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.