"I'm gonna sit on the porch and pick on my old guitar ..."Lyrics & Music:Johnny Cash(1932-2003)
Which chair would you pick?
Natural, historical,
a chair with a view, a chair with dinner,or a comfy one next to a window?
Ever wondered how it feels to sit in a queen’s chair?
Watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II along with music by
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). The anthem “Zadok the Priest”
was composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727 and
since then was performed in all British monarch coronations:
And sometimes, you just can’t sit down…
Enjoy a high-energy part of the opera “Porgy and Bess”
by George Gershwin (1898-1937):
By the end of the day, all we need is “an easy chair”.
Relax with the beautiful love song, “Evergreen”, in our Evergreen post
With appreciation to the hard work of our grandparents
These days, so many traditional skills and practices are being lost, and a wide range of working sounds, like clanging, scraping, and spinning, is only a reminiscence of a bygone era.
The Grenigerði farm, West Iceland Photo: Ofra Ben-Zvi
The song “Gretchen am Spinnrade” (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel) was composed by Franz Schubert to words by Goethe. You can find the poem and its English translation atwww.oxfordlieder.co.uk
The song was later arranged for piano solo by composer Franz Liszt,
a virtuoso pianist himself. The music amazingly describes the constant spinning movement along with Gretchen’s emotional turbulence:
“Working on a railroad for a dollar a day …”
“This old hammer rings like silver …” Enjoy some hammering sounds from the “Railroad Worksong”,
which dates back to the late 19th century, in an up-to-date performance by
Mark Knopfler and the Notting Hillbillies:
“The Harmonious Blacksmith” by George Frideric Handel
takes us back in time, when the blacksmith was a vital part
of the community. This is not Handel’s original title, and there are some colorful explanations as to how this piece got its name; One of them suggests that Handel had heard a blacksmith singing and borrowed the tune. The piece was composed for harpsichord, an intricate keyboard instrument which required a very high degree of workmanship on its own:
Maintenance of a grand piano, a descendant of the harpsichord
At times when machinery and artifacts were works of art,
no wonder Handel himself composed pieces for a musical clock:
For more old-world tasks, enjoy our post:Laundry Day
The forest – a mysterious and haunting place of wilderness, but also spiritual and inspiring. This is how Romantic composer, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) describes the forest in his piano cycle “Waldszenen” (Forest Scenes). Let’s enter the forest along with Schumann’s opening part:
Long before the “hug a tree” movement, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed a beautiful opening aria to his opera “Serse” (1738),“Ombra mai fù“, admiring and glorifying a beloved tree. Enjoy an instrumental version of this aria:
“Let me bring you songs from the wood: To make you feel much better than you could know …”
“Songs From The Wood” Lyrics & Music:Ian Anderson(“Jethro Tull”)
Whichever style of entrance you favor for your home, it’s always nice to welcome guests as royalty! Greet your guests with George Frideric Handel’s lively music – “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” from his oratorio “Solomon” (1748):
Or set a comic mood inspired by the Overture of Mozart’s witty opera, “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786):
The overture, a musical opening, serves as an introduction to the opera, and creates a feeling of anticipation. In Mozart’s times, however, many in
the audience were not focusing on the music, but rather on social matters, such as who made an entrance into the theater!
The most unforgettable entrance is your childhood home’s entryway,
where “these hand prints on the front steps are mine…”
Lyrics & Music: Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin
"I'm gonna sit on the porch and pick on my old guitar ..." Lyrics & Music: Johnny Cash (1932-2003)
