Christmas, some practice alternative giving. During the 2014 holiday shopping season, retail sales in the United States are forecast to increase to a total of over $616 billion, the average US holiday shopper is expected to spend over $800, of which close to 73 percent will be in gifts. In 2015, retail sales in the United States increased to a total of over $630 billion, the average US holiday shopper spent on average $805
Christmas and holiday season
–
Christmas tree in Japan. Christmas is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians
around the world.
Christmas and holiday season
–
Holiday shopping
Christmas and holiday season
–
Public, secular celebration in seasonal costume
Christmas and holiday season
–
A Christmas tree inside a home
5.
Christmas
–
In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
Christmas
–
A
depiction of the
Nativity of Jesus with a
Christmas tree backdrop
Christmas
–
Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst depicts the nativity of
Jesus
Christmas
–
Eastern Orthodox icon of the birth of Christ by
St. Andrei Rublev, 15th century
Christmas
–
Nativity of Christ – medieval illustration from the
Hortus deliciarum of
Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
6.
Chant
–
A chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chant may be considered speech, music, or a heightened or stylized form of speech, in the later Middle Ages some religious chant evolved into song. Chanting is a commonly used spiritual practice, like prayer, chant may be a component of either personal or group practice. Diverse spiritual traditions consider chant a route to spiritual development, tibetan Buddhist chant involves throat singing, where multiple pitches are produced by each performer. The concept of chanting mantras is of significance in many Hindu traditions. Indias bhakti devotional tradition centres on kirtan, which has a following in many countries, the Hare Krishna movement is based especially on the chanting of Sanskrit Names of God in the Vaishnava tradition. Japanese Shijin, or chanted poetry, mirrors Zen Buddhist principles and is sung from the Dan tien — the locus of power in Eastern traditions, a lo divino Fight song Sea shanty A site about Vedic chants Traditional Buddhist Chants as in the Buddhist Encyclopedia
Chant
7.
Litanies
–
Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Judaic worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin litania from Ancient Greek λιτανεία, which in turn comes from λιτή, for the Litany as used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, see Ektenia. The frequent repetition of the Kyrie was probably the form of the Litany. The Council of Vaison in 529 passed the decree, Let that beautiful custom of all the provinces of the East and of Italy be kept up, the number of repetitions depended upon the celebrant. This litany is prescribed in the Roman breviary at the Preces Feriales, the continuous repetition of the Kyrie is used to-day at the consecration of a church, while the relics to be placed in the altar are carried in procession around the church. Because the Kyrie and other petitions were said once or oftener, public Christian devotions became common by the fifth century and processions were frequently held, with preference for days which the pagans had held sacred. These processions were called litanies, and in pictures and other religious emblems were carried. In Rome, pope and people would go in each day, especially in Lent, to a different church. Thus originated the Roman Stations, and what was called the Litania Maior, Major Rogation or Romana and it was held on 25 April, on which day the heathens had celebrated the festival of Robigalia, the principal feature of which was a procession. The Christian litany which replaced it set out from the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, held a station at San Valentino fuori le mura, peters, and finally in the basilica itself, where the station was held. It was prescribed for the whole of Frankish Gaul, in 511, for Rome it was ordered by Leo III, in 799. In the Ambrosian Rite this litany was celebrated on Monday, Tuesday, in England the Litany of Rogation Days was known in the earliest periods. In Germany it was ordered by a Synod of Mainz in 813, because the Mass Litany became popular through its use in processions, numberless varieties were soon made, especially in the Middle Ages. In 1601 Baronius wrote that about eighty forms were in circulation, later, litanies of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Sacred Heart, the Precious Blood, and St. Joseph were also approved for publication and public recitation. The Anglican Church also has a Litany in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, thus is substantially the same as Thomas Cranmers original English vernacular service from 1544. Cranmer drew on a variety of sources, chiefly two medieval litanies from the Sarum rite, but also the German Litany of Martin Luther, an anti-papal clause was omitted in 1559. The processional aspect was eliminated and the service said or sung kneeling in the church. The term the Lesser Litany is sometimes used to refer to the versicles and responses, with the Lords Prayer, much of the historic Litany was retained by the Lutheran Church
Litanies
–
Russian Orthodox deacon giving an ektenia. He holds the edge of his
orarion in his right hand, and will raise it as he finishes each petition.
8.
Christmas carol
–
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, and which is traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the category of Christmas music. The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th century Rome, Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis by the Spanish poet Prudentius is still sung in churches today. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas Sequence or Prose was introduced in Northern European monasteries, in the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. In the 13th century, in France, Germany, and particularly, Italy, the songs we know specifically as carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols begun to be sung in church, many carols which have gained popularity today were printed in Piae Cantiones, a collection of late medieval Latin songs which was first published in 1582. Early, Latin forms of such as Christ was born on Christmas Day, Good Christian Men, Rejoice. Adeste Fideles appears in its current form in the mid-18th century, the origin of the tune is disputed. Carols gained in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence and this was a consequence of the fact that the Lutheran reformation warmly welcomed music. The publication of Christmas music books in the 19th century helped to widen the appeal of carols. The first appearance in print of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, The First Noel, I Saw Three Ships, the Herald Angels Sing was in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern by William Sandys. The publication in 1871 of Christmas Carols, New and Old by Henry Ramsden Bramley, in 1916, Charles Lewis Hutchins published Carols Old and Carols New, a scholarly collection which suffered from a short print run and is consequently rarely available today. The singing of carols was further popularised in the 20th century when OUP published one of the most popular books in the English-speaking world. First published in 1961 and edited by David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, today carols are regularly sung at Christian religious services. Some compositions have words that are not of a religious theme. For example, the 16th century song A Bone, God Wot. appears to be a wassailing song, as recently as 1865, Christmas-related lyrics were adopted for the traditional English folk song Greensleeves, becoming the internationally popular Christmas carol “What Child is This. ”. It is not clear whether the word derives from the French carole or the Latin carula meaning a circular dance
Christmas carol
–
Christmas carol group at Bangalore, India
Christmas carol
–
Children singing Christmas carols
Christmas carol
–
A
brass band playing Christmas carols
Christmas carol
–
Christmas carols in Russia (
Belgorod Oblast, 2012)
9.
Francis of Assisi
–
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco, was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the mens Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis, Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228, along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades, by this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order, once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist, in 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. He died during the hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142. Pietro was in France on business when Francis was born in Assisi, upon his return to Assisi, Pietro took to calling his son Francesco, possibly in honor of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French. Since the child was renamed in infancy, the change can hardly have had anything to do with his aptitude for learning French, as some have thought. While going off to war in 1202, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, in 1205, Francis left for Apulia to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne. Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a young man. In 1201, he joined an expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. It is possible that his conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life, in 1204, a serious illness led him to a spiritual crisis. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening, on a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peters Basilica, an experience that moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon gathered followers and his Order was authorized by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which became a religious order for women. As a youth, Francesco became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine, in this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms
Francis of Assisi
–
The Stigmata of Saint Francis by
Bartolomeo della Gatta, tempera on wood circa 1487
Francis of Assisi
–
The house where Francis of Assisi lived when young
Francis of Assisi
–
Francis of Assisi by
Cimabue
Francis of Assisi
–
Francis considered his
stigmata part of the
Imitation of Christ.
Cigoli, 1699
10.
Middle Ages
–
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
Middle Ages
–
The
Cross of Mathilde, a
crux gemmata made for
Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the
enamel plaque. The body of Christ is slightly later. Probably made in
Cologne or
Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques:
cast figurative sculpture,
filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical
cameos and
engraved gems.
Middle Ages
–
A late Roman statue
depicting the four Tetrarchs, now in
Venice
Middle Ages
–
Coin of
Theodoric
Middle Ages
–
Mosaic showing
Justinian with
the bishop of
Ravenna, bodyguards, and courtiers
11.
John Audelay
–
John Audelay was an English priest and poet from Haughmond Abbey, in Shropshire, he is one of the few English poets of the period whose name is known to us. Some of the first Christmas carols recorded in English appear among his works, the little that is known to us about Audelays life comes mainly from Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Douce 302. The manuscript contains the text of all sixty-two of his surviving poems, the dialect of Middle English used in MS Douce 302 is local to Staffordshire, and it has been suggested that Audelay may therefore have come from the Staffordshire village of Audley. However, the earliest biographical record of Audelay places him in London in 1417, according to a date noted in MS. Douce 302, by 1426 Audelay was in retirement as a chantry priest at Haughmond Abbey. In lines repeated several times throughout the manuscript, Audelay states that he was by that time old, infirm, deaf. Much of Audelays work as contained in MS, Douce 302 consists of devotional carols, Audelay is recognised as a significant figure in the history of the English carol. Fore pride in herte he hatis all one, Worchip ne reuerens kepis he non, Ne he is wroþ with no mon, In charete is alle his chere. The two most remarkable and accomplished poems in the manuscript are both long exercises in a form of alliterative verse with a superimposed rhyme-scheme, Pater Noster. Until recently, the complete edition of Audelays poems was The Poems of John Audelay. A recent edition has been produced by Susanna Fein for the Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages, POEMS AND CAROLS by John the Blind Audelay edited by Susanna Greer Fein
John Audelay
–
The ruins of Haughmond Abbey.
12.
Shropshire
–
Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a unitary authority since 1998. The county has many towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford. The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, there are other historic industrial sites in the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley, as well as the Shropshire Union Canal. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, Shropshire is one of Englands most rural and sparsely populated counties, with a population density of 136/km2. The Wrekin is one of the most famous landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark, the River Severn, Great Britains longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres is Englands largest inland county, the county flower is the round-leaved sundew. The area was part of the lands of the Cornovii. This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom and their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on the Wrekin. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum, after the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Angle kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the 8th century, in subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle, the western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the Diocese of Hereford. The county contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature in England, the origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English Scrobbesbyrigscīr, which means Shrewsburyshire. The name may, therefore, be derived indirectly from a name such as Scrope. Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as a form for post or telegrams
Shropshire
–
Section of
Offa's Dyke near the Shropshire town of
Clun, constructed after the Saxon annexation of the area in the 8th century AD.
Shropshire
–
Flag
Shropshire
–
The Iron Bridge at
Ironbridge.
Shropshire
–
The
River Severn, seen here in
Shrewsbury, is the primary watercourse in the county.
13.
Wassailing
–
The tradition of wassailing falls into two distinct categories, The house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the bowl in exchange for gifts. This practice still exists, but has largely displaced by caroling. The word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon greeting Wæs þu hæl, the correct response to the greeting is Drinc hæl. According to the Oxford English Dictionary waes hael is the Middle English spelling parallel to OE hál wes þú, the American Heritage Dictionary, fifth edition, gives Old Norse ves heill as the source of Middle English waeshaeil. In recent times, the toast has come to be synonymous with Christmas, traditionally, the wassail is celebrated on Twelfth Night. Some people still wassail on Old Twelvey Night, January 17, in the middle ages, the wassail was a reciprocal exchange between the feudal lords and their peasants as a form of recipient-initiated charitable giving, to be distinguished from begging. e. This would be given in the form of the song being sung, wassailing is the background practice against which an English carol such as We Wish You a Merry Christmas dating back to sixteenth century England, can be made sense of. The carol lies in the English tradition where people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as figgy puddings. Similar traditions have also traced to Greece and the country of Georgia. Wassailing was associated with bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbours and demand free food. If the householder refused, he was cursed, and occasionally his house was vandalized. In the cider-producing West of England wassailing also refers to drinking the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. An old rhyme goes, The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees, the ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. Perhaps unbeknown to the public, this ancient English tradition is still very much thriving today. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried treasure, Wassail bowls, generally in the shape of goblets, have been preserved. The Worshipful Company of Grocers made a very elaborate one in the seventeenth century and it is so large that it must have passed around as a loving cup so that many members of the guild could drink from it. In the British Christmas carol Wassail, Wassail, All Over the Town, white maple is a completely flavorless wood, commonly used even today to make some kitchen utensils, and likely was what many simple peasant wassail bowls were made from
Wassailing
–
An apple sapling, hung with toast, placed in a handcart and pushed around the streets during the
Chepstow Mari Lwyd, 2014
Wassailing
–
Sharing the Wassail Bowl
14.
Commonwealth of England
–
The republics existence was declared through An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth, adopted by the Rump Parliament on 19 May 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was vested primarily in the Parliament, the Rump was created by Prides Purge of those members of the Long Parliament who did not support the political position of the Grandees in the New Model Army. Just before and after the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, with the abolition of the monarchy, Privy Council and the House of Lords, it had unchecked executive and legislative power. The English Council of State, which replaced the Privy Council and it was selected by the Rump, and most of its members were MPs. However, the Rump depended on the support of the Army with which it had an uneasy relationship. After the execution of Charles I, the House of Commons abolished the monarchy and it declared the people of England and of all the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging to be henceforth under the governance of a Commonwealth, effectively a republic. In Prides Purge, all members of parliament who would not accept the need to bring the King to trial had been removed, thus the Rump never had more than two hundred members. Most Rumpers were gentry, though there was a proportion of lesser gentry. Less than one-quarter of them were regicides and this left the Rump as basically a conservative body whose vested interests in the existing land ownership and legal systems made it unlikely to want to reform them. For the first two years of the Commonwealth, the Rump faced economic depression and the risk of invasion from Scotland and Ireland, by 1653 Cromwell and the Army had largely eliminated these threats. There were many disagreements amongst factions of the Rump, some wanted a republic, but others favoured retaining some type of monarchical government. Most of Englands traditional ruling classes regarded the Rump as a government made up of regicides. However, they were aware that the Rump might be all that stood in the way of an outright military dictatorship. High taxes, mainly to pay the Army, were resented by the gentry, limited reforms were enough to antagonise the ruling class but not enough to satisfy the radicals. Despite its unpopularity, the Rump was a link with the old constitution, by 1653, France and Spain had recognised Englands new government. Though the Church of England was retained, episcopacy was suppressed, mainly on the insistence of the Army, many independent churches were tolerated, although everyone still had to pay tithes to the established church. Some small improvements were made to law and court procedure, for example, however, there were no widespread reforms of the common law. This would have upset the gentry, who regarded the law as reinforcing their status
Commonwealth of England
–
Third English Civil War
Commonwealth of England
–
A 21st-century edition of the Act Declaring and Constituting the People of England to be a Commonwealth and Free-State enacted on 19 May 1649
Commonwealth of England
–
A gold
Unite from 1653.
15.
Oliver Cromwell
–
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Cromwell was born into the gentry, albeit to a family descended from the sister of King Henry VIIIs minister Thomas Cromwell. Little is known of the first 40 years of his life as only four of his letters survive alongside a summary of a speech he delivered in 1628. He became an Independent Puritan after undergoing a conversion in the 1630s. He was a religious man, a self-styled Puritan Moses. He was elected Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628 and for Cambridge in the Short and he entered the English Civil War on the side of the Roundheads or Parliamentarians. Cromwell was one of the signatories of King Charles Is death warrant in 1649 and he was selected to take command of the English campaign in Ireland in 1649–1650. Cromwells forces defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the country, during this period, a series of Penal Laws were passed against Roman Catholics, and a substantial amount of their land was confiscated. Cromwell also led a campaign against the Scottish army between 1650 and 1651, as a ruler, he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy. He died from natural causes in 1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the Royalists returned to power in 1660, and they had his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded. In a 2002 BBC poll in Britain, Cromwell, sponsored by military historian Richard Holmes was selected as one of the ten greatest Britons of all time. However, his measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have been characterised as genocidal or near-genocidal, Cromwell was born in Huntingdon on 25 April 1599 to Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. Katherine married Morgan ap William, son of William ap Yevan of Wales, Henry suggested to Sir Richard Williams, who was the first to use a surname in his family, that he use Cromwell, in honour of his uncle Thomas Cromwell. They had ten children, but Oliver, the child, was the only boy to survive infancy. Jasper was the uncle of Henry VII and great uncle of Henry VIII, Cromwells paternal grandfather Sir Henry Williams was one of the two wealthiest landowners in Huntingdonshire. Cromwells father Robert was of modest means but still a part of the gentry class, as a younger son with many siblings, Robert inherited only a house at Huntingdon and a small amount of land. This land would have generated an income of up to £300 a year, near the bottom of the range of gentry incomes, Cromwell himself in 1654 said, I was by birth a gentleman, living neither in considerable height, nor yet in obscurity. He was baptised on 29 April 1599 at St Johns Church and he went on to study at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, then a recently founded college with a strong Puritan ethos
Oliver Cromwell
–
A 1656
Samuel Cooper portrait of Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
–
Portrait of Cromwell's wife Elizabeth Bourchier, painted by Robert Walker
Oliver Cromwell
–
Oliver Cromwell's house in
Ely
Oliver Cromwell
–
Engraving of Oliver Cromwell
16.
Rump Parliament
–
Rump normally means the hind end of an animal, its use meaning remnant was first recorded in the above context in English. Since 1649, the rump parliament has been used to refer to any parliament left over from the actual legitimate parliament. In September 1648, at the end of the Second English Civil War, the Long Parliament began negotiations with King Charles I. The members wanted to restore the king to power but wanted to limit the authority he had. Charles I conceded militia power among other things but he admitted, “it was only so he could escape. ”In November the negotiations began to fall through. Charles I was then taken into the Army’s custody to await trial for treason, the New Model Army wanted to prevent the Treaty of Newport from reinstating King Charles I. Thomas Fairfax organized a coup in 1648 by issuing a command to Commissary General Ireton. Ireton intended to dissolve the Long Parliament but was persuaded to purge it instead and he then ordered Colonel Thomas Pride to stop the signing of the Treaty of Newport. Pride prevented 231 known supporters of the treaty from entering the House, the remaining free members then became the Rump Parliament. Prides Purge brought the Parliament to heel, under the control of the Army. In the middle of December the King was brought from Windsor to London, on 4 January 1649, the Commons passed an ordinance to set up a High Court of Justice to try Charles I for high treason in the name of the people of England. The Lords rejected it, and as it did not receive Royal Assent, I would know by what authority, I mean lawful authority, knowing that there was no legal answer under the constitutional arrangements of the time. He was convicted with fifty-nine Commissioners signing the death warrant, the establishment of a Council of State was approved on 14 February and on 19 May an Act Declaring England a Commonwealth was passed. The Treasons Act made it an offense to say that the House of Commons was not the authority of the land. Although an exact number hasnt been pinned down, it is estimated there were about 210 members of the Rump Parliament. This was approximately a fifty percent decrease from the 470 member enrollment of the Long Parliament before Prides Purge, though nine new members were admitted to the Rump parliament, the vast majority of the Rumpers were transferred from the Long Parliament. Most Rumpers still regarded many purged colleagues as “members of parliament”, “The Rump did not think of itself as a corporate political entity distinct in membership, aims and character from the Long Parliament”. Despite the rump’s lack of distinctiveness, there were a variety of reasons why people wanted to be a part of the Rump Parliament
Rump Parliament
17.
Christmas carols
–
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, and which is traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the category of Christmas music. The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th century Rome, Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis by the Spanish poet Prudentius is still sung in churches today. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas Sequence or Prose was introduced in Northern European monasteries, in the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. In the 13th century, in France, Germany, and particularly, Italy, the songs we know specifically as carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols begun to be sung in church, many carols which have gained popularity today were printed in Piae Cantiones, a collection of late medieval Latin songs which was first published in 1582. Early, Latin forms of such as Christ was born on Christmas Day, Good Christian Men, Rejoice. Adeste Fideles appears in its current form in the mid-18th century, the origin of the tune is disputed. Carols gained in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence and this was a consequence of the fact that the Lutheran reformation warmly welcomed music. The publication of Christmas music books in the 19th century helped to widen the appeal of carols. The first appearance in print of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, The First Noel, I Saw Three Ships, the Herald Angels Sing was in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern by William Sandys. The publication in 1871 of Christmas Carols, New and Old by Henry Ramsden Bramley, in 1916, Charles Lewis Hutchins published Carols Old and Carols New, a scholarly collection which suffered from a short print run and is consequently rarely available today. The singing of carols was further popularised in the 20th century when OUP published one of the most popular books in the English-speaking world. First published in 1961 and edited by David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, today carols are regularly sung at Christian religious services. Some compositions have words that are not of a religious theme. For example, the 16th century song A Bone, God Wot. appears to be a wassailing song, as recently as 1865, Christmas-related lyrics were adopted for the traditional English folk song Greensleeves, becoming the internationally popular Christmas carol “What Child is This. ”. It is not clear whether the word derives from the French carole or the Latin carula meaning a circular dance
Christmas carols
–
Christmas carol group at Bangalore, India
Christmas carols
–
Children singing Christmas carols
Christmas carols
–
A
brass band playing Christmas carols
Christmas carols
–
Christmas carols in Russia (
Belgorod Oblast, 2012)
18.
Paganism
–
Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
Paganism
–
The
Venus of Arles, depicting the goddess
Venus holding the apple of
Hesperides.
Paganism
–
Reconstruction of the
Parthenon, on the
Acropolis of Athens,
Greece.
Paganism
–
Some
megaliths are believed to have religious significance.
Paganism
–
Children standing with The Lady of Cornwall in a neopagan ceremony in England.
19.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
20.
Protestant
–
Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
Protestant
–
(
The Ninety-Five Theses)
Protestant
–
The Memorial Church in
Speyer, Germany
Protestant
–
Key figures of the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther and John Calvin depicted on a church
pulpit. These reformers emphasised preaching and made it a centerpiece of worship.
Protestant
–
The Bible translated into
vernacular by Martin Luther. The supreme authority of
scripture is a fundamental principle of Protestantism.
21.
Puritans
–
Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the first half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, Puritans were blocked from changing the established church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to the episcopal system and they largely adopted Sabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced by millennialism. Consequently, they became a political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War. Almost all Puritan clergy left the Church of England after the Restoration of 1660, the nature of the movement in England changed radically, although it retained its character for a much longer period in New England. Puritans by definition were dissatisfied with the extent of the English Reformation. They formed and identified with various groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology and, in sense, were Calvinists. In church polity, some advocated separation from all other established Christian denominations in favor of autonomous gathered churches. The Puritans were never a formally defined sect or religious division within Protestantism, the Congregationalist tradition, widely considered to be a part of the Reformed tradition, claims descent from the Puritans. Historically, the word Puritan was considered a term that characterized Protestant groups as extremists. According to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, the dates to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that used it and precisian with the sense of the modern stickler. In modern times, the word puritan is often used to mean against pleasure, in this sense, the term Puritan was coined in the 1560s, when it first appeared as a term of abuse for those who found the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 inadequate. The term Puritan, therefore, was not intended to refer to strict morality, a common modern misunderstanding, the word Puritan was applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century onwards. Puritans did not originally use the term for themselves, the practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by a single term. Precise men and Precisians were other early derogatory terms for Puritans, seventeenth century English Puritan preacher Thomas Watson used the godly to describe Puritans in the title of one of his more famous works The Godly Mans Picture
Puritans
–
Gallery of famous 17th-century Puritan theologians:
Thomas Gouge,
William Bridge,
Thomas Manton,
John Flavel,
Richard Sibbes,
Stephen Charnock,
William Bates,
John Owen,
John Howe,
Richard Baxter.
Puritans
–
The
Westminster Assembly in a Victorian history painting by
John Rogers Herbert.
Puritans
–
The Snake in the Grass or Satan Transform'd to an Angel of Light, title page engraved by
Richard Gaywood, ca. 1660
Puritans
–
Cotton Mather, influential New England Puritan minister, portrait by
Peter Pelham.
22.
Father Christmas
–
Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian period, English personifications of Christmas were first recorded in the 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Puritan-controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it papist, Royalist political pamphleteers, linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of the good old days of feasting and good cheer. Following the Restoration in 1660, Father Christmass profile declined and his character was maintained during the late 18th and into the 19th century by the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers plays. Until Victorian times, Father Christmas was concerned with adult feasting and merry-making and he had no particular connection with children, nor with the giving of presents, nocturnal visits, stockings or chimneys. But as later Victorian Christmases developed into family festivals, Father Christmas became a bringer of gifts. The popular American myth of Santa Claus arrived in England in the 1850s, by the 1880s the new customs had become established, with the nocturnal visitor sometimes being known as Santa Claus and sometimes as Father Christmas. He was often illustrated wearing a red hooded gown trimmed with white fur. The custom of merrymaking and feasting at Christmastide first appears in the record during the High Middle Ages. This almost certainly represented a continuation of pre-Christian midwinter celebrations in Britain of which—as the historian Ronald Hutton has pointed out—we have no details at all, personifications came later, and when they did they reflected the existing custom. The first known English personification of Christmas was associated with merry-making, singing and drinking, many late medieval Christmas customs incorporated both sacred and secular themes. In most areas of England the archaic word Yule had been replaced by Christmas by the 11th century, but in some regions Yule survived as the normal dialect term. The City of York maintained an annual St Thomass Day celebration of The Riding of Yule and his Wife which involved a figure representing Yule who carried bread and a leg of lamb. In 1572 the riding was suppressed on the orders of the Archbishop, in his allegorical play Summers Last Will and Testament, written in about 1592, Thomas Nashe introduces for comic effect a miserly Christmas character who refuses to keep the feast. He is reminded by Summer of the role that he ought to be playing, Christmas, how chance thou com’st not as the rest, / Accompanied with some music. / A merry carol would have graced thee well, / Thy ancestors have used it heretofore, early 17th century writers used the techniques of personification and allegory as a means of defending Christmas from attacks by radical Protestants. Surrounded by guards, Christmas asserts his rightful place in the Protestant Church and protests against attempts to him, Why Gentlemen. Christmas of London, and Captaine Christmas and they would not let me in, I must come another time
Father Christmas
–
Except from Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Father Christmas (1686), published shortly after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England.
Father Christmas
–
Father Christmas is often seen as synonymous with
Santa Claus.
23.
Westminster Assembly of Divines
–
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of theologians and members of the English Parliament appointed to restructure the Church of England which met from 1643 to 1653. Several Scots also attended, and the Assemblys work was adopted by the Church of Scotland, as many as 121 ministers were called to the Assembly, with nineteen others added later to replace those who did not attend or could no longer attend. The Confession and catechisms were adopted as doctrinal standards in the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian churches, amended versions of the Confession were also adopted in Congregational and Baptist churches in England and New England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Confession became influential throughout the English-speaking world, but especially in American Protestant theology, the Assembly was called by the Long Parliament before and during the beginning of the First English Civil War. The Long Parliament was influenced by Puritanism, a movement which sought to further reform the church. They were opposed to the policies of King Charles I and William Laud. As part of an alliance with Scotland, Parliament agreed that the outcome of the Assembly would bring the English Church into closer conformity with the Church of Scotland. The Scottish Church was governed by a system of elected assemblies of elders called presbyterianism, rather than rule by bishops, called episcopalianism, Scottish commissioners attended and advised the Assembly as part of the agreement. Disagreements over church government caused open division in the Assembly, despite attempts to maintain unity, the party of divines who favoured presbyterianism was in the majority, but political and military realities led to greater influence for the congregationalist party. Congregationalists favoured autonomy for individual congregations rather than the subjection of congregations to regional and national assemblies entailed in presbyterianism, Parliament eventually adopted a presbyterian form of government, but it lacked the power the presbyterian divines desired. During the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, all of the documents of the Assembly were repudiated, the Assembly worked in the Reformed Protestant theological tradition, also known as Calvinism. It took the Bible as the word of God, from which all theological reflection must be based. The divines were committed to the Reformed doctrine of predestination—that God chooses certain men to be saved, there was some disagreement at the Assembly over the doctrine of particular redemption—that Christ died only for those chosen for salvation. The Assembly also held to Reformed covenant theology, a framework for interpreting the Bible, Parliament called the Westminster Assembly during a time of increasing hostility between Charles I, monarch of England and Scotland, and the Puritans. Puritans could be distinguished by their insistence that worship practices be supported implicitly or explicitly by the Bible, while their opponents gave greater authority to traditional customs. They believed the Church of England, which had separated itself from the Catholic Church during the English Reformation, was too heavily influenced by Catholicism. They sought to rid the church and nation of any of these remaining influences and this included the Churchs episcopal polity, or rule by a hierarchy of bishops. Puritans, unlike separatists, did not leave the established church, Puritans were forced to keep their views private or face fines and imprisonment
Westminster Assembly of Divines
–
This painting by
John Rogers Herbert depicts a particularly controversial speech before the Assembly by
Philip Nye against
presbyterian church government.
Westminster Assembly of Divines
–
William Laud was made
Archbishop of Canterbury by
Charles I of England, leading to greater animosity between
Puritans and the king.
Westminster Assembly of Divines
–
Henry VII Chapel, the Assembly's first meeting place, in a painting by
Canaletto
Westminster Assembly of Divines
–
The Assembly moved to the
Jerusalem Chamber in October 1643.
24.
Charles II of England
–
Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
Charles II of England
–
Charles II in the robes of the
Order of the Garter, by
John Michael Wright or studio, c. 1660–1665
Charles II of England
–
Charles II as an infant in 1630, painting attributed to
Justus van Egmont
Charles II of England
–
Portrait by
William Dobson, c. 1642 or 1643
Charles II of England
–
"The Scots Holding Their Young King's Nose To the Grindstone", from a satirical English pamphlet
25.
Stuarts
–
The House of Stuart, originally Stewart and, in Gaelic, Stiùbhart was a European royal house that originated in Scotland. The dynastys patrilineal Breton ancestors had held the office of High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, the royal Stewart line was founded by Robert II, and they were Kings and Queens of Scots from the late 14th century until the union with England in 1707. Mary I, Queen of Scots was brought up in France and her son, James VI of Scotland, inherited the thrones of England and Ireland upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Except for the period of the Commonwealth, 1649–1660, the Stuarts were monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland until 1707, then of Great Britain and Ireland, in total, nine Stewart/Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland alone from 1371 until 1603. James VI of Scotland then inherited the realms of Elizabeth I of England, following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, two Stuart queens ruled the isles, Mary II and Anne. Both were the Protestant daughters of James VII and II by his first wife, during the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, and others. The name Stewart derives from the position of office similar to a governor. It was originally adopted as the surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father, the gallicised spelling was first borne by John Stewart of Darnley after his time in the French wars. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, the FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlan who became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld. After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire, the next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV, made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, South Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries. The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart, married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, in 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VIIs daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Stuarts
–
Tombstone of the last members of the House of Stuart in the
St. Peter's Basilica – Work of
Antonio Canova.
Stuarts
–
Last armorial of the Stuart monarch for use in Great Britain, 1707 to 1714
Stuarts
–
James I of Scotland
Stuarts
–
James IV of Scotland
26.
Christmas Eve
–
Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day, together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. Many churches still ring their bells and hold prayers in the evening, for example. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night, Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, roman Catholics and high church Anglicans traditionally celebrate Midnight Mass, which begins either at or sometime before midnight on Christmas Eve. This ceremony, which is held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Christ, Midnight Mass is popular in Poland. In recent years churches have scheduled their Midnight Mass as early as 7 pm. In Spanish-speaking areas, the Midnight Mass is sometimes referred to as Misa de Gallo, in the Philippines, the custom has expanded into the nine-day Simbang Gabi, when Filipinos attend dawn Masses from 16 December, continuing daily until Christmas Eve. In 2009 Vatican officials scheduled the Midnight Mass to start at 10 pm so that the 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI would not have too late a night. Whilst it does not include any kind of Mass, the Church of Scotland has a service beginning just before midnight, the Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Years Eve, however. The Christmas Eve Services are still very popular, on Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services. In candlelight services, while singing Silent Night, each member of the congregation receives a candle, lutherans traditionally practice Christmas Eve Eucharistic traditions typical of Germany and Scandinavia. Krippenspiele, special music for organ, vocal and brass choirs. A nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors, and is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger, Mary, other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals. The figures may be made of any material, and arranged in a stable or grotto, the Magi may also appear, and are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. While most home nativity scenes are packed away at Christmas or shortly thereafter, Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, and midnight services are also widespread in regions which are predominantly Lutheran. The old Lutheran tradition of a Christmas Vigil in the morning hours of Christmas Day can still be found in some regions. Methodists celebrate the evening in different ways, some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families. The mood is very solemn, and the visible light is the Advent Wreath
Christmas Eve
–
Julaftonen (Christmas Eve), a 1904–05
watercolor painting by
Carl Larsson
Christmas Eve
–
Midnight Mass is held in many churches toward the end of Christmas Eve, often with dim lighting and traditional decorative accents such as greenery
Christmas Eve
–
Advent wreath, lightning the candle
Christmas Eve
–
A nativity scene
27.
Nine Lessons and Carols
–
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a service of Christian worship celebrating the birth of Jesus that is traditionally followed at Christmas. In 1878 the Royal Cornwall Gazette reported that the choir of Truro Cathedral would sing a service of carols at 10,00 p. m. on Christmas Eve. The Choir of the Cathedral will sing a number of carols in the Cathedral on Christmas Eve and we understand that this is at the wish of many of the leading parishioners and others. A like service has been instituted in other cathedral and large towns and it is the intention of the choir to no longer continue the custom of singing carols at the residences of members of the congregation. Two years later, Edward White Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury but at that time Bishop of Truro, in Cornwall, formalised the service with Nine Lessons for use on Christmas Eve 1880. The first service took place at 10,00 p. m. on Christmas Eve in the wooden structure serving as his cathedral whilst the new cathedral was being built. Over 400 people attended this first service, there is an oft-repeated myth that the purpose of the service was to keep men out of the pubs. The service has subsequently been in use in Truro since 1880. In December 2013 Truro Cathedral staged a reconstruction of Bishop Bensons original 1880 Nine Lessons with Carols Service which was attended by an audience of over 1,500 people, the original liturgy has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world. Lessons and Carols most often occur in Anglican churches, however, numerous Christian denominations have adopted this service, or a variation on this service, as part of their Christmas celebrations. In the UK, the service has become the format for schools Christmas carol services. The best-known version is broadcast annually from Kings College, Cambridge and it features carols sung by the famous Choir of Kings College. Groton School of Groton, Massachusetts, has performed the festival longer than any other than Kings, holding its first Lessons. The first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Kings College, Cambridge, was held on Christmas Eve in 1918. It was introduced by Eric Milner-White, the Dean of the College, the first service at Kings largely followed Bensons original plan, including the Benedictions before each reading, several of which were later amalgamated by Milner-White into his Bidding Prayer. The music at the first service at Kings was directed by Arthur Henry Mann, the choir had 16 trebles as specified in statutes laid down by Henry VI, and until 1927 the mens voices were provided by choral scholars and lay clerks. Today,14 undergraduates from the Choir of Kings College, Cambridge, the service was first broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1928 and, except for 1930, has been broadcast every year since. During the 1930s the BBC began broadcasting the service on its overseas programmes, even throughout the Second World War, despite the stained glass having been removed from the Chapel and the lack of heating, the broadcasts continued
Nine Lessons and Carols
–
Order of Service for the first Nine Lessons and Carols in 1880 on display in
Truro Cathedral
Nine Lessons and Carols
–
The Adoration of the Magi (1634) by
Peter Paul Rubens, which hangs behind the
altar in
King's College Chapel, Cambridge.
Nine Lessons and Carols
–
King's College Chapel, photographed on 16 November 2006.
Nine Lessons and Carols
–
The fourth lesson employed
John Tavener 's choral arrangement "
The Lamb " of
William Blake 's
The Lamb from Blake's collection'
Songs of Innocence and of Experience. This image represents copy C, object 8 of that original poem, currently held by the
Library of Congress. The poem was published during 1794 and hand painted by Blake and his wife.
28.
Truro Cathedral
–
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the church of St Mary. It is one of three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires. The See of Truro was established in 1876, and its first bishop, Truro was the first cathedral to be built on a new site in England since Salisbury Cathedral in 1220. Construction began in 1880 to a design by the leading Gothic Revival architect John Loughborough Pearson and it was built on the site of the 16th-century parish church of St Mary the Virgin, a building in the Perpendicular style with a spire 128 feet tall. St Marys was demolished in October 1880, leaving only the south aisle, from 1880 until 1887 a temporary wooden building on an adjacent site served as the cathedral. It accommodated fewer than 400 people and was hot in summer. It was in building that Benson introduced the new evening service of Nine Lessons. By October 1887 the choir and transepts were complete and the service of consecration took place on 3 November, the delay was caused by the wish to allow Edward Benson, by that time Archbishop of Canterbury, to attend. John Loughborough Pearson died in 1897 and his son Frank took over the project, Frank Loughborough Pearsons other works include St Matthews, Auckland in New Zealand, a reduced version of Truro Cathedral. Pearsons design combines the Early English style with certain French characteristics, chiefly spires, the central tower and spire stands 250 feet tall, while the western towers reach to 200 feet. Four kinds of stone were used, Mabe granite for the exterior, the spires and turret roofs are of stone, except for a copper spire over the bell tower at west end of St Marys Aisle. The other roofs are of slate, the original south aisle of St Marys Church survives, incorporated into the south-east corner of the cathedral and known as St Marys Aisle. It still functions as the city parish church. Three brasses were described by Edwin Dunkin in 1882, those of Cuthbert Sydnam, Thomas Hasell and George Fitzpen, as the cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it has no Lady Chapel. The architect of the new building was John Taylor, the Royal Maundy Service was held in the cathedral in 1994 when Queen Elizabeth II presented 134 Cornish people with the traditional Maundy money. In 2002 the cathedral embarked on what was hoped to be a project to restore the east end, the west front. Each of the projects would be undertaken as funds allowed, the east end restoration repaired stonework and damage to the iron work on the stained glass windows
Truro Cathedral
–
Truro Cathedral from St Mary's Street
Truro Cathedral
–
A stained glass window depicting the founding of the cathedral.
Truro Cathedral
–
The organ
29.
Cornwall
–
Cornwall is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, Cornwall has a population of 551,700 and covers an area of 3,563 km2. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the south-west peninsula of the island of Great Britain, and this area was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, there is little evidence that Roman rule was effective west of Exeter and few Roman remains have been found. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline, subsequently, china clay extraction became more important and metal mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Traditionally, fishing and agriculture were the important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century, however, the area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwalls coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly. On 24 April 2014 it was announced that Cornish people will be granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The modern English name Cornwall derives from the concatenation of two ancient demonyms from different linguistic traditions, Corn- records the native Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word kernou is cognate with the English word horn. -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, the Ravenna Cosmography first mentions a city named Purocoronavis in the locality. This is thought to be a rendering of Duro-cornov-ium, meaning fort of the Cornovii. The exact location of Durocornovium is disputed, with Tintagel and Carn Brea suggested as possible sites, in later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as West Wales to distinguish it from North Wales. The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum, in the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c.1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia, the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods and it continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age people. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues
Cornwall
–
"Cornweallas" shown on an early 19th-century map of "Saxon England" (and Wales) based on the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Cornwall
–
Flag
Cornwall
–
Mên-an-Tol.
Cornwall
–
St German's Priory Church (Norman)
30.
Secular
–
Secularity is the state of being separate from religion, or of not being exclusively allied with or against any particular religion. Historically, the secular was not related or linked to religion. The idea of a dichotomy between religion and the secular originated in the 18th century European Enlightenment, one can regard eating and bathing as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them. Nevertheless, some religious traditions see both eating and bathing as sacraments, therefore making them religious activities within those world views, saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine, worshipping through the context of a religion, and attending a religious school are examples of religious activities. The secular is experienced in diverse ways ranging from separation of religion and state to being anti-religion or even pro-religion, a related term, secularism, involves the principle that government institutions and their representatives should remain separate from religious institutions, their beliefs, and their dignitaries. Many businesses and corporations, and some operate on secular lines. This stands in contrast to theocracy, government with deity as its highest authority, Secular and secularity derive from the Latin word saeculum which meant of a generation, belonging to an age or denoted a period of about one hundred years. In the ancient world, saeculum was not defined in contrast to any sacred concerns and had a usage in Latin. It was in Christian Latin of medieval times, that saeculum was used for distinguishing this temporal age of the world from the realm of God. The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones. This does not necessarily imply hostility to God or religion, though some use the term this way, routinization — institutionalizing through integration into the society. Differentiation — a redefined place such as when accepting its status as one religion in a plural religious field or morphing into a more generic, disengagement — the detachment of certain facets of social life from religion. Transformation — gradual change over time in a sense that Protestantism became for Christianity. Generalization — a particular kind of change in which it becomes less specific, more abstract, has moderation of controversial and divisive claims. Desacralization — culture and rationality guide people while leaving out religious beings, segmentation — the development of specialized religious institutions, which take their place beside other specialized social institutions. Secularism — the only form that leads to rejection of religion. Examples of secular used in this way include, Secular authority, which involves legal, police, and military authority, as distinct from clerical authority, or matters under church control. Secular clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, who, traditionally, do not live the lives of the regular clergy and are therefore, in a sense
Secular
–
A
Laïcité parade in
Beirut Central District,
Lebanon. See
Secularism in Lebanon.
31.
Santa Claus Village
–
Santa Claus Village is an amusement park in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. Santa Claus Village is located about 8 km northeast of Rovaniemi, Rovaniemi city bus route 8 travels between the Rovaniemi Railway Station and the Santa Claus Village. The bus trip takes about 30 minutes, Arctic Circle, The Arctic Circle cuts right through Santa Claus Village. A white line denoting the Arctic Circle is painted across the park, visitors officially enter the Arctic area when they cross the line. The line is a popular photo spot for visitors. Santa Claus Main Post Office, A large variety of Christmas related items, Christmas cards, all mail sent from this post office is postmarked with a special Santa Claus postmark. Visitors can also specify their mail to be sent at the next Christmas, regardless of when they visit the post office. Santa Clauss Office, A Santa Clauss Office is located inside the building of the Village, for visitors to take photographs. However, there is an hour for Santa Claus and he may not be in the office all the time even when the Village is open. Other attractions, There are also shops and restaurants inside the park selling a variety of items related to Santa Claus. The Santa Claus Park that is connected to the Santa Claus Village was in 2007 awarded by Topworld International, so long in 2008, it still holds second position after Topworld invited travelers to vote for their own Top 10 list over adventures
Santa Claus Village
–
Santa Claus office
Santa Claus Village
–
The
Arctic circle line
32.
Rovaniemi
–
Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the capital and commercial centre of Finlands northernmost province. It is situated about 10 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the river Kemijoki and its tributary, the city and the surrounding Rovaniemen maalaiskunta were consolidated into a single entity on 1 January 2006. The new municipality has an area of 7,581.86 square kilometres, the rova part in the name Rovaniemi has often been considered to be of Saamic origin, as roavve in Saami denotes a forested ridge or hill or the site of an old forest fire. In Southern Saami dialects, however, rova meaning a heap of stones, the niemi part of the name means cape. Different spellings include Inari Sami, Ruávinjargâ, Northern Sami, Roavenjárga and Roavvenjárga, Skolt Sami, periodic clearance of new land for agriculture and the practise of slash-and-burn cultivation began around 750–530 B. C. The Sami are considered to be Laplands most indigenous existing population, the exploitation of Laplands natural resources in the 1800s boosted Rovaniemis growth. Extensive logging sites and gold fever attracted thousands of people to Lapland, as the mining of natural resources was increased, Rovaniemi became the business centre of the province of Lapland. During the Second World War, Finland signed the Moscow Armistice, while the German rear guard was going about the destruction, an ammunition train in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered casualties, mainly from glass splinters. A Finnish commando unit claimed to have blown up the ammunition train, the cause was then unknown and generally assumed to be the deliberate intent of Rendulic. During these hostilities 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed, there is a German cemetery 19 km from Rovaniemi where soldiers killed fighting in Lapland during the war are entombed. Because of the nature and numerous recreational opportunities, tourism is an important industry in Rovaniemi. The city has a number of hotels and restaurants located both in the centre and on the outskirts of the town, hosting over 481,000 visitors in 2013, since Rovaniemi represents the capital of the Province of Lapland, many government institutions have their offices there. About 10,000 of the inhabitants are students, local newspapers include the Lapin Kansa, Uusi Rovaniemi and Lappilainen. The last three mentioned buildings are by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Rovaniemi is considered by Finns to be the home town of Santa Claus, and is home to the Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle and Santa Park. The Arktikum is a comprehensive museum of Finlands and the worlds Arctic regions
Rovaniemi
–
Rovaniemi from air, October 1999
Rovaniemi
–
Christmas celebration in Rovaniemi, November 2004
Rovaniemi
–
Jätkänkynttilä bridge in sunset
Rovaniemi
–
Rovaniemi in January 2004
33.
Alms
–
Alms or almsgiving involves giving to others as an act of virtue, either materially or in the sense of providing capabilities for free. It exists in a number of religions and regions, the word, in the modern English language, comes from the Old English ælmesse, ælmes, from Late Latin eleemosyna, from Greek ἐλεημοσύνη eleēmosynē, from ἐλεήμων, eleēmōn, from ἔλεος, eleos. In Judaism, tzedakah - a Hebrew term literally meaning righteousness but commonly used to signify charity - refers to the obligation to do what is right. Tzedakah, along with prayer and repentance, is regarded as ameliorating the consequences of bad acts, in Judaism, Tzedakah is seen as one of the greatest deeds that man can do. For that reason, while Zakat plays a larger role within Islamic charity. Zakat is the third of the five pillars of Islam, various rules attach to the practice but, in general terms, it is obligatory to give 2. 5% of ones savings and business revenue and 5–10% of ones harvest to the poor. One of the most important principles of Islam is that all belong to God and, therefore. The literal meaning of the word Zakat is to purify, to develop, according to Shariah it is an act of worship. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need and this cutting back, like the pruning of plants, balances and encourages new growth. Zakat is the amount of money that every adult, mentally stable, free, the obligatory nature of Zakat is firmly established in the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the companions and the Muslim scholars. Allah states in Surah at-Taubah verses 34–35, O ye who believe, there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in Falsehood devour the substance of men and hinder from the way of Allah. And there are those who bury gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah. - This is the which ye buried for yourselves, taste ye, then, the ye buried. Muslims of each era have agreed upon the nature of paying Zakat for gold and silver. Zakat is obligatory when a certain amount of money, called the nisab is reached or exceeded, Zakat is not obligatory if the amount owned is less than this nisab. The nisab of gold and golden currency is 20 mithqal, approximately 85 grams of pure gold, one mithqal is approximately 4.25 grams. The nisab of silver and silver currency is 200 dirhams, which is approximately 595 grams of pure silver. The nisab of other kinds of money and currency is to be scaled to that of gold, Zakat is obligatory after the money has been in the control of its owner for the span of one lunar year. Then the owner needs to pay 2. 5% of the money as Zakat
Alms
–
Woman giving alms by
János Thorma
Alms
–
Almsbowl as used by
bhikkhus for going on almsround.
Alms
–
Three monks seeking alms in
Lhasa, Tibet. 1993.
Alms
–
Collecting the Offering in a Scottish Kirk by
John Phillip
34.
English Restoration
–
The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political settlement was established. It is very used to cover the whole reign of Charles II. Richard Cromwells main weakness was that he did not have the confidence of the army, after seven months, an army faction known as the Wallingford House party removed him on 6 May 1659 and reinstalled the Rump Parliament. Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Council of State, on 9 June 1659, he was nominated lord-general of the army. However, his leadership was undermined in Parliament, which chose to disregard the armys authority in a fashion to the post-First Civil War Parliament. A royalist uprising was planned for 1 August 1659, but it was foiled, however, Sir George Booth gained control of Cheshire, Charles II hoped that with Spanish support he could effect a landing, but none was forthcoming. Booth held Cheshire until the end of August when he was defeated by General Lambert, the Commons, on 12 October 1659, cashiered General John Lambert and other officers, and installed Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the Speaker. The next day Lambert ordered that the doors of the House be shut, on 26 October a Committee of Safety was appointed, of which Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, the Committee of Safety sent Lambert with a large force to meet George Monck, who was in command of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or force him to come to terms. It was into this atmosphere that Monck, the governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, lamberts army began to desert him, and he returned to London almost alone. The Presbyterian members, excluded in Prides Purge of 1648, were recalled, Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before Parliament to answer for his conduct. On 3 March 1660, Lambert was sent to the Tower of London, Lambert was incarcerated and died in custody on Guernsey in 1694, Ingoldsby was indeed pardoned. On 4 April 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on 25 April. On 8 May it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the monarch since the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. Constitutionally, it was as if the last nineteen years had never happened, Charles returned from exile, leaving the Hague on 23 May and landing at Dover on 25 May. He entered London on 29 May, his birthday, to celebrate his Majestys Return to his Parliament,29 May was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661, some contemporaries described the Restoration as a divinely ordained miracle. The sudden and unexpected deliverance from usurpation and tyranny was interpreted as a restoration of the natural, the Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time on 8 May 1661, and it would endure for over 17 years, finally being dissolved on 24 January 1679
English Restoration
–
King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration.
English Restoration
–
The departure of Charles II from Scheveningen, 1660
English Restoration
–
Thomas Harrison, the first person found guilty of regicide during the Restoration
English Restoration
–
Equestrian portrait of
William III by
Jan Wyck, commemorating the start of the
Glorious Revolution in 1688
35.
Wassail
–
Wassail is a beverage of hot mulled cider, traditionally drunk as an integral part of wassailing, a Medieval English drinking ritual intended to ensure a good cider apple harvest the following year. The word wassail comes from Old English was hál, related to the Anglo-Saxon greeting wes þú hál, Wassail is a hot, mulled punch often associated with Yuletide drunk from a wassailing bowl. The earliest versions were warmed mead into which roasted crab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called lambswool drunk on Lammas day, still known in Shakespeares time. Later, the drink evolved to become a cider made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, topped with slices of toast as sops. Modern recipes begin with a base of wine, fruit juice or mulled ale, apples or oranges are often added to the mix, and some recipes also call for beaten eggs to be tempered into the drink. Great bowls turned from wood, pottery or tin often had many handles for shared drinking and highly decorated lids, hence the first stanza of the traditional carol the Gloucestershire Wassail dating back to the Middle Ages. All over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown, Our bowl it is made of the maple tree, With the wassailing bowl. At Carhampton, near Minehead, the Apple Orchard Wassailing is held on the old Twelfth Night as a ritual to ask God for an apple harvest. The villagers form a circle around the largest apple tree, hang pieces of toast soaked in cider in the branches for the robins, Lambs wool or lambswool is a variety of wassail made from ale, baked apples, sugar and spices. Next crowne the bowle full ofWith gentle Lambs wooll, Adde sugar, nutmeg, Irish antiquarian Charles Vallancey proposed that the name lambswool was a corruption of the name of a pagan Irish festival, Lamas Ubhal, during which a similar drink was had. Alternatively, the name may derive from the similar appearance to the wool of lambs. Ale is occasionally replaced by ginger ale for children, especially around Halloween and this drink would be roughly equivalent to beer or wine in many contemporary western cultures. People drank it at social gatherings, Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best/. Please God send our master a good cask of ale. sung throughout the towns of the Germanic nations, the purpose of wassailing is to awaken the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn. The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they all have the same core elements. In some counties the youngest boy or Tom Tit will stand in for the Queen, then an incantation is usually recited. A folktale from Somerset reflecting this custom tells of the Apple Tree Man, the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is said to reside. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried treasure
Wassail
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A pot of wassail
36.
The Holly and the Ivy
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The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional British folk Christmas carol. The song is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No.514 and it was adapted into both a play and later film by Wynyard Browne. The rising of the sun And the running of the deer, The playing of the merry organ,2 The holly bears a blossom, As white as the lily flower, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ, To be our sweet Saviour. The rising of the sun, etc.3 The holly bears a berry, As red as any blood, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ For to do us sinners good. The rising of the sun, etc.4 The holly bears a prickle, As sharp as any thorn, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ On Christmas Day in the morn. The rising of the sun, etc.5 The holly bears a bark, As bitter as any gall, And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ For to redeem us all. The rising of the sun, etc.6 The holly, the rising of the sun, etc. The words of the carol occur in three broadsides published in Birmingham in the nineteenth century. Is so rife throughout the districts, and the humbler quarters of Englands great towns. Many of these are only preserved, but with a little trouble a large number might be recovered. From this little volume we will extract one which might take the place of the passage from Milton for Christmas Day. It is called the Holly and the Ivy. e. about 1710 and it is still retained on the broadsides printed at Birmingham. Early English Lyrics by Chambers and Sidgwick, published in 1907, the usual melody for the carol was first published in Cecil Sharps 1911 collection English Folk-Carols. Sharp states that he heard the tune sung by Mrs. Mary Clayton, Sharps manuscript transcription of Claytons singing of the third verse, dated Jan 13th 1909, is archived in the Cecil Sharp Manuscript Collection at Clare College, Cambridge and viewable online. The melody is notable in being confined to the notes of the hexachord, the early nineteenth-century sources do not provide music for the carol. An 1868 collection of carols coupled the words of The Holly, Holly, especially the variety found in Europe, is commonly referenced at Christmastime, and is often referred to by the name Christs thorn. Angie Mostellar discusses the Christian use of holly at Christmas, stating that, combined with the fact that holly maintains its bright colors during the Christmas season, it naturally came to be associated with the Christian holiday. Holly and ivy figure in the lyrics of the Sans Day Carol, the music was first published by Cecil Sharp
The Holly and the Ivy
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Holly and ivy in Wales.
The Holly and the Ivy
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Green holly and ivy.
The Holly and the Ivy
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Holly and ivy in the snow in
Elmstead Wood
37.
Coventry Carol
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The Coventry Carol is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen. The music contains an example of a Picardy third. The author is unknown, the oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534, the carol is traditionally sung a cappella. There is an alternative, modern setting of the carol by Kenneth Leighton, the carol is the second of three songs included in the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, a nativity play that was one of the Coventry Mystery Plays, originally performed by the citys guilds. The exact date of the text is unknown, though there are references to the Coventry guild pageants from 1392 onwards, the single surviving text of the carol and the pageant containing it was edited by one Robert Croo, who dated his manuscript 14 March 1534. Croo, or Crowe, acted for years as the manager of the city pageants. Croo seems to have worked by adapting and editing older material, while adding his own rather ponderous, Sharp published a second edition in 1825 which included the songs music. Sharps transcriptions are therefore the source, Sharp had a reputation as a careful scholar. Although the Coventry mystery play cycle was performed in summer. The carols music was added to Croos manuscript at a date by Thomas Mawdyke. Mawdyke wrote out the music in harmony, though whether he was responsible for its composition is debatable. The three vocal parts confirm that, as was usual with mystery plays, the parts of the singing the carol were invariably played by men. The original three-part version contains a false relation at by, by. The surviving pageants were revived in the Cathedral from 1951 onwards, a four-part setting of the tune by Walford Davies is shown below, A variant of the carol was supposedly collected by folklorist John Jacob Niles in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in June 1934. A number of subsequent recorded versions have incorporated the fifth verse, many performers have recorded the song, including, MIDI-file with a choral arrangement of the song Free typeset sheet music for voice and SATB from Cantorion. org Amman, Douglas D. The slaying of the innocents, a treatise on composition. Why was the Partridge in the Pear Tree
Coventry Carol
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The Massacre of the Innocents, by
Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1591
38.
Liturgical year
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Distinct liturgical colours may appear in connection with different seasons of the liturgical year. The dates of the festivals vary somewhat between the different churches, though the sequence and logic is largely the same, in churches that follow the liturgical year, the scripture passages for each Sunday are specified in a lectionary. After the Protestant Reformation, Anglicans and Lutherans continued to follow the lectionary of the Roman Rite, following a decision of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church revised that lectionary in 1969, adopting a three-year cycle of readings for Sundays and a two-year cycle for weekdays. This has led to an awareness of the traditional Christian year among Protestants. The first month of the year was called אביב, meaning the month of green ears of grain and it thus occurred in the spring. At about the time of the Babylonian captivity, the Jews adopted as the name for the month the term ניסן, thomas J Talley says that the adoption of the Babylonian term occurred even before the captivity. In the earlier calendar, most of the months were called by a number. On the historical life of Jesus Christ, the believers are led to the eschatological fulfilment, viz. the heavenly bliss, the liturgical year is divided into 9 seasons mostly having 7 weeks each in principle, but with necessary adjustments. The arrangement of the Seasons in the Liturgical Year is based on seven central events on celebrations of the Salvation History, various Seasons in the liturgical calendar of Syro Malabar Church and Chaldean Catholic Church are given below Weeks of Annunciation is the first season of the liturgical year. The liturgical year begins with the proclamation and celebration of the encounter between God and man in the person of Jesus Christ, the human appearance of the Divine Person. The season begins on the Sunday just before fist of December and this season is developed in the context of the mystery of incarnation completed in the fullness of time. The Church recalls during these days the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, the predecessor of Jesus, during this season we also meditate on the role of Mary in the history of the plan of salvation. The whole importance of Mary, and hence her veneration in the Church, depends on her relation to Jesus, the most special being His mother. Her celebration is also underlined with two very solemn festivals of her, Immaculate Conception on December 8 and Congratulation to Mary as Mother of Jesus on the last Friday of this season, Church practice abstinence December 1–25 in preparation for Christmas, this period is called 25 days Lent. The word Denha in Syriac means sunrise, during the period the faithful meditates on the manifestation of Holy trinity and revelation of Christ the light of the world. Baptism in Jordan was the first historical event when the Holy Trinity is revealed to humans in the humanity of Jesus Christ, during the season church celebrate the feasts of Saints in connection with the manifestation of the Lord. The season begins 50 days before Easter on Peturta Sunday and comprises whole period of Great Lent, Word Peturta in Syriac means looking back or reconciliation. Faithful enter the weeks of Great Fast, celebrating the memory of all the Faithful Departed on the last Friday of Denha
Liturgical year
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The month of October from a liturgical calendar for
Abbotsbury Abbey. 13th-century manuscript (
British Library,
Cotton MS Cleopatra B IX, folio 59r).
Liturgical year
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Roman Rite liturgical year
39.
Thomas Tallis
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Thomas Tallis was an English composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music, and is considered one of Englands greatest composers. He is honoured for his voice in English musicianship. No contemporary portrait of Tallis survives, that painted by Gerard Vandergucht, dates from 150 years after Tallis died, in a rare existing copy of his black letter signature, the composer spelled his last name Tallys. Little is known about Talliss early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born in the early 16th century, little is also known about Talliss childhood and his significance with music at that age. However, there are suggestions that he was a Child of the Chapel Royal, St. James Palace and his first known musical appointment was in 1532, as organist of Dover Priory, a Benedictine priory in Kent. His career took him to London, then to Waltham Abbey, Tallis was paid off and also acquired a volume and preserved it, one of the treatises in it, by Leonel Power, prohibits consecutive unisons, fifths, and octaves. Talliss next post was at Canterbury Cathedral and he was next sent to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543, where he composed and performed for Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I. Tallis was capable of switching the style of his compositions to suit the different monarchs vastly different demands, among other important composers of the time, including Christopher Tye and Robert White, Tallis stood out. Walker observes, He had more versatility of style than either, Tallis was also a teacher, not only of William Byrd, but also of Elway Bevin, an organist of Bristol Cathedral, and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. Tallis married around 1552, his wife, Joan, outlived him by four years, late in his life he lived in Greenwich, possibly close to the royal palace, a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street. Queen Mary granted Tallis a lease on a manor in Kent that provided an annual income. Talliss monopoly covered set songe or songes in parts, and he composed in English, Latin, French, Italian, Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language. He and William Byrd were the ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music. Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur in 1575, people were naturally wary of their new publications, and it certainly did not help their case that they were both avowed Roman Catholics. Not only that, they were forbidden to sell any imported music. We straightly by the same forbid. to be out of any forren Realmes. any songe or songes made. Also, Byrd and Tallis were not given the rights to music type fonts, printing patents were not under their command, Tallis retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike. Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585 and he was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege Church in Greenwich
Thomas Tallis
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Thomas Tallis, 18th-century engraving; a posthumous, invented portrait by
Gerard Vandergucht
40.
Weihnachtshistorie
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The Christmas Story, SWV435, is a musical setting of the Nativity in German by Heinrich Schütz, probably first performed in 1660 in Dresden. It was published as Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi, Christmas Story is a Historia, a setting of the Gospel intended to be performed during a service instead of the Gospel reading. The original title read, Historia der freuden- und gnadenreichen Geburt Gottes und Marien Sohnes Jesu Christi, Schütz had composed a Resurrection Story already in 1623, when he had taken the position of Kapellmeister at the court of the Elector of Saxony. The music was probably first performed in a Christmas service at the chapel of Johann Georg II, Elector of Saxony. Schütz mentions the elector in the title, wie dieselbe auf Anordnung Johann Georgs des Anderen vocaliter und instrumentaliter in die Musik versetzet ist durch Heinrich Schütz. The text is almost exclusively taken from the Bible in the translation by Martin Luther, the biblical narration is based on Luke 2, 1–21 and Matthew 2, 1–23. The text of the conclusion is a translation of the Christmas sequence Grates nunc omnes by Johann Spangenberg. Other characters appear in eight sections termed Intermedium, the angel to the shepherds, the hosts of angels, the shepherds, the men, priests and scribes, Herod. The composer agreed to a publication of the recitatives in 1664 and this publication later appeared in his Sämtliche Werke, Volume IX, in Leipzig, published by Julius Spitta 1885 to 1894. Arnold Schering discovered the parts at the Uppsala University Library in 1908 and he published them in Volume XVII of the complete works. The work is scored for soloists and choir in up to six parts, carus-Verlag published a critical edition using two violins, two violas da gamba, two recorders, two trumpets, two trombones and basso continuo. It takes about 45 minutes to perform, a late work, composed when Schütz was 75 years old, it shows a mastery of means, a work that never feels as eclectic as its influences. Schütz had travelled a lot and experienced the Thirty Years War, the Evangelist is a tenor singing secco recitative, a tradition which Bach continued. Schütz uses Italian dramatic recitative style to set Luthers German, Music historian Michael Zwiebach notes, It has unexpected twists that emphasize particular words, and it shifts tonal centers rapidly to reflect dramatic events. The angel is sung by a soprano with two violins, a trio of shepherds is accompanied by pastoral recorders, the words of the priests are set as a quartet. Herod is accompanied by trumpets, setting his worldly power apart from the potent, less showy. Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi, SWV435, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Weihnachtshistorie
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The composer, c. 1650–60, by Christoph Spetner
41.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
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Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a French composer of the Baroque era. Exceptionally prolific and versatile, Charpentier produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres and his mastery in writing sacred vocal music, above all, was recognized and hailed by his contemporaries. Any family relationship between him and Gustave Charpentier, the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century French opera composer, is highly unlikely, Charpentier was born in or near Paris, the son of a master scribe who had very good connections to influential families in the Parlement of Paris. Marc-Antoine received a good education, perhaps with the help of the Jesuits. He spent two or three years in Rome, probably between 1667 and 1669, and studied with Giacomo Carissimi and he is also known to have been in contact with poet-musician Charles Coypeau dAssoucy, who was composing for the French Embassy in Rome. A legend claims that Charpentier initially traveled to Rome to study painting before he was discovered by Carissimi, regardless, he acquired a solid knowledge of contemporary Italian musical practice and brought it back to France. Immediately on his return to France, Charpentier probably began working as composer to Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise. Throughout the 1670s, the bulk of works were for trios. Then, about 1680, Mlle de Guise increased the size of the ensemble, until it included 13 performers, in the pieces written from 1684 until late 1687, the names of the Guise musicians appear as marginalia in Charpentiers manuscripts – including Charp beside the haute-contre line. Étienne Loulié, the senior instrumentalist who played keyboard, recorder and viole, despite what is often asserted, during his seventeen years in the service of Mlle de Guise, Charpentier was not the director of the Guise ensemble. The director was a gentleman of Mlle de Guises court, a musician, Italophile. During his years of service to Mlle de Guise, Charpentier also composed for Mme de Guise and it was in large part owing to Mme de Guises protection that the Guise musicians were permitted to perform Charpentiers chamber operas in defiance of the monopoly held by Jean Baptiste Lully. By late 1687, Mlle de Guise was dying, around that time, Charpentier entered the employ of the Jesuits. Indeed, he is not named in the princesss will of March 1688, nor in the papers of her estate, during his seventeen-odd years at the Hôtel de Guise, Charpentier had written almost as many pages of music for outside commissions as he had for Mlle de Guise. For example, after Molières falling out with Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1672, after Molières death in 1673, Charpentier continued to write for the playwrights successors, Thomas Corneille and Jean Donneau de Visé. Play after play, he would compose pieces that demanded more musicians than the number authorized by Lullys monopoly over theatrical music, by 1685, the troop ceased flouting these restrictions. Their capitulation ended Charpentiers career as a composer for the spoken theater, in 1679, Charpentier had been singled out to compose for Louis XIVs son, the Dauphin. In short, an ensemble that, with Mlle de Guises permission, by early 1683, when he was awarded a royal pension, Charpentier was being commissioned to write for court events such as the annual Corpus Christi procession
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
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A recently discovered portrait, inscribed by the artist as representing Charpentier, but dating circa 1750.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
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An engraving from the 1682 Almanach Royal thought to be Charpentier.
42.
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bachs compositions include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor and his music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. He is now regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. Bach was born in Eisenach, in the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and his father Johann Ambrosius Bach was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional musicians. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, apparently at his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michaels School in Lüneburg for two years. He received the title of Royal Court Composer from Augustus III in 1736, Bachs health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, in present-day Germany and he was the son of Johann Ambrosius Bach, the director of the town musicians, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. He was the eighth and youngest child of Johann Ambrosius, who taught him violin. His uncles were all musicians, whose posts included church organists, court chamber musicians. One uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, introduced him to the organ, Bachs mother died in 1694, and his father died eight months later. The 10-year-old Bach moved in with his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, there he studied, performed, and copied music, including his own brothers, despite being forbidden to do so because scores were so valuable and private and blank ledger paper of that type was costly. He received valuable teaching from his brother, who instructed him on the clavichord, also during this time he was taught theology, Latin, Greek, French and Italian at the local gymnasium. By 3 April 1700 Bach and his schoolfriend Georg Erdmann–who was two years Bachs elder–were enrolled in the prestigious St. Michaels School in Lüneburg, some two weeks travel north of Ohrdruf and their journey was probably undertaken mostly on foot. His two years there were critical in exposing Bach to a range of European culture. In addition to singing in the choir, he played the Schools three-manual organ and he came into contact with sons of aristocrats from northern Germany, sent to the highly selective school to prepare for careers in other disciplines. While in Lüneburg, Bach had access to St. Johns Church and possibly used the famous organ from 1553. His role there is unclear, but it probably included menial, non-musical duties, despite strong family connections and a musically enthusiastic employer, tension built up between Bach and the authorities after several years in the post. Bach was dissatisfied with the standard of singers in the choir and he called one of them a Zippel Fagottist
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Portrait of Bach, aged 61, by
E. G. Haussmann, 1748
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Johann Ambrosius Bach, Bach's father
Johann Sebastian Bach
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St. George's Church in Eisenach, where Bach was baptised. Portal inscription: "
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ".
Johann Sebastian Bach
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Organs Bach played in Arnstadt
43.
Bach cantata
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The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach are among his most significant and celebrated compositions. While many have been lost, at least 209 of the cantatas composed by Bach have survived, as far as we know, Bachs earliest surviving cantatas date from 1707, the year he moved to Mühlhausen. Most of Bachs cantatas date from his first years as Thomaskantor, in his first years in Leipzig, starting after Trinity of 1723, it was not unusual for him to compose a new work every week. Works from three annual cycles of cantatas for the calendar have survived. These relate to the readings prescribed by the Lutheran liturgy for the specific occasion and he composed his last cantata probably in 1745. His cantatas usually require four soloists and a choir, but he also wrote solo cantatas for typically one soloist. The words for many cantatas combine Bible quotes, contemporary poetry and chorale, another cantata in which Bach used that term is Ich bin vergnügt mit meinem Glücke, BWV84. Typically, he began a heading with the abbreviation J. J. followed by the name of the celebration, the beginning of the words, Bach often signed his cantatas with SDG, short for Soli Deo Gloria. Bach often wrote a page for the autograph score and copies of the original parts. For example, he titled the parts of Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV38, using a mix of languages to describe the occasion, the incipit, post Trinit / Aus tieffer Noth schrey ich zu dir. / â /4. / di / Signore / J. S. Bach, the occasion for which the piece was performed is given first, in Latin, Dominica 21. The title follows, given in German in the orthography of Bachs time, the scoring and finally his name appear in a mix of French and Italian, the common languages among musicians at the time, partly abbreviated. Bach wrote more than 200 cantatas, of which many have survived, in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Wolfgang Schmieder assigned them each a number within groups, 1–200, 201–216, 217–224. Since Schmieders designation, several of the cantatas he thought authentic have been redesignated spurious, however, the spurious cantatas retain their BWV numbers. The List of Bach cantatas is organized by BWV number, most arias follow the form of a da capo aria, repeating the first part after a middle section. The final chorale is typically a homophonic setting of a traditional melody, in an exemplary way both cantatas cover the prescribed readings, starting with a related psalm from the Old Testament, Part I reflects the Gospel, Part II the Epistle. Bach did not follow any scheme strictly, but composed as he wanted to express the words, a few cantatas are opened by an instrumental piece before the first chorus, such as the Sinfonia of Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV29. A solo movement begins Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV120, many cantatas composed in Weimar are set like chamber music, mostly for soloists, with a four-part setting only in the closing chorale, which may have been sung by the soloists
Bach cantata
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Schlosskirche in Weimar where Bach composed and performed church cantatas monthly from 1714 to 1717
Bach cantata
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Autograph of a soprano aria in cantata
Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105
44.
List of Bach cantatas by liturgical function
–
Throughout his life as a musician, Johann Sebastian Bach composed cantatas for both secular and sacred use. His church cantatas are cantatas which he composed for use in the Lutheran church, the extant cantatas are around two thirds of that number, with limited additional information on the ones that went missing or survived as fragments. The listing below contains information as available in scholarship, and may include cantatas that are or were associated with Bach. Bachs earliest cantatas date from more than 15 years before he became Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723 and his earliest extant cantatas were composed in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen. In 1708 he moved to Weimar where he wrote most of his church cantatas before the Leipzig era and these pre-Leipzig cantatas are not generally grouped as one of the five cycles mentioned in the Nekrolog. The extant cantatas of the era are primarily known by their recasting as a cantata in one of the Leipzig cycles. Bach started composing cantatas around 1707, when he was still an organist in Arnstadt, the first documented performances of his work take place in Mühlhausen, where he was appointed in 1708. In Weimar, Bach was from 1714 to 1717 commissioned to compose one cantata a month. In the course of almost four years there he covered most occasions of the liturgical year. The expression Weimar cycle has been used for the cantatas composed in Weimar from 1714, in Köthen, where Bach worked from 1717 to 1723, he restaged some of his earlier church cantatas. Apart from composing several secular cantatas, Lobet den Herrn, alle seine Heerscharen,5, is the only new church cantata he appears to have composed there. He collected them in annual cycles, five are mentioned in obituaries, Leipzig observed tempus clausum, quiet time, in Advent and Lent, when no cantatas were performed. All cantatas for these occasions date from Bachs earlier time and he reworked some cantatas from this period for different occasions. The high holidays Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were each celebrated on three days, further feasts on fixed days were New Years Day, Epiphany and Reformation Day. Sacred cantatas were performed for the inauguration of a new city council, consecration of church and organ, weddings, confession, funerals. Bachs first cantata cycle consists of cantatas or similar liturgical works first performed from 30 May 1723 to 4 June 1724, Bach started a second annual cycle on the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724, planned to contain only chorale cantatas, each based on a single Lutheran hymn. Bachs second cantata cycle consists of cantatas first performed from 11 June 1724 to 27 May 1725, the first 40 cantatas of this cycle are chorale cantatas, thus this cycle is also known as the chorale cantata cycle. Bachs chorale cantatas written at a date and restagings of earlier chorale cantatas are also usually understood as being included in this cycle
List of Bach cantatas by liturgical function
–
Compositions
45.
Christmas Oratorio
–
The Christmas Oratorio, BWV248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. The date is confirmed in Bachs autograph manuscript, the next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The Christmas Oratorio is a sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici, the work belongs to a group of three oratorios written towards the end of Bachs career in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the others being the Ascension Oratorio and the Easter Oratorio. All parody earlier compositions, although the Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest and most complex work, the oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the work is nearly three hours. The structure of the story is defined to an extent by the particular requirements of the church calendar for Christmas 1734/35. Bach abandoned his practice when writing church cantatas of basing the content upon the Gospel reading for that day in order to achieve a coherent narrative structure. Bach removed the content for the Third Day of Christmas, Johns Gospel and that Bach saw the six parts as comprising a greater, unified whole is evident both from the surviving printed text and from the structure of the music itself. The edition has not only a title—Weihnachts-Oratorium—connecting together the six sections, as John Butt has mentioned, this points, as in the Mass in B minor, to a unity beyond the performance constraints of the church year. The oratorio was written for performance on six feast days of Christmas during the winter of 1734 and 1735, the original score also contains details of when each part was performed. It was incorporated within services of the two most important churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, as can be seen below, the work was only performed in its entirety at the St. Nicholas Church. Parts I and III are written in the keys of D major, parts I and III are similarly scored for exuberant trumpets, while the Pastoral Part II is, by contrast, scored for woodwind instruments and does not include an opening chorus. Part IV is written in F major and marks the furthest musical point away from the opening key. Bach then embarks upon a back to the opening key, via the dominant A major of Part V to the jubilant re-assertion of D major in the final part. The music represents a sophisticated expression of the parody technique. Bach took the majority of the choruses and arias from works which had written some time earlier
Christmas Oratorio
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The Mystical Nativity (1501) by
Sandro Botticelli
Christmas Oratorio
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St. Nicholas Church
Christmas Oratorio
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St. Thomas Church
Christmas Oratorio
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Conrad von Soest: Birth of Christ (1404)
46.
George Frideric Handel
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George Frideric Handel was a German, later British baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712 and he was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that Handel was not only a great composer, he was a dramatic genius of the first order. As Alexanders Feast was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works, after his success with Messiah he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759 and his funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. Handel was born in 1685 in Halle-on-Saal, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and his father,63 when George Frideric was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Georg Händel was the son of a coppersmith, Valentin Händel who had emigrated from Eisleben in 1608 with his first wife Anna Belching and they were Protestants and chose reliably Protestant Saxony over Silesia, a Hapsburg possession as religious tensions mounted in the years before the Thirty Years War. Halle was a prosperous city, home of a salt-mining industry. Even the smaller churches all had able organists and fair choirs, and humanities, the Thirty Years War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. But since the middle of the war the city was under the administration of the Duke of Saxony, the arts and music, however, flourished only among the higher strata, which did not describe Handels family. Handel was the child of this marriage, the first son died still born. Two younger sisters were born after the birth of George Frideric, Dorthea Sophia, born 6 October 1687 and Johanna Christiana, born 10 January 1690. Early in his life Handel is reported to have attended the gymnasium in Halle, Mainwaring is the source for almost all information of Handels childhood, and much of that information came from J. C. Smith, Jr. Handels confidant and copyist. Whether they came from Smith or elsewhere, Mainwaring frequently relates misinformation and it is from Mainwaring that the portrait of Handels father as implacably opposed to any musical education comes. This did nothing to dampen young Handels inclination, in fact, Mainwaring tells the story of Handels secret attic spinnet, Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately conveyd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep, but Handel had to have had some experience with the keyboard to have made the impression in Weissenfels that resulted in his receiving formal musical training. Somehow Handel made his way to the organ, where he surprised everyone with his playing. Overhearing this performance and noting the youth of the performer caused the Duke to recommend to Georg Händel that Handel be given musical instruction, Handels father engaged the organist at the Halle parish church, the young Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, to instruct Handel
George Frideric Handel
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Portrait of Handel, by
Balthasar Denner (c. 1726–1728)
George Frideric Handel
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Handel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in
Halle)
George Frideric Handel
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Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
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Entrance of Teatro del Cocomero in Florence
47.
Messiah (Handel)
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It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known, Handels reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste, although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form, there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennenss text is a reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, in Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christs glorification in heaven, Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a larger scale, with giant orchestras. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by Mozart, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handels original intentions, although big Messiah productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928, the composer George Frideric Handel, born in Halle, Germany in 1685, took up permanent residence in London in 1712, and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. Within a large and varied output, Handel was a vigorous champion of Italian opera. He subsequently wrote and presented more than 40 such operas in Londons theatres, by the early 1730s public taste for Italian opera was beginning to fade. The popular success of John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepuschs The Beggars Opera had heralded a spate of English-language ballad-operas that mocked the pretensions of Italian opera, with box-office receipts falling, Handels productions were increasingly reliant on private subsidies from the nobility. Such funding became harder to obtain after the launch in 1730 of the Opera of the Nobility, Handel overcame this challenge, but he spent large sums of his own money in doing so. Although prospects for Italian opera were declining, Handel remained committed to the genre, in Rome in 1707–08 he had written two Italian oratorios at a time when opera performances in the city were temporarily forbidden under papal decree. His first venture into English oratorio had been Esther, which was written, in 1732 Handel brought a revised and expanded version of Esther to the Kings Theatre, Haymarket, where members of the royal family attended a glittering premiere on 6 May. Its success encouraged Handel to write two more oratorios, All three oratorios were performed to large and appreciative audiences at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford in mid-1733. Undergraduates reportedly sold their furniture to raise the money for the five-shilling tickets, in 1735 Handel received the text for a new oratorio named Saul from its librettist Charles Jennens, a wealthy landowner with musical and literary interests. Because Handels main creative concern was still with opera, he did not write the music for Saul until 1738, the work, after opening at the Kings Theatre in January 1739 to a warm reception, was quickly followed by the less successful oratorio Israel in Egypt
Messiah (Handel)
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George Frideric Handel
Messiah (Handel)
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The statue erected in Handel's honour, in Vauxhall Gardens, London
Messiah (Handel)
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A portrait of Charles Jennens from around 1740
Messiah (Handel)
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Title page of Handel's autograph score
48.
Passiontide
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Passiontide is a name for the last two weeks of Lent, beginning on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, long celebrated as Passion Sunday, and ending on Holy Saturday. The crosses are to be covered until the end of the celebration of the Lords passion on Good Friday, statues and images are to remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil. The veiling was associated with Passion Sundays Gospel, in which Jesus hid himself from the people, in the Tridentine Mass, Psalm 42 is omitted at ferial Masses until Holy Thursday inclusive, as is the short doxology at the Introit and the Psalm Lavabo at Mass. It is likewise omitted in Psalm 94 at Matins, and the responds at Matins, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, also in the ferial Mass, the Preface for Lent gives way to the Preface of the Cross. Palm Sunday, formerly Dominica in Palmis became Dominica II Passionis seu in Palmis. However, the Preface called that of the Passion of the Lord I is used in the week of Lent. Passiontide is observed in provinces of the Anglican Communion, for example in the Church of England. In the Common Worship liturgy, material proper to Passiontide is used from Evening Prayer on the Eve of the Fifth Sunday of Lent to the evening of Easter Eve. Such proper material includes prefaces to the Eucharistic Prayer, special orders for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, much music has been written for Passiontide or rather for the last days of Holy Week. Passion cantatas have been composed to texts in a variety of languages, several composers have also set to music the last words of Christ on the Cross, e. g. Joseph Haydn and Heinrich Schütz. The Seven Last Words from the Cross by James MacMillan is a modern example, notice that there are special hymns for Palm Sunday, thus hymns for Passiontide may be squeezed out on that day
Passiontide
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Cross veiled during Passiontide in Lent (Pfarrkirche St. Martin in
Tannheim,
Baden Württemberg, Germany).
Passiontide
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Statues and icons veiled in violet shrouds for Passiontide in
St Pancras Church, Ipswich (in Catholic churches in England paintings are also veiled)
49.
Jakub Jan Ryba
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Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba was a Czech teacher and composer of classical music. His most famous work is Czech Christmas Mass Hey, Master, Ryba was born in Přeštice near Plzeň. His father was a schoolteacher, which was a poorly paid occupation at the time. In 1780 Ryba went to Prague, where he studied at the Piarist gymnasium and his teacher Cassianus Hanel taught him music. Ryba was a good student and he soon started to compose. He dreamt of being a famous composer, in 1784 his father ordered him to work as a teacher in Nepomuk. Ryba reluctantly obeyed, but he was soon fired, after wandering for a few months, he received a message that his mother had died. After a long illness, he moved to Mníšek pod Brdy, being popular among local inhabitants for performing music, he was quite happy there, but after some hesitation he accepted a schoolteacher position in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem. The school prospered under his superintendence, but he had constant conflicts with the local pastor and his frequent requests for funds for repairs of the school building were usually rejected. In 1796, he wrote his most famous work, Czech Christmas Mass Hey, also as a consequence of a reconciliation with the local pastor. This work continues to be performed at Christmas time in Bohemia. An insufferable lack of money, the hostility of his superiors, on April 8,1815 Ryba attended morning mass. Later, he was found in a dense forest with his throat cut with a razor and he had Essay on Peace of Soul by Seneca the Younger, his favourite author, with him. He was buried at a cemetery near Rožmitál pod Tremšínem. His works mainly include many pastorellas and masses, but few compositions beyond the Czech Christmas Mass are performed regularly today and this composition is popular in many countries. Translation of autobiography Mein musikalischer Lebenslauf from 1801
Jakub Jan Ryba
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J. J. Ryba's monument near Voltuš
50.
Czech Christmas Mass
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Czech Christmas Mass is a classic pastoral mass written by the Czech composer Jakub Jan Ryba in 1796. Because of its words, it is also known as Hail. Czech Christmas Mass was composed in a frame of traditional Latin mass, despite this, the work has a rather pastoral character with emphasis on a Czech description of the nativity in a Czech setting. During the centuries, the became the most popular Christmas mass in Czech countries. Ryba composed his most famous work in 1796, a year after he managed to resolve a dispute over his methods with the priest Kašpar Zachar. He wrote the music to his own Czech libretto, It was his only mass composed to the Czech text. Ryba did not record this mass in his list of compositions created from 1782 to 1798, he mentioned only seven pastoral masses, the autograph manuscript was lost, today only the title page is preserved intact. Some parts of the composition were performed separately as pastorales and the text gradually adapted with changes in the Czech language, though Ryba created more than 1,000 compositions, Czech Christmas Mass remains one of the few works performed regularly to date. The music of Rybas mass along with paintings by Josef Lada appear in a 2007 animated film called Česká mše vánoční, the original key of the composition was A major, however, it was later transposed and arranged in various ways. Today the transposition in G major is the most commonly used version, the main form of the composition is called ordinarium and consists of six parts. The mass contains characteristic short melodic motifs inspired by the folk music and it is often considered a Christmas cantata, based on pastoral motifs. Because of its character and simplicity, it has been excluded from the Catholic liturgy. However, it remains connected with the celebration of traditional Czech Christmas. The mass consists of nine parts, Kyrie – The opening part begins with a well known verse Hej, mistře, a young shepherd wakes his master, they both wonder at various unusual phenomena of nature. Gloria – a hymn to celebrate the birth of Christ Graduale – Shepherds assemble the people all the regions. The part ends with an appeal, K Betlému teď půjdeme, Credo – In the Czech Christmas Mass, Credo describes the preparations for the pilgrimage to Bethlehem. Offertorium – the gathering over the manger, People offer musical gifts to God, sanctus – the shortest part of the composition, an angelic hymn Benedictus – This part with solo soprano in the central role is dedicated to the celebration of the newborn Redeemer. Agnus – parting with Christ, plea for protection of all people Communio – The final part ends with monumental choral hymn celebrating the Holy Trinity
Czech Christmas Mass
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First page of
piano reduction
Czech Christmas Mass
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Ryba’s work suggests the picture of a Czech Bethlehem, such as the wooden nativity scene called
Mohelnice Bethlehem.
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