The Week in Meep: Happy Michaelmas!
Plus a little Bach/Glenn Gould, Mary Undoer of Knots, and Crochet
Today is September 29th, which is also known as Michaelmas. Here is my parish church’s statue of the Archangel Michael in situ, whose day it is:
Given my wont, let me give you some art from the Met:
That last sketch is appropriate, as the Catholic Church has changed Michaelmas to a day honoring all the archangels (and angels), not just Michael.
Plus the prayer we say after each Mass at our parish (this had been one of the Leonine prayers): [I reproduce the translation we use]
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle;
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan
and all of the other evil spirits
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
A little Bach (and Glenn Gould)
This last week, I found this video version of Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg Variations by Bach:
An explanation of this composition (and yes, Glenn Gould’s performance style is a bit weird, and more on that in a bit).
The Bach composition is a theme and variations structure, which uses a bass line (not a melody) that varies as its basis.
The overall piece contains a great deal of structure, which has an "air” or aria as its first part (and ends there), and then 30 variations in between.
The 30 variations come in 10 sets of 3 variations each, in which the third variation of each triplet is a canon where the two voices get farther and farther apart on each subsequent triplet… (it’s very complicated). And there is structure to the other two items in the triplets as well.
Robert Greenberg’s lecture set Bach and the High Baroque from the Teaching Company has a whole section just on the Goldberg Variations which covers the structure and aspects of the composition. Yes, the list price of the lectures are eye-popping but
The Teaching Company always has sales where the real price of these sets are reasonable for what you get, and
Most library systems and streaming audio/video (like audible) can get you access to these lectures.
You don’t need the video versions.
By the way, the whole of Greenberg’s lecture set is fabulous, but it is long. My favorite bit is on the St. Matthew Passion, my favorite Bach composition. However, if I just want some chill music in the background, the Goldberg Variations are my go-to. Given why they were composed, it’s hardly surprising why this is a good music to chill to.
(the -original- meaning for “chill”, thank you very much, kiddies. It means “to relax.”)
The backstory to the composition was that a rich guy commissioned Bach to compose these for his keyboardist-on-premises, Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, to play for him on the harpsichord when he had bouts of insomnia. The rich guy (whose name was Count Keyserling — but note we don’t call them the Keysering Variations) was so happy with “his” variations that he gave Bach a goblet full of gold coins.
But we rarely hear the variations on harpsichord anymore. Partly due to the harpsichord being a bitch of an instrument to deal with, but a great deal due to Glenn Gould and his interpretation.
Many people complain about hearing Gould humming or singing along with the music, but I think hearing him do that permits the hearer to do the same…. and I often do (but usually not in the same way). Why not? Let’s not be prissy about Bach.
Mary, Undoer of Knots and Crochet
The Blessed Virgin Mary has many titles, and one such title is Undoer of Knots.
I’m going to be a little more prosaic and bring it back to crochet and yarn… which does have a tendency to get tangled and knotted.
I am not a beginner to crochet. Back in 2002, I made a fractal crochet pattern for a shawl which I’ve made several times, and even made it into an academic paper on cellular automata in fiber arts.
However, my neuropathy in my hands makes it difficult to crochet or knit much anymore, so I decided to try to pick it up again with beginner-level kits, and I found one I think my speed: Woobles.
Yes, I’m trying Disco Fred the Dinosaur, and while I know all the stitches, and have made items like this in the past:
I have to go a lot slower now than I did 10 and 20 years ago. About 1 round at a time.
However, I do highly recommend the product for beginners. The videos are truly step-by-step for beginners, showing where to put the crochet hook, how to hold the yarn and hook, and giving tips about how to deal with screw-ups, etc.
One of the great things about crochet is how forgiving it is (just like Jesus… but unlike Jesus, you need not repent… just pull on the yarn. Start over from the last spot where you had it correct. It’s not quite the same as going to confession.)
They have all sorts of cute kits (and yeah, some of the more involved ones are pricey. The ones that tend to be the most expensive are the branded ones — unsurprisingly.)
Still, cute and fun. And the type of “fiber” they use is unlikely to get knotted.
One of the best bits is they do the “starting round”, which is a pain-in-the-ass. I would say the involved instructions and doing the crappy beginning bit is worth the extra cost, especially if you have hand pain, like me. Woot.