Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Schwanengesang 
(Swansongs)
 by Franz Schubert
offered in a spirit of consolation
in memory of the tragedy that occurred at 
The Boston Marathon
 

Schwanengesang (D. 957)

I. Liebesbotschaft 00:00
II. Kriegers Ahnung 03:08
III. Frühlingssehnsucht 08:43
IV. Ständchen 12:48
V. Aufenthalt 17:19
VI. In der Ferne 20:34
VII. Abschied 27:17
VIII. Der Atlas 32:19
IX. Ihr Bild 34:59
X. Das Fischermädchen 38:10
XI. Die Stadt 40:34
XII. Am Meer 43:51
XIII. Doppelgänger 48:50
XIV. Die Taubenpost 53:31

Schubert, Franz (1797-1828) - composer
Bryn Terfel-bass-baritone
Malcolm Martineau-piano

4 comments:

  1. FT, will you be so kind as to allow me to add some distinct perspective here. It ties in neatly with an earlier post I made about my first trip to Boston. This sort of reflects the times, how things were 40 years ago.

    The big issue of the day back then was "forced school busing", which I believe, would be an issue for which the "progressive" liberals would be all over, a total loving embrace, the "full Monte", so to speak.

    Apparently it really is 40 years ago this month that this was a flaming issue and South Boston was a focal point of racist hooliganism.

    "BOSTON – Forty years ago this month, the Boston chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit that eventually led to one of the most tumultuous times in Boston’s history."

    "The crisis that ensued still scars the city.

    Milford Jenkins grew up in Columbia Point in Dorchester. Back in the mid 1970s it was a housing project. He’d attended integrated grade schools nearby but he had no inkling of what awaited him on the first day of his freshman year at South Boston High School.

    “I was the first one off the bus on top of that hill in South Boston,” Jenkins said. “When I got off that bus I was called a nigger. ‘Nigger, get back on that bus,’ by a Boston police officer.”

    The police were in riot gear, wearing helmets and carrying billy clubs as crowds lined the streets.

    “They started throwing golf balls, bricks at the bus,” Jenkins said. “It was so much noise, calling you spear-chucker, ‘Go back to Africa, we don’t want you over here.’ I remember that, I remember that."

    Christine Boseman remembers the shock of seeing parents and grandparents spitting and jeering at the buses as they arrived. She was entering ninth grade at Roslindale High School.

    “It was chaos. So, when us as kids got in school, honestly, we continued to fight,” Boseman said. “We defended ourselves and that’s the way we had to go to school for a while, was to defend ourselves, mentally and physically. Every day, every day. Inside, outside.”

    Tim Norton grew up in South Boston, a block away from the high school. He entered ninth grade the second year of busing and says it was still intense. As a white student, he was occasionally under pressure from other white kids to stay away from South Boston High.

    “It was craziness — basically no teaching going on at the school. It was just total disruption,” Norton said. “Various groups would call, [and say] ‘We’re gonna have a boycott today, so don’t go.’ If you were white and you go, you were gonna get beat up. It was just a total waste of time.

    “I think it was an eye-opener, certainly for many families. Why do we keep sending our kids to Southie high and get a poor education? Open people’s eyes, there are better schools.”

    Norton stayed just one year at South Boston High until he was recruited as a basketball player to attend a prep school outside the city."

    http://www.wbur.org/2012/03/30/boston-busing-crisis

    As much as the so-called "liberals" pretend to be open and welcoming and loving to any or all minortiies today, apparently this wasn't always the case. as this fine article plainly shows.

    And these fine up-standing folk, pretending to be liberals, are obviously the most hateful and disgusting of racists walking among us today ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for visiting, Waylon, even if your interesting observations have nothing to do -- directly -- with Schubert's Schwanengesang.

    I post these cultural riches, which I, personally, find relevant to many of our troubles today -- troubles I see as the primary product of the generalized spiritual and intellectual poverty we see reflected in the popular culture -- I post these items to serve as the proverbial "water" that all "horses" are encouraged to drink.

    At any rate, I understand what you are trying to say about racial tensions in Boston, etc. HOWEVER, your observations from 40-odd years ago are more than a bit out of date. Apparently you got caught in crossfire generated by one Louise Day Hicks -- a loutish, ignorant female who took it upon herself to lead a noisy rebellion against Integration.

    I'm one of those awful people who has the capacity to feel sympathy towards all factions in most disputes.

    In a very real sense the opponents of forced integration and busing WERE correct in their assumptions that the quality of life and of education would suffer terribly from such a policy.

    History has very sadly proven their assumptions to have been largely true. It is PART of the reason The United States of America is now profoundly ignoranticized -- i.e. less sophisticated, less literate, less informed -- "dumbed down."

    HOWEVER, it really is morally indefensible to permit a large, ever-growing segment of the population to continue to remain effectively LOCKED OUT of facilities and opportunities that MIGHT lead to their economic, intellectual and social advancement.

    Bringing African Negroes here in chains -- a practice which I believe began in the seventeenth century -- was indeed a very great SIN.

    Slavery was our nation's Achilles Heel from the date of our Founding. The Founders knew this, but -- exactly like politicians we so despise today -- chose to "kick the can down the road" rather than deal with the issue, as they knew in their hearts they should.

    This bow to the dictates of expediency and the lamentable lack of courage shown -- particularly by Thomas Jefferson, who knew full well he was wrong, yet failed to do anything to alleviate the situation, because of the short-term economic and personal political disadvantages it would have engendered -- ultimately cost SIX-HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND men their lives, rendered millions more maimed, crippled, blinded, diseased, impoverished, widowed and orphaned. Later it led to BROWN v. THE BOARD of EDUCATION and the disastrous social and economic policies of LYNDON B. JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION.

    It's impossible to go back, so we have no choice but to eat and try to digest the sour, bitter, indigestible fruits handed down to us thanks to the Sins of our Forefathers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. In a very real sense the opponents of forced integration and busing WERE correct in their assumptions that the quality of life and of education would suffer terribly from such a policy.

    ----

    That I completely agree with, FT. But wasn't that just another idiotic "progressive" notion, even if it was 40 years ago? The whole idea of progressivism, I believe, is to micro-manage society. And if school busing was an issue that divided races, was it accidental? I doubt that.

    It was ugly and I was only witness to a small part of it. The article linked does present an ugly picture in a broader context ... and it followed the torching of many American cities in the late 1960's. My first visit to Detroit in the late 1960's was also memorable in other ways, but that is another story.

    Apologies for veering off topic. I know it's hardly relevant to classical music, so thanks for being enough of a free thinker to recognize that leaving the post stand. I didn't mean to suck all the oxygen out of the room.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That something so fine and wonderful as this singing of Schubert was largely ignored seems a sad commentary on the values of too many. I wanted you to know that I enjoyed it, FT. You have a great deal to teach. I wish it were more appreciated. I don't always comment, because i don't know very much about classical music, but I do listen. Thank you for giving us something out of the ordinary so much of the time. God will bless you, I know.

    Helen Highwater

    ReplyDelete

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