MUSIC

Now that the weather is bleak and cold in the Southern Hemisphere, nothing better than being indoors and enjoying some live music! Fortunately, in Melbourne we have a vibrant music scene and there is no dearth of music of all kinds to enjoy in a variety of venues.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

SUNDAY BEST #400 - MUSIC TO MY EYES

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.

Please do not use this meme to advertise our goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Last week, Adventures in Weseland, in USA posted some lovely photos of music being played in the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Music Festival in San Francisco. His photo below was my fave, beautiful in a nostalgic, youthful and innocent manner. Please check out his blog for more fine shots.

NEW ORLEANS, USA

New Orleans (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,452,502. Before Hurricane Katrina, Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana. As of 2015, it ranked third, trailing neighbouring Jefferson Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish.

The city of New Orleans is geographically coextensive with Orleans Parish. The city is known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz) and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the “most unique” in the United States.

New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana, and occupies both sides of the Mississippi River. The heart of the city and its French Quarter is on the river’s north side. The city and Orleans Parish (French: Paroisse d’Orléans) are coterminous. The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north, St. Bernard to the east, Plaquemines to the south, and Jefferson to the south and west. Lake Pontchartrain, part of which lies within the city limits, lies to the north and Lake Borgne lies to the east.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

BACH IN CHURCH

The Scots' Church, a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Presbyterian Church to be built in the Port Phillip District (now the state of Victoria). It is located in Collins Street and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It has been described as "an icon for well over a hundred years." The foundation stone of the first purpose built church building was laid on 22 January 1841 and it was opened on 3 October 1841.

It was designed to seat 500 and the contract sum was £2,485 without plastering, gallery, vestry or fittings. The building was opened with temporary seating. Plastering was carried out the following year, proper pews, gallery and vestry were added in 1849 and a spire some years later. The first church building was demolished partly because of concerns that the tower and spire would collapse after it developed huge cracks and became crooked. During the ministry of Rev Peter Menzies (1868–74) the building was too small for the congregation but in any case a building more suited to the site and the social position of the congregation was considered appropriate.

Construction of the current building took place between 1871 and 1874, during the ministry of Rev Irving Hetherington and his colleague Rev Peter Menzies, and was opened on 29 November 1874 with fixed seating for about 900. It was designed by Joseph Reed of the firm Reed and Barnes, and built by David Mitchell, the father of Dame Nellie Melba. Reed and Barnes also designed the Melbourne Town Hall, the State Library of Victoria, Trades Hall, the Royal Exhibition Building, the Wesley Church in Lonsdale Street, the original Presbyterian Ladies' College in East Melbourne, and Collins Street Independent Church, now St. Michael’s Uniting Church, on the opposite corner of Russell Street.

Scots' Church is in the Neo-Gothic style and built of Barrabool freestone, with dressings in Kakanui stone from New Zealand. During the last decades of the nineteenth century the spire of Scots' Church was the tallest structure in Melbourne at about 210 feet from the ground. The interior features the large stained glass window depicting the Last Supper, basalt aisle columns, timber beamed roof and an elevated floor for a good view of the pulpit.

Listening to Bach being played on the organ of this church is a breathtaking experience! Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Art of Fugue, the Brandenburg Concertos, and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Western musical canon. Here you can listen to some organ music by Bach.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

ALBINONI

Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian Baroque composer. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is known today for his instrumental music, especially his concertos. He is also remembered today for a work called "Adagio in G minor", supposedly written by him, but probably written by Remo Giazotto, a modern musicologist and composer, who was a cataloguer of the works of Albinoni.

Here are Albinoni's Oboe Concertos, which provide a marvellous listening experience for lovers of Baroque music.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SINGAPORE CHINESE OPERA

Singapore has a lively cultural scene with many events staged by both local and international artists. There is the renowned Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Lyric Opera company, the Singapore Dance Theatre, theatre, numerous galleries, museums, artistic and cultural groups that reflect the multicultural community of this small but extremely successful Asian nation. One is constantly reminded of this mixed population by the signage, which is in the four official languages of English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil. Singaporean culture is best described as a melting pot of mainly Chinese, British, Malay and Indian cultures - a reflection of its immigrant history.

Although the Western influence is still strong (remembering the British were here from 1819 till 1965), the Asian flavour of the culture is ineluctable and constantly reminds one that Singapore is a strongly Asian nation. Of its permanent residents (3.75 million), close to three quarters are Chinese, 13% are Malay and 10% Indian. However, it should be kept in in mind that Singapore has the sixth-highest percentage of foreigners globally, with about forty percent foreign nationals working and living here, bringing the population up to just over 5 million). This mix of people and cultures and cultures makes the country an interesting and vibrant place to be in, especially when looking at the cultural scene. The successful economy and subsidisation by the state of many artistic and cultural bodies ensures that art and culture receive strong government support.

Traditional Chinese opera (Chinese: 戲曲; pinyin: xìqǔ), or Xiqu, is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more than a thousand years, reaching its mature form in the 13th century during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Early forms of Chinese theatre are simple, but over time they incorporated various art forms, such as music, song and dance, martial arts, acrobatics, costume and make-up art, as well as literary art forms to become traditional Chinese opera.

For centuries Chinese opera was the main form of entertainment for both urban and rural residents in China as well as the Chinese diaspora. Its popularity declined sharply in the second half of the 20th century as a result of both political and market factors. Chinese opera is no longer part of the popular Chinese culture, especially for young people, but it remains an attraction for many older people who find in it, among other things, a national or regional identity. For the Chinese diaspora in Singapore, Chinese opera is a popular entertainment, with often lavish productions being staged regularly.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

MUSIC 2 - MUSICMAN MOZART

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty.

At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his early death at the age of 35.

The circumstances of his death have been much mythologised. He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years".

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

INDIGO

Indigo is a deep and rich colour close to the colour wheel blue (a primary colour in the RGB colour space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine. It is traditionally regarded as a colour in the visible spectrum, as well as one of the seven colours of the rainbow, the colour between violet and blue; however, sources differ as to its actual position in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The colour indigo is named after the indigo dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The first known recorded use of indigo as a colour name in English was in 1289. Historically, the term indigo was only applied to the natural dye extracted from the leaves of certain plants, and this process was important economically because blue dyes were once rare. A large percentage of indigo dye produced today, several thousand tonnes each year, is synthetic. It is the blue often associated with denim cloth and blue jeans. Natural indigo is still available and is used in artisanal dying.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

Here is "Mood Indigo" (1930) & (1955), a jazz composition and song, with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard with lyrics by Irving Mills. It is sung by Ella Fitzgerald, from "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book".

PIANOFORTE

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

VOLGA RIVER

The Volga (Russian: Во́лга) is the longest river in Europe. It is also Europe's largest river in terms of discharge and watershed, with a length of 3,692 km. The river flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, and is widely regarded as the national river of Russia. Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are located in the Volga's watershed. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is often referred to as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga) in Russian literature and folklore.

The Russian hydronym Volga (Волга) derives from Proto-Slavic *vòlga "wetness, moisture", which is preserved in many Slavic languages, including Ukrainian volóha (воло́га) "moisture", Russian vlaga (влага) "moisture", Bulgarian vlaga (влага) "moisture", Czech vláha "dampness", Serbian vlȁga "moisture", and Slovene vlaga "moisture" among others.

The Volga has many tributaries, most importantly the rivers Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, and the Sura. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometres in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometres and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans, flamingos, and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year.

The Volga drains most of Western Russia. Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal, the Volga–Don Canal, and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

Mother Volga statue facing the Rybinsk reservoir on the Volga River.

Tver on the Volga

River views between Moscow and Uglich: The flooded city of Kalyazin bell tower

Ilia Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen (1870-1873). A burlak (Russian: бурла́к) was a person who hauled barges and other vessels upstream from the 17th to 20th centuries in the Russian Empire. Burlaks appeared in Russia at the end of 16th century and beginning of the 17th century. With the expansion of freight-hauling, the number of burlaks increased.

Song of the Volga Boatmen sung by the Red Army Chorus:

OLD SAN DIEGO

Bazaar Del Mundo is located in Old Town San Diego and we visited this in 2001 during one of our trips to the USA. We loved San Diego and the admittedly touristy Bazaar del Mundo was nevertheless fun to visit, rich in Latin American culture and very enjoyable to stroll through and shop at. One feels as if one is visiting Old Mexico. Shops are bright and cheerful and filled with all of the products you would find if you were on the other side of the border. It is a well designed area with lots of plants, flowers, fountains and other attractions. Open air bazaars and fiestas are often held there.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

And while there, we were listening to this song!

LITTLE GREEN APPLES...

Little green apples on the apple tree. The Granny Smith is a tip-bearing apple cultivar, which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of Malus sylvestris, the European Wild Apple, with the domestic apple M. domestica as the pollinator. The fruit has hard, light green skin and a crisp, juicy flesh. Granny Smiths go from being completely green to turning yellow when overripe. The acidity mellows significantly on ripening, and it takes on a balanced flavour.

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

And now we can't not mention "Little Green Apples" with Bobby Goldsboro (written by Bobby Russell in 1968). Here it is, enjoy!

SATURDAY SILHOUETTES #29

Welcome to the Saturday Silhouettes meme! This is a weekly meme that looks at SILHOUETTES in photography.

SILHOUETTE |ˌsɪlʊˈɛt| noun: The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible in restricted light against a brighter background.
ORIGIN - late 18th century: Named (although the reason remains uncertain) after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician.

A kookaburra sitting on a gum tree at sunrise, in Melbourne's Darebin Parklands. I almost broke out in song when I saw it! :-)


This post also a part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

Please add your silhouette shot below, using the Linky tool:

NEWPORT ART & MUSIC

The Substation in Newport is one of Melbourne’s most exciting arts destinations, and is quickly establishing a name for itself as a vibrant artistic hub for the people of Hobsons Bay and beyond. After a 15 year restoration process led by a small band of committed volunteers, The Substation opened in 2008 as Melbourne’s newest community-based, contemporary arts venue. It aspires to be one of Melbourne’s leading presenters of the Arts across all art forms, and boasts a 250 seat, flexible performance space, creative development studio, visual arts workshops & studio spaces, as well as the western suburbs’ most extensive gallery space. The Substation seeks to establish a unique brand of programming that seamless brings together innovative community-based projects and the best of contemporary arts programming.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

ALONG THE ROAD TO GUNDAGAI

Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeysuckle, Kimo, Mooney Mooney, Murrumbidgee and Tumut mountain ranges, Gundagai is 390 kilometres south-west of Sydney, the state capital and largest city in Australia. At the 2006 census the population of Gundagai was 1,998.

Gundagai, perhaps more than any other Australian locality, is referenced in stories, songs and poems. These include Theta's poem, 'Ode to the Dead of Gundagai'. James Riley, 'The Gundagai Calamity', Jack Moses and others in 'Nine Miles From Gundagai', Jack O'Hagan songs 'Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox (five miles from Gundagai)', 'Along The Road To Gundagai', 'Snake Gully Swagger', and 'When a Boy from Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundagai'. Gundagai also features in the song 'The Grand Old Hills of Gundagai'. It is referenced in Scottish band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie's song 'Dust'.

Last weekend we drove through Gundagai on our way to Canberra and we had a stop for coffee there. It is a small sleepy town nestled amongst green hills and the atmosphere is very evocative of old times, just as the ballad 'Along The Road To Gundagai' relates...


This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CHINA

Two souvenirs from a far-eastern trip...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme;
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme;
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

 Shina No Yoru (China Nights) sung by Hibari Misora