After nearly two centuries of query, search and indefatigable hope, the second of Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated vessels, the HMS Terror has been found in a Nunavut Bay (appropriately named "Terror Bay") some 92 km South of it’s long assumed burial site (believed to have been somewhere under the frigid waters of King William Island and Victoria Island in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago) by private charitable organization The Arctic Research Foundation.
The historic find comes just two years after it’s sister ship, the HMS Erebus was located in Canadian waters on the second of September 2014 by a Parks Canada team headed by Ryan Harris and Marc-André Bernier as part of the nation’s effort “to reinforce Canada's claims regarding sovereignty over large portions of the Arctic.”[1] The present find, and that of the HMS Erebus in 2014 has huge implications in the annals of both Canadian and British history (Franklin was English) and the modern interpretation of Franklin’s doomed route across the frigid waters of the Great White North that had led the Naval Officer to pursue a brave effort to smash though (i.e. to complete) a crossing of the Northwest Passage.
The Expedition Entering Baffin Bay in Search of John Franklin
- Stuart Henry Bell, 1850.
The Erebus, commanded by James Fitzjames under Sir John Franklin, and the Terror, by fellow British Naval Officer Francis Crozier (also under Franklin), failed to achieve it’s mission when both vessels famously became ensconced in the unforgiving icy waters of the Canadian North, forcing crews (some 105 remaining explorers of an original crew of 129) to navigate on foot – braving harsh weather, fatigue and starvation – perhaps even succumbing to cannibalism in a brazen attempt to survive – as they unsuccessfully sought out a trading post via the Back River, many hundreds of miles to the South. All men would succumb to the elements, exhaustion and disease (pneumonia and tuberculosis); the unforeseen divergence had already taxed the rationed supply of food, giving way to scurvy. 20th century expeditions to retrace Franklin’s mission led by Canadian anthropologist Owen Beattie in the 1980’s would also reveal certain crew members had suffered the pain and psychosis brought about by botulism – courtesy of poorly sealed tin cans laced with the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and lead poisoning - the key ingredient used to solder the poorly sealed cans. The precise location of each wreck – kept under lock and seal for preservation and to avoid looting – has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada, thus granting the country a further stronghold over disputable autonomous regions in the North.
Learn more about the historic discovery and the “pristine” condition of the Terror (includes exciting footage of the wreck!) by viewing the news segment below and by perusing the links that follow:
What a time to be alive! I was just but 10 years old when I first ‘discovered’ the ill-fated tale of the doomed Franklin Expedition. There I was: a little girl-bibliophile, enthusiastically perusing the latest Scholastic inventory when I stumbled upon the synopsis for Owen Beattie’s “Buried in Ice: The Mystery of a Lost Arctic Expedition.”
John Torrington, discovered by Beattie's team in 1984.
Noble men, a brave endeavor, man’s perseverance, and his fragility – inpioneering, camaraderie, disease, tragedy – death – what was not to love?I set my eyes on the frozen cadaver ofJohn Torrington– inset on the book’s cover – grim, perhaps – fascinating – you bet! There Torrington lay, perfectly preserved in his blue striped tunic, his expression denoting a peaceful oblivion spent submerged under frigid waters –Canada’swaters – MY waters – and I knew right then and there, I was to be a student of history - and the fate of this man and that of his comrades has both mesmerized and fascinated me ever since.
But it didn't stop there. Beattie’s ‘expedition’ piqued my curiosity far beyond a mere historical aspect asI became navigator, peeling through page after page – only to close the back flap and start once more from the beginning. I would come across the cadavers ofshipmatesJohn Hartnelland William Braine– both in equally pristine condition, and I began to marvel at the preservation of man and the persistence of nature, even long after death. As I read about scurvy and the rat infestation that had plagued both ships, it became immediately clear to me that when pressed and taxed to the utmost extreme, the human body – engendered by an emboldened spirit – could be quite capable of superhuman strength, and astonishing ability. Somewhere along the way, my interests in history, anatomy and remarkable human feat would bring me into the realm of classical music and opera – not just through the shared enormous physical and emotional effort it requires, but via it’s equally rich history: it’s association with Kings and Conquerors, it’s presence in times of war and times of détente, it’s dogged quest for Nationalism, recognition, remembrance – and above all, for it’s ingenuity, it’s perseverance over generations past, and the richly rewarding future it’s history will bestow upon generations to come. With the Erebus, and now the Terror, once more laying claim to our collective conscience, I am reminded of the spirit of those brave men, who, much like personal favorite composers like Wagner and Mozart, courageously sought dominance over uncharted waters – and who, while preternaturally meeting an untimely and most unfortunate demise – have absolutelyconqueredthough the eyes of posterity.
What a truly prosperous day for Canada and the Commonwealth!
Today's Quote of the Dayis perfectly suited for capturing the essence of this proud historical event, and comes to us courtesy of Edvard Grieg.* Celebrate the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror with a recording of the lustrous Solveig’s Sang - incidental music penned by the composer for Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt. (Barbara Bonney Soprano):
“The winter may pass and the spring disappear
The summer too will vanish and then the year
But this I know for certain: you'll come back again
And even as I promised you'll find me waiting then...”
- *text by Henrik Ibsen. From Solveig's Sang (Song), Peer Gynt, Edvard Grieg
It’s time for another installment ofMAYHEM BEHIND THE MUSIC:Trivia & Humor.
This edition examines some rather curious American inventions and humorous innovations, a famous father-son rivalry – and an even more famous little mutt by the name ofNipper.
Featuring a rowdy premiere that could stand toe-to-toe with Stravinsky’s infamous riot in Paris.
WHAT A BUNCH OF DANDIES...
A "Yankee Doodle" - riding on a pony.
We begin in the good ole U.S. of A - in a little town named Lexington, in the“Bay State”of Massachusetts. It is the 19th day of April in the year 1775. As a band of British troops presently serving on North American soil march northwestward from Boston to Lexington and Concord, the high-pitched ring of a fife and the rat-a-tat-tat of drums can be heard playing most jovially through the temperate spring air. Rising over both flute and drum are the rousing voices of the Brits, singing a mocking air about the plight of the dandy – theYankee Doodle Dandyto be precise. The crude lyric“stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni”a direct assault on the American colonials obsessed with dressing the part of a finely manicured - and most effeminate - Italian gentleman and foolishly attempting to adopt his perfecting aires. The Brits, it seemed, had a running joke - so uncouth was the American – so much of a refined wannabe was their innermost desire (running around spouting off catch Italian phrases in an effort to appear more cultured in addition to adopting their dress) – that the Brits began to refer to themas“Macaronis.”
When the Americans heard the offending satirical song rising up over the plains, they reacted not with a sense of vitriol, but rather turned the Brits - and their mocking joke - on its head, by repeating the song – mocking lyrics and all - back to the enemy amidst rebel fire. Proudly adopting the crude humor of the Brits in a charmingly self-deprecating manner, the Americans would again serenade the Europeans – when the Brits were forced to surrender at Saratoga and Yorktown. Kind of makes the Yankee’sadoption of the crass"To Anacreon in Heav’n"seem all the less ironic in retrospect.
[Fun Fact]Now considered a patriotic air, "Yankee Doodle" can be heard most often in the northeastern state of Connecticut - where it serves as state anthem! Listen to a recording of the famous tune below:
THE TRIUMPHANT BIRTH OF A FOUNDING FATHER'S MOST MUSICAL CHILD:
Benjamin Franklin seated at his glass armonica
13 years earlier to the Southwest, AmericanFounding Fatherand future President of PennsylvaniaBenjamin Franklinwas busy making music history with the creation of a new instrument similar in sound to the celesta which he would dub"the glass armonica"– a curious looking contraption consisting of thirty seven glass bowls attached to a spindle which could be spun via a foot pedal to produce an eerily crystalline resonance reminiscent of wet fingers circling the rims of various sized wineglasses (which is exactly how Franklin came up with the idea after first hearing a demonstration of this technique at a concert in 1761). The glass armonica would win the praise of some notable physicians in the both the American medical sector and overseas who lauded it’s (alleged) soothing abilities for those stricken with melancholia (a supposition later proven to be false when the safety of the instrument was roundly bashed in it's own revised operating manual in 1788 - which would lead to the glass armonica becoming temporarily banned in Germany as a preventative precaution against potential madness - or even succumbing to an untimely death).
Talk about a turnaround...
Whether friend or foe to the new instrument, one thing remained certain: the glass armonica created quite the stir in the musical sphere. Even major composers would express interest in Franklin's invention - a few even wrote music for it – the most famous of which can be heard below:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’sAdagio & Rondo for glass harmonica in C minor:
TAKE THAT BARK ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK...
The Brits would once more leave an indelible mark on Western Americana – and indeed on the rest of the world – via a curious little mutt namedNipper– a Jack Russell mix who hailed from Bristol, England. When Nipper (named after his naughty penchant for ‘nipping’ at the heels of visitors to his masters home) unexpectedly died in 1895, just seven years after his ownerMark Henry Barraudpassed, Baurrad's surviving brotherFrancisdecided he would pay tribute to both master and mutt by painting a portrait of Nipper, his head curiously cocked to one side – sitting most intently before a wind-upEdison-Bell cylinder phonograph– a music player inherited from his late sibling. The painting, completed in 1898, might also serve as a means to make a quick profit for the brother Barraud. Francis would present the portrait to James E. Hough, manager at theEdison-Bell Companyin New Jersey USA, who promptly rejected it on the basis that “Dogs don't listen to phonographs.”
The opera produced for the evening wasDaniel Auber’sLa Muette de Portici– a patriotic tale of revolutionary spirit that depicted a poor man’s uprising against the powerful Spanish rulers occupying Naples. It was a curious choice of libretto for the French composer, who chose to stage it as an homage to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands' (to which Belgium then belonged) reigning King,William Iduring theKing William I Festival launched in celebration of the 15th year of His Majesty's reign. Apparently Auber hadn’t received the memo that a pre-ordained revolt had been scheduled to take place on the eve of La Muette’s performance at the Theatre – nor did it appear that the Frenchman possessed any idea whatsoever that William was, to many of the citizens of Belgium, a tyrannical oppressor. As La Muette sauntered into its second act – and right before the duet"Amour sacré de la patrie" could get it’s first notes off the ground, the theater abruptly erupted into chaos. One contemporary eyewitness account details the horror that unfolded that fateful evening:
"When Lafeuillade and Casscl began singing the celebrated duet. "Amour sacre de la patrie" enthusiasm exploded irresistibly and [the singers] found it necessary to start afresh in the midst of the cheering. Finally, when Masaniello (Lafeuillade) launched into his entreaty, the invocation "Aux Armes!," the public could no longer be restrained. They acclaimed aria and actor, they booed the fifth act in order to stop the performance, and the delirious crowd [hurled itself] out of the hall... welcomed by the other crowd which waited outside, it joined in the demonstrations which loosed the revolution of 1830."
As raised voices became lost in the calamitous fray and fists began to fly freely from man to man, newly formed mobs who were freshly energized by the riot in the theater took to the streets of Brussels, looting local businesses and laying waste to factories, destroying the machineries found inside. The uprising would quickly spread throughout the country. If Stravinsky sought any form of comfort after the infamous riot at the rite in 1913, he needn’t have looked any further than Auber.. his predecessor in social outrage. Speaking of outrage, Did You Know?
Composer-King Frederick the Great wasn’t the only musician to have been corporally punished by his father for daring to dream of a life spent making music.
The newly-crowned "King of the Waltz"
Johann Strauss.. Junior,thankyouverymuch.
Viennese"Waltz King"Johann Strauss the elder famously sparredwith his son – also named Johann (the second) – when the boy had the audacity to take up the violin. No son of Strauss’ was going to dare try to take his father’s place – no, not for young Johann. The father Strauss demanded his son take up a“more respectable”vocation: in matters of law or in finance. Much like the King of Prussia, who was soundly cane-whipped across the arse by an enraged father when he was discovered practicing on his trusty flute in secret, a young Johann would receive regular beatings at the end of a three-tailed whip from Johann Sr. for his transgression of stealing away for private lessons on his violin. This cruel form of corporal punishment was immediately preceded by the elder Strauss warning his son that he would "beat the music" out of him. Johann Jr., however, was undeterred by his fathers malevolence – by age 19, he bravely informed his father of his intent to not only compose, but also to publicly stage a waltz – to which his father unceremoniously scoffed“you have no idea how to write a waltz!”
The senior Strauss took matters even further, hiring a rowdy band of claquers to rise from the audience and hiss. He even rounded up a bunch of brutes to surround the casino where his sons concert was being held in order to incite a riot. Much like in the case of Stravinsky, police had to be called to disperse the crowds.
So much for blood being thicker than water.
Listen below to what is perhaps the most famous waltz of all time, Johann Strauss Junior's"Blue Danube":
Did you know?
...that the United States National Anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” has some salaciously scandalous, rather comical - and very British - roots?
Anacreontick's in full Song by caricaturist James Gillray.
Upon revisiting the powerful, testosterone fueled lyrics and melody that makes this Anthem truly one of the worlds most impacting and instantly memorable tunes, the average Partiot would feel quite the sense of irony upon discovering that the melody of the “Star-Spangled Banner” is not only English (and not American as most previously believed), and as for it’s lyrics...well..let's just say, they were less than patriotic.
Originally titled “To Anacreon in Heav’n,” the true progenitor of what we now know as The Star Spangled Banner was in fact nothing more than a lewd drunkard's tune, one that was so frequently sung by the often raucous and inebriated members of a special "Gentleman's Club," that it became the club's official drinking song! The name of the 15th century men's only pub? "The Anacreon" making the current anthem an Ode to Freedom and Democracy, and it's grandfather's an Ode to "Free Lovin' " and Drink! [Fun Fact]
The Anacreontic Song (Listen to the song below):
"To Anacreon in Heaven, where he sat in full glee, A few sons of harmony sent a petition, That he their inspirer and patron would be; When this answer arrived from the jolly old Grecian: Voice, fiddle, and flute, no longer be mute, I'll lend you my name and inspire you to boot And besides I'll instruct you like me to intwine The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine."
–Words by Ralph Tomlinson, music by John Stafford Smith, C.1775.
Read more history on the anthem here, including details on Stravinsky’s near arrest and Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture! (which I’ve always ‘heard’ –at least in similarity- to “...so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming…”)
Footnotes:
Flag of the United States of America
[Fun Fact]Anacreon was an ancient Greek poet who was known to boast proudly as an advocate of drink and held a special penchant for sex in his -ahem - heart. In essence, "To Anacreon in Heaven" is actually a tribute, or an ode to a sex crazed, famous alcoholic! (Note the rather raunchy repetitive: "And besides I'll instruct you like me to intwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine," "Venus" being the goddess of love, and "Bacchus" the god of wine).
For the modern listener/reader, To Anacreon in Heaven's text may appear, at first listening, a rather chaste song paying homage to some ancient Greek gods. Digging a little deeper into the characters featured the music, and into the inspiration source of it's authors melody and lyrics and one will find a litany of lewd and lascivious innuendo that would make your mother blush. Read the full text of "To Anacreon in Heaven"here (external link).
For more stories like these, check out the Mayhem archives listed below.
Wolfgang Amadè Mozart surrounded by angelic putti.
Today marks the 227th anniversary of the death of Western classical music's most celebrated icon: Wolfgang Amadè Mozart, who passed away at the tender age of 35 of causes that remain undetermined: the description noted in a Vienna death register of "hitziges Frieselfieber"- or high intermittent fever accompanied by rash, otherwise known as miliary fever - left much to the imagination.
Owing to custom at the time of Mozart's death, attending physicians were not required to provide a death certificate for the recently deceased - in Mozart's case, that task was left to a Viennese city official, whose curious entry created more questions than provided answers: "hitziges Frieselfieber" amounted to little more than a vague description of the sympoms experienced by the composer before death - it did not conclusively answer what killed him. Most of us will be familiar with the legend of a highly romanticized image of Mozart, bedbound and sickly, dictating his Requiem to an duplicitous former colleague in the much-beleaguered Italian émigré and Imperial KapellmeisterAntonio Salieri - a popular, fictional fable made famous in the writings ofAlexander Pushkin(in the famous Russian playwright's 1830 poetic drama"Mozart and Salieri" ), in the subsequent operatic adaptation byNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1897, and most notably in filmmakerMiloš Foreman's1984 epic "Amadeus," after the play byPeter Shaffer.
Unraveling Musical Myths has debunked the delicious folklore of each of these masterpieces in detail in previous posts, and will thus spare the reader any repetition here. Suffice to say, although Mozart's glorious, unfinished Requiem in D minor was in fact worked on by the composer up until the time of his passing (although not alongside Salieri), the mass was not, in the truest sense of the word, Mozart's de-facto final work. That honor lay with the composer's final, completed work: a cantata in honor of his Freemason brethren entitled “Eine Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate” (A Little Masonic Cantata, K.623), written during the composers surprisingly productive, final year on earth.[1] The brief cantata, entered in Mozart's own hand into his catalogue of works (his“Verzeichnüss aller meiner Werke”) on 15th November 1791, would be conducted by the composer himself three days later at its official premiere before an intimate gathering of Freemasons at the opening of the new temple of the“New-Crowned Hope” Lodge, marking the last time Mozart would appear in public as a performer-composer. The works debut would come during an all-too-brief period of remission from the final, mysterious illness which would force the composer to take to his bed two days later (on the 20th of November), and which would ultimately rob the musician of his life at the tender age of 35.
Am unknown Viennese Freemason Lodge, formerly identified as Mozart's New-Crowned Hope Lodge:
"Innenansicht der Wiener Loge," c.1790, attr. Ignaz Unterberger (Wien Museum Karlsplatz)
The Freimaurer-Kantate would briefly hold the distinction of semi-legendary status prior to that of the composer's final, unfinished work, the famous Requiem,[2]which would by all measures eclipse the heaps of critical praise rightfully awarded the jubilant cantata. Where Mozart's Requiem bid farewell to life in the melancholic key of D minor, the “Little Masonic Cantata” – which opens with a chorus which sings of how its fellow Masons “Loudly Proclaim Our Joy” - does just that: in the exultant key of C major, the cantata celebrates life itself – it's primary recitative a proclamation of the efforts of the Freemason brotherhood of 1791[3] - which fancied itself a gathering of the intellectually and morally elite – to uphold and extol into the world extreme virtue:
“Sweet are the feelings of a mason on such an auspicious occasion, when the chains of brotherhood which binds us are forged anew; sweet the feeling that humanity has come again to dwell with mankind; sweet the remembrance of that former place where every Brother's heart show what he was, and what he is, and what he may become; where truest love and brotherhood are found, and where the queen of all the virtues, the greatest, highest of virtues, Beneficence, is enthroned in quiet radiance.”
Indeed, even Mozart himself is said to have considered the Masonic Cantata as one of his finest works. According to his widow Constanze, the composer, upon finishing the work, quipped:
“If I didn't know that I had written better things, I would regard this as my best work.”
Referred to by contemporary critics as his “Swan-song,”Mozart's Freimaurer-Kantate, set for three-part male-voice chorus with tenor and bass soloists, and orchestral accompaniment of strings, flute, oboes and horns begins with a chorus hailing the consecration of the New-Crowned Hope Lodge, followed by the recitative translated above (in which two tenors compare the Freemason “Brotherhood” to the goddess of wellness, Beneficence– a double entendre of sorts in which the invocation of the Divinity simultaneously pays indiscreet homage to the Zur Wohltätigkeit Lodge in Vienna in which Herr Mozart was initiated into the degree of 'Apprentice'in 1784.) The comparison of the noble attributes shared by the members of the 'Brotherhood' (and the aspirations of mankind as a whole) with the charitable, virtuous Divinity continues on into the first aria of the cantata – an homage to the goddess extolled by two tenors – with a libretto that embraces the shared qualities of temperance and servitude. This is quickly followed up a recitative and aria in which a solo tenor and bass re-assert the Freemason code of honor: to “banish forever from [their] breasts...envy, greed and slander”and to continue to renew oneself in the virtuous tenets of love, and of harmony. In effect, Mozart's Freimauer-Kantate is a song of fraternity and of noble aspiration. It was the cantata which found itself the subject of awe, and of raving reviews immediately following the composer's untimely death: an obituary published in the Bayreuther-Zeitung on the 13th of December reads:
“Music has suffered an irreparable loss. He died too early for his family and for art, to which he would have presented still more moments to his abilities. His last work was the composition of a cantata which he had supplied to the local Freemasons, of which he was a member...said to be a masterpiece of noble simplicity.”
Indeed.
Listen below to Mozart's Freimauer-kantate. Chorus Viennensis and the Wiener Akademie perform under Martin Haselböck.
[1]Works during this year included two full length operas: Die Zauberflöte (K.620) and La Clemenza di Tito (K.621), three concertos in the same year (a personal feat not accomplished since 1786); an adagio and rondo for the glass armonica, flute oboe, viola and cello (Benjamin Franklin's new instrument, designated K.617); string quintet, concert aria (“Io ti lascio, oh cara, addio,” K.621a); a contrapuntal study (K620b); two cantatas ("Eine kleine deutsche Kantate,” K 619 and the presently aforementioned cantata on which this article is based, K.623); 160 bars of an incomplete andante for piano four hands, and an unfinished Requiem. A full listing of Mozart's output in his final year may be found in the Köchel catalogue, or via Mozart's own Thematic catalogue,recently digitized for online access by the British Library.
[2] At the time of his passing, Mozart had completed of his Requiem the Introit in full score, and vocal parts, continuo and some instrumental passages had been written for the Kyrie, Dies Irae, Tuba mirum, Rex Tremendae, Recordare, Confutatis, (eight bars of) the Lacrimosa, Domine Jesu and Hostias. Realisations of the Requiem were first attempted by the Austrian composer Joseph Leopold Eybler, who had partially orchestrated the Sequence before returning the score to Mozart's former pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who completed it in February 1792. The alleged hand of Mozart's former pupil Franz Jacob Freystädtler having authored the orchestral parts of the Kyrie (with the exception of the trumpet and timpani parts) remain a subject of derision among modern scholars. An incomplete version of the Requiem as Mozart had left it before death has been attempted in modern times – Conductor Christoph Spering issued a recording of the unfinished work in 2002 through the OPUS 111 label. Listen to it here (note that the tempi used by Spering may not be Mozart's own.)
[3]The Freemasons in 1791 existed as a society far removed from its present establishment. Described as an “anti-Catholic/non religious” group of “..closely-united men who, employing symbolical forms borrowed principally from the mason's trade and from architecture, work for the welfare of mankind, striving morally to ennoble themselves and others, and thereby to bring about a universal league of mankind, which they aspire to exhibit even now on a small scale" - quotes by E.J. Dent, Mozart's Operas, edition II, pp. 230
Graphic: Unraveling Musical Myths
Mozart's beloved opera “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute), composed in his final year, is set to receive for the first time, the Hollywood treatment with a big-budget adaptation directed by German filmaker Roland Emmerich (of Independence Day and Godzilla fame.) Presently in pre-production, a detailed synopsis and further information on the film's production may be viewed at Pantaflix Group.
Mozart recently played second wheel in another film portrayal, "Interlude in Prague"in 2017. In that production, Welsh actor Aneurin Barnard (who bears an uncanny resemblance in the film to the infamous Lange portrait of the composer) plays the romantic adversary of the fictitious Baron Saloka for the affections of a young soprano - a love triangle which unfolds against the backdrop of the creation of Mozart'sdramatic opera Don Giovanni. Although Emmerich's upcoming film will feature characters and a storyline which fall oustide of Mozart's Magic Flute, the production team promises the film will be a "music-driven, full-length feature film."
