#St John Passion

[samusique-concrete]

1052R

i read something today that forced me to reconstruct the history within it as my new favorite instance of what the kids today call “game recognizing game.” both game entities in my new favorite recognition instance happen to be johann sebastian bach, because bach is and was unparalleled. JSB is the only one, past or present, that could go head to head with his own particular mind. this thought brings me comfort.

historians and musicologists today presume bach wrote a violin concerto so difficult to perform that it led to it not being preserved by [lack of] virtue of there simply not being many around able to keep playing it. late in his life, historians and musicologists today presume, he’d recover this concerto and repurpose it as a harpsichord-centered piece, thus making it more accessible. this ended up becoming the 1052. the reconstruction of the presumed original violin version is known today as 1052R. surely, bach was so painfully aware of the magnitude of his snapping with the original 1052 that he refused to let it die. the previous sentence is my personal reconstruction of the history within the hypothesis.

i like to think about him often. i think about him writing the minor, lesser pieces in his repertoire because i like thinking about how, in contrast, his bigger, grander pieces feel in terms of showmanship. i like to imagine him symbolically waving away the tails of a period-and-culture-inaccurate frac before sitting down at his clavier stool—a gesture that could only mean “Time To Break Out The Big Guns”—in order to write works like the 1004, the 582, the 997, the mass, the passions, the offering, the variations, as opposed to writing something like the WTC prelude N°1 tucked in bed in his nightgown by candlelight. this is why i speak of showmanship; the c major prelude is one of the most perfect portraits of western music sensibilities—it just happens to be subtle about it. both the lesser pieces and the grander pieces required of him the same amount of skill, albeit with different subsets and configurations of it. these are, again, my reconstructions of a particular history.

history does something funny to us: it reveals, it stuns us, and we let it seize us. it offers something, so we let it wrap itself around our perception of its narratives in such a way that it leaves room for only one conjecture to be conjured. reading about the conception of the offering is a great example of this: it is impossible to finish that story without thinking of bach as what the same kids that’d classify him as “game” would call a “baller.” we like to think of bach as a baller. we like building him up as one. when i finally went to see a live performance of the 582, the organist told the audience a bach-biographical baller story i’d never heard before, and it seemed to me we'll never exhaust those kinds of stories revolving around him—our perception of him. we like to think of his pilgrimage to buxtehude’s door as a baller move. i like to think of his body of work as the biggest flex on his contemporaries. this only inflates the image of bach the showman. this is the biggest reconstruction of all.

bach loved god. bach feared god. this is as far away as we can get from a reconstruction of his persona; it being the closest we can get to a fact, it leaves us with more of a reproduction. whether devotion and showmanship can coexist in a mortal is not what i wanna argue. i wanna argue that historians and musicologists throughout centuries have pretty much determined the presence of one of these traits in him, and not so much the other. i don’t want to argue whether we should reconstruct him possessing the latter trait or not. i just know we do. i also know this inevitably makes him, fortunately or not, a baller.

[wolfie-wolfgang]

An Easter Meeting in Leipzig with JS Bach - 300 years on.

Even people who don’t think they like classical music know and even like at least some of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750). Those who love classical music are mostly in consensus that he was probably the greatest of all the classical composers. I certainly feel that he stands tall not just in the world of music, but in the world of human creativity too. I believe that we are all a…

[lionofchaeronea]

The Crucifixion, Stefano da Verona, ca. 1400

[majestativa]

Bachtober.

[northemoonduringthenight]

And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.

Jn. 19:17 Douay-Rheims Bible

Artwork: Ángel Zárraga (Mexican, 1886-1946) La Caída del Señor en el camino de la cruz

[shredsandpatches]

Our beloved local outdoor summer musical theater venue is doing Les Mis this summer and they're looking for 20 extra singers from the symphony chorus to fill out the ensemble on "Do You Hear the People Sing," "One Day More," and the finale -- it would basically involve a couple of days of intensive rehearsals (necessitating two days of vacation time) and a week of performances, it's after the symphony season is over, and it would allow me to do something I've dreamed of since I was ten.

So why am I waffling about it? Oh right, it's my mother's voice in my head. (It's probably also that recovering from covid has got me worried that my voice won't come back--even just with the symphony there's so much amazing stuff happening this season)

eta: it's actually 10 days that we need to be available for rehearsals, I think, which would make it a lot less doable for me, but idk if the supers need to be there the whole time -- I guess I'll go to the interest meeting in a couple of weeks and find out. We get 180 hours of vacation time a year but I will actually need to take a real vacation at some point

[cheesebrainz]

A five-year-old winterheart In a place called home Sailing the waves of past

Partially referenced from a Simona Rossi & Eon illustration.

[juliamccartney]

not to toot my own horn but i've noticed that my voice is very well-suited to chorals and similar anthem/ballad-type songs arranged for choirs ??? like if i know the melodies those loud notes sound really powerful

[britneyshakespeare]

Absolutely devastating. If someone described the way I kissed as "it was not striking;" I would perish instantly.

[beckmessering]

if i shouldn’t bop at jesus’ crucifixion then MAYBE j.s.bach shouldn’t have put so many boppy choruses in his passions. just sayin

[orthodoxicons]

“To surrender and fall into passions is the worst slavery, since freedom is only obtained by ruling over them”

- St. John Chrysostom

[brittanytaylorbarber]

The Art of "The Passion of St. George"

Classical art is a huge part of the narrative in my story, “The Passion of St. George.” Not only is it an art piece with a mythological subject that instigates the horror and starts the plot, but Sally, the main character, is an art history major and very passionate about art. Because of this, Sally references a lot of real art pieces in her narration. I thought would be a good idea to put…

[mrspenmark]

Let’s make one thing clear: if St. John has no haters I am dead and buried. I shall detest that man ‘till the ends of time.

Jane Eyre's cousin: You should marry me..

Me:

Jane Eyre's cousin: ...and do missionary work with me in India...

Me:

Jane Eyre's cousin: ...because you were made for labour, not love.

Me:

[dianaleaghmatthews]

Easter Song Story: St. John Passion

The Passion or oratorio “St. John Passion” was written by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was written during his first year as director of church music in Leipzig and was first performed on April 7, 1724, at Good Friday Vespers at the St. Nicholas Church. There are two halves, which are intended to flank a sermon. The Passion narrates the Passion of Christ as told in the Gospel of John. Bach revised…

[ad-caelestia]

Correspondences for Days of the Week [quick reference]

Sunday 

Sun 

Gold, white, yellow 

Diamond, amber, tiger’s eye, sunstone, topaz, gold 

Cedar, frankincense, lemon, St. John’s wort 

Success, fame, prosperity, hope, healing, fortune 

Monday 

Moon 

Silver, white, blue 

Moonstone, silver, aquamarine, selenite 

Jasmine, lemon, sandalwood, honeysuckle, myrtle, willow 

Peace, dreams, emotions, illusions, glamours, psychic abilities, insight, wisdom, manifestation

Tuesday 

Mars 

Red, orange 

Bloodstone, ruby, garnet, flint, rhodonite, iron, steel 

Basil, patchouli, ginger, black pepper, dragon’s blood 

Power, lust, force, passion, will, courage, physical strength, war, energy, action, independence, practicality, protection 

Wednesday 

Mercury 

Yellow, purple, grey

Emerald, agate, fluorite, citrine, aventurine, mica, pumice, quicksilver, zinc 

Lavender, eucalyptus, jasmine, sweet pea 

Communication, arts, travel, luck, change, chance, gambling, creativity 

Thursday 

Jupiter 

Blue, purple, yellow 

Amethyst, lepidolite, sugilite, yellow sapphire, lapis lazuli, tin 

Clove, oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, sage 

Abundance, gain, riches, prosperity, wealth, success, luck, self-confidence, investment, gatherings, favors, ambition, mercy, humanity, publicity  

Friday 

Venus 

Pink, green, aqua, peach 

Jade, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, coral, emerald, malachite, copper 

Rose, yarrow, saffron, vanilla, thyme, sandalwood, strawberry  

Love, fertility, romance, friendships, passion, creativity  

Saturday 

Saturn 

Black, grey

Jet, obsidian, onyx, lead, pewter, hematite 

Cypress, myrrh, patchouli, black poppy seeds 

Safety, protection, intellect, life lessons, loss, past lives, law, justice, sincerity, restraint, discipline, responsibility, caution, time, chaos  

© 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙳-𝙲𝙰𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙰

[stjohnschuckatuck]

Jesus is the reminder that God doesn't abandon us in our journey - reflection and sermon from 4/2/2023

I offer blessings from Chuckatuck on the first Sunday in April and the Sunday before Easter – Palm Sunday. Spring is gaining traction in our community and the heavy pollen producers are turning to flowers and leaves on plants and trees. We still celebrate the buttercups in the yard and give thanks for those who helped clean up the yard before Easter. May the last week before Easter, Holy Week, is…