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text:
Spanish Song Slinger
My adventures in music by composers of Spain and Latin America
About Anna Tonna
Category Archives: Spanish Classical Art Song
"Songs for Sorolla…"
Posted on August 4, 2020 by Anna Tonna
A museum education project inspired in Joaquín Sorolla's panels "A Vision of Spain" for the Hispanic Society of America in New York City
In Urueña, looking out on the plains of Old Castile
I was asked by the education department of the Hispanic Society of America to program a song and dance, arts education concert based on a series of panels the museum has on permanent display called "A vision of Spain"; painted by late 19th century Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), it's an unequaled collection of panels that showcases the different regions and peoples of Spain; a commission by Archer Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society, it stands as Sorolla's most breathtaking (their sheer size are part of the marvel) and lasting masterpiece. In my opinion, "The Sorolla Room" is one of the most unique spaces in all of New York City.
The Sorolla Room at the
Hispanic Society of America in NYC
In my search for meaningful material for this project, during my last trip to Spain I took a side trip to a remote town in Old Castile, to the medieval town Urueña. With only 42 full time inhabitants, this place is not your average town: it has more bookstores than bars (its part of a group of towns from around the world known as "The village of books"), has at least one "farm to table" gourmet restaurant (super delicious!). But I came to Urueña not for tourism, but to visit and research at two separate foundations: Museo de la música, colección Luis Delgado; and to meet whom for many is the most well known "trobadour" as well as the foremost expert in folk music, dance, story telling and costumes from the Hispanic World: Mstro. Joaquin Díaz, and his formidable foundation and museum Fundación Joaquin Díaz.
Outside the Joaquín Díaz Foundation
in Urueña (Spain)
The musician and composer Luis Delgado and his wife, the dancer and scholar Gema Rizo very kindly picked me up and took me to my bed and breakfast The next day I made my way to the foundation, which is housed in an imposing renaissance era palace. This foundation contains Mstro. Díaz enormous collection as well as his own museum of instruments, artifacts, objects and paintings relating to music. The first office I was ushered into to meet the librarian, had a large poster of Sorolla's "La fiesta del pan" displayed. I knew I was in the right place…
Book stacks and displays at the
Fundación Joaquín Díaz in Urueña (Spain)
I looked at folkloric songs books as well as costume books of the regions of Spain that I didn't have too much material on (I was looking for folk songs from Navarra, the Basque country, as well as songs from remote parts of Valencia). Mstro. Díaz very kindly welcomed me and gifted me CD's from his amazing catalog of recordings. I was ensconced in another world, looking at lithographs of costumes from Andalucía, folkloric jewelry from Salamanca, as well as the religious rites and catholic saints related to "romerías".
A street in the town of Urueña (Spain) at nightfall
In between my research, I roamed around the deserted town, looked out into the endless sea of fields that are the plains of Castile. At night (bundled up, since they have pretty cold winters in those parts) I walked among the beautifully lit renaissance stone facades of the town.
Lithograph from a book from the
Fundación Joaquín Díaz
The next day, Luis Delgado welcomed me to his museum of musical instruments, which hailed from all over the world, lovingly curated and displayed (I got CD's from him too! of his group "Los músicos de Urueña" all early music of Spain). I also had a chance to visit several of the specialty bookstores, among them: one dedicated to calligraphy, another to film, another to cook books.
One of many display cases at the museo de instrumentos,
colección Luis Delgado in Urueña (Spain)
My search for "Songs for Sorolla" yielded information I was seeking about the origins of songs that I programmed; Mstro. Díaz's CD of Hispanic songs from the American Southwest, led me to directly make the connection for the concert in NYC between the Cordobés hat and the American cowboy hat; Spanish dance artist Anna de la Paz subsequently wore a Cordobés "cowboy" costume to bring to life Sorolla's "El Encierro" (the herding), using Federico García Lorca's song "Anda Jaleo". At the foundation I learned about Seville's La virgen de la Macarena, as I had programmed a song by Joaquín Turina regarding the yearly Easter procession in Seville, portrayed by Sorolla in one of the "A Vision of Spain" panels.
Detail of Joaquín Sorolla's "El encierro" on permanent display at the Hispanic Society of America in New York City
I found more information that I could use for the teaching concert, which I performed as part of Hispanic Culture Arts on December 17, 2019 for High School students of Upper Manhattan. Among the dances and songs that were heard on that day where a "Seguidillas Manchegas: by Fernando Sor and "Con amores la mi madre" by Obradors to portray the panel "La fiesta del pan"; "Jota" by Manuel de Falla to portray the panel "Aragón"; and "Danza V" by Enrique Granados to portray the panel "La fiesta".
Spanish dance artist Anna de la Paz,
at the Hispanic Society of America,
photo credit Maureen Termecz
Performing "A vision of Spain" arts education concert, with Anna de La Paz & Rupert Boyd at Hispanic Society of America in NYC,
Filed under Early Music of Spain, Enrique Granados, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music and tagged Anna de la Paz, Anna Tonna, Hispanic Culture Arts, Hispanic Society of America, Joaquin Diaz, Joaquin Sorolla, Luis Delgado |	Leave a comment
"Loa al fandanguillo", creation of Conchita Supervia, with composer Modesto Romero
Posted on November 6, 2018 by Anna Tonna
As a young singer in New York City, I received the opportunity to act in a small concert at the Thalia Theater in the borough of Queens, in New York City. The concert consisted of pieces from Spain's operetta genre, called "zarzuela". Not knowing anything about zarzuela, I began researching and more than anything, listening to singers from Spain that sang zarzuela. I found discs by Teresa Berganza (Zarzuela castiza released by Ensayo label being one of my all time favorites), Placido Domingo, Alfredo Krauss and Pilar Lorengar. But the album that I listened to most was the Victoria de los Angeles EMI release disc of zarzuela arias, containing all the principle pieces for female voice in the zarzuela genre, introduced to me by the pianist Pablo Zinger.
It was around this time that I became fascinated with the great Catalan mezzo soprano, Conchita Supervia. Thank goodness for the compact disc label "Pearl" with all her Odeon cylinder releases! Conchita had done a prodigious amount of recordings, including versions of Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier in Italian, Samson and Delilah, all the major scenes from Bizet's Carmen. She is credited as one of the first interpreters of the 20th century Rossini revival, in that she sang the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in the original mezzo soprano key.
Conchita Supervia, an opera diva of the Art Deco era
Conchita was an active recitalist, and her archive of recordings documents the public's taste (as well as her own) in programming in the 1920's and 1930's. There were many "pop" pieces that peppered her recordings recitals, detailing for me her love of pleasing her public. Curiously enough there are "song versions" of Granados' Danza No. 5 and an Albéniz piano solo, which although dated, I think have a place and can please listeners nowadays. She also exposed songs in English in her charming accent, "Bring to me your coloured toys" by American composers John Carpenter.
I began singing zarzuela concerts in NYC with Los amigos de la Zarzuela at NYC Cami Hall in the 90's, and started acquiring Conchita's repertoire; the UME anthologies by voice type of zarzuela "romances" was still years away from editing. I relied on Classical Vocal reprints to acquire "Fué mi mare la gitana" from La chavala by Moreno Torroba, "Lagarteranas" from El Huesped del Sevillano, "Canción de la gitana" from El mal de amores. All pretty obscure stuff (I don't know any singers in Spain that program these pieces!), and I really didn't know any better. Conchita sang it, and that was good enough for me. I also got help finding these scores from Music Sales Ltd., they printed on demand old scores from the Union Musical Española catalog.
I found a fascinating song that she recorded called "Loa al fandanguillo". It wasn't from a zarzuela that I could tell. Very andalusian, Conchita interpreted the song with much "desgarro", and it was loads of fun to listen to; I replayed it many times. I started corresponding with María Luz Gonzalez at Archivo la SGAE in Madrid, and she popped a copy for me via regular post.
CD Album where you can listen to "De la serrania: Loa al fandanguillo"
Dated 1933, it said:
De la serranía; Loa al fandanguillo: canción para contralto; versos de Manuel Machado; música de Modesto Romero. It also said: "Creación de Conchita Supervía". This leads me to believe that the song was a co creation between Supervia, M. Machado and Modesto Romero. Too bad we couldn't be a fly on the wall during those sessions, in which she coaxed out of those two, this fun vocal vehicle for her gifts and vocalism!
The LP says "Fandanguillo de concierto", a title that does not appear on the printed score I have.
The recording has a section with castanets, but it first starts with a "llamada", a calling to the artist (or flamenco dancer") to come to the stage, followed by a syncopated 3/4 section. There are dramatic but fun chromatic transitions that lead into the "fandanguillo" section. Fandango is the flamenco "palo" of Huelva, a province in the south of Spain. The text is about "love gone wrong". There are sections of stylized flamenco vocalises that use the whole range of the voice. The recording is with orchestra, with Modesto Romero at the podium. There is more information about this piece in this blog:
http://cancionypoema.blogspot.com/2014/10/manuel-machado-y-lamusica.html
The entire piece is a stylized "lyric" version of a "cante jondo" song. There was great interest in Spanish folklore, flamenco and "cante jondo" from the composers, authors and painters at the turn of the 20th century, this piece I feel is a product of this aesthetic and interest. I was told that this song enjoyed a vogue on Spanish radio by a zarzuela fan by the name of Mrs. Fuertes in NYC, a charming lady that later became my friend, who told me she had heard the song on the radio as a child. Again, the piece might feel dated to a Spaniard, or at the very least nostalgic. I don't know of other singers that have taken up this piece in modern days. I actually see it as good vehicle for collaboration with a classical Spanish dancer.
I have performed "Loa al fandanguillo" three times in all these years; I bring it out once more at the 33rd annual gala of Los Amigos de la Zarzuela at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall this coming Sunday November 11, 2018 at 2 PM, with pianist Maxim Anikushin.
Filed under Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music, zarzuela and tagged Conchita Supervia, Loa al fandanguillo, Manuel Machado, Modesto Romero, Music, Opera, Spanish Singers, zarzuela |	Leave a comment
Private screening of "El amor y la muerte: Historia de Enrique Granados" at The Juilliard School in NYC
Posted on October 21, 2018 by Anna Tonna
I received an invitation from Spanish pianist Rosa Torres-Pardo to attend a private screening of a new film documentary about the composer Enrique "Enric" Granados (1867-1916) at the Juilliard School in New York City. The film is entitled "El amor y la muerte: Historia de Enrique Granados " and is directed by Arantxa Aguirre. The screening took place on October 18, 2018, following a master class that Torres-Pardo imparted to several Juilliard piano students. The audience included several well known personalities from Spain's classical music world such as former director of the Auditorio Nacional de España, Antonio Moral, conductor Rafael Lamas and composer Ricardo Llorca.
Poster for the film "El amor y la muerte: Historia de Enrique Granados".
Being a great admirer of the work of Spanish film director Arantxa Aguirre since viewing her outstanding documentary, "Dancing Beethoven", I was excited to be present at the preview screening of "El amor y la muerte" (translated as "Love and Death"). The title in Spanish really alludes to "Love" and "Death" as entities rather than abstract ideas (utilizing the male pronoun for "el" amor/love and the female pronoun for "la" muerte/death); the allusion for the title of the documentary is both the solo piano composition by Granados of the same title, as well as what is most certainly the inspiration for this composition, an engraving bearing the same title by the 18th century Spanish painter Francisco Goya y Lucientes, with whom Granados was obsessed with.
I would like to add that the documentary's theme is close to my own heart in many ways: in 2015 and 2016 I had the privilege to work as a performer on two multi disciplinary concerts about Enrique Granados' time in New York City in 1916, for the Hispanic Society Museum & Library (NYC) and the Teatro "El Escorial" (Spain) with pianist Borja Mariño.
Rosa Torres-Pardo was joint producer in this special film project, in which she was featured among other artists such as mezzo Nancy Fabiola Herrera, pianist Luis del Valle, violinist Ana Valderrama, pianist Joaquín Soriano in excerpted performances and conversations. On the screen we heard musicologists Walter Aaron Clarke and Miriam Perandones speak of their insights about the life of Granados. An interesting revisioning of Granados' songs interpreted by notable flamenco artists filmed at the Teatro Real and the Prado Museum where other highlights of the film.
Pianist Evegny Kissin and baritone Carlos Alvárez also make an appearance in the film with short performances.
Pianist Rosa Torres-Pardo converses with pianist Joaquín Soriano in the film "El amor y la muerte".
I heard Rosa Torres-Pardo in a concert the previous week, which took place at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, in a program of Debussy and Albéniz. Presented jointly by the New York Opera Society and the Queen Sofía Institute, the concert took place on October 10 in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Day. She essayed sensitive renditions of Albéniz's Iberia as well as the Suite Bergamasque by Debussy. Torre Pardo's commitment to works by Enrique Granados is well documented throughout her career, notably so with her recent recording issued by Deutsche Grammaphon in 2016.
Working with no film material at hand to illustrate the life of Granados, the documentary utilized historical photographs, and both original paintings created for this film, as well as period paintings (notably by Ramón Casas) which where in some instances animated, bringing to life early 20th century Madrid, Barcelona and New York City respectively.
A movie still of "Amor y la muerte" of a photograph of Enrique Granados.
Actors voices with quotes by musicologist Felipe Pedrell, painter and writer Santiago Rusiñol, cellist Pau Casals, novelist Gabriel Miró and poet Apelles Mestres, as well as text taken from letters by Granados to his wife were used extensively to bring the narration to life.
Movie still of "Amor y la muerte" of an illustration of Enrique Granados and Pau Casals.
The film highlighted the events of Granados' stay in New York City, with its triumphs of numerous concerts, and the premiere of his opera "Goyescas". It remains to this day the only opera presented at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City by a Spanish composer.
Pianist Rosa Torres-Pardo and mezzo Nancy Fabiola Herrera performing Granados' "Maja dolorosa" in the film "El amor y la muerte".
The film move us inexorably to the "finale" of what we know as the tragic fate of this figure, and to what seems to be a senseless although predestined death intuited by both Granados and his wife. Using the leitmotif of the aforementioned solo piano piece by the composer, I felt as a viewer a profound sense of loss and sadness, as I witnessed on the screen visions of a vast sea, with which the film both begins and ends.
A movie still of Enrique Granados and his wife Amparo in "El Amor y la muerte".
The film is a moving tribute to one of Spain's greatest musical geniuses and will be a memorable treasure for lovers of Spanish music and for fans of the music of Enrique Granados.
Pianist Rosa Torres Pardo and flamenco artist Arcángel performing a Granados song at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid (Spain), with Goya paintings in the background, from the film "El amor y la muerte".
A recreation of Antonia Mercé's premiere of "Danza de los ojos verdes" in 1916 was performed in the documentary by Spanish dance artist Patrícia Guerrero in the film "El amor y la muerte".
The film runs 79 minutes and was officially premiered on October 23, 2018 at the "Seminci of Valladolid" (Spain). I hope to announce soon the official viewing of this insightful and moving documentary here in the U.S.
(All photos were taken from my iPhone 7)
Filed under Enrique Granados, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music and tagged Arantxa Aguirre, Culture, El amor y la muerte, Music, Rosa Torres Pardo |	1 Comment
"Tu Eternidad" a song for voice and guitar by Ecuadorian composer, Diego Luzuriaga
Posted on December 3, 2016 by Anna Tonna
While putting our program together for "Belleza de las Américas" for voice and guitar, I looked over a piece of music I had received as a comp copy from Oxford University Press many years ago. They were simple but beautiful songs by the Ecuadorian composer
Diego Luzuriaga. I messaged the maestro via email this past fall to ask about his complete cycle for voice and guitar from where the songs came from, Eleven Songs, composed to his own text. He answered right away and we talked about the work. The cycle is out of print and not obtainable, although it can be checked out from the NY Public Library. I would say the texts are unified by a sort of celebration of life: a lullaby for the birth of his son, hope in the future as well songs that are set to a kind of romantic poetry, with imagery that is heartfelt and with the smell of earth. All the songs were recorded by soprano Dana Hanchard (I purchased this CD via Amazon), in which Ms. Hanchard performs these ballads in a frank and personal manner.
Diego Luzuriaga
I showed the songs to guitarist Francisco Roldán, and he suggested we work on "Tu eternidad"; we started to develop the piece for our next performance in Long Island this past fall. The composer writes on the score the word "pasillo", to give us a clue as to the affect of the song. The "pasillo" is a prevalent 3/4 meter and dance step that can be found in many South American countries. The words are simple, forthright but sensual; here is my hasty English translation of this song:
Inside the wind I will find your voice,
following the path of my days in the sun
and in high nights, with my singing voice.
I will find your warm clarity
and your fresh cool hands…
Climbing near the rivers, the fog and forests,
I will find your breast, your pulse and your shadow,
I will find your breath and the eternal you
We worked the song to find its natural arches and climaxes, and for me to find a way to say these words in the most natural way possible. We performed the song at least once in the original guitar and voice. I afterwards was thinking of ways to include another South American dance in the off shoot of "Bellezas de las Américas", the project "Alegría Hispana", which is comprised of the Latin American songs that Francisco and myself perform, but with the inclusion of the art of Spanish dancer Elisabet Torras Aguilera. The program as it stood had several dances from Spain and only one from the Americas ( a habanera "La paloma" by Sebastian Yradier). In order to add more of South American dance, I suggested that Elisabet try to interpret "Tu Eternidad" by Mstro. Luzuriaga with us.
Elisabet's specialty includes all the important dance genres of her native Spain (regional folkore, Andalusian flamenco as well as the sophisticated and suave 18th century Escuela bolera). She willingly took the project up, listening to various different "pasillos" on Youtbe, as well as observing various dance shows, including interpretations by the National Ballet of Ecuador and street videos of this dance…she dabbled in Wikipedia as well as online documentaries to learn about the birth of the "pasillo", and the influence of the European waltz upon it. She related that were two types of "pasillo", a ballroom version and a popular street version. The costume she chose to represent this piece included a blouse with high collar (very 19th century), with a full colonial style skirt. Elisabet's "pasillo" was a historical, sober and elegant depiction of "pasillo". We premiered this new creation this past summer for the Latin American Cultural Center in Queens.
Spanish dancer Elisabet Torras Aguilera, guitarist Francisco Roldan and mezzo soprano Anna Tonna at the Tropicalia Hall, performing "Alegria Hispana" for the Latin American Cultural Center of Queens. Phot credit: H. Stephen Brown
This coming Sunday December 11th 2016, we will do "Alegria Hispana" once more, and we interpret this beautiful version for voice, guitar and dancer of Diego Luzuriaga's
"Tu Eternidad", in Huntington (Long Island) at 2:30 pm; free admission. Presented by the South Huntington Public Library (located at 145 Pidgeon Hill Road). For more information, please call 631-549-4411, or check out our Facebook Page Bellezas de las Americas.
Filed under Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music and tagged Alegria Hispana, Anna Tonna, Elisabet Torras Aguilera, Francisco Roldan, Music |	Leave a comment
Concert Review of Zarzuela Gala in Carnegie Hall on Nov. 13, 2016, reviewed by Ricardo Llorca
Posted on November 22, 2016 by Anna Tonna
The announcement of a Zarzuela Gala on Sunday, November 13th at Weill Recital Hall at New York's Carnegie Hall came as a pleasant and unexpected surprise because one does not find often a zarzuela concert in New York City.
For those of you who don't know (and there's a big number in the United States, even among a cultured audiences) and although Zarzuela is almost impossible to describe with one word, or to give it a uniform description, Zarzuela is the blending between traditional Spanish music and the European operatic forms. In a way it is the Spanish national answer to musical comedy, a mix of traditional and popular music, even folk sometimes, with opera and operetta forms. Zarzuela comes from a very complicated musical tradition that is wide and very rich. Having survived for such a long time as a genre, one can find zarzuelas composed in the 18th century musical style which could be seen as scarlattiesque; as a 19th century operatic form; dramatic; historical; regional (using traditional dances and popular tunes); operetta-type; as opera buffa, etc.
What matters here is that Zarzuela has always been immensely popular in Spain. They are still performed in every city in Spain (and also in South America) and its most popular tunes are known and sung by almost every Spaniard. My grandmother is a good example of this: in the 1920's she had a full-subscription at Teatro Apolo (the main theater for zarzuelas in Madrid) and she would attend sometimes to the daily fourth performance of the day, known as "La Cuarta de Apolo" ("Apolo's Fourth Performance" ) this last one being always the most popular of the four. She knew by heart every song, every prelude, every duo and every trio,from all the zarzuelas in the entire repertoire; and she was no exception since in Spain they were many people who like her, knew zarzuelas by heart.
Final ensemble "Mazurka de las sombrillas" at 31st Annual Gala of Los Amigos de la Zarzuela at New York's Carnegie Hall on November 13, 2016. Photo credit: Keenan Higgins
In any case, last Sunday November 13th, the New York-based non-profit organization "Amigos de la Zarzuela" organized a memorable all-zarzuela concert in Carnegie Hall, to our delight. The program included solo pieces "romanzas", arias, and ensemble works from many different periods and the many different styles that one can find in the Zarzuela repertoire. We even listened to chamber music from composers such as Manuel De Falla, Enrique Granados or Luigi Bocherinni, composers that one necessarily does not relate to Zarzuela.
Maxim Anikushin, the piano virtuoso played these chamber pieces, sometimes solo, and at other times accompanied by Elisabet Torras Aguilera, who in this concert performed "Danza Clásica Española" and "Escuela Bolera" dance styles; her dance performances included difficult castanet playing, especially in her performance of "Danza V" by Enrique Granados; in this instance she was accompanied by the polished mezzo Anna Tonna (in a rare version of this solo piano piece with sung text), who is well known for her research and commitment to the music of Spain and Latin America; she had a clear vocal style that was perfectly suited for Zarzuela and for Spanish repertoire.
Spanish dancer Elisabet Torras Aguilera and pianist Maxim Anikushin during Isaac Albeniz's "Asturias", photo credit: Keenan Higgins
We also heard Spanish tenor Miguel Borrallo, who had an amazing high register, able to easily deal with the difficulties of the Zarzuela repertoire, well known for its vocal challenges.
Maxim Anikushin also accompanied soprano Rosa D'Imperio and baritone Ricardo Rosa, and the other two singers demonstrated their deep knowledge and understanding of the zarzuelas, specially at the end when all four performed the famous "Mazurca de las sombrillas" from Federico Moreno-Torroba's "Luisa Fernanda", or at the end of the first half of the concert in the inspired duet "Dejame tocar tu mano generosa" from Jose Serrano's "La Dolorosa" (my favorite) in which Anna Tonna and Miguel Borrallo did an excellent job and bringing the audience to tears and to a well deserved final ovation.
Final bows with Maxim Anikusin, Elisabet Torras Aguilera, Anna Tonna, Ricardo Rosa, Rosa D'Imperio and Miguel Borrallo, photo credit: H. Stephen Brown
Award winning Spanish composer Ricardo Llorca is a professor at the Juilliard School; he resides in New York City, website: http://www.ricardollorca.com/bio_eng.htm
Filed under Escuela Bolera, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music, zarzuela |	Leave a comment
"A Granados Celebration": Uniting artists from Spain and New York City for the Granados Centennial
Posted on December 15, 2015 by Anna Tonna
In 2010 I had the pleasure of meeting thru a mutual friend the American pianist and Naxos recording artist Douglas Riva. Like myself, Douglas had cultivated a career based on the musical culture of late 19th and early 20th century Spain, and specifically so, regarding the Catalan composer Enrique (Enric) Granados (1868-1916). I met him on the heels of the Isaac Albéniz centennial year, for which I had participated in two events: in NYC a small series of concerts entitled Albéniz the Ultimate Romantic with pianist Alexander Wu and guitarist Francisco Roldan; I had also been invited to participate in Albéniz's The Magic Opal by my friend the pianist and musicologist Borja Mariño, I helped to obtain a document about the libretto of this opera at New York University, was on hand to prepare the chorus and soloist with English diction, as well as sing the small role of Olympia in the revival of this opera at the Auditorio Nacional de España in Madrid. At the time I had hopes of doing an Albéniz concert at the Hispanic Society of America, but the fates were not with me. Knowing of the special relationship that the composer enjoyed with the founder of Hispanic Society of America, Archer Huntington, Douglas and I had our hopes to produce events for the Enrique Granados centennial year in 2016.
Composer Enrique (Enric) Granados
In 2012 we initiated the conversation with Hispanic Society and it was met with approval. Shortly after, the Official International Committee Commemorating the Centenary of Enrique Granados in 2016 and the 150th Anniversary of his birth in 2017 was formed with a group of scholars, professors, heads of foundations and musicians both in Spain and the United States. The committee is in part hosted and assisted by the Foundation for Iberian Music at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Part of the committee's goal is to have an updated calendar of events taking place throughout the world in 2016-2017 of the music of Enrique Granados, symposiums, commemorations and publications.
Two years of planning then took place to organize the events at Hispanic Society; we agreed on a series of three concerts entitled From Barcelona with Passion, with one dedicated to song repertoire and dance, one to the historical recreation of chamber music concert that took place in 1916 with Granados himself and cellist Pau Casals at the Ritz Hotel in NYC, and a final concert showcasing the solo piano music of the composer with Douglas Riva. The New York based Sylvan Winds also forms part of the Granados music season at Hispanic Society, with a concert that includes a transcription of a piece by Granados, accompanied by other music related to the time period. A symposium event and concert has also been planned for March 10 of 2016 in collaboration with the Foundation of Iberian Music, at the CUNY Graduate Center in NYC.
I was in charge of putting together the dance and vocal concert that just transpired this past December 10 of 2015. The first order of business was finding a pianist that could help me program and advise on repertoire, as well as being able to edit (he is also a composer) "Danza de los ojos verdes" a piece for classical Spanish dance dedicated by Granados to Antonia Mercé, La Argentina in 1916. The music transcript in Granados' hand writing is almost unreadable…I needed a virtuoso pianist accompanist, experienced and sensitive to singers; in him I had all those things. Borja, like many pianist accompanists in Spain, had been listening and playing the Tonadillas and the lesser known Canciones Amatorias practically all his life.
Pianist Borja Marino
Our title "From Barcelona with Passion" in my mind necessitated for us to have at least one interpreter from Granados' native Catalonia. We invited the lyric soprano Anna Belén Gómez to be part of the concert. We agreed to divide both cycles between the two female singers. It was agreed that we would perform 12 tonadillas al estilo antiguo, not excerpted as it is mostly done, but with all its elements, which for the most part is unknown to the general concert going public. The full cycle includes a song with a long recitation that relates a picaresque fable of Goya and an amorous escapade ("La maja de Goya"), a song for baritone called "El majo olvidado", a duet for mezzo and soprano called "Las currutacas modestas" and the inclusion of an English Horn (for which we invited Dianne Lesser) to play the instrumental obbligato part that Granados composed in "Maja Dolorosa I". The program included the entire cycle of the often neglected Canciones Amatorias (difficult for both pianist and singer!) and two of the Songs for male voice by Enrique Granados, recently edited by Douglas with Editorial Boileau in Barcelona (La boira and Noche y dia Diego ronda). I was able to enlist the help and participation of Argentinian baritone Gustavo Ahualli, fresh from bowing at the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, to learn these two elaborate and difficult songs (La boira is in Catalan), which ranged somewhere between the aesthetics of Mahler, Brahms and Wagner.
Artists of "From Barcelona with Passion: Dance and Vocal Music of Enrique Granados" in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America Museum & Library in NYC, in a pre-concert photograph on the night of the concert.
One of my favorite figures in this time period is the great Spanish dancer Antonia Mercé, La Argentina (1890-1936). La Argentina played an important role in our story: Archer Huntington helped make possible for the Metropolitan Opera of New York to premiere the opera "Goyescas". The ballet of this opera, the "Intermezzo", was intended to be interpreted by La Argentina, but there were contractual problems. Granados as a consolation for the dancer who was already in NYC, wrote "Danza de los ojos verdes", which was premiered with the composer in the audience in NYC in 1916. The concert of dance and vocal works included a new reinterpretation of this piece with choreography by Gala Vivancos and interpreted by New York based Spanish dance artist Anna de la Paz. Anna commissioned a copy of the same dress worn by La Argentina on that occasion in 1916, which was designed by the painter Ignacio Zuloaga. Both the new choreography and dress were essayed on the vocal and dance concert of December 10th at Hispanic Society.
Antonia Merce, "La Argentina"
One of the reasons this period in Spanish culture is interesting to me is because it is generally called "The Silver Age" of Spanish culture, and a big characteristic of the period is the collaboration and friendships of artists of all genres coming together to create new and at the time Avant garde modern pieces of art. Granados wrote dance pieces for the dancer Tortola Valencia among others; his contributions to the genre of dance is not generally known. Many painters and visual artists of the period participated in theatrical projects that included the designing of costumes and sets, as Picasso did with Les ballets russe and Sombrero de tres picos by Falla (the backdrop of this ballet currently hangs at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan). "Danza de los ojos verdes" was also a creation of friends, with composer, interpreter and painter/costume design…
Collage with an Ignacio Zuloaga painting, and a photograph of Anna de la Paz and Borja Marino interpreting "Danza de los ojos verdes" at Hispanic Society of America Museum & Library in New York City
If any readers of Spanish Song Slinger are performers or musicologists, and have events that can be listed in the Granados Centennial Year of 2016-2017 calendar, please send a press release with the event to the Iberian Music Center, with email heading Granados Centennial Calendar Announcement, to:
iberianmusic@gc.cuny.edu
For more information on the Enrique Granados Centennial, please see: http://www.granados100.com/
Filed under Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music and tagged Anna de la Paz, Anna Tonna, Borja Marino, Douglas Riva, Enrique Granados, Granados Centennial NY, Hispanic Society of America |	Leave a comment
Granados' Maja fetish
"I fell in love with Goya's psychology, his palette, with himself and the Duchess of Alba, with his pretty wife, his models, his quarrels, loves and courtships. That pinkish white on the cheeks in contrast to me with the black lace and embroidered velour, those bodies of swaying waists, mother-of-pearl and jasmine hands resting on jet ornaments have dazzled me…".
Thus wrote the composer Enrique (Enric) Granados (1867-1916); the two major achievements by this composer in vocal music are inspired by this world that Goya depicted of the "lower neighborhoods" of 18th century Madrid; its what I would call from my NYC point of view the "'hood", with his heroines, the brash and audacious young girls that during the day were perhaps fruit and hat sellers or bar maids at the botillerias of Madrid, and at night, were hanging out with their dangerous but dashing boyfriends, the Majos. The 12 Tonadillas al estilo antiguo and his opera Goyescas, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera 1916 (and remains to this day, the only opera by a composer of Spain to have graced the stage of the MET). In the Goya painting detail of La maja y los embozados, you can see how the young maja, confident and smiling knows how to handle herself in the middle of the tough and dangerous guys of the neighborhood; they are charmed by her no doubt, as she dances impervious to whatever danger there is (thriving in it even) and with "gracia".
On December 10th at 7 PM at the Hispanic Society of America, the first kick off concert for the Enrique Granados Centennial Celebration of his visit to the great city of New York , the first of a concert series of three events
From Barcelona with Passion: Vocal and Dance music by Enrique Granados
as well as of his untimely death that very same year in the English Channel. The program will include a complete rendition of the the Tonadillas al Estilo Antiguo, with text by Fernando Periquet, complete with the baritone solo "El majo olvidado", the duet for two female voices "La currutacas modestas" (the modest fashionable ladies), the English horn with the song "Maja dolorosa I", and the often neglected recitation by Periquet, that precedes the song "La maja de Goya", over the instrumental portion of that song, often played in silence, but when divinely played by pianist Alicia de Larrocha, as in her Decca London recording with Pilar Lorengar or the live LP with Victoria de los Angeles at Hunter College, NY, one could hardly miss it. Since I was assigned to sing La maja de Goya by my intrepid friend and colleague, the pianist Borja Mariño, who accompanies the soprano Anna Belen Gomez and baritone Gustavo Ahualli as well as myself in this concert, I have the task of doing this recitation. The recitation tells a fantasy tale of how, while with a lady in his studio, they are surprised by the her husband; the lady only has time to cover her face, as he bursts in. As the husband comes in to reclaim his wife, Goya challenges to recognize his wife by examining her naked body. The jealous husband, unable to identify the lady as his wife by her body alone, leaves with his apologies. All done in the Spanish "caballero" way…
After the recitation, a short "ditty" song begins, and in my imagination its the lady in question, who was saved by Goya's cunning, perhaps remembering after many years later with nostalgia, the adventures of the memorable afternoon, next to the Manzanares river.
Never in my life will I
forget the gallant and
cherished image of Goya.
There is not a woman, maid
or lady who does not think
well of Goya now.
If I might find someone
to love me
Like he loved me,
I would not envy nor yearn
for better luck or happiness.
It was related to me by the pianist and Granados specialist Douglas Riva that there seems to be evidence that the composer disagreed with the tone set by the recitation, in terms of the genre and the "cafe cantante" format that it gave to the cycle. The recitation to my knowledge has not been recorded and I have never witnessed a performance that includes it.
Goya's image of "a mixture of a artist, majo, bullfighter, soldier" to quote Periquet's recitation in La maja de Goya, seems to have captured the imagination of many in the 19th century. I'm half way thru a very colorful novel about his possible escapade with the Duchess of Alba called "This is the Hour". It has excellent depictions of dress, court manners, decorative arts, of dance and music scenes…as well as rendezvous scenes with the famous and fabled Duchess. Its proving to be excellent "light and fun" reading, for someone immersing herself in the world of Goya and the Las 12 tonadillas al estilo antiguo of Granados!
Vocal and Dance Music of Enrique Granados in December of 2015 in NYC
Tuesday December 8 at 7 PM a the Instituto Cervantes of NY
An Enrique Granados Celebration: http://nyork.cervantes.es/FichasCultura/Ficha102251_27_2.htm
Wednesday December 9 at 6:30 PM at the Coffee House Club of NY: http://www.coffeehouseclub.org/events-hours/
Thursday December 10 at 7:00 PM at the Hispanic Society of America Museum & Library
From Barcelona with Passion: Vocal and Dance Music of Enrique Granados
http://www.hispanicsociety.org/hispanic/concerts/ccrt_121015.htm
Filed under Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music |	Leave a comment
María Lejárraga, en sus palabras: El amor brujo
Posted on April 14, 2015 by Anna Tonna
Salón Real del Ritz
El Salón Real del Ritz, por otra parte, acogió el estreno de la versión para pequeña orquesta, y fue un espacio de gran importancia en la vida musical del Madrid de esos años.
El 8 de febrero de 1915 surge la Sociedad Nacional de Música, con un concierto inaugural celebrado en el Hotel Ritz de Madrid, en cuyo Salón Real Manuel de Falla estrenaría el 28 de marzo de 1916 la versión de concierto de El amor brujo, por la Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid dirigida por Enrique Fernández Arbós. Este Salón se constituyó en uno de los ejes centrales de la intensa vida musical madrileña en el primer tercio del siglo XX.
HOMENAJE A MANUEL DE FALLA
15 de abril del 2015 en el Salón Real del Hotel Ritz, 20:00h
Anna Tonna, mezzosoprano
Jorge Robaina, piano
CLAUDE DEBUSSY Suite bergamasque
MANUEL DE FALLA Pièces espagnoles. Cuatro piezas españolas.
Siete canciones populares españolas.
Oración de las madres que tienen a sus hijos en brazos
El amor brujo (selección)
Confirmación asistencia:
Concierto homenaje Hotel Ritz
Marcelo Bellagamba, programador y coordinador Ciclo de conciertos
marcelobellagamba@hotmail.com +34 649118871
Pastora Imperio con peineta y mantón
María Lejárraga (esposa de Martínez Sierra y autora del libreto), sintetizó el argumento de esta versión original de la siguiente manera:
"Una gitana enamorada y no demasiado bien correspondida acude a sus artes de magia, hechicería o brujería, como quiera llamarse, para ablandar el corazón del ingrato, y lo logra, después de una noche de encantamientos, conjuros, recitaciones misteriosas y danzas más o menos rituales, a la hora del amanecer, cuando la aurora despierta al amor que, ignorándose a sí mismo, dormitaba; cuando las campanas proclaman su triunfo exaltadamente".
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"Belleza de las Américas" for NYC: a concert for voice and guitar on Friday, February 20 at El Taller Latino in Manhattan
Posted on January 26, 2015 by Anna Tonna
I've been working on a guitar and voice concert by composers from the Americas for the past several years. The project began when I was approached by an American guitarist living in Madrid — Keith Rodriguez. We put together a presentation for a benefit concert for a non-profit group (CESAL) that raised funds for Haiti. I found songs by the Haitian composer Frantz Casseus which became part of the program. The program also included negro spirituals arranged by Rodney Stucky, American colonial-era songs arranged by Carlos Barbosa-Lima, as well as songs that I had developed many years before by Puerto Rican composer Ernesto Cordero, Brazilian composer Heitor Villa Lobos and others. This concert eventually became known as "Belleza de las Américas", a Pan-American program of composers from both the North and Latin Americas.
Francisco and I at Centro Cultural Civico Dominicano in Manhattan a couple of years ago, doing Dominican songs.
Yet this project really had its origin in the early 2000s, when I began to present concerts with Colombian guitarist Francisco Roldán here in NYC. Our first venture together was a concert in the former CAMI Hall, in which we mixed European and Latin American songs for voice and guitar. We continued to concertize together for more than five years doing projects, including a concert dedicated to Isaac Albéniz for the Puffin Foundation in NJ, as well as a wonderful project that highlighted the compositions of Dominican composer Rafael "Bullumba" Landestoy with our pianist friend Alexander Wu.
After several years, we are reuniting to do a concert at NYC's El Taller Latino Americano on February 20th, 2015 and our reunion comes about in a curious way: this past year I have been devoted to a recording project that friends and family know about, "España alla Rossini". The disc relates the dance and musical culture of mid 19th century Spain with the chamber music of songs of Gioacchino Rossini. I recorded the disc in Segovia (Spain) this past year, and it's set to come out in April of 2015. I ran a crowd funding campaign on Hatchfund to help pay for the expenses. One of my benefactors is John Kordel Juliano, a lover of Spanish culture; his generous contribution came with a gift of thanks from me: a live concert for voice and guitar on the date and place of his choice.
Me singing España alla Rossini at the Museo del Romanticismo in Madrid (Spain) last summer.
The prize/concert is a NYC version of Belleza de las Américas. Calling upon my old friendship with Francisco, we have devised a repertoire that includes most things in the version of this concert that I do in Spain with my friend Keith Rodriguez:
REPERTOIRE FOR BELLEZA DE LAS AMÉRICAS, A CONCERT FOR VOICE AND GUITAR
Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano and Francisco Roldán, guitar
Friday February 20, 2015 at 7 PM at
El Taller Latino Americano
The first four songs of Seis poemas arcaicos by Manuel Ponce, arranged for voice and guitar by Gregg Nestor that uses the Cancionero de Palacio: Mas quiero morir; Zagaleja del Casar; De las sierra; Sol, sol, gi, gi.
Four songs by Ernesto Cordero: Madrugada, Hija del viejo Pancho, Zenobia and Viaje Definivo
Dos canciones by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer on Lorca texts
Where is fancy bred by Elliot Carter
Modinha by Heitor Villa Lobos
Excerpts from Five Negro Spirituals, arranged for voice and guitar by Rodney Stucky: Little David Play On Your Harp; Give me Jesus; Deep River
A ti… , song by Colombia's Jaime León, arranged for voice and guitar by Francisco Roldán
Verano porteño as a guitar solo, by Astor Piazzolla
Come join us for "Belleza de las Américas"
at El Taller Latino Americano, located at 225 W. 99th Street Manhattan
Friday, February 20, 7 PM
http://tallerlatino.org/Events.php
Filed under Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music and tagged Anna Tonna, Astor Piazzolla, Belleza de las Americas, El Taller Latino, Elliot Carter, Ernesto Cordero, espana alla rossini, Francisco Roldan, Latin American Art Song, Leo Brouwer, Manuel Ponce |	Leave a comment
Recuerdo soñado XX…memories of "Belleza de las Americas" concert for voice and guitar with Aeterna Musica
Posted on August 28, 2014 by Anna Tonna
Recuerdo soñado XXDomingo 19 de mayo de 2013
Concierto extraordinario • La Belleza de las Américas
Anna Tonna (mezzosoprano) • Keith Rodríguez (guitarra)
Obras de Manuel Ponce, Heitor Villalobos, Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Ernesto Cordero, Frantz Casseus y canciones tradicionales de Estados Unidos.
Espacio Ronda
Recently my friend Francisco "Paco" Quirce who is one of the persons that leads Aeterna Musica posted this beautiful souvenir from a concert I did with them, with American guitarist (living in Marid) Keith Rodriguez.
Keith, who trained as a classical guitarist with the Romeros in California, lives in Madrid with his family and is a high school music teacher and chorale director. He first reached out to me to start a collaboration to do a recital for a fundraising event to help the earthquake victims in Haiti in Madrid in 2010 for an organization called CESAL. This link has a photo and sound clip of us performing a traditional colonial era song from the Americas, "Wayfaring strange":
http://www.cesal.org/v_portal/informacion/informacionver.asp?cod=1233&te=268&idage=1611
Keith and I performed this gorgeous program a couple of times now. Although I Iive in the States, when I go to Spain we continue to collaborate. Since that first concert with CESAL, we were presented by Aeterna Musica, Museo de las Americas and as part of another fundraising event for the non profit charitable organization Centro Solidaridad.
Aeterna Music is a non profit organization, and they do a wonderful and tireless labor; led by a group of musicians, aesthetes and university professors, they provide a space for musicians, poets and multi-disciplinary performers to perform. They have a loyal concert going public, provide a beautiful program, and they both record and tape all the performances, which take in Espacio Ronda in Madrid. They can be followed on their Aeterna Musica Facebook Page.
I have beautiful memories of this afternoon, performing songs for voice and guitar by composers of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, and the United States. This concert was the European premiere of the guitar/voice version of the Seis canciones arcaicas by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, arranged by American guitarist Gregg Nestor. This wonderful cycle are masterpieces in my opinion, and I have performed them in the piano/voice version. The guitar/voice version has been recorded the soprano Anna Bartos and Mr. Nestor, and is available on Amazon and iTunes.
I am especially fond of the Haitian composer Frantz Casseus, he has beautiful solo guitar music that can be heard on youtube. The song I sang "Girl from the woods" is beautifully interpreted by the soprano Rachel Flynn and is on youtube as well. Its a haunting melody, and a well known folk tune in Haiti, which has been artfully arranged by Casseus.
Keith and myself at Espacio Ronda
Notas de programa
Abarcando los campos de la música popular, folclórica y clásica, Manuel Ponce compuso Seis poemas arcaicos en 1939 originalmente para voz y piano, utilizando el codex madrileño de los Reyes Católicos, el celebrado "Cancionero de Palacio". Esta tarde este cíclo debuta en Europa en transcripción para voz y guitarra, elaborada por el guitarrista estadounidense Gregg Nestor. Continuando con la representacion en Norte America el programa incluye canciones tradicionales de la época colonial de los Estados Unidos y de la tradición afro-americana esclavo del celebrado género denominado spiritual.
Escucharemos la pieza modinha, termino para una canción sentimental, usualmente contando una historia de amor en los siglos XIX procedente de Brazil y Portugal; el Mstro. Villa- Lobos arregló esta simple melodia en el 1926, durante sus años parisinos.
El compositor Puertoriqueno Ernesto Cordero, titulado en el Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid, exhibe en sus canciones un nationalismo nostálgico e intrañable; ambos Madrugada y La hija del viejo Pancho llevan letra del poeta folclórico Llorens Torrens, ambas canciones que exaltan la vida de pueblo. Cadencia se acerca a la canción "canta autor", sumamente personal, pero con aires en el preludio de romanza medieval española. La breve composición titulado Zenobia, elaborado sobre un poema de Juan Ramón Jimenez, lleva el titulo de la esposa del poeta, aunque el poema originalmente lleva el titulo de "Para quererte, al destino" procedente del libro de poemas "Estío" (1915), y lleva una dedicación a la soprano Victoria de los Angeles.
Para solo guitarra el concierto incluye piezas por el consagrado Maestro Barrios Mangoré de Paraguay, autor de piezas consideradas obras maestras por los grandes guitaristas del mundo. La catedral, inspirado en momentos en J.S. Bach es considerado el magnum opus del autor.
Incluimos el poco conocido compositor haitiano Franz Casséus, un autor que aspiraba a las metas estéticas de Villa- Lobos, emplea material folclórico para elevar la música de su pais. Las dos canciones incluidas en este programa fueron progamados en un concierto benéfico que se llevo a cabo en el 2012 a cargo de CESAL para Haití despues del terremoto por nuestros dos artistas.
Belleza de las Americas Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano Keith Rodriguez, guitarra
Seis poemas arcaicos por Manuel Ponce México
transcipción para voz y guitarra por Gregg Nestor (1883-1948)Más quiero morir (Juan de Encina)
Zagaleja del Casar (Autor anónimo)
De las sierras (Pedro Juan Aldomar)
Sol, sol, gi, gi (Alonso de Plaja)
Desciende el valle (Autor anónimo)
Tres morillas (Diego Fernandez y autor anónimo)
Three American Folksongs Tradicional Estados Unidos
transcripción para canto y guitarra por Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Red Rosey Bush Modinha por Heitor Villa-Lobos Brazil
La Catedral por Agustín por Barrios Mangoré Paraguay (1885-1944)
Andante Religioso
Keith Rodriguez
Madrugada de Ernesto Cordero Puerto Rico (n. 1946)
La Hija del viejo Pancho
Haitianesques por Frantz Casséus Haití
No. 1 Cé grand matin (1915-1993)
No. 2 Fi' nan bois
Una limosna por el amor de Dios Agustín Barrios Mangoré
De Five Spirituals Tradicional Estados Unidos
transcripción para voz y guitarra por Rodney Stucky
Little David Play On Your Harp
Filed under Latin American Art Song, Latin American Vocal Chamber Music, Spanish Classical Art Song, Spanish Classical Music and tagged Aeterna Musica, Anna Tonna, Belleza de las Americas, Keith Rodriguez |	Leave a comment
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Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano
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For María Malibran: "Il sogno di Tartini" by Charles de Bériot August 7, 2019
From the Bronx to Formigine, Italy: "Verde, Bianco, Rossini!" in 2019 May 16, 2019
A "Carmen" Notebook: Bizet's Carmen and Lulu from "Pandora's box" January 28, 2019
"Loa al fandanguillo", creation of Conchita Supervia, with composer Modesto Romero November 6, 2018
Anna's Facebook Page

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Clinical Staging of Major Depressive Disorder: An Empirical Exploration
Judith Verduijn, MD; Yuri Milaneschi, PhD; Albert M. van Hemert, MD, PhD; Robert A. Schoevers, MD, PhD; Ian B. Hickie, MD, FRANZCP; Brenda W. J. H. Penninx, PhD; and Aartjan T. F. Beekman, MD, PhD
Objective: Clinical staging has been proposed to supplement psychiatric diagnoses. We examined the construct and predictive validity of a clinical staging model for major depressive disorder (MDD) that distinguishes 8 consecutive stages (0, 1A, 1B, 2, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4) based on symptom severity (Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology [IDS]) and duration (Life Chart Interview) and number of episodes (Composite International Diagnostic Interview [CIDI] based on DSM-IV criteria).
Method: This study is a secondary data analysis based on baseline data (collected 2004-2007) and 2-year follow-up assessment (collected 2006-2009) from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. 2,333 baseline participants were assigned to the 8 stages of the clinical staging model for MDD, and 2,012 participants were followed up after 2 years. For construct validity, differences between stages in clinical characteristics (eg, severity [IDS], age at onset [CIDI], and comorbid anxiety [CIDI]) were studied. Predictive validity was measured by the extent to which baseline stages predicted 2-year follow-up outcomes (eg, MDD presence [CIDI]).
Results: Later stages scored significantly poorer than early stages on most clinical characteristics and follow-up outcomes (all overall P values < .001), confirming validity of the model. This pattern was especially evident in mostly preclinical stages (0, 1A, 1B, 2). Among clinical stages (2, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4), stages characterized by long-lasting symptomatology had at baseline similar and the highest scores (IDS scores: stage 3A = 37.1; stage 4 = 39.0; disability scores: stage 3A = 36.7; stage 4 = 40.6) and compared to preclinical stages had increased probability of having MDD at 2-year follow-up (stage 3A: OR = 4.3; 95% CI, 2.8-6.7; stage 4: OR = 8.1; 95% CI, 5.7-11.5).
Conclusions: This study showed reasonable validity for an MDD staging model that based its stages purely on clinical characteristics. Results suggest that, contrary to the number of episodes, duration of exposure to the depressed state best characterizes clinical (later) stages of MDD. Future studies should test whether modifications to these clinical stages improve the validity of the model.


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Two holiday events scheduled in Spartanburg have been postponed tonight and rescheduled.
Rain throughout the day Tuesday and more scheduled tonight made event planners rework their calendars.
Greer Police Chief Dan Reynolds is the grand marshal for Sunday's Christmas Parade.
The Greer Christmas Tree Lighting with activities is scheduled Friday at Greer City Park.
A fire at the concessions building in the Santa's Village of Hollywild Animal Park was reported by a park official.
No people or animals were hurt, reported Kim Atchley, Executive Director of the park.
Jason Clark, honored as the Restaurateur of 2014 and 2016 in the Upstate, demonstrates how to carve a turkey and present a beautiful plate of food for the family and guests on Thanksgiving.
Upon moving to the City of Greer following his wife's death in 2007, World War II veteran Cliff Harpst became a fixture in the community, weaving tales about his life and war experiences throughout downtown Greer.
Deadline to register for this year's Christmas parade – themed "A Vintage Christmas" in Greer, is Wednesday.
The parade is scheduled Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2:30 p.m. The lineup begins at 1:15 p.m.
Children saw a free performance of "Clara's Nutcracker Journey" Saturday morning at the Greer library.
The free story time ballet was presented by the International Ballet of Greer.
Blair Carrier, an 8th grade student at Bob Jones Academy and resident of Greer, will travel to the University of South Carolina in January to compete as a Division Finalist (ages 11-14) in the Southern Division of the Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) Junior Woodwind Competition.
Blair, the daughter of Randy and Julie Carrier of Greer, won the State Junior Woodwinds Competition of the South Carolina Music Teachers Association at Converse College on Nov. 4.
The Blue Ridge High Honors Choir has launched its last fundraiser of the year to raise money to travel to the Smoky Mountains Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., next year.
Due to the choir state competition getting canceled, the school is reaching out for community support to compete in what students call "really prestigious competition".
The Greer Cultural Arts Council is offering volunteers show tickets, merchandise and program recognition by joining its pARTners initiative.


The following is one of those passages from Abraham Joshua Heschel—extraordinarily common in his writing—that is fascinating when considered as philosophy, penetrating when heard as theology, and quite moving and beautiful when simply read as poetry.
The passage of hours, almost unnoticeable, but leaving behind the feeling of loss or omission, is either an invitation to despair or a ladder to eternity. This little time in our hands melts away ere it can be formed. Before our eyes man and maid, spring and splendor, slide into oblivion. However, there are hours that perish and hours that join the everlasting. Prayer is a crucible in which time is cast in the likeness of the eternal. Man hands over his time to God in the secrecy of single words. When anointed by prayer, his thoughts and deeds do not sink into nothingness, but merge into the endless knowledge of an all-embracing God.
Those lines are from his book Man's Quest For God.
Perhaps it's something to do with aging, but I happen to be increasingly preoccupied with questions of time. Not so much the lack of it (which is very obvious and about which I can do nothing) but the nature of it, and in particular the difference between our time and God's. It doesn't matter that this is unknowable; if we ceased wondering about things which are unknowable I suppose that we would be very bored and very boring indeed. But you wonder—and I know that all humans, atheist, agnostic and devout, wonder this—why most seconds, minutes and moments just tick away like a great impersonal and unstoppable clock, and why there are other moments in our lives which may be incredibly brief on the clock but the duration and weight of which seem almost boundless to our experience. These moments can come in a wide variety of contexts, but I think they are often those moments in which we involuntarily shed tears, or at least are very deeply moved by something inexpressible. I think that we are certain, in such a moment, that what is happening matters a great deal, and that it will not simply pass on into the void but will somehow be remembered, and not only by ourselves. Are we wrong, or are we in such moments receiving a tiny glimpse of the eternal?
I don't usually remember dreams for very long, and I don't worry about them. But this is one of those very rare ones I don't think I will easily forget. You cannot help but wonder why you saw such a thing. It is not actually what I believe lies in store for me or indeed for anyone. I suppose it never occurred to me how horrible that could be at the final moment. How could you know how such a thing feels, after all, unless you experience it? In a way, in this strange dream, I did.
I could merely respond, with Ebenezer Scrooge, that "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato." Or more plausibly the combination of antihistamines I had ingested. But I'll take the occurrence of the dream as a strange gift, and a salutary warning of some kind, and worthy of reflection.
Certain kinds of psychologists, amateur and otherwise, could have a field day with everything I've written above, I have no doubt. It's possible to reduce everything to the clinical and the chemical, but it's my belief that if that's your goal, you may as well not even ask any big questions in the first place.
Since this odd series of thoughts began with Heschel writing about prayer, it can close with a prayer Heschel would have known well.


Greece is one of the noted countries in Europe. It has thousands of islands to enjoy . Green is one of the favoured destinations of the tourists from all over the world. Anyone could truly fall for the place in a very short period of time. This could be your honeymoon destination because it has everything to mesmerise and amuse you. The country is very beautiful with beautiful islands. Also, it comes in the list of world's top 20 countries. Talking about the statistical data, According to World Tourism Organization, the country received about 24.8 million visitors in 2016. This is a very huge number and is unbelievable. The country is perfect as a travel destination as well as a honey moon spot . You would not regret after coming back from this place.
Before we move ahead, the capital of the country is Athens and the language spoken here is greek. The currency used here is euro.
Here are some spots in Greece you must visit!
1.FIRA: It is the capital of Santorini. Santorini is a very famous island in the country Greece. There are historical museums associated with the Bronze Age. You get hot spring to see and experience here.
2.KOS: It is another island with beautiful beaches where you can enjoy with your spouse and the place would make you fall for it.
3.MILOS: It is an volcanic island with endless number of things to do. You have beaches here. You could experience sailing, kayaking and snorkelling. The place is very amazing.
4.THASOS : You have monasteries here. It is yet another island with amazing beaches to enjoy.
Overall the place is very amazing . The food is also good. You should definitely visit here.


2015-16: St. Mary's Athlete of the Month (December).
South River HS: 2015 graduate ... Played for Michael Zivic ... Four-year varsity letter winner ... Two-year team captain ... Washington Post Honorable Mention All-Metro ... Two-time All-Anne Arundel County selection ... Capital Gazette Athlete of the Week ... Averaged 10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists ... Honor Roll ... Principal Honor Roll.
Personal: Kobe Noelle Chaney ... SAAC representative (2016-17) ... Recess Buddies ... Born October 13, 1997 in Annapolis ... Daughter of Eric and Brandie Andrews ... Has three siblings, Lavon, Morgan, and Mackenzie ... Her brother, Lavon, plays football for Monmouth.
Future Aspirations: To become an athletic academic advisor for a college-level team.
Why St. Mary's?: To play basketballl and earn degree in order to get pre-requistes to get into PT school.
Best SMCM Sports Moments: Beating our big time rival Salisbury!!! ... Making the last minute free throws to help the team beat Penn State Harrisburg on our Pink Out and Senior Day game.


Comments: Pomoco Chrysler Jeep of Hampton is excited to offer this 2018 Chevrolet Malibu. How to protect your purchase? CARFAX BuyBack Guarantee got you covered. The Chevrolet Malibu LT is economically and environmentally smart. Chevrolet clearly delivers on its promise to provide a fuel-efficient vehicle that has the great qualities you need in a vehicle. The quintessential Chevrolet -- This Chevrolet Malibu LT speaks volumes about its owner, about uncompromising individuality, a passion for driving and standards far above the ordinary. There is no reason why you shouldn't buy this Chevrolet Malibu LT. It is incomparable for the price and quality.


"1984" screens at the Texas at 7 p.m. Tuesday; $2 from the admission will be donated to the National Endowment for the Arts.
The theater is located at 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. For more information, go to www.thetexastheatre.com.


The activities will be centered on supporting your needs and improving your story. Bring in issues you're confronting, and we'll give you guidance for improvement. You'll also gain powerful insights helping fellow students improve their stories. The class will be a warm and supportive environment. John has a variety of tools that will help with whatever your story needs. You'll leave with tons of new ideas for taking your book to the next level.


text:
import { ActionOptions } from './ActionOptions';

export interface ActionDisplay {
  id: string;
  data: {
    name: string;
    args: any[];
  };
  count: number;
  options: ActionOptions;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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George Soros admits he's toppling EU borders
Calls them 'obstacle' to protecting refugees
Published: 11/04/2015 at 7:21 AM
Cheryl Chumley About | Email | Archive
Cheryl K. Chumley is a journalist, columnist, public speaker and author of "The Devil in DC." and "Police State USA: How Orwell's Nightmare is Becoming our Reality." She is also a journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation in Washington, D.C., where she spent a year researching and writing about private property rights.
George Soros's foundations are a major financial backer of many of President Obama's immigration policies.
Billionaire George Soros, whose Open Society Foundation is known for investing in various pet progressive projects around the world, admitted in an email to Bloomberg Business he does indeed favor the toppling of Europe's borders.
They get in the way of helping refugees, he wrote, in an email to the news outlet.
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Soros made the claim in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's accusation that he was one of several "activists" trying to undermine the European Union by aiding the flow of migrants making their way from the Middle East to parts west.
As previously reported by WND, Orban said of Soros: "His name is perhaps the strongest example of those who support anything that weakens nation states, they support everything that changes the traditional European lifestyle. These activists who support immigrants inadvertently become part of this international human smuggling network."
Soros sent an email to Bloomberg in response, saying his own plan, published by his Open Society Foundation, "uphold[s] European values," compared to Orban's, which "undermine[s] those values."
Ann Coulter's back, and she's never been better than in "Adios, America!: The Left's Plan to Turn our Country into a Third World Hellhole."
Soros also wrote, Bloomberg reported: "His plan treats the protection of national borders as the objective and the refugees as an obstacle. Our plan treats the protection of refugees as the objective and national borders as the obstacle."
As Matthew Vadum, senior editor with Capital Research Center, wrote in a piece for FrontPageMag, Soros' statement means he "openly admits his efforts in Europe are aimed at destroying national borders on that continent."
Vadum also said, "Of course, it was Ronald Reagan who said, 'A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.' Soros is proving Reagan right."
Soros bankrolled 'hate crime' database used by media
8 journalists fired after Menendez comes to Soros' defense
Soros warns Europe about losing centralized control
George Soros has massive wall around his home
Millions in taxes support Soros agenda 'fomenting racial disharmony'
Soros funded firm behind anti-Trump 'dossier'
Mask off! Social-media censor king revealed
Soros money behind app to help illegals avoid feds
Billionaire Soros gets handout from U.S. taxpayers
Lawsuits ask: How much tax money goes to Soros projects?
Leftist 'charity' in middle of 'resistance' to Trump


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Tristan M. Child
Tristan M. Child, is a Los Angeles based producer and graphic artist.
Born in Los Angeles in 1986, Tristan and his family lived in Thousand Oaks for nine years until they had to relocate to Houston, TX. Where Tristan really got interested in Comic Books and Art. But it wasn't until 2000, where Tristan pulled all his academic interest towards art and sculpture. Hoping to one day work for his cousin Steve Varner, who designed all the Teenage Mutant Turtle Toys. However by the time, Tristan graduated The Woodlands High school, his focus had switched to cartoon and character drawings.
In 2005, Tristan attended school in Austin, TX for a year. But in 2006 he decided to move to London, to study animation for 2 years at The University of Westminster, where he was introduced to many different films and animations, rarely available in the U.S.. Tristan later found out that the job market in London for animators was very small, so he planned to move back to Los Angeles, to attend school at Otis College of Art and Design. There he found a new love with Character and Concept design. While Tristan was still at Otis, he interned at The Visual Effects Society, where he worked as a Video Editor, Camera Man and Production Assistant for the VES Awards Ceremony.
Later that year Tristan went on to work as a credited Technical Assistant and Digital Compositor on Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' The Pacific on HBO. He had a choice after the show had ended to go to New York to work on Boardwalk Empire, whoever Tristan decided to finish up his last year at college. Where he wrote and drew his own comic inspired by his love for old Kung Fu Movies called, 'Kung Fu Kandy' which he sold at the biggest comic store in LA Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd.
Tristan then went on become the Art Director for Nerd Girls, a novel published by Disney. His jobs include Character development, logo and concept design, working very closely with Gaston Dominguez-Letelier, the owner of Meltdown comics.
In 2012, he became the youngest Producer and Lead artist for Everyday Tomorrow Pictures, designing logo's, characters and posters for their projects such as, 'The America President' written by Paul Mooney, 'Death Valley: Karmageddon' and 'Piece Fest' produced by David Arquette, Corin Nemic, Dj Lethal and Risk.
He currently lives in Venice Beach with is dog Ringo.


Learn more about the creation of a classic.
I have to say, I love these little "behind the scenes" videos that Square Enix has been putting out to highlight their recent Final Fantasy ports. These games are undisputed classics of the RPG genre, and a whole lot of artistry goes into their creation, so it's fun getting to see the developers reminisce on the subject. Anyways, Square has put out a new making-of feature, this time focused on Final Fantasy VII. Check it out below (and make sure captions are enabled!).
Stay tuned to RPGFan for all things Final Fantasy!


In 1940s America, you could walk down any main street in any city and before long you would run into a movie theater. Today, downtown tends to be the last place we think of going to the movies: multiplexes demand real estate on a suburban scale, and the convenience of Netflix all but takes the "going" out of moviegoing. Yet despite their long decline, the former staples of American cityscapes may be undergoing a renaissance. Downtown boosters have realized that the big screens are more than places to see movies. They can also serve as community gathering spaces that respond to a demand for more than the latest blockbusters, enriching both the streetscape and cultural life of the city.
In fact, movie theaters and the spaces they inhabit have long adapted to changing times. In 1900, film was still a young invention with an uncertain future, but Americans were clamoring for a taste of motion pictures. So the first movie theaters, called nickelodeons—so named for the cost of admission to these ad hoc spaces—were usually housed in the rear of retail stores and numbered about 8,000 by 1908.
As movies matured and an industry developed around them, theater architecture came into its own. Nickelodeons moved to their own designated buildings, usually vaudeville theaters converted into movie-screening spaces, and the folding chair and white curtain aesthetic of their early incarnations gave way to the permanent seating and screens we're familiar with today. Theaters became more elaborate as architects crafted spaces that were as immersive as the movies they exhibited. Architect John Eberson designed close to 500 theaters, many of them in cities throughout the Midwest, in varying degrees of art deco style; Thomas Lamb's theaters brought exotic locales to the inner city with themed designs based ancient cultures near and far.
But among the early pioneers of movie theater design, no other architect influenced the theater's developing relation to the city more than S. Charles Lee. Though his designs were no less luxurious than those of Eberson and Lamb, Lee rooted his work in human psychology. Recognizing that movie theaters would thrive in urban environments on the promise of selling an experience more so than a product, Lee saved the flashiest features for the outside: marquees, canopies, and tiled sidewalks drew eyes and interest. Lee is said to have thought that "the show starts on the sidewalk," an approach to design that proved to be a boon to smaller cities. Though humble in comparison to their big-city counterparts, the no less modest architecture of small-town theaters gave local audiences the thrill of a big-city experience.
By 1946, annual movie ticket sales in America peaked at 90 million. The numbers were driven by the swelling numbers of theaters in cities and towns nationwide, although civic engagement also played a substantial role. With the television not yet a household staple, movie theaters in the 1940s would show newsreels alongside their regularly scheduled films; thus the theater became a center of intellectual engagement as much as one of entertainment. And in the case of Lee's theaters, going to the movies could easily be a family affair: many of his 300 or so theaters included restaurants and nurseries that made the cinema a downtown destination for everyone.
The tides of urban moviegoing reversed in the second half of the century. Due in part to a 1948 ruling against the monopolistic theater-building practices of movie studios, but exacerbated by the preponderance of television, movie theaters had seen their heyday. With the rise of suburbs and the advent of the summer blockbuster in the 1970s, theaters rapidly moved away from urban centers to make way for sprawling multiplexes whose cookie-cutter architecture paled in comparison to the grandeur of the early movie palaces. If Lee's psychological theory of movie theater design posited that architecture must reinforce the excitement of moviegoing, the blandness of the modern multiplex demonstrates how moviegoing today has been reduced to a consumer transaction like any other.
The old movie palaces that were once a mainstay of most town centers have been in many cases demolished (or converted to drugstores, the architectural discrepancy between storefront and tenant continuing to beguile pedestrians). But in recent years urban renewal has been saving many of these historic theaters from the brink.
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center of Montgomery County, Maryland was one of the first such beneficiaries of urban redevelopment. A single-screen, art deco movie house designed by Eberson in 1938, the Silver Theatre was a major draw in the area, then a relative backwater relative to nearby DC, through the '50s and '60s. With the rise of multiplexes and mega malls in the '80s, the Silver Theatre and adjacent commercial properties shuttered. Yet because of an unusually strong community life, residential decay did not follow.
Today the AFI Silver screens everything from contemporary independent films to American classics to international film festivals. According to Barry, the theater's unique programming owes less to an arrogant sense of curatorial expertise than to "an engagement with the community," and a desire to represent and respond to the interests of the neighborhood.
This kind of community engagement seems to be the key to survival for many historic theaters across the nation. Cinemas like the Avalon Theatre in Washington, DC and the Coolidge Corner Theatre of Brookline, Massachusetts both occupy vintage buildings and thrive as nonprofit film centers thanks to the involvement of neighborhood fundraising. Both theaters tailor their programming to the interests of the neighborhood: the Avalon regularly partners with the nearby French Embassy and local film scholars to program unique screenings for the area, while the Coolidge screens cult and Hollywood classics catering to movie lovers young and old in Boston and beyond.
Today even for-profit independents have more resources than ever before at their disposal to grow and thrive. Art House Convergence, an annual conference started by the Sundance Institute in 2006, brings together art house cinema owners from around the country to share stories and advice about confronting the challenges of running an independent theater in the 21st century. Last year's presenters represented theaters old and new, from Portland, Oregon's Hollywood Theatre, a 1926 former Vaudeville house in Spanish colonial revival style, to Winston-Salem's a/perture cinema, a fledgling fixture of the city's burgeoning downtown arts scene since 2010.
Though a/perture occupies a 1920s storefront, the building had not historically functioned as a cinema. What a/perture lacks in glamorous architecture, the owners have made up for in a community-based approach to design. The theater eschews a traditional street-front box office in favor of a spacious lobby showcasing movie posters by local artists. A crowdfunded expansion in 2012 added a third screening room and a glass atrium that gives the lobby more room to function as a community gathering space. And in a throwback to Lee's "show starts on the sidewalk" mantra, a/perture has remixed the old storefront of its building with a modern yet elegant facade to attract pedestrians along the Winston-Salem thoroughfare.
a/perture isn't the only instance of small theaters moving into the big city. The booming development of downtown Washington, DC is a case in point. Though many of the city's theaters closed in the late 2000s, three new theaters—two operated by the Landmark chain, a favorite of art house and foreign film lovers, one by New York's famous Angelika Film Center—have opened in the District in the last decade.
This new generation of urban theaters is moving away from the grandeur of the past while sticking to a tradition of community-influenced design. From the hobnob nickelodeons of the early twentieth century to the palatial theaters of the 1930s and 40s, to the cookie-cutter multiplexes of the 1970s and onward, movie theaters in America have evolved to match the expectations audiences brought to the movies. The rebirth of the urban indie theater as a cultural hotspot inspires hope that, even after the rise of the suburban multiplex, there's still a place for cinema in the city after all.
In another year or two, they should finally get around to re-opening the restored State Theater, on Phillips Avenue, the main drag in downtown Sioux Falls. The State first opened in 1926, and has been closed for about a quarter of a century (at which time it had been serving as a run-down discount house). It looks pretty glorious, and my understanding is that it will be primarily devoted to artistic/independent, foreign, and classic films. I certainly hope so!


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ArmadilloCon 2005: opening ceremony and space opera panel
by ElzePosted on June 13, 2020 June 13, 2020
Opening ceremony is one of the most memorable parts of an ArmadilloCon. The toastmaster tries to embarrass the Guests of Honor by poking fun at them on stage. The toastmaster in 2005 was a Canadian urban fantasy writer Charles de Lint. In his speech he made a big deal of the fact that the writer Guest of Honor, Charles Stross, is a "computer wrangler" and that he is from Scotland. I don't know if perhaps Scotland is viewed by Americans as being primarily agricultural, but Charles de Lint drew a lot of parallels between computers and farming (and, by extension, wrangling). "Scotland doesn't have server farms, their computers are free-range".
CIMG0141 Author Charles de Lint (left) as the toastmaster at ArmadilloCon 2005, and artist guest of honor Ctein (right)
Then he talked at length about Jim and Laurie Mann trapeze wedding. I missed most of it. I was too busy messing with my new recording gear, which is an MP3 player with a voice recording function, and a microphone that plugs into my laptop and allows me to record sound directly into the computer. It doesn't work very well. I don't know if it's a bug or a feature, but it stops every couple of minutes and then I have to press the Record button again. By then, some time has passed before I notice that it has stopped. So I'm sure my recording is missing large chunks of that speech.
CIMG0147 Laurie and Jim Mann and Charles Stross (right) at the ArmadilloCon 2005 opening ceremony
Developments in Space Opera
Then I went to a panel "Developments in Space Opera". Charles Stross was on it. There were some interesting points made there, but I still don't know if my recording is of a good enough quality to capture everything that was said. As may be expected for a panel with Stross, the discussion veered towards Singularity, although he didn't bring it up. (I'm actually surprised there are no Singularity-related panels in this year's ArmadilloCon, even though Stross is a guru on the subject. Two years ago, when Vernor Vinge, the writer who popularized the idea of Singularity, was the guest at the ArmadilloCon, several panels revolved around Singularity.)
CIMG0149 Writers Charles Stross and Sean McMullen (right) at the ArmadilloCon 2005 opening ceremony
Chris Robertson said we should ask Charles Stross to enumerate all singularities that the humankind has already been through. It turns out Stross thinks there had been a few. Apparently he does not define it as a very steep technological advance beyond which life ecomes unpredictable: by that account we haven't had a singularity yet. I guess he has a broader definition: it's any kind of technological or social change beyond which life can't be predicted. If that's really his view, then it's almost like he is taking an easy way out. Because all these developments listed below, except the first one, are not the kind that would create an unbridgeable gap between the humans on one side and the humans on the other. You could take a person who lived before let's say, agriculture was practiced, and explain the concept to him or her; he/she would probably understand what it means to cultivate the crops, even though he/she may find that idea strange or silly. Even though it's true that the long-ranging consequences of agriculture could not have been predicted in advance, it still does not create an intellectual gap so deep that the "before" would have no means, no tools, no capabilities of understanding the "after".
In contrast, Vinge (I think) associates Singularity with an emergence of superhuman intelligences. In that scenario we have no chance of understanding what those intelligences are like, or what they are "about", or how they will begin to change the world, than a dog has a chance of understanding what human beings are about. That's probably why Vinge, in his novels, does not try to portray a post-Singularity society, but limits himself to the "left behind" societi
es, or scenarios where Singularity happened, but a particular society was somehow bypassed, or escaped it.
On the other hand, one guy in the audience commended Stross for not avoiding the post-Singularity scenarios, but "bear-hugging" them.
Anyway, this is Stross' list. It is probably incomplete (I might have missed something).
1. Development of language. Obviously, there is an unbridgeable gap between the primates that don't have language and those who do.
2. Agriculture. Once humans started farming, a given area of land could support many more people than it could when they were hunter-gatherers. Once the population density increased, it would have been impossible to go back to hunting-gathering. Or so his argument goes.
3. Writing — ability to transmit knowledge from generation to generation.
4. Invention of finance and investing. He says, read Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" trilogy to get an idea how it changed society.
CIMG0152 Space Opera panel at the ArmadilloCon 2005. Left to right: Chris Robertson, Charles Stross, Jim Minz, Sean McMullen, Jayme Lynn Blaschke.
Posted in 2005, 2005-08, ArmadilloCon, ArmadilloCon 2005, August, authors, conventions, events, people, science fiction, science fiction / fantasy authors, science fiction / fantasy writers, science fiction conventions, technologists, writersTagged ArmadilloCon, ArmadilloCon 2005, ArmadilloCon 27, authors, Charles de Lint, Charles Stross, Chris Roberson, conventions, science fiction, science fiction / fantasy authors, science fiction / fantasy writers, science fiction authors, science fiction writers, Sean McMullen, singularity, Vernor Vinge, writers
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Home > Hannah Hartt
Author: Hannah Hartt
Featured Summer Courses
Published date April 28, 2022
For a full list of summer course selections, click here English R1B: Thinking through Memory in Poetry and Fiction with Dana Swensen Summer Session A: May 23 – July 1 How and why do we remember? What does 'memory' mean to both an individual and a culture? How do fictional narrators construct their memorial landscapes? In this class we will...
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Edwidge Danticat | Once Upon an Endless Night: Storytelling and the legends that made me a writer
For information on the Bedri Distinguished Writer Series, including past and forthcoming events, please visit the Series' website. Join us for a public lecture with Edwidge Danticat, the Spring 2022 Bedri Distinguished Writer, on Thursday, April 28th at 8:00 PM in 315 Wheeler Hall (the Maude Fife Room). A smaller, department-only Q&A will take place earlier in the day at...
READ MORE Edwidge Danticat | Once Upon an Endless Night: Storytelling and the legends that made me a writer
2022 Gayley Lecture | "First Thing Smokin' ": A Trajectory Concerning Railroad Sense | C.S. Giscombe
April 19 at 8pm in the Maude Fife Room (315 Wheeler Hall) The 2022 Gayley Lecture will be given by Cecil S. Giscombe, Professor and Robert Hass Chair in English. The talk's an inquiry into the status of the railroad as a complicated series of facts in Black life and art and will be drawn, in large part, from materials...
READ MORE 2022 Gayley Lecture | "First Thing Smokin' ": A Trajectory Concerning Railroad Sense | C.S. Giscombe
April 30 | The Ones Who Leave by Nagahara Hideaki
A Stage Reading of Nagahara Hideaki's –The Ones Who Leave– translated by Andrew Way Leong with Q & A moderated by Philip Kan Gotanda. About this event The Ones Who Leave (Sariyukumono, 去り行く者, 1927) is the only surviving play of Nagahara Hideaki, a Los Angeles-based author who wrote for a Japanese-language audience in the mid-1920s. The Ones Who Leave depicts the struggles of the...
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Published date March 7, 2022
There is still time to join our Spring 2022 seminars! If you are like many graduates, your seminars count among your most vivid college memories. We'd like to share that experience with you again by inviting you to read along with the two current seminars highlighted below. For each seminar, we provide selected readings and discussion questions, along with an invitation...
READ MORE Read Along with Berkeley English
Danielle Evans, Author of The Office of Historical Corrections in conversation with Beth Piatote, Author of The Beadworkers
Published date February 23, 2022
The Department of English and the New Literary Project present the winner of the 2021 New Literary Project Joyce Carol Oates Prize, Danielle Evans. Danielle Evans is the author of the story collections The Office of Historical Corrections (Riverhead, 2020) and Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self (Riverhead, 2010), which won the PEN American Robert W. Bingham Prize, the...
READ MORE Danielle Evans, Author of The Office of Historical Corrections in conversation with Beth Piatote, Author of The Beadworkers
Cecil Giscombe and Judith Margolis: Train Music
Published date February 3, 2022
A poet and a book artist take a train across the United States, creating and conversing along the way. Cecil Giscombe and Judith Margolis recently published Train Music, a collaborative travelogue that explores race and gender with a mix of poetry, prose, and visual art. In Train Music, Giscombe's narrative disjunctions and Margolis' figurative abstractions crisscross at a roundhouse ('I'm not...
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The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are
On Wednesday, February 2nd at 12pm, Elisa Tamarkin (English) will be talking with David Henkin (History) about his new book, The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are. Click here for the livestream. We take the seven-day week for granted, rarely asking what anchors it or what it does to us. Yet weeks are...
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The Bedri Distinguished Writer Series – Fall 2021
Published date October 8, 2021
For information on the Bedri Distinguished Writer Series, including past and forthcoming events, please visit the Series' website. Join us for a public lecture with Jennifer Egan, the Fall 2021 Bedri Distinguished Writer, on Thursday, November 4th at 5:00 PM in 315 Wheeler Hall (the Maud Fife Room). A smaller, department-only Q&A will take place the following day (Friday, November...
READ MORE The Bedri Distinguished Writer Series – Fall 2021