Tapiola by Jean Sibelius

 

Tapiola, op.112, is a 1926 symphonic poem by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957). His seven symphonies are generally considered the highlight of his oeuvre, but he was also one of the most important composers of symphonic poems - and it is in that genre that we find my favourite work of his. Tapiola portrays Tapio, the animating forest spirit mentioned throughout the epic poetry of Kalevala. It was Sibelius's last major work, though he lived for another thirty years. The version shown above is by the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan on a Deutsche Grammophon CD.

 

Copyright statement: posting lower quality album covers is deemed fair use.

 

Almost Famous

 

Almost Famous is a 2000 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and starring Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, and Kate Hudson. I really enjoyed watching this movie about a fictional rock band in the early seventies - not least because it was that decade that really sparked my interest in rock. Brilliant idea to put the title in Penny Lane's sunglasses on the poster.

 

Copyright statement: posting lower quality movie posters is deemed fair use.

 

Uomo di pezza by Le Orme

 

 

Under this label I will be sharing some of my favourite pop/rock albums, as usual focusing on less well known pieces.

 

Uomo di pezza (translated Rag Doll Man) is the third studio album by the Italian progressive rock band Le Orme, released June 1972. It is their first that is widely considered a masterpiece of Italian prog. There are some influences from bands like Emerson Lake and Palmer, but Le Orme's Italian lyrics and often romantic approach to the songs provide sufficient individuality. One of many Italian prog bands of the time that deserves to be better known. The only gripes I have with this album is that it is so short (under 32 minutes), and that some songs deserved to be further developed and elongated in true prog style. Still, an excellent album. Recommended songs are La Porta Chiusa, Figure Di Cartone, Alienazione, and especially Aspettando L'Alba.

 

Copyright statement: posting lower quality album covers is deemed fair use.

New York Central System

 

The New York Central System, nowadays better known as New York Central Railroad, was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid Atlantic regions of the United States. This poster by Leslie Ragan is stunning in its blue design and industrial theme - it's probably from the thirties. 

Copyright statement: posting lower quality vintage advertisement posters is deemed fair use.

La Vie Parisienne (October 1922)

The vintage covers of this French magazine are usually attractive, the main problem is finding the ones that are not too saucy.... Well, no-one can complain that this flapper girl in front of her car is too scantily dressed.... The illustration is by René Vincent.

Copyright statement: image in public domain.

Virtapenko's Concertos

 

 

Under "Classical Albums" I will be posting some of my favourite classical music CD's, usually as they say "off the beaten path". Starting with one of my favourite CD's of 21st century compositions. Olli Virtaperko (1973) is a Finnish composer. This is my only CD with his works, but this is heaven for someone who like me loves unusual concertos. The first track Romer's Gap (2016) is a concerto for amplified cello and sinfonietta; the soloist is Perttu Kivilaakso, member of the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. Multikolor (2014) is a concerto for baritone saxophone (played by Joonatan Rautiola) and small chamber orchestra. It gives me associations with the didgeridoo at places. The final track Ambrosian Delights (2015) is a concerto for knifonium and chamber orchestra. The knifonium is a vacuum-tube-based analogue synthesizer, designed by Jonte Knif, who also plays the beast in this concerto. I really enjoy the sound of this instrument, and Virtaperko combines it well with the chamber orchestra. Funny sounds, yes, but also a fun listening experience. Highly original. The orchestra on this Ondine CD is Jyväskylä Sinfonia under Ville Matvejeff.

 

Copyright statement: posting album covers is deemed to be fair use.

 

Primeval

 

 

I am a keen amateur photographer, even though the Covid era lessened my interest in this hobby considerably. Recently I picked it up again, mostly aiming for abstract images such as this one. It is a detail of a large metal art work on display in the Sneek city museum. The camera used was a simple point and shooter (Canon IXUS 170).

Copyright statement: images copyright Hennie Schaper. Contact me if you like to use it.

A coral room by Kate Bush

 

 

Under the label "Pop/Rock songs" I will feature some of my favourite songs - and I will also take the opportunity to see whether I can get some suitable images for them with AI....

 

About the artist: Kate Bush (1958) is a British singer/songwriter, who in 1978 topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single Wuthering heights. Many hits (singles and albums) followed. She is generally seen as one of the greatest influences on a generation of female pop/rock artists who came after her. 

 
About the song: A coral room is a track from her 2005 double album Aerial. It is a beautiful solo piano accompanied ballad of the type that she should have a patent on, a very personal sharing of her feelings upon the death of her mother. 

 

Copyright statement: Image created by me using Bing AI. Considered fair use.

Young Woman by Leo Gestel

 

 

We saw this beauty a few months ago in Museum De Fundatie in nearby Zwolle. It was one of the things that inspired me to re-start the blog actually. The painter is Dutch artist Leo Gestel (1881 - 1941). Along with Piet Mondrian and Jan Sluyters he was among the leading artists of Dutch modernism. This portrait is from 1914.

Copyright statement: image is in public domain.

A New Beginning

 

 

Well, here we go again. I started this blog way back in 2007, with a couple of stop/start moments among the way. The latest restart was in December 2021, when I also changed the set-up: from posts with one image and a bit of text to elaborate posts on a theme with 12 images and more text. This went pretty well, but last year I started to find the format tedious and the blog lost steam. I stopped altogether in May 2023. Today I decided to give it one more try. I deleted all existing posts (as I did before on re-start occasions) to make a fresh start. I'm going back to the original set-up, and will aim for one post per day, shamelessly recycling old posts when I feel like it. Some themes will return in the new set-up, but probably not all. And there may be some new ones as well. We'll see how it goes.

Copyright statement: image made on Photofunia, no copyright issues.