For reasons that remain unknown to me, a pleasant young lady reached out to me on LinkedIn.
She resides in Singapore. I asked her if folks in Singapore are proficient in English.
Her reply: "Singapore is a multicultural country, including Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Westerners, etc. English is the primary language, but Singlish is a blend of English, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, and other languages.
This is a unique language of Singapore. If you spend a few days in Singapore, you'll find it fun; it's really interesting."
It reminded me of the speaking of French in Canada. There is "Quebecois" French which is a guttural, almost belching version of the romance language. There is "Fringlish", which is a blending of Quebecois French and English. There is "Metis" French, which is a remnant of the language used by the French explorers and coureur de bois who lived among and formed families with Indigenous women in Western Canada. Then, of course, there is patrician French which is spoken only by bilingual, Lawrentian elites who were educated in immersion classrooms of the French spoken at Versailles.
Reading your columns is like catching up with an old friend; you just pick up where you last let off.
Jay: My High School English teacher was Miss McTaggart. One of the two best teachers I ever had during my high school and University education. She was affectionally known a "McT", by all of her students. Of course, we never used that moniker in her classroom! She, as did your grandmother, insisted that there is only one proper way to say, "She was graduated from "Name of School/University!"" End of discussion!!
The current elected leader of the United States campaigned on a platform of bigotry, racism and thuggery. His followers elected him to office twice, well aware of his nature and character. Ironically, a majority of his adherents profess to be disciples of the One who counsels that they be "poor in spirit, meek and merciful peacemakers." We know what is wrong with the president, but what has happened to those who choose to be ruled by him?
I remember that cruise in 2016, and the visit we had on shipboard from Szijjártó, introduced and joined in conversation by NR stalwart (name withheld out of discretion). I did not notice your absence, and, true to your description, you never mentioned it that week, as we cruised up to Danube. I do recall being unimpressed. A more significant memory for me is from the beginning of that tour in Prague. It was only a day or so after Trump defeated Cruz in the Indiana primary, and you, Mona, my wife and I joined in lamentations. At that juncture we assumed it meant HRC would be the next POTUS. Little did we know …
Bravo. "She graduated college" is my mom's biggest bugbear; I'm excited to tell her she's in good company. One of mine: "None are..." Jay, you're on top of it—it's "none is," isn't it? And how about "familiar": More often than not, I hear it pronounced "fermiliar." As a boy, according to many of my neighbors, I grew up in "Warshington."
Well, Erasmus of Rotterdam was one of the major literary figures of the sixteenth century, although he wrote in Latin. I’m less familiar with subsequent Dutch literature, outside my little playground of crime fiction, in which I would rate A.C. Baantjer and Janwillem van de Wetering as world-class figures. Van de Wetering was somewhat more influential and widely read in English, I believe. (I’ve read both in both the original and in translation.)
Joost van den Vondel was a Christian humanist (first Mennonite, eventually Catholic) in the Dutch Republic's Golden Age, a playwright and poet whose stature in Dutch rivals Shakespeare's in English. As a non-Dutch-speaker myself, the only work of his I know is his lyrics for a Dutch Christmas (really, Childermas, which is much sadder) carol, "O Kerstnacht". Vondel didn't compose the sweet, Coventry-Carol-like melody that traditionally accompanies his lyrics, but it fits the words well, words decrying the cruelty of tyranny:
"Wat kan de blinde staatzucht brouwen, / wanneer ze raast uit misvertrouwen!" ("What can blind state power brew, / while raging in mistrust!") "Staatzucht" doesn't mean "state power" exactly. It's more literally "state lust" – the lust for that power. Vondel raises Rachel's ghost (Matthew 2:18) to haunt us wherever this evil lurks. We need this carol now.
For that reason, I took it upon myself to translate and adapt "O Kerstnacht" for the current practice of "Blue Christmas" in the English-speaking world. The curious may find, in the following file,
As a Michigan Dutchman ... I might add, "Where are the Dutch poets?" Why so dominant in painting? The answer is obvious... it made money, where poetry does not. But why do Dutch have a strong position in philosophy? I think there is a Dutch inclination to despair which drives them to ask questions.
The last period of music where the low countries were relevant was probably in the 15th century, with the Franco-Flemish school. Du Fay, Binchois, Busnoys, Ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin, and the boys. At least some of them were even born there as opposed to only flourishing there.
I reckon that's a decent enough output to last 500 years or so. It doesn't answer the question of why they haven't been active since, however.
Calvinist musical practice, which emphasizes plain congregational singing over more florid liturgical music requiring considerable rehearsal beforehand, partly answers the question of what went on in the Netherlands after the Franco-Flemish school.
Here's an article addressing why, in the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic, sophisticated composing may not have flourished along with everything else –
"Music was cultivated chiefly under the auspices of the Calvinist church. Although there was no productive cultivation of church music (for a while even the playing of the organ during church services was forbidden) the organ held an important position in instrumental music. Sometimes—as an official document of Leiden states—the authorities ordered that organ recitals should be given before and after Sunday services and on weekdays to keep the people away from the inns and taverns. The value that the authorities placed on public organ recitals in their town churches resulted in the construction of an almost incalculable number of the finest organs, both in the Netherlands and abroad."
"Since Calvinists viewed the organ as a worldly instrument and forbade its use during services, Sweelinck was actually a civil servant employed by the city of Amsterdam (which in any case owned the organs). It is generally assumed that his duty was to provide music twice a day in the church—once hour in the morning and once in the evening."
For reasons that remain unknown to me, a pleasant young lady reached out to me on LinkedIn.
She resides in Singapore. I asked her if folks in Singapore are proficient in English.
Her reply: "Singapore is a multicultural country, including Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Westerners, etc. English is the primary language, but Singlish is a blend of English, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, and other languages.
This is a unique language of Singapore. If you spend a few days in Singapore, you'll find it fun; it's really interesting."
It reminded me of the speaking of French in Canada. There is "Quebecois" French which is a guttural, almost belching version of the romance language. There is "Fringlish", which is a blending of Quebecois French and English. There is "Metis" French, which is a remnant of the language used by the French explorers and coureur de bois who lived among and formed families with Indigenous women in Western Canada. Then, of course, there is patrician French which is spoken only by bilingual, Lawrentian elites who were educated in immersion classrooms of the French spoken at Versailles.
Reading your columns is like catching up with an old friend; you just pick up where you last let off.
Well done, and my best to you.
Thank you so much!
Jay: My High School English teacher was Miss McTaggart. One of the two best teachers I ever had during my high school and University education. She was affectionally known a "McT", by all of her students. Of course, we never used that moniker in her classroom! She, as did your grandmother, insisted that there is only one proper way to say, "She was graduated from "Name of School/University!"" End of discussion!!
The current elected leader of the United States campaigned on a platform of bigotry, racism and thuggery. His followers elected him to office twice, well aware of his nature and character. Ironically, a majority of his adherents profess to be disciples of the One who counsels that they be "poor in spirit, meek and merciful peacemakers." We know what is wrong with the president, but what has happened to those who choose to be ruled by him?
I remember that cruise in 2016, and the visit we had on shipboard from Szijjártó, introduced and joined in conversation by NR stalwart (name withheld out of discretion). I did not notice your absence, and, true to your description, you never mentioned it that week, as we cruised up to Danube. I do recall being unimpressed. A more significant memory for me is from the beginning of that tour in Prague. It was only a day or so after Trump defeated Cruz in the Indiana primary, and you, Mona, my wife and I joined in lamentations. At that juncture we assumed it meant HRC would be the next POTUS. Little did we know …
Bravo. "She graduated college" is my mom's biggest bugbear; I'm excited to tell her she's in good company. One of mine: "None are..." Jay, you're on top of it—it's "none is," isn't it? And how about "familiar": More often than not, I hear it pronounced "fermiliar." As a boy, according to many of my neighbors, I grew up in "Warshington."
Well, Erasmus of Rotterdam was one of the major literary figures of the sixteenth century, although he wrote in Latin. I’m less familiar with subsequent Dutch literature, outside my little playground of crime fiction, in which I would rate A.C. Baantjer and Janwillem van de Wetering as world-class figures. Van de Wetering was somewhat more influential and widely read in English, I believe. (I’ve read both in both the original and in translation.)
Joost van den Vondel was a Christian humanist (first Mennonite, eventually Catholic) in the Dutch Republic's Golden Age, a playwright and poet whose stature in Dutch rivals Shakespeare's in English. As a non-Dutch-speaker myself, the only work of his I know is his lyrics for a Dutch Christmas (really, Childermas, which is much sadder) carol, "O Kerstnacht". Vondel didn't compose the sweet, Coventry-Carol-like melody that traditionally accompanies his lyrics, but it fits the words well, words decrying the cruelty of tyranny:
"Wat kan de blinde staatzucht brouwen, / wanneer ze raast uit misvertrouwen!" ("What can blind state power brew, / while raging in mistrust!") "Staatzucht" doesn't mean "state power" exactly. It's more literally "state lust" – the lust for that power. Vondel raises Rachel's ghost (Matthew 2:18) to haunt us wherever this evil lurks. We need this carol now.
For that reason, I took it upon myself to translate and adapt "O Kerstnacht" for the current practice of "Blue Christmas" in the English-speaking world. The curious may find, in the following file,
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hrc5uwl9PECeaNABaxgNE0jgnQmY8PNv/view?usp=sharing
at 22:20: my arrangement of "O Kerstnacht"
at 27:07: a display of selected verses of Vondel's original Dutch, its literal English translation, and my versified adaptation for "Blue Christmas"
Since the synthetic voices of composing software are such a drag, though, I recommend the Quink Vocal Ensemble's recording of "O Kerstnacht":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP65mily0ao
As a Michigan Dutchman ... I might add, "Where are the Dutch poets?" Why so dominant in painting? The answer is obvious... it made money, where poetry does not. But why do Dutch have a strong position in philosophy? I think there is a Dutch inclination to despair which drives them to ask questions.
The last period of music where the low countries were relevant was probably in the 15th century, with the Franco-Flemish school. Du Fay, Binchois, Busnoys, Ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin, and the boys. At least some of them were even born there as opposed to only flourishing there.
I reckon that's a decent enough output to last 500 years or so. It doesn't answer the question of why they haven't been active since, however.
Calvinist musical practice, which emphasizes plain congregational singing over more florid liturgical music requiring considerable rehearsal beforehand, partly answers the question of what went on in the Netherlands after the Franco-Flemish school.
Here's an article addressing why, in the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic, sophisticated composing may not have flourished along with everything else –
https://www.essentialvermeer.com/music/music_new.html
Interestingly, from the above:
"Music was cultivated chiefly under the auspices of the Calvinist church. Although there was no productive cultivation of church music (for a while even the playing of the organ during church services was forbidden) the organ held an important position in instrumental music. Sometimes—as an official document of Leiden states—the authorities ordered that organ recitals should be given before and after Sunday services and on weekdays to keep the people away from the inns and taverns. The value that the authorities placed on public organ recitals in their town churches resulted in the construction of an almost incalculable number of the finest organs, both in the Netherlands and abroad."
"Since Calvinists viewed the organ as a worldly instrument and forbade its use during services, Sweelinck was actually a civil servant employed by the city of Amsterdam (which in any case owned the organs). It is generally assumed that his duty was to provide music twice a day in the church—once hour in the morning and once in the evening."