The Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela in London

The Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Photograph: Fotini Christofilopoulou

Tomorrow, on Saturday June 23, 2012 and the coming Tuesday June 26, we are going to have the opportunity to enjoy the energetic and brilliant interpretation of the Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel that will be performing classic masterpieces at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

I am placing here and below the links for those interested in getting the related information about the orchestra and about some of the previous comments regarding this presentation and the programme which will be performed.

Follow this link and enjoy the live stream at 7.30 pm on Saturday and Tuesday.

By following the link below, you will be able to have a glimpse to the performances of Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra from its previous presentations.

Dublin Garden Squares Day

St. Stephen's Green, Dublin,  September 2008

St Stephen's Green, Dublin, September 2008

For those, who are in Dublin I have a good suggestion for the coming Saturday June 23, 2012 to visit one or any of five Georgian Squares in Dublin. A full programme of free of charge events will be held in the following squares: St Stephen’s Green, Fitzwilliam Square, Merrion Square, Mountjoy Square and Parnell Square. This is an amazing opportunity to visit any of these beautiful Dublin’s parks.

For those, who are interested in learning more about the events, the link below will take you to the corresponding web site with complete information about the programme to learn more about the Dublin Garden Squares Day.

i.e. Patterns of Thought Book Launch and Exhibition

City Assembly House, June 2012

Maxim Laroussi, principal of Dublin-based practice  Architecture Republic launched the book ”i.e. Patterns of Thought” today on Tuesday June 12 and the accompanying sound installation exhibition by Ivan Birthistle that will be run from Tuesday June 12 until Thursday June 14, 2012. The Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn has opened the launch.

Book Launch

The book launch has taken place in the octagonal Exhibition Room of the former Society of Artist, at 58 South William Street, Dublin 2. Those of you living in Dublin have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, to buy the book and to have a look to the building, nowadays known as “City Assembly House”, which is normally closed to the public. Those of you who do not live in Dublin or cannot come to the city, now have the opportunity to browse through the links and get more information.

 

The Irish Georgian Society acquired The City Assembly House on a lease from Dublin City Council and in partnership with the council, the Society aims to restore and revitalise this landmark building as a centre for its heritage and cultural activities.

A new experience that revived old memories to me...

Cobh town April 2012

When I attended the “Carillon Memorial” on April 14, 2012 in Cobh, there was a concert held in commemoration to those perished on Titanic 100 years ago. And I told to my hosts Luis Quesada, his wife Lucia and my travelling companion Michele Smyth about how I felt; it was as being in a transition between the present and the past when I was listening at those spiritual sounds from the cathedral bells in Cobh. I remembered the time many years ago, when I was in the Singing Tower, in Florida USA, listening to music that sounded then a bit supernatural/surreal to me, in a certain way it was similar to the one we heard that night in Cobh here in Ireland.


Indeed, being in the Singing Tower  was one of my experiences which I got during a family holiday trip when we went to Mexico and Florida. Moreover, it was my first trip abroad, when I just had completed my primary school in Colombia.

A clear memory came to my mind about the kind of music, sounds and the lush greenery of the gardens surrounded the magical tower building in Florida, which produced a very particular music,  all those were images and feelings that had never really gone and I was able to revive them there in the “Carillon Memorial” in Cobh. This new experience revived in me my first distant experience with a carillon.

Having remembered and compared the music once heard in my past to the one now in Cobh, I shared my thoughts that night with my companions. So, later I decided to do a search on the Internet to get some information about that Singing Tower in Florida and its music. I found it, it was “The Bok Tower Gardens” and I would like to share a video about that natural sanctuary here with my bloggers. It will tell us about the very place and a little of its history.

Back to the screen with something about Titanic

After a break, I'm back to continue sharing various topics about Ireland and elsewhere.

On 15 April this year marked a century of the most famous shipwreck in history, the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic. I was on that date in the town of Cobh formerly Queenstown in Cork Harbour here in The Republic of Ireland, which was the last port of call of RMS Titanic on her first and only voyage in April 1912.

St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh town

There has been much speculation as to which was the last tune that the Titanic's band interpreted the night of the sinking. However, some Witnesses said that the last song was the hymn "Nearer my God to Thee"

I attended "The Carillon Memorial" among other events on The Titanic Centenary commemoration Week in Cobh. I am sharing here some aspects I learned from that experience and well illustrated in the links I have provided throughout this commentary.

The weekend of the commemorations was especially dry and sunny, but the night of the concert was particularly cold, so it printed out to the concert a halo of solemnity and an atmosphere of meditation and spirituality, the photo of the tower of St Colma’s Cathedral was taken that night at the time when Adrian Gebruers played on the carillon the hymn "Nearer my God to Thee"

 

Carillon Memorial

“Many of the 123 passenger who embarked on the RMS Titanic at Queenstown are believed to have attended Mass in St. Colman's Cathedral before boarding that ill-fated liner. It is therefore fitting that those who lost their lives in this terrible tragedy should be especially remembered at Cobh's famous Cathedral.

Adrian Gebruers, the Cobh carillonneur, commenced playing the Cathedral Carillon at 11.40 pm on Saturday 14 April marking the precise moment one hundred years on when the Titanic struck the iceberg. The programme included Chopin's funeral march and the hymn "For Those in Peril on the Sea". The short recital concluded with the hymn "Nearer my God to Thee", believed to have been played in the final moments by the liner's eight-man orchestra, all of whom perished.”

Cobh town, 15th April 2012

A representative approach to Colombian music…

Colombia is a country of 47 million inhabitants established on 1 million and 150 thousand square kilometers. The country is dominated by the Andes mountain range which contains the majority of the country’s urban centers.

As result of the diverse origins of the Colombian population there is a melting pot of people very ethnically diverse; additionally of its origins, the culture has also been influenced by Colombia's varied geography. Colombian territory is characterized by striking variety in temperature and precipitation as results principally from the differences in the elevation (height above sea level) of its different human settlements. The temperature range from very hot at sea level to relatively cold at higher elevations but vary very little with the season. As a consequence of those characteristics Colombia is also a strongly multicultural country.

Through a song "La Tierra del Olvido" (The Land of The Forgotten) composed by Carlos Vives, the foundation “Playing for Change”, got together native musicians, famous and unknown who have used music as a way of inspiration, social change and reconciliation. They performed across the country and produced this remarkable work. I like to share this video with my bloggers...

On the 12 0ctober 2011 the foundation uploaded to You Tube the video of that work with this presentation: “This video features over 80 musicians across the country of Colombia. Throughout our journey we have learned that music is the greatest tool for healing broken countries, cultures and hearts. With this video we set out to unite and inspire the people of Colombia so they can move forward from years of conflict and create a positive future. Listen to the music, see the smiling faces and remember we are going to make it as a human race!! One Love, Mark”

Just click on the link below: 

"La tierra del Olvido"

Aquitania, Boyaca, Colombia, February 2006

Firavitoba, Boyaca, Colombia, Feb 2006 by Patrick Gibbons

Cartagena, Colombia, Feb 2006 by Patrick Gibbons

Cartagena, Colombia, Feb 2006 by Patrick Gibbons

The Four Courts, Dublin (2)

There are, however, some other architectural elements around the Four Courts building which should be mentioned since they create a whole architectural ensemble.

August 2010

St. Paul's Church, Arran Quay, February 2009

November 2011

For example, a nearby graceful and solid parapet winds alongside the banks of the River Liffey on the present quayside; it runs continuously from Heuston Station to Butt Bridge. The present parapet was erected in the middle of the 19^th century by the Dublin Port and Docks Board. This fine stone wall with its curved top is only broken at the Four Courts, where the parapet was replaced with a classical balustrade. 

November 2010

October 2011

Observing the two flanking bridges to the building, O’Donovan Rossa Bridge (1816), standing at the east of the Four Courts and Fr. Mathew Bridge (1818), standing at the west of the Four Courts, we can see that both carry a classical balustrade with a granite coping. The same  balustrade style is the one which continues along the quay in front of The Four Courts and it is a very elegant feature of the River Liffey at this point, which provides a kind of transparent low screen emphasizing the height to the Four Courts building, adding stylishness and complementing the Gandon’s noble masterpiece.

October 2011

 

O'Donovan Rossa bridge, April 2007

July 2006

Additionally, there are also many mature trees along these quays, which lend a sense of grace to the Four Courts building and to the River Liffey.