tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560980795775862692024-03-13T14:31:36.397-07:00The afterlife of Jaufré RudelThe legend of the troubadour Jaufré Rudel and Melisande of Tripoli: renditions, retellings, references and cameos.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-80213405428651323162021-07-10T11:08:00.000-07:002021-07-10T11:08:03.462-07:00Geoffroi the Lady's Knight?<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">David Wilkie Wynfield</a> (1837-1887) was a painter and photographer whose circle became known as the St John's Wood Clique, after the north London suburb where they gathered. The ODNB relates that the group ‘would meet once a week at each other's homes or studios, choose a subject (usually taken from history, mythology, or the Bible), and give themselves a set time in which each to devise a composition. They would then “grill” one another over the success or otherwise of the results.’<br /><br />Most of the group, the ODNB goes on, ‘specialized in what is now called “historical genre”, paintings set broadly within medieval and Renaissance times featuring historical, domestic, or romantic incident.’ Moreover, Wynfield displayed ‘a propensity for subjects with tragic overtones’. <br /><br />So the Rudel legend was right up his alley, and in 1873 he produced a painting that seems to have a connection with it. Its title is <i>The Lady’s Knight</i>.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsX9ppGRCXY/YOnfUeP2BhI/AAAAAAAAD5k/2tTKdXshJh0YsHYOOhNCculWcCeGMTZ7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Lady%2527s%2BKnight%2BWynfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="800" height="186" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsX9ppGRCXY/YOnfUeP2BhI/AAAAAAAAD5k/2tTKdXshJh0YsHYOOhNCculWcCeGMTZ7wCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h186/Lady%2527s%2BKnight%2BWynfield.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nothing much, on the face of it, to evoke the tale of the troubadour. But an online search also yields this engraving: <br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxgNz_XqVgg/YOnfhq1xuMI/AAAAAAAAD5o/kjlB_jAIR4kDrAXiECFcVDvtMlRpcsn9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/David%2BWilkie%2BWynfield%2B-%2BGeoffroi%2BRudel%2B-%2B%2528MeisterDrucke-367475%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1024" height="196" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rxgNz_XqVgg/YOnfhq1xuMI/AAAAAAAAD5o/kjlB_jAIR4kDrAXiECFcVDvtMlRpcsn9ACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h196/David%2BWilkie%2BWynfield%2B-%2BGeoffroi%2BRudel%2B-%2B%2528MeisterDrucke-367475%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The caption reads: ‘Geoffroi Rudel - from a picture by D. Wilkie Winfield, in the exhibition of the Royal Academy’. <br /><br />Did the engraver (who has apparently signed himself ‘MorganSc’ in the lower right-hand corner) attach the Rudel name to his rendition of Wynfield’s original for the sheer romantic heck of it? The spelling ‘Geoffroi’ crops up occasionally elsewhere - most notably via Étienne-François de Lantier’s <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">1825 verse epic</a> - but what it’s doing beneath this obscure English knock-off of Wynfield’s painting is anyone’s guess.<br /></span><br /> </p>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-86589439530322242172021-06-26T10:55:00.001-07:002021-06-26T10:55:27.326-07:00Rudel in bronze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5ETXxof6PA/YNdoCLIMnnI/AAAAAAAAD5Q/-8P9dWA89NsLZIsgPujxarjWtSomosiLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s673/1222-jaufrerudel%2Bby%2BPiechaud.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="673" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5ETXxof6PA/YNdoCLIMnnI/AAAAAAAAD5Q/-8P9dWA89NsLZIsgPujxarjWtSomosiLQCLcBGAsYHQ/w367-h222/1222-jaufrerudel%2Bby%2BPiechaud.jpg" width="367" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The artist Bertrand Piéchaud (b.1941) is the scion of an old Girondine family and therefore more geographically connected to our troubadour than many Rudel-renderers. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">One can find details of a small number of his sculptures online, including depictions of the Roman poet Ausonius (another native of Bordeaux), the painter Paul Gaugin - and <a href="https://www.artabus.com/piechaud/jaufrerudel" target="_blank"><i>Poète Jaufré Rudel</i></a>, a work in bronze.</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-75bd7b83-7fff-4250-7afe-46a10cf3849c" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">
</span></p>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-50555432486272139152019-04-02T13:04:00.000-07:002019-04-02T13:04:31.733-07:00Rostand redeemed<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-e1dd40bd-7fff-dd71-4a96-fe1fa3424b87" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--2qf9ONFU_c/XKO8SwPTlkI/AAAAAAAAC3A/XfsED4L32ZkhFoY3Ktz40gCy7II6WnH8wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-03%2Bat%2B20.39.44.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="645" height="317" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--2qf9ONFU_c/XKO8SwPTlkI/AAAAAAAAC3A/XfsED4L32ZkhFoY3Ktz40gCy7II6WnH8wCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-03%2Bat%2B20.39.44.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Edmond</i> is a work by the French-British actor, writer and director Alexis Michalik, which premiered as a stage play in 2016. It concerns Rostand, of course, and recounts his rebound from the disaster of <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i> with the feverish creation of <i>Cyrano de Bergerac</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Edmond was nominated for seven Molieres, of which it won five. It then became a <a href="http://www.editions-ruedesevres.fr/edmond">graphic novel</a> illustrated by Léonard Chemineau, and was released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78n44OZL7Ic">as a feature film</a> (directed by Michalik) in January 2019.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qwuT4puLoQ/XKO8AEfJG9I/AAAAAAAAC28/WHCA6DXYwl0yTX313ZL-rogX1HftlIxjACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-03%2Bat%2B20.47.11.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="433" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qwuT4puLoQ/XKO8AEfJG9I/AAAAAAAAC28/WHCA6DXYwl0yTX313ZL-rogX1HftlIxjACEwYBhgL/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-03%2Bat%2B20.47.11.png" width="151" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cyrano, needless to say, was Rostand’s high-water-mark; the Rudel connection obliges me to concentrate on the low-water-mark. Somehow, that suits the Rudel legend: PG Wodehouse <a href="http://madameulalie.org/tmordue/pgwbooks/pgwcotw1.html#Chapter03">used him as a comic peg</a>, Angela Thirkell had <a href="https://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/2009/11/jaufre-fetches-up-in-barsetshire.html">some fun at his expense</a> - and yes, there’s a bit of a stench of failure emanating from Jaufre’s story. <br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’re waiting for a ‘But...’ I don’t really have one. Rudel’s sad end - as emphasised in <i>Edmond</i> - is a kind of punchline, a low point from which Rostand must recover in order to fulfill his destiny. But the legend of Rudel remains, as a marker that writers and artists can’t help touching upon now and then.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh look, I had a ‘But...’ after all. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-18444020785091495852019-02-22T12:12:00.001-08:002019-04-02T13:06:16.284-07:00Rambaldo aka Rudel<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDDf97YaF6U/XHBCRIr3-oI/AAAAAAAAC2Q/UbuS-EQLN9kdsUW_cv6y5XJmw4C0xAnbwCLcBGAs/s1600/XHdiY0oV1I0B9ubbzHaN2i5ng-93pnjvaHGaB7euVpNBoejxQb4cq-gaAFovTKOXYkXXKgWYPr7lX0FapuFzLW_aYVJagxT24325x5wpBaZoKPKhNU0O3PepyxIyteRA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDDf97YaF6U/XHBCRIr3-oI/AAAAAAAAC2Q/UbuS-EQLN9kdsUW_cv6y5XJmw4C0xAnbwCLcBGAs/s320/XHdiY0oV1I0B9ubbzHaN2i5ng-93pnjvaHGaB7euVpNBoejxQb4cq-gaAFovTKOXYkXXKgWYPr7lX0FapuFzLW_aYVJagxT24325x5wpBaZoKPKhNU0O3PepyxIyteRA.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Nino Berrini (1880-1962) was an Italian journalist, playwright and director.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His play <span style="background-color: white;"><span class="notranslate"><i>Rambaldo di Vaqueiras</i> (1921) ('</span></span>poema drammatico cavalleresco', or 'a chivalric dramatic poem') is a fanciful take on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raimbaut_de_Vaqueiras">titular troubadour poet</a>, who falls in love
with his patron's daughter Beatrice. It
is said to owe much to Edmond Rostand's work, in particular his Rudel play, <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i> (of which plenty elsewhere on this blog) - for example, Berrini's Rambaldo is mortally
wounded and dies in Beatrice's arms. If your Italian is up to it, you can compare and contrast at the Internet Archive, which has <a href="https://archive.org/details/rambaldodivaquei00berruoft/page/4?q=nino+berrini">the full text of Rambaldo di Vaqueiras</a>. <span style="background-color: white;"><span class="notranslate"><i> </i></span></span></span><br />
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Berrini's obscurity these days may simply be down to the mediocrity of his work or to the whims of posterity; but it might have been assisted by the story of an incident during World War Two that, if true (or even if not), can't have done much for his reputation. While living in the Piedmont town of Boves, Berrini became caught up in an operation by the German SS to burn the town to the ground. </span><span class="notranslate">A terrified Berrini scoured his library for a German newspaper cutting that quoted Hitler's appreciation of the writer's work, and took</span><span class="notranslate"> the article to show to the SS commander. </span><span class="notranslate">Berrini's house was saved, </span><span class="notranslate">but the other townfolk never forgave him. That, at least, is the story told on <a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nino_Berrini">Berrini's Italian wikipedia page</a>.</span></span><br />
<span class="notranslate"><br /></span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-7983182842819258392014-11-14T07:20:00.001-08:002014-11-14T07:20:41.534-08:00Rudel retold (again)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0fb441c0-aedc-300b-6c94-83d3255aaffd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aKrrNnH7Pi4/VGYdPvPLOHI/AAAAAAAAAeM/1FBddZUKCdk/s1600/Lherisson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aKrrNnH7Pi4/VGYdPvPLOHI/AAAAAAAAAeM/1FBddZUKCdk/s1600/Lherisson.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0fb441c0-aedc-300b-6c94-83d3255aaffd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Another treatment of the Rudel legend has popped up on Amazon. </span><br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0fb441c0-aedc-300b-6c94-83d3255aaffd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0fb441c0-aedc-300b-6c94-83d3255aaffd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.fr/l%C3%A9gende-Jaufr%C3%A9-Rudel-prince-Blaye/dp/2846184372/ref=la_B004MZ5NGU_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415956311&sr=1-1">La Légende de Geoffroy Rudel, Prince de Blaye</a> by Fernande Bourdeau Lhérisson was first published in 1933 by Société des Bibliophiles de Guyenne. </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-0fb441c0-aedc-300b-6c94-83d3255aaffd" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This slim volume also includes Alfred Jeanroy’s edition of the surviving Rudel songs.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There's very little info on the author: the only other traceable work by Lhérisson is a book about the convicted murderess <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Lafarge">Marie Lafarge</a>. </span><br />
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Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-26297826831297077072014-10-23T01:11:00.000-07:002014-10-23T01:12:55.346-07:00Four equestrian princessesIt seems that Rostand's reach extended to the animal kingdom: according to the <a href="http://www.pedigreequery.com/">Pedigree Online Thoroughbred Database</a>, there have been four thoroughbred horses named 'Princesse Lointaine'.<br />
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The first is <a href="http://www.pedigreequery.com/princesse+lointaine2">recorded in 1902</a> (which makes sense given the date of the Rostand production); others in 1941 and 1963, with a fourth sometime around 1954.<br />
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<br />Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-36042464792980071092014-03-31T05:03:00.000-07:002014-03-31T05:03:21.316-07:00Jaufré, by George<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqPUl6m7ydc/UzlUNPRPxEI/AAAAAAAAAZU/sZEejsqzmo8/s1600/Sheringham+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqPUl6m7ydc/UzlUNPRPxEI/AAAAAAAAAZU/sZEejsqzmo8/s1600/Sheringham+1.jpg" height="200" width="155" /></a></div>
Here's another indication of how Rostand's <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i> spread the Rudel legend more widely by influencing the visual arts. Besides the work by <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/rudel-by-mucha.html">Mucha</a>, <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/princess-daisy.html">Erté</a>, and <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/rudel-by-vrubel.html">Vrubel</a>, there were also illustrations by a famous-ish English artist. <br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sheringham">George Sheringham</a> (1884-1937) was best known as a stage designer, but he also illustrated books by the likes of Max Beerbohm, Arthur Conan Doyle, Cyrus MacMillan, and - it so happens - Edmond Rostand. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUMSBKpA3lM/UzlYOtHnCjI/AAAAAAAAAZs/PiaYf264_t0/s1600/Sheringham+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUMSBKpA3lM/UzlYOtHnCjI/AAAAAAAAAZs/PiaYf264_t0/s1600/Sheringham+8.jpg" height="162" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u5JlaBrsTEc/UzlWOcCE5zI/AAAAAAAAAZg/m1JlhtmPtig/s1600/Sheringham+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>This edition of <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i> was published in 1919 and featured 26 illustrations by Sheringham. It was a limited run of 100 copies and was printed by J. Meynial, 'Aux dépens d'un Amateur' named Eugène Renevey.<br />
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<a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-sheringham-1937">Sheringham</a> was evidently well qualified to take on the Rudel legend: he spent the final five years of his life as an invalid, though not from pining for an idealised woman, <i>lointaine</i> or otherwise. <br />
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The edition sometimes comes up on rare book websites (from where I sourced most of the pics).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XB2usZQGjfU/UzlYOq7O8DI/AAAAAAAAAZw/x9cMwU2je0o/s1600/sheringham+3-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XB2usZQGjfU/UzlYOq7O8DI/AAAAAAAAAZw/x9cMwU2je0o/s1600/sheringham+3-up.jpg" height="186" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-90627539791648708522013-11-14T01:56:00.000-08:002019-04-02T13:09:23.835-07:00Rudel by Vrubel<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Vrubel">Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel</a> (1856-1920) was a Russian Symbolist painter whose struggles with tertiary syphilis probably sealed his reputation as a purveyor of feverish, sometimes demonic visions.</span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1896, Vrubel was commissioned to design a mural for a pavilion in the 1896 Nizhny Novgorod exhibition. He submitted two designs: the one that interests us here was a scene inspired by Rostand’s <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i> (known in Russia as <i>Princess Gryoza</i>, or <i>The Princess of the Dream</i>). The exhibition panel rejected both murals, but they were later completed by other artists under Vrubel’s guidance.</span></span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UG8ewsLsm4o/UoSdHTyQn2I/AAAAAAAAAVk/V-hXo_5J3c8/s1600/vrubel95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UG8ewsLsm4o/UoSdHTyQn2I/AAAAAAAAAVk/V-hXo_5J3c8/s400/vrubel95.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparatory sketch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y-n-WmXPtOs/UoSZPFdgAAI/AAAAAAAAAVI/MwoOvF-IrBE/s1600/vrubel94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y-n-WmXPtOs/UoSZPFdgAAI/AAAAAAAAAVI/MwoOvF-IrBE/s400/vrubel94.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished canvas</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It was presumably this picture - a 53-by-23-foot canvas painted in oils - that was discovered in a Bolshoi Theatre warehouse in 1960 and, after restoration, formed one of the centrepieces of the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/travel/travel-advisory-correspondent-s-report-new-tretyakov-gallery-decade-making.html">reopened State Tretyakov Gallery</a> in 1995.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />The <a href="http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/collection/_show/image/_id/256">Gallery’s notes</a> describe it thus:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The ship seems to be soaring over the waves. In the centre is the dying prince, a lyre in his hand. Standing by the ship's mast is his friend, knight and poet Bertrand. To the right are pirates, moved by the intensity of the prince's love; What they have witnessed will subsequently turn them into crusaders, knights of the spirit. In the last moments of his life, the hero sings a song about his reverie, princess Melisande. The entire world – Nature's elements and people's souls alike - are caught by the sounds of lofty music. At this instant, beauty triumphs in the world and a miracle takes place: the ravishing princess bends over the poet's brow. The painting personified the idea of art's timelessness, its spiritual power over the temporal world. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1905, Vrubel returned to his treatment of the Rudel legend when he created mosaics for the hotel Metropol in Moscow. One facade features a mosaic panel also entitled 'Princess Gryoza'. It’s still there, and often shows up on Flickr. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7lDjysZbK7w/UoSZ2fYLs3I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/IZW1elmy-EQ/s1600/rudel_vrubel_metropol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7lDjysZbK7w/UoSZ2fYLs3I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/IZW1elmy-EQ/s400/rudel_vrubel_metropol.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The following year, Vrubel’s long struggle with tertiary syphilis left him almost blind and mentally unable to continue painting, and he died in 1910. But we don’t expect happy endings where Rudel is concerned.</span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-63524779668662521712013-05-23T06:02:00.000-07:002013-05-23T06:02:59.039-07:00A little Jaufré in the night<h4>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mn5RZwUFRfE/UZ4RkkrqflI/AAAAAAAAATM/SOOaxXCicRA/s1600/photo0046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mn5RZwUFRfE/UZ4RkkrqflI/AAAAAAAAATM/SOOaxXCicRA/s200/photo0046.jpg" width="186" /></a><span style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Rooting about in the University of Bristol's Theatre Collection recently, I happened across some issues of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Book">The Yellow Book</a> - the short-lived (1894-1897) but notorious literary journal. I'd wondered whether I might find mention of Rostand or Bernhardt, this being the era of La Princesse Lointaine, but no. What did jump out at me was a poem by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosamund_Marriott_Watson">Rosamund Marriott Watson</a><b> </b>from the July 1896 issue.</span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">'D'Outre tombe' ('Beyond the Grave') is a short lament that, well, speaks for itself, really. Here it is: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Beside my grave, if chance should ever bring you,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You, peradventure, on some dim Spring day,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What song of welcome could my blackbird sing you,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As once in May?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As once in May, when all the birds were calling,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Calling and crying through the soft Spring rain,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As once in Autumn with the dead leaves falling</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In wood and lane.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I, in my grave, and you, above, remember – </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And yet between us what is there to say? – </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In Death’s disseverance, wider than December</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Disparts from May.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I with the dead, and you among the living,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In separate camps we sojourn, unallied;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Life is unkind and Death is unforgiving,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And both divide.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">No, not the greatest thing ever written, but it has Rudel stamped all the way through it. The line 'As once in May' is a pretty spot-on echo of Jaufré's '<span class="st">Lanquan il jorn son lonc en mai', and the blackbird / dead leaves imagery is standard troubadour schtick. It could also pass for a monologue by the dead Rudel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st">Not mention the similarity of the title to <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/book.html">a certain book concerning Jaufré Rudel</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="st">No doubt this is one of thousands of </span>Provençal knock-offs from the Victorian era, but its publication in the Bible of the Decadents is kind of interesting. </span><br />
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Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-77442815602071970072013-02-21T03:07:00.002-08:002013-02-21T03:07:45.639-08:00‘Unflagging energy and a lack of tenderness...’<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bt73T0-ffpg/USX_yDrrUqI/AAAAAAAAASc/Bpg7TtYt-EA/s1600/Times,+Monday,+Jul+27,+1891+(Chester+review)+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bt73T0-ffpg/USX_yDrrUqI/AAAAAAAAASc/Bpg7TtYt-EA/s200/Times,+Monday,+Jul+27,+1891+(Chester+review)+crop.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9987902982355719" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
Chester Musical Festival of 1891 saw the premiere of a specially
commissioned work composed by one Dr JC Bridge, organist at Chester
Cathedral and conductor of the Festival.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
dramatic cantata, Rudel, with a libretto by Mr FE Weatherley, was
performed in the city’s music hall on Wednesday 22 July. A review in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Times</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the following Monday commented:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
chief characteristic of Mr Bridge’s music is unflagging energy, its
principal defect a lack of tenderness in what may be styled the
sentimental portions. </span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bit
of a drawback for a tale roughly 97% sentiment, but entirely in keeping
with the image of 19th-century British classical music. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A
‘revels’ scene apparently used old English folk tunes including
‘Cheshire rounds’, ‘Carman’s whistle’, and the granddaddy of them all,
‘Summer is icumen in’, and did so with impunity, indicating that in 1891
there weren’t yet any purists to get hot under the collar about
travestying the Provencal essence of the story. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We note that the role of a love rival, Sir Guy, was sung by a baritone with the splendid name of Bantock Pierpoint. </span><br />
<br />Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-82824538972698292422012-10-11T05:52:00.001-07:002012-10-11T05:56:04.921-07:00A 'new' Rudel song...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GpPe8AthqDs/UHbAJbI2TyI/AAAAAAAAARw/uV7eUIjSPio/s1600/melchionne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GpPe8AthqDs/UHbAJbI2TyI/AAAAAAAAARw/uV7eUIjSPio/s200/melchionne.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #741b47;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.09511906857256025" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Edmond
Rostand’s rendition of the Rudel legend, <i>La Princesse Lointaine</i>,
features several lyrics written by Rostand but attributed to his
fictionalised Goffroy. The original production must have set this to a
melody of some kind; but a century later, it seems there’s a new one. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">An
album by the French singer-songwriter Michel Melchionne (<i>Le rêve est le
pain de ma vie</i>) features a song entitled ‘La Princesse Lointaine’,
which is credited to ‘Edmond Rostand / Michel Melchionne’. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Though
I haven’t heard it yet, Melchionne’s song probably uses the lyric from
Act I Scene IV (for those of you following along at home) which begins:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">C'est chose bien commune </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">De soupirer pour une</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Blonde, châtaine ou brune </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Maîtresse, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br class="kix-line-break" />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lorsque brune, châtaine. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ou blonde, on l'a sans peine. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">— Moi, j'aime la lointaine </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Princesse ! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br class="kix-line-break" />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">...and ends:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br class="kix-line-break" />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Le seul rêve intéresse. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Vivre sans rêve, qu'est-ce? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Et j'aime la Princesse </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lointaine!</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8oq_GtD_jY">More information via this youtube page</a>...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8oq_GtD_jY"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-36185730389171438492012-07-20T06:23:00.000-07:002012-09-12T13:22:30.566-07:00Nice draperies, shame about the females<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<h4 style="color: #990000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Pity the poor, Pre-Raphaelite painter, untroubled by fame, who decides to have a bash at an obscure troubadour legend for his next subject. </h4>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Such a fellow was one Mr Winfield (even his first name is lost to oblivion), who exhibited his painting, 'Geoffroi Rudel', at the Liverpool Society of Fine Arts in October 1860. The Liverpool Mercury's art critic, having laid into another work of Winfield's entitled 'Jock O'Hazledean' ('a ridiculous, faulty, unnatural abortion'), was a little kinder to his Rudel daub:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
This is a picture of some merit, rich in colouring, and the notorious hardness of the pre-Raphael school is somewhat modified. [...] The drawing is also generally good, and the draperies admirable. </blockquote>
<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br />
But wait... he's not done.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
There is, however, a lackadaisical expression about the females which is unfortunate, and should have been avoided by a clever man. One drawback we must notice [...] all the females are painted from the same model, consequently have the same class of features, just a little modified or changed by the painter. This is very wrong. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Altogether the picture is very promising. If the artist will only avoid the absurd crudities and still more absurd rejection of principles which characterise the pre-Raphaelite section of painters, he may attain a high name in art; but adherence to these will only ruin him, as it has done many a man of fair promise within the last ten years. </blockquote>
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<br /></div>
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Both artist and painting have vanished into obscurity - not that they really ever left it. But the same, of course, goes for the critic.</div>
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Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-17385282723425261512012-06-14T06:58:00.000-07:002012-06-14T06:58:18.707-07:00A Rudel cantataThe Rudel legend has a knack of inspiring minor works, often by long-forgotten artists. Here’s another one: <i>Rudel. A Dramatic Cantata</i>, composed for the 1891 Chester Music Festival by Joseph Cox Bridge (libretto by Frederic Edward Weatherley).<br />
<br />
Dr Joseph Cox Bridge (1853-1929), described in <a href="http://grandemusica.net/musical-biographies-b-2/bridge-joseph-cox">one reference work</a> as ‘a celebrated organist and a composer of some merit’, was part of an English musical family (his older brother was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Bridge">Frederick ‘Westminster’ Bridge</a>). He was organist at Exeter College, Oxford, then at Chester Cathedral from 1877, and became Professor of Music at the University of Durham. Besides the Rudel cantata he also composed oratorios, a string quartet in G minor, anthems, songs, part-songs and piano music.<br />
<br />
A review in <i>The Times</i> (27 July 1891) offered a synopsis that suggests this rendition strays somewhat from the standard story:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rudel, a troubadour of Provence, is beloved of a Norman damsel, Felise, whose praises he sings, and whose portrait he shows at a baronial festival in England, whereupon an English knight, Sir Guy, claims the lady as his wife, and challenges Rudel to combat. Rudel slays his opponent, and, feeling that his blood will form an insuperable barrier to his wedding Felise, takes upon him the vow of a Crusader, and joins a party of knights on their road to the Holy Land. Passing through Normandy on his way to the East, however, he meets his lady love, and learns from her that Sir Guy was not her husband, but only a rejected wooer who determined to wreak his revenge by separating her from Rudel. The hero, bound by his vow, continues on his journey to the Crusades, Felise promising to pray for his welfare and safe and speedy return.</blockquote>
<br />
The introduction uses ‘three old English melodies, the very ancient “Summer is icumen in”, the dance tune “Cheshire rounds”, and the Elizabethan “Carman’s whistle”.’ The reviewer goes on to say that 'its principal defect' is 'a lack of tenderness in what may be styled the sentimental portions'. That'll be a 19th-century English composer for you, then. <br />
<br />
The score has yet to appear in full online, but at least one copy of it is <a href="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Rudel-Dramatic-Cantata-Words-Frederic-Weatherly/5239852696/bd">available for purchase</a>.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-2421633512606773642012-04-13T04:49:00.002-07:002012-04-13T04:54:40.736-07:00The princess gets her dayWordsmith.org recently (16 March 2012) featured 'princesse lointaine' in its popular 'Word a day' series. Clearly the word 'word' is meant in its loosest sense. Jaufre and you-know-who are pictured along with it.<br /><br /><a href="http://wordsmith.org/words/princesse_lointaine.html">Word a Day, 16 March 2012: princesse lointaine</a>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-22084593539722724472012-02-01T05:45:00.000-08:002012-02-01T06:39:14.795-08:00Mind how you go<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kii4dtj-xr0/TylMoercbZI/AAAAAAAAAPM/KS9jE1dISgE/s1600/Oscarwildetrial.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 386px; height: 154px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kii4dtj-xr0/TylMoercbZI/AAAAAAAAAPM/KS9jE1dISgE/s320/Oscarwildetrial.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704174661355203986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I don't know how things were going for the police force in 1889, but <span style="font-style: italic;">The Illustrated Police News</span> was just getting properly started as a proto-tabloid, after their sensationalist coverage of the Jack the Ripper murders the previous year. But on 21 December 1889, its readers were - for some reason - treated to a homily on chivalry*. Exhibit A was the legend of 'the most noble Lord Geoffrey de Rudel, Prince of Blaye'.<br /><br />The paper's account of the legend has an infelicity or two: Rudel's sickness is blamed on an 'infectious disease' breaking out on board the ship; and the writer insists 'This is no troubadour's tale; it is a simple excerpt from history'. I think you'd have to call this 'unreliable testimony'.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pSgGUqQ28aU/TylMzq_OQcI/AAAAAAAAAPY/e9pbiZycGzY/s1600/inkle-f.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 188px; height: 283px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pSgGUqQ28aU/TylMzq_OQcI/AAAAAAAAAPY/e9pbiZycGzY/s320/inkle-f.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704174853637947842" border="0" /></a><br />The article then contrasts this paragon of chivalry with the 17th-century story of Thomas Inkle, a shipwrecked English trader who was rescued by a Barbadian maiden named Yarico but subsequently sold her into slavery in order to recoup his losses (The story became the basis for <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkle_and_Yarico">Inkle and Yarico</a>, a comic opera that was a smash hit in the late 18th century). The story is probably as apocryphal as that of Rudel, but there we are.<br /><br />Image right: 'By heavens! A woman', illustration from the <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36621/36621-h/36621-h.htm">libretto of <span style="font-style: italic;">Inkle and Yarico</span></a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">* A note at the end suggests that the text may first have appeared in the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >Daily Telegraph</span><span style="font-size:78%;">.<br /></span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-14611744311401267912012-01-05T05:34:00.000-08:002012-01-05T05:47:25.861-08:00Princess Daisy?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dR1YBcsKRJY/TwWoShlk9WI/AAAAAAAAAOY/qRo-Byc2DPA/s1600/princess.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 168px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dR1YBcsKRJY/TwWoShlk9WI/AAAAAAAAAOY/qRo-Byc2DPA/s320/princess.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694142340086953314" border="0" /></a>Alphonse Mucha wasn't the only visual artist to go to work on the Rudel legend. The French-Russian designer and artist Romain de Tirtoff (1892–1990), better known as <a href="http://www.erte.com/">Erté</a>, produced a number of limited-edition prints towards the end of his life, one of them entitled <a href="http://www.erte.com/graphic/princess.htm">La Princesse Lointaine</a> (right).<br /><br />There seems to be no information as to whether he had the Rostand play in mind or something more generic, either for this or for <a href="http://www.museumshop.net/posterdetail/vintageposters/princesslointaine.html">an earlier print with the same title</a> (printed in 1970).<br /><br />However, an art auction site lists <a href="http://www.artvalue.com/auction-results--23639--1492----------Romain-de--Sotheby-s.htm">a couple of costume designs by Erté</a> for a production of <span style="font-style: italic;">La Princesse Lointaine</span>, dating from 1929 (below right: 'Costume design for Second Mariner'). This suggests that there was a revival of it that year, though it seems a bit unlikely.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib8QO-fmyb4/TwWpHLablcI/AAAAAAAAAO8/nGeuojwPuSw/s1600/erte-tirtoff-romain-de-1892-19-costume-design-for-the-second-1292575-500-500-1292575.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 239px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib8QO-fmyb4/TwWpHLablcI/AAAAAAAAAO8/nGeuojwPuSw/s320/erte-tirtoff-romain-de-1892-19-costume-design-for-the-second-1292575-500-500-1292575.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694143244667688386" border="0" /></a><br />The 1984 print is a throwback to Erté's Art Deco heyday, to the extent that his princess rather resembles a 1920s flapper. Incidentally, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princesse_lointaine">wikipedia e</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princesse_lointaine">ntry for 'Princesse lointaine'</a> -- the 'stock figure from literature' -- makes reference to Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby's inamorata, as a 20th-century example. So maybe Erté's 'Princesse' approximates how Gatsby imagined Daisy.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-43701088395250520852011-12-01T00:04:00.000-08:002011-12-01T00:17:00.259-08:00An ad for The Pilgrim of Lurve<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq8o6K3YMc4/Ttc1tRULONI/AAAAAAAAAOI/LCB8qms5eyU/s1600/Morning%2BPost%252C%2BTuesday%252C%2BMay%2B10%252C%2B1836.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 154px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq8o6K3YMc4/Ttc1tRULONI/AAAAAAAAAOI/LCB8qms5eyU/s320/Morning%2BPost%252C%2BTuesday%252C%2BMay%2B10%252C%2B1836.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5681068506809579730" border="0" /></a><br />In amongst a few nuggets uncovered in a trawl of online newspaper archives: several advertisements for John Graham's epic poem, <span style="font-style: italic;">Geoffrey Rudel; or, the Pilgrim of Love</span> (see <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/2009/11/epic-treatment.html">my previous entry</a>). This one appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Morning Post</span>, Tuesday, May 10, 1836. Another ad in the same paper a month of so later features the endorsement: 'He has exhibited a mastery over the Spenserian stanza'. Which is nice.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-57633727331577775402011-11-22T02:48:00.000-08:002011-11-22T03:05:13.984-08:00Dugué's Rudel opus: Chapter 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eW2t2sZ1M-4/TsuBYQ4unoI/AAAAAAAAAN8/nQYGGZupLTo/s1600/geoffroyrudel01dugu-7.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 146px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eW2t2sZ1M-4/TsuBYQ4unoI/AAAAAAAAAN8/nQYGGZupLTo/s320/geoffroyrudel01dugu-7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677774009080389250" border="0" /></a>Having done a bit of digging on Ferdinand Dugué, the <span style="font-style: italic;">illustre inconnu</span> of 19th-century French literature, I took it upon myself to translate a bit of his two-volume novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">Geoffroy Rudel</span> (see <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/2011/10/ferdinand-who.html">my previous post</a>). It's heavy on the florid sighing and, as one might expect from a dramatist, stuffed with monologues. But not without interest.<br /><br />'Chapter 1: Le premier mai' in parallel French / English text is <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B21S6Wxvt7AYOTBkMDZmNTEtYmM5Ni00NDE4LWI3NTktODg4NDNmMzE1Mjdj">available as a PDF</a>.<br /><br />Don't mention it.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-24324396153403408282011-11-02T10:53:00.001-07:002011-11-02T11:19:21.897-07:00Concerning Tripoli (no, the other one...)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7kfgnGpXcwo/TrGJOh1JUiI/AAAAAAAAANo/xkPEyPaiA0Y/s1600/TripoliLebCitadelView1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7kfgnGpXcwo/TrGJOh1JUiI/AAAAAAAAANo/xkPEyPaiA0Y/s400/TripoliLebCitadelView1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670464288528618018" border="0" /></a><br />There are two cities called Tripoli; the Rudel legend is concerned with the less famous of the two. This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripoli,_Lebanon">Tripoli</a> is now the largest city in northern Lebanon. I recently came across a <a href="http://tripoli-city.org/">website with plenty of information</a> on its history and images of its architecture, including some examples from the Crusades era.<br /><br />The site also has a <a href="http://tripoli-city.org/amour/index.html">section on Jaufré Rudel and the treatment of the legend</a> by the Lebanese/French writer Amin Maalouf in his libretto for the opera <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">L'Amour de Loin</span> (mentioned in <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/2009/11/rudel-goes-opera.html">an earlier post</a>).</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Included is the complete text of the libretto.<br /><br />The photograph (from Wikimedia Commons, taken by 'Heretiq') shows </span> a view of the Citadel from the Nahr Abu Ali river.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-54028518721713664912011-10-03T05:43:00.000-07:002011-10-03T06:44:16.246-07:00Ferdinand who??<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZO-AJF94TzE/Tom3r3RFalI/AAAAAAAAANM/OFMev-AGy-0/s1600/Dugu%25C3%25A9%2Bad%2B12%2BDec%2B1837.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 377px; height: 88px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZO-AJF94TzE/Tom3r3RFalI/AAAAAAAAANM/OFMev-AGy-0/s400/Dugu%25C3%25A9%2Bad%2B12%2BDec%2B1837.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659256370965604946" border="0" /></a><br />A two-volume novel, <span style="font-style: italic;">Geoffroy Rudel</span>, published in 1837, announced the arrival on the French literary scene of Ferdinand Dugué, who became best known as a dramatist (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/William-Shakespeare-Ferdinand-Dugue/dp/1434401251"><span style="font-style: italic;">William Shakespeare</span></a> and <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jew-Venice-Play-Five-Acts/dp/1434457672/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317646790&sr=1-2">Le juif de Venise</a> being his most famous plays).<br /><br />Well, 'famous' is a relative term. Wikipedia has nothing about Dugué; no survey of 19th-century French literature I've come across even mentions him. And yet, judging by a rather fawning article in <span style="font-style: italic;">La Presse</span> in 1913 (when Dugué had just turned 99!), he could be described as '<span class="hps">the doyen </span><span class="hps">of our</span> <span class="hps">playwrights</span> <span class="hps">...</span> <span class="hps">and probably</span> <span class="hps">of all the</span> <span class="hps">playwrights</span> <span class="hps">in the world' without, one assumes, prompting guffaws from the reader.<br /><br />An advert in the same paper, back in 1838, described <span style="font-style: italic;">Geoffroy Rudel</span> as '</span><span class="hps">a book</span> <span class="hps">that everyone</span> <span class="hps">can read and</span> <span class="hps">everyone</span> <span class="hps">can love'. It goes on:<br /></span><span class="hps"></span><blockquote><span class="hps">Readers ...</span> <span class="hps">will find</span> <span class="hps">charming</span> <span class="hps">characters</span> <span class="hps">and poetry,</span> and <span class="hps">a</span> <span class="hps">tight</span> <span class="hps">plot</span> <span class="hps">leading</span> <span class="hps">through vivid and moving scenes</span> <span class="hps"></span><span class="hps">to a</span> <span class="hps">dénouemement</span> <span class="hps">of great originality</span>.</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">How</span> greatly original? Geoffroy pulls through and marries the princess? Maybe I'll translate and upload a few choice passages in due course.<br /><br />No mistaking the tradition Dugué writes in, though; when asked in 1913 which poets he most admired on the contemporary scene, he replied '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Richepin"><span class="hps">Jean</span> <span class="hps">Richepin</span></a><span class="hps"> most of all...</span> <span class="hps">then Edmond</span> <span class="hps">Rostand'.</span><br /><span class="hps"><br />Dugué's <span style="font-style: italic;">Geoffroy Rudel</span> is now, inevitably, available online at the Internet Archive: <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/geoffroyrudel01dugu">Volume One</a> and <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/geoffroyrudel02dugu">Volume Two</a>.<br /><br />The articles from <span style="font-style: italic;">La Presse</span> (of which there are several more, and a few on <span style="font-style: italic;">La Princesse Lointaine</span>, too) can be found at the <a href="http://gallica.bnf.fr/?lang=EN">Gallica digital library</a>, a Bibliothèque nationale de France joint.<br /><br /></span>Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-55307702634090538302011-08-11T05:00:00.000-07:002011-08-11T05:37:41.913-07:00I am but a singer of chawwnsawwwn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3vipuj3x_ik/TkPM3wSQXoI/AAAAAAAAAMc/F0LXdA-R3FA/s1600/barriere%2Bboth%2Bsides.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 196px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3vipuj3x_ik/TkPM3wSQXoI/AAAAAAAAAMc/F0LXdA-R3FA/s320/barriere%2Bboth%2Bsides.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639576416624336514" border="0" /></a>Now, here's an oddity for you. The French singer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Barri%C3%A8re">Alain Barriére</a>, during a fairly brief spell in the limelight, wrote and recorded a song in the late 1960s entitled 'Princesse Lointaine'. It was the b-side of his single, 'Tout Peut Recommencer' (1968) and also appeared on an album that year. It's pretty clearly an <span style="font-style: italic;">hommage</span> to Rostand and Rudel, with references to taking the cross and dying of love. Here are a few of the lyrics:
<br />
<br />Princesse lointaine
<br />Qu'ils sont longs les jours
<br />Si tu files ta laine
<br />Moi je me meurs d'amour
<br />
<br />Chevaliers mes braves
<br />Je m'en vais en voyage
<br />Je m'en vais par les âges
<br />Retrouver mes amours
<br />
<br />Continuer la guerre
<br />Point sera la dernière
<br />Creusez vos cimetières
<br />Je me rends à l'amour
<br />
<br />There are a few songs by Barriére on youtube, but 'Princesse Lointaine' isn't one of them, sadly.
<br />
<br />Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-68923948798721738182011-08-04T02:38:00.000-07:002011-08-04T02:48:22.545-07:00Lointaine in Translation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030985000"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 107px; height: 174px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OJoL5fuAWPg/Tjpqh5EfzlI/AAAAAAAAALk/mPTU1Vtt4aI/s200/cu31924030985000_0000.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636935014095507026" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">La Princesse Lointaine</span> in English, anyone? An <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030985000">1899 translation by Charles Renaud</a> of Edmond Rostand's 1896 play about the Rudel legend is available at the Internet Archive.<br /><br />It's in blank verse, which, if you ask me, is cheating.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-24748029458178361252011-07-22T00:36:00.000-07:002011-07-22T01:00:52.402-07:00The singer and the songs: new book on Jaufré<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEam9L8C2bE/TiktuvFvy_I/AAAAAAAAALc/5JOsBCq8L8M/s1600/crbst_chansons.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 274px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEam9L8C2bE/TiktuvFvy_I/AAAAAAAAALc/5JOsBCq8L8M/s320/crbst_chansons.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632083089941318642" border="0" /></a>Books about Rudel come along even less frequently than conferences about him, but there's a new one just published.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ventadour.net/jaufrerudel.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Chansons pour un amour lointain: Jaufré Rudel</span></a>, by Roy Rosenstein, Professor of Comparative Literature and English at The American University of Paris, features new translations - into modern French - of Rudel's surviving lyrics (by the poet Yves Leclair), with notes and commentary by Professor Rosenstein.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-45187433951588806002011-07-06T01:03:00.000-07:002011-07-06T01:08:50.729-07:00A Rudel conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DZNiaAkedc8/ThQXYcE-nvI/AAAAAAAAALM/g3o2-s8W0lE/s1600/affichejrudel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 231px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DZNiaAkedc8/ThQXYcE-nvI/AAAAAAAAALM/g3o2-s8W0lE/s200/affichejrudel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626147543113965298" border="0" /></a>Just over a week ago, Blaye hosted an academic conference on Jaufré Rudel - a rare occurrence, it's safe to say. I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't make it, but I hear it was a success. I hope none of the delegates fell mortally ill on the journey there and died in the arms of the, er... Mayoress?<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.aup.edu/faculty/dept/clen/rosenstein.htm">Roy Rosenstein</a> for telling me about it.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1256098079577586269.post-16153109440574498712010-12-10T00:52:00.000-08:002010-12-10T01:23:21.353-08:00Rostand-related visuals<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MHEL8jV-Wx4/TQHxBHvcxII/AAAAAAAAAKw/mmMeZ5f7mdI/s1600/loin_09.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 401px; height: 198px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MHEL8jV-Wx4/TQHxBHvcxII/AAAAAAAAAKw/mmMeZ5f7mdI/s200/loin_09.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548981217457390722" border="0" /></a><br />Rostand's <span style="font-style: italic;">La Princesse Lointaine</span> has, not surprisingly, accumulated more visual material than the rest of the Rudel renditions combined, thanks to the involvement of Alphonse Mucha and several other artists. The holdings of the <a href="http://www.bnu.fr/bnu/fr">Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire</a> in Strasbourg include many bits of Rudeliana, images of which are <a href="http://richet.christian.free.fr/princessloin/princess.html">usefully collected</a> on an Alphonse Mucha fansite (French). Costume sketches, stage jewelry, photographs, that sort of thing.<br /><br />The same site <a href="http://richet.christian.free.fr/ilsee/ilsee.html">reproduces Mucha's <span style="font-style: italic;">Ilsee</span> in its entirety</a>, in a more user-friendly format than the site I <a href="http://jaufre-outremer.blogspot.com/2010/05/rudel-by-mucha.html">mentioned previously</a>.Nick Riddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04605330109996531702noreply@blogger.com0