Music
Queensland Musical Talent in Spring
From Brisbane comes the results of the Q Song Music Awards 2010 in a vast variety of musical categories that are proof that musical talent is alive and well, especially in Queensland in Spring.
From Keith Urban to Powderfinger, from Jeffrey Black to Lisa Gasteen, Andre Rieu’s favourite, the lovely Mirusia, and up and comers like [...]
Tiptoe Through The Tulips
“Come tulip come and take color from my cheek” said Eastern Philosopher Mevlana in the thirteenth century when shrubs, bulbs and flowers were flooding into Europe from the near East. They went wild for them, especially Holland, who would make the tulip that grew wild in Anatolia in western Turkey an integral part of both its culture and economy
The Harmony of Courtly Love
From the 11th to the 13th century in England and Europe expressing personal feelings in relation to the beauty and bountiful joys of women became the province of troubadours, who were both composers and performers of lyrical poetry set to romantic music. They roved about the countryside visiting castles and their communities to deliver the latest ditties going about in song. The themes they favoured the most were those of chivalry and courtly love.
At the Beginnings of Art
Greek sculpture was the first, the only ancient art to break free from conceptual conventions, for that of representing men and animals. Artisans wanted to explore consciously how art might imitate nature, or even improve upon it. There was no conscious striving towards realism at first, especially until it was understood to be a possible and desirable goal. This began six centuries before the Christ event.
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Monarchs, Middling People & Mozart
The era of romantics and revolutionaries is also all about the continuing themes from ancient Greece and Rome for that of liberty, religion and justice. It certainly must have been wonderful to be there when, on June 19th 1764 the remarkable child prodigy from Austria 8 year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave a concert in London playing his own compositions on the harpsichord and organ.
FREE – Six Online Videos – Evolution Art, Design & Style
We’re delighted to announce that for a limited time only, we’re offering the first six parts of our acclaimed course of study, the EVOLUTION OF ART, DESIGN & STYLE to you and your friends absolutely free. We invite your participation and welcome your comment. You can watch them on your computer and enjoy the sumptuous imagery and beautiful music.
Pinchgut Opera – Orpheus & Eurydice – Don’t Look Back!
Joseph Haydn’s Orpheus is an opera in Italian in four acts, the last he ever wrote. The libretto, by Carlo Francesco Badini, is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
The story of Orpheus has fascinated composers and librettists over the centuries. Pinchgut Opera presented Monteverdi’s wonderful version of the [...]
Call to Action – Slay the Dragon but, Not for Profit
American Philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. In her short and powerful new book called Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities she makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. She challenges us all to strive be truly human – ‘to remain childlike, to keep an open mind, to refine an ability to remain humble, to eschew pride and arrogance and to be reverent towards other people and towards the natural world’.
Threads of Destiny – Tapestry Tales
A commission of six tapestries for William Knox D’arcy’s Dining Room at Stanmore Hall in Middlesex illustrates the story of the Holy Grail quest, as told in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. They took five years to weave and are considered among the most significant works made during the nineteenth century when romanticism was at its height and they paint a beguiling picture of lovely maidens and dashing knights in a style that was very appealing.
Fête de la Musique – Celebrating Community & Culture
Get set to let your hair down when the world’s largest international live music event – Fête de la Musique – returns to Brisbane for the third year running Monday 21 June 2010.
