abstract expressionism

abstract expressionism – n - A movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.

I've already commented on Jackson Pollock, so I'll use an untitled masterpiece by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) to illustrate today's word. Now isn't that better than all those tedious Exquisites? Enjoy! (Wolf, what was that you were saying about shades of gray?)

cadenza

cadenza - noun - an ornamental passage performed near the close of a composition usually improvised and usually performed by a soloist

Some examples:
Tchaikovsky: Violin concerto in D major, Op. 35, I
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, I

opus

opus - noun - the classification of a composition in relation to the composer's other composition, usually given in chronological order.

So, for example, the first composition would be given an opus of 1 (Op. 1). However, most of the time, the publishers are the ones assigning opus numbers, so the numbers don't always represent the true chronology of a composition.

Impressionism II

Wolf, this one's for you. It's the Renoir Blonde Bather I've been threatening to post seemingly forever. She's plumper than we like them today, but no less exquisite for that. Aside from that, the painting is another fine example of impressionism. (Natalie, you have nobody to blame but yourself.)

cubism

cubism - n - A style of painting and sculpture developed in the early 20th century, characterized chiefly by an emphasis on formal structure, the reduction of natural forms to their geometrical equivalents, and the organization of the planes of a represented object independently of representational requirements.

(I know I'm not being very systematic in my art presentation.)

Probably the most famous example is Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, displayed at the 1913 New York Armory exhibition. In my opinion, fine art has never recovered from the cubists; they paved the way for the outrageously overrated Picasso, Kandinsky, Pollock, and too many others to list.

ballad

ballad - noun - a simple song of natural construction, usually in the narrative or descriptive form, usually having several verses of similar construction and may or may not have a refrain

baroque

baroque – adj - Of or pertaining to a style of architecture and art originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe and the New World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, by forms in elevation and plan suggesting movement, and by dramatic effect in which architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts often worked to combined effect.

In my opinion, "movement" and "dramatic effect" are the key terms. These elements are prominent in Caravaggio's Conversion of Saint Paul (1600).

scale

scale - noun - a collection of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work.

Someone once said the most difficult thing to define is the simplest. How true of the musical scale. Not only is this a collection of notes, but it also has several properties and additional (adverbs!) to describe it (diatonic, chromatic, whole-tone, etc). Ignoring most of these additional properties doesn't really do justice to the term, but consider the following items: scales go up and/or down a musical score and the separation of the notes from each other is constant. If you'd really like to be bamboozled by the description of a scale, try out wikipedia.

Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism – n - A varied development of Impressionism by a group of painters chiefly between 1880 and 1900 stressing formal structure, as with Cézanne and Seurat, or the expressive possibilities of form and color, as with Van Gogh and Gauguin.

The best known post-impressionist is Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). His Starry Night is a spectacular example.

In my opinion, the post-impressionists were the beginning of the end for Western art.

arpeggio

arpeggio - noun - Playing the notes of a chord consecutively (harp style). A broken chord in which the individual notes are sounded one after the other instead of simultaneously.


This picture doesn't really do justice to the term. This doesn't look much different from a scale, which I'll save for a later word entry.

impressionism

impressionism – n - A style of painting developed in the last third of the 19th century, characterized chiefly by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects; a manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated.

Jeff's got the music market cornered (and is doing a great job), so I'll take art.

Impressionism was largely a reaction to the almost photographic realism found in such works as Ingres' portraits. The eexample I've chosen is The Dance Class (1874) by Edgar Degas.

adaggisimo

adaggisimo - noun - An extremely slow tempo marking slower than Largo.

Lumbering and ponderous in slowness. I have played only one piece while I was in high school several years ago that had this marking and it was really difficult to bow (I was playing violin at the time).

oubliette

oubliette – n - A secret dungeon with an opening only in the ceiling, as in certain old castles.

largo

largo - noun - a slow and solemn tempo marking having between 40 and 60 beats per minute

microcephaly

microcephaly - n - An abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain.

The microcephalon, popularly known as a pinhead, is usually mentally retarded, or, if you prefer Newspeak, exceptional or special. Tod Brownings tasteless 1932 movie Freaks, loosely based on Todd Robbins's really disturbing short story Spurs, featured genuine circus Freaks, including such celebrities as Siameses twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, midgets Harry and Daisy Earles, basket case Randian, half-man Johnny Eck, and pinheads Schlitzy and the Snow Twins. Schlitzy was unusual in that he was not as severely retarded as most pinheads. and especially in that he was a transvestite.

I finally saw Freaks around 1973. It's a creepy movie, and one of the few I've seen where castration plays a prominent role.

adagio

adagio - adj - slowly

The opposite of allegro. There is a beethoven piece that uses several of my previously submitted words: Adagio con molto expressione (http://play.rhapsody.com/ludwigvanbeethoven/violinsonatas/adagioconmoltoespressione?didAutoplayBounce=true). Interestingly (or maybe not considering how common the words are) Beethoven isn't the only composer to create a work by that name. Others include Clementi and Sibelius.

diktat

diktat – n - A harsh, punitive settlement or decree imposed unilaterally on a defeated nation, political party, etc.; any decree or authoritative statement.

A prime example would be the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which ended the Great War and made almost inevitable a greater one. At least France got even for its loss in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871! (That must have been cold consolation in May, 1940.)

Shown above are the victors at Versailles: from left to right, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson.

Molto

molto - adj - much; very;

In music I seem to see this as 'Allegro con molto', which (loosely translated) means 'very quickly'. However, I have also seen references as 'molto allegro', meaning the same thing.

pro forma

pro forma - n - According to form; as a matter of form; for the sake of form.

The typical political apology is pro forma, along the same lines as calling Senator Kennedy "my esteemed colleague." The specimen issuing the apology will often claim to have "misspoken." Translation: 1) I inadvertently said what I was really thinking; 2) I accidentally told the truth.

Today's Exquisite entry, another mother and daughter scene, is by Frederick Leighton. Motherhood perhaps detracts from one variety of beauty but makes up the loss with another, more spiritual kind. I may have to display Raphael's Sistine Madonna soon, or even Botticelli's Annunciation.

allegro

allegro - adj - brisk or rapid in tempo

So far, the words posted have mentioned tone (in terms of it's range and volume), but this word (and a few more I'll submit unless Natalie beats me to it :) have to do with tempo, or how fast or slow a piece is played. One of the things about music seems to be it's ability to convey meaning by relativity. Specifically what is piano or forte? How quiet should piano be? Well, obviously, it should be quieter than loud! So, specifically, how fast (or brisk) should allegro be? Listen to several renditions of Bach's fugues and you'll hear several interpretations of allegro

naïf II

I realize I'm abusing my posting privileges, but I can't resist. Here's another Vigee-Lebrun. Not the least of her attractions is that she looks like a grownup; I see so few of them these days.

naïf

naïf – n - A naive or inexperienced person.

Today's Exquisite entry shows a self-portrait of Elizabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842) and her daughter Julie. This is yet another of Jack's favorites. In fact, I once saw a good reproduction priced ridiculously low at $1500. I had my wallet out and was halfway through the gallery door when my wife told me she was going to pack up the kids and go home to mother if I bought it. Maybe someday. . .

She was about 34 when she painted this. I'm happy to report that she and her husband fled France as soon as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were arrested, and thus lived to a ripe old age. Good for her and good for everybody who loves art, people like - oh, just to pull an example out of my hat - me.

Note: She's even more beautiful in her early portraits, but this is my favorite. The mother and daughter theme appeals to me. Perhaps I'll use a similar example by Frederick Leighton in the near future.

forte

forte - adv - in a loud, forceful manner

Yes Natalie, you are correct! This is the opposite of piano.

gemütlichkeit

gemütlichkeit – n - Warm cordiality; comfortable friendliness; congeniality.

Today's word illustrates what I've always thought a shortcoming of the German language. Be honest: does gemutlichkeit sound warmly cordial to you?

The word has been used ironically to describe H. Clinton's recent performance at the First Baptist Church of Selma, Alabama. In an effort to ingratiate herself with the Negro parishioners, the lifelong Yankee fan and future president spoke in her best Illinois southern accent. This I've got to hear - I'll be checking YouTube as soon as I get home.

On the subject of the forthcoming presidential dog-and-pony show, it looks like I'll be staying home yet again. None of the frontrunners are worth the powder and shot it would take to transport them to the gates of hell. Maybe that will change. (As my daughter would say, "Yeah, right!")

Today's Exquisite entry is Biondina (1879) by Lord Frederick Leighton (1830-1896). More than ever, I need beauty in my life. Out of respect for Natalie I bypassed the same artist's Flaming June (probably his most famous work) and Bath of Psyche. (Come to think of it, Natalie's MIA as usual. Maybe I'll be posting Renoir's well-padded blonde bather yet. Wolf, start checking out Domai; we may be back in business.)

corollary

corollary - n. - a proposition inferred immediately from a proved proposition with little or no additional proof; something that naturally follows, something that incidentally or naturally accompanies or parallels

Isn't forte the opposite of piano? I was going to try and beat wolfjb to the punch, but couldn't find a proper definition. Am I crazy?

piano

piano - adj - soft; subdued

This is a marking on a musical score to let the player know how the composer wanted the particular section or phrase to be emitted by their instrument.

occasions of sin

Occasions of Sin n - External circumstances--whether of things or persons--which either because of their special nature or because of the frailty common to humanity or peculiar to some individual, incite or entice one to sin. (Maybe I'm stretching things a little here; is a 'term of the day' okay?)

We Catholic school students were warned to avoid the "near occasions of sin" such as we would encounter in our daily lives. What kinds of things? Playboy and similar magazines, bad companions, certain parts of town, erotic movies, and the very rare (in my teens) girls who were known to "go all the way" (and who were therefore in high demand; lacking as I did either a Varsity letter or a reputation as a tough guy, they were as far out of my adolescent grasp as the Magellanic clouds). Autobiographical note: My steady girlfriend, a young lady of Russian descent named Rosemary Z------, attended an institution called Queen of the Rosary Academy. How far do you think I got at the Route 110 drive-in? I respected her too much to even attempt to get past second base. I still think of her fondly from time to time; she was a bright spot in my otherwise dismal young adulthood.

Back to Os of S. I recently watched the first two episodes of the HBO series ROME. It was very well done in some respects:

1) It's depiction of crucifixion was right on target, but there may be such a thing as excessive verisimilitude.

2) Romans would engage in sexual activity with slaves present and give it no more thought than moderns would if there were a tank of tropical fish in the room. This point was brought out graphically.

3) A Roman patrician would order a subordinate to divorce a spouse and remarry, regardless of how that subordinate felt. A spectacular example would be Augustus's non-negotiable demand that his selected successor Tiberius divorce his current wife and marry the woman Augustus had picked for him. Tiberius bitterly resented it, but he complied.

4) A Roman paterfimilias (father of the family) had literal power of life and death over his wife and children. If the father died, the oldest son, not the wife, would be in charge. One example: When Constantine I learned that his wife Fausta and oldest son Crispus were enjoying a technically incestuous relationship, he had them poisoned. He was completely within his rights to do so, but his conscience gave him no rest. To atone for what he came to view as a sin (not a crime), he sent his mother Helena Augusta to Jerusalem to locate the Holy Sepulchre and, if possible, the True Cross (she succeeded, but that's another story; I have often said that if all the pieces of the True Cross in the monasteries, convents, churches, cathedrals, and palaces of Europe were put together, you'd have enough wood to build a shopping mall).

I had to abandon the series because, for me, it was an occasion of sin. Within ten minutes of the start of the first episode, I was treated to the sight of an attractive English actress (see above) engaged in (presumably) simulated sexual intercourse, with very little left to the imagination. I could see every square inch of her as she very persuasively feigned (?) transports of erotic ecstasy. I have often said, half-jokingly, that, where the Seven Deadly Sins are concerned, I'm pretty good on Greed and Envy, but I need to work harder on the others. Lust has always been a particular problem for me. I don't need encouragement.

One more thing about occasions of sin. A young woman recently told me that a friend of hers was getting divorced, and that the friend was understandably grief-stricken. It seems that her husband had been unfaithful, and that this husband was also a devotee of pornography. Exposure to the occasions of sin will often lead to sorrow and misery in this world, to say nothing of painful consequences in the next.

I got today's definition from the Catholic Encyclopedia . Just as I, a lapsing Catholic, have found much of value at the Evangelical Protestant CARM website, so EPs will find good and useful material at New Advent. I highly recommend both sites.

NB: Today's picture is not an entry in the Exquisite series. There's nothing exquisite about a skank.

bass

bass - noun - Any of numerous edible, spiny-finned, freshwater or marine fishes of the families serranidae and centrarchidae; the lowest adult male voice; the lowest pitch or range.

posse comitatus

posse comitatus – n - The body of persons that a peace officer of a county is empowered to call upon for assistance in preserving the peace, making arrests, and serving writs; a body of persons so called into service.

This definition is okay as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough. I was more interested in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which, to oversimplify a bit, forbids the military to be used as a police force. The PCA has been invoked by those who argue against use of armed forces to guard our borders. I can see the arguments in favor of the act itself, but I wonder if we shouldn't be paying more attention to the southern invasion.

By the way, the common term is posse.

The greatest posse novel I'm aware of is The Ox-Bow Incident, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, which was also made into a good movie back in the 50s.

tenor

tenor - noun - the course of thought or meaning that runs through something written or spoken; purport; drift; the adult male voice intermediate between the bass and the alto or counteralto.

And, of course, who else to you think of as a tenor but the incomparable Luciano Pavarotti.

Lollard

Lollard – n - An English or Scottish follower of the religious teachings of John Wycliffe from the 14th to the 16th centuries.

Wycliffe (1320-1384) was an early reformer. Luckily for him, he had powerful protectors, which is why he died of a stroke instead of at the stake. 40 years after his death, his remains were exhumed, burned, and the ashes dumped in the Thames. His offense was claiming that scripture was the highest authority, only God could forgive sins (no priest required), indulgences were a scam, and the papacy and purgatory, not being scriptural, had no validity. I've stated before that I don't hold with Sola Scriptura, and Wolf was good enough to provide an example in support of my argument (work on the Sabbath), but I can't find the flaw in Wycliffe's arguments. Neither could John Hus (1372?-1415), who was burned at the stake by the Council of Constance. Neither could Martin Luther.

I know I have a tendency to get melodramatic, but I hope you'll take me at my word when I say that my study of Christian history has traumatized me. Once I get past the first eight centuries or so the story turns ugly. The early Christians were mostly sincere, dedicated, and courageous (they had to be). The stories of Paul, Ignatius, Polycarp, Perpetua and Felicitas, Irenaeus, Augustine, Gregory, Patrick, Columba, Columbanus, Boniface - I could go on for pages - are inspiring.

How did we get from them to men like the later popes? The first John XXIII was deposed by the infamous Council of Constance for, amoung other charges, rape, murder, and incest. Alexander VI, the former Roderigo Borgia, had eight children by three concubines; he had earlier celebrated his appointment as cardinal - at age 25 - with an orgy! Julius II, who commissioned Michaelangelo's painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, had three illegitimate daughters and a terminal dose of syphillis. Again, I could go on for pages. (On the other hand, there were still pious, holy Christians in the Church - Pope Nicholas V and Saint Catherine of Sienna are two prominent examples.)

The practice of burning heretics also bothers me. When a Gallic church burned eight heretics around 370, they were condemned up one end of Christendom and down the other - not least by the Bishop of Rome himself. Seven centuries later it was SOP. I make allowances for different times, different ways, but still - how could the idea of subjecting human beings to an agonizing death be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus?

I wish I had space enough and time to go into this more.

I'm undergoing a personal reformation, and I'm in turmoil. I don't subscribe to the Christianity for Dummies school, but I'm also no longer on board with their opponents. What's an aspiring Christian intellectual (don't laugh) to do?

(I hope I don't have to say that I'm not referring to Sola Scriptura Christians with that Dummies crack. You know what I mean. Also, instead of an Exquisite, I'm offering a picture of Wycliffe. More pretty girls coming next week.)

Footnote: Derivation of the word Lollard is uncertain. My sources think it may come from the Dutch word lollen (to mumble), a word applied to religious eccentrics and vagabonds.

Invitation: A member of our select group informs me that her friends sometimes check this blog. I offer them my apologies for my inappropriate Exquisite entry and my assurance that I intended no offense. I also invite their comments.

soprano

soprano - the uppermost part or voice; the highest singing voice in women and boys

Bet you didn't see that one coming!

baller

baller - n. - an implement for shaping food into a ball or removing a core

reactionary

reactionary - adj - Of, pertaining to, marked by, or favoring reaction, esp. extreme conservatism or rightism in politics; opposing political or social change.

That describes me fairly enough, although I'm in favor of major social and political change. I started out as a New Leftist, evolved into a standard liberal Democrat, and then into a conservative Republican. I now favor a sharp about-face and march backward. Let's see if we can find the point where we went wrong. It's probably too late, but I may be wrong.

Here's a trivia question. Name the United States president who started a war without congressional approval, suspended habeas corpus without congressional approval, imprisoned literally thousands of suspected traitors and opponents of the war (without charges and without legal representation), shut down hundreds of opposition newspapers, prevented at least one state legislature from convening, attempted to arrest the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, saw his cakewalk war turn into a prolonged bloodbath, and generally treated the Constitution as though it had been printed on perforated tissue. (See my comment for the answer.)

My latest Exquisite is William Bougereau's Little Gourmet (1895). Yes, I know she's just a little girl, but she's all the more exquisite for that. (I'm not at all embarassed to admit that I enjoy looking at pretty girls. The female of the species is intrinsically more attractive than the male. If that be sexism, make the most of it.)

alto

alto - noun - the range between soprano and tenor; the second highest instrument in a family of musical instruments (viola in the violin family)

I really enjoy music.

contravene

contravene - v. - to go or act contrary to, violate; to oppose in argument, contradict

What children do to their parents.

risque

risqué – adj - Daringly close to indelicacy or impropriety; off-color.

Good examples might be The Swing and Young Girl Playing With Puppy, paintings by John Honore Fragonard.

Today's Exquisite entry is Portrait of a Young Girl Reading (1776), my personal Fragonard favorite and definitely not risque. The picture resonates with me for many reasons, and not only because I find modest, pretty teenage girls attractive. I'd guess the subject to be about 16, and Fragonard has caught her at a peaceful moment, but her future is rather less attractive. She'll be in her late twenties when the French Revolution begins. Being evidently a member of the upper class, I can only hope she and her husband (surely she married) and her children (surely she had children) read the handwriting on the wall and left France; if not, she would have been in her early thirties when the Commitee of Public Safety kicked off the Reign of Terror. Assuming she and her husband didn't lose their heads, she'd have been in her early forties when the Napoleonic Wars began in earnest. Maybe her husband (and sons?) survived, maybe they didn't. She'd have been around 55 when a certain amount of tranquility was restored. Perhaps she had a happy old age.

transcend

transcend - verb - to rise above or go beyond; to be above and independent; exceed

divvy

divvy - v. - divide, share

We were having a conversation about slang and I thought this word was slang. It's not.

galumph

galumph - verb - To move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.

I used to say this when I was trying to be a big monster walking. How fun to find out it's actually a word!

sola scriptura

Sola scriptura - n - The assertion that the Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating, clear to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the only source of Christian doctrine.

I take exception to this idea, which was put forward by Martin Luther as a keystone of the Protestant Reformation. Here's why.

In the 4th Century, most Christians, based on a close reading of the New Testament, accepted that Jesus Christ was God. An Alexandrian priest named Arius closely read those very same scriptures and concluded that Jesus was created by God, and was therefore not consubstantial, coeternal, and coequal with God. Other close readers of the NT, the Monophysites, concluded that Christ had only a single divine nature. A 5th Century bishop of Constantinople, another careful student of scripture named Nestorius, asserted that Jesus had two separate and distinct natures, divine and human, on the grounds that a human woman could not give birth to God (he also refused to believe that "a squalling infant was God"). These last two doctines called into question the validity of Christ's death as atonement for mankind's sins.

It would seem that scripture alone is not sufficient to arrive at truth. The seven generally recognized Ecumenical Councils were convened to resolve these and similar questions (plus some less provocative issues, such as when Easter should be celebrated).

There's a larger point, viz., that Christianity is the only religion in which reason is an integral component. I don't believe that was accidental. Christians have nothing to fear from truth. The application of rational thought to the historical record leaves our religion as sound today as it was in the 1st Century.

Today's less provocative exquisite entry is Reverie by English painter John William Godward, who specialized in women in Classical costume. I don't have a date for this work, but an educated guess would be 1910-1925.

modest

modest - adj - having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's merits, importance, etc.; having or showing regard for the decencies of behavior, speech, dress, etc.; limited or moderate in amount, extent, etc.

respect + humility = modesty

Out of respect for myself I will always strive to keep healthy and fit both mentally and physically. Out of respect those with whom I come in contact, I will not hold myself as more important than they and consider carefully their concerns and wishes. This, for me, defines modest behavior.

au naturel

au naturel – adj - In the natural state; naked; nude.

Now what made me think of that? Any ideas?

Today's exquisite entry has left me snowblind. All those bright, white, teeth. . .

profligate

profligate - adj - shamelessly immoral; dissipated; dissolute; recklessly wasteful

There was an article on the news yesterday about the famous polygamist in Utah (currently in prison) who asserts polygamy is a religious issue and is therefore protected under the constitution. If I understood correctly, the suit against him isn't so much related to the issue of polygamy as it is about the underage girls to whom he is either married or has arranged marriages for.

Mormon

Mormon - n - An ancient prophet believed to have compiled a sacred history of the Americas, which were translated and published by Joseph Smith as the Book of Mormon in 1830; A member of the Mormon Church.

I'm back to heresy, and, needless to say, I consider Mormons heretics. (Ditto for Jehovah's Witnesses; I'm not sure about Seventh Day Adventists.)

Wolf referred me to a great apologetics site, which I've been giving a real workout. The section on heresy is especially helpful, especially if (like me) you have trouble sorting out the Monophysites, Adoptionists, Nestorians, Patripassionists, Monarchians, Docetists, Arians, and Monothilites. Here's a link:

http://www.carm.org/

The fourth entry in our Exquisite series is again by Renoir. Since Natalie's otherwise occupied, I have a little more freedom, i.e., I can get away with more. Wolf, you started this thing, but I notice I'm been doing all the ball-carrying here.