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The Black Spider
''The Black Spider'' is a novella by the Swiss writer Jeremias Gotthelf written in 1842. Set in an idyllic frame story, old legends are worked into a Christian-humanist allegory about ideas of good and evil. Though the novel is initially divided, what is originally the internal story later spills over into the frame story as well. The story is characterized by its complex narrative structure, its conservative Christian motifs and symbolism and its precise descriptions of the social dynamics of the village. Plot The novella begins with a christening party at a farm, during the course of which a few of the guests in front of the house go for a walk. It catches the godmother's eye that although the house is newly built, an old black post is built into it. At her inquiry, the grandfather tells everyone the story of the post. First internal narrative The grandfather tells how a few centuries before, the village had been ruled by a Teutonic Knight named Hans von Stoffeln, who wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franz Karl Basler-Kopp
Franz Karl Basler-Kopp (1879–1937) was a German painter who lived in Switzerland. In addition to works with historic and biblical scenes, symbolic portrayals of the phases of life, he created, most famously, illustrations of legends and fairy tales. He was educated at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He became known as a "fairy tale painter" ("Märchenmaler") through his illustrations of Arnold Büchli's three-volume work ''Schweizersagen'' (Swiss legends) (1926, 1928 and 1931) as well as through his illustration and cover design of several books, some of which were written for literary and musical education in schools, such as ''Osterhas, Sankt Nicolas, Weihnacht und Neujahr'' by Eduard Fischer (1926) and the book of fairy tales ''Am Märchenbrunnen'' by Helene Kopp. Life Franz Karl Basler was born to a farming family from South Bavaria. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Lucerne, where Basler grew up in poor conditions. He later compensat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindau
Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis'') of Lindau (district), Lindau, Bavaria and is near the borders of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and the Switzerland, Swiss cantons of Canton of St. Gallen, St. Gallen and Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau. The coat of arms of Lindau town is a linden tree, referring to the supposed origin of the town's name (''Linde'' means linden tree in German). The historic town of Lindau is located on the island of the same name which is connected with the mainland by a road bridge and a railway dam leading to Lindau Hauptbahnhof, Lindau station. History The first use of the name Lindau was documented in 882 by a monk from St. Gallen, stating that Adalbert (Raetia, count of Raetia) had founded a nun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judith Weir
Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents. She studied with John Tavener while at the North London Collegiate School and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976. Her music often draws on sources from medieval history, as well as the traditional stories and music of her parents' homeland, Scotland. Although she has achieved international recognition for her orchestral and chamber works, Weir is best known for her operas and theatrical works. From 1995 to 2000, she was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival in London. She held the post of Composer in Association for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 1998. Weir was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 Birthday Honours for se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Spider (opera)
''The Black Spider'' is an opera in three acts by Judith Weir with a libretto by the composer. The work is loosely based on the 1842 novella '' Die schwarze Spinne'' by Jeremias Gotthelf. Background ''The Black Spider'' is an opera written for young people. It merges a folk story from Switzerland with a news report from Poland. It combines mystery, history, science, horror and comedy, and asks for skilled acting and singing. Norman Platt, director of Kent Opera, described how his finance director Robin Jessel lent him a recording of '' King Harald's Saga'' by Weir; Platt was much impressed by its originality and having listened to more of her music, met with her, and commissioned a young people's opera with funds from the Arts Council.Platt N. ''Making Music''. Ashford, Pemble Productions, 2001; pp. 79–80. The work was first performed in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral on 6 March 1985, with tenor Armistead Wilkinson and children of the Frank Hooker School; it lasts around on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Spider (1921 Film)
''The Black Spider'' (german: Die schwarze Spinne) is a 1921 German silent horror film directed by Siegfried Philippi and starring Olga Engl, Hugo Flink, and Charles Willy Kayser. It is based on the novella ''The Black Spider'' by Jeremias Gotthelf. It premiered in Berlin on 8 August 1921. Cast In alphabetical order *Olga Engl *Hugo Flink *Charles Willy Kayser *Rudolf Klein-Rhoden *Marga Köhler *Lissi Lind *Max Ruhbeck Max Ruhbeck (1 September 1858 – 2 November 1945) was a German actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1915 to 1923. Selected filmography References External links * 1858 births 1945 deaths German male stage actors Germ ... *Joseph Römer *Ortrud Wagner References External links * Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films German horror films Films directed by Siegfried Philippi 1921 horror films German black-and-white films Adaptations of works by Jeremias Gotthelf Silent horror films 1920s German films [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silvio Varviso
Silvio Varviso (26 February 1924 – 1 November 2006) was a Swiss conductor who spent most of his career devoted to conducting opera. He began his conducting career working in minor opera houses in Switzerland in the mid-1940s. He became the principal conductor of the opera house in Basel in 1956 where he served for six years. In the late 1950s he began appearing with major opera houses on the international stage as a guest conductor. During the 1960s, he became a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and at the Royal Opera House in London. In 1965 he became the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera, and later in his career served as the music director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart and the Paris Opera. During the early 1990s he became a permanent guest conductor at the Vlaamse Opera where he remained active up until his death. Early life and career Although Silvio Varviso's father was a voice teacher, Varviso avoided this art. While attending the Zurich Conser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Opera
Radio opera (German: 'Funkoper' or 'Radiooper') is a genre of opera. It refers to operas which were specifically composed to be performed on the radio and is not to be confused with broadcasts of operas which were originally written for the stage. Radio operas were generally shorter than staged operas and some occupied less than fifteen minutes. Plots were usually more straightforward than those of stage operas.Lionel Salter: ''Radio'' in Sadie, vol. 3, pp. 1212-1214. The earliest radio operas were broadcast in the 1920s and followed earlier broadcasts of plays with incidental music. The first radio opera seems to have been '' The Red Pen'', composed by Geoffrey Toye to a libretto by A. P. Herbert. It was originally aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation on March 24, 1925."Broadcasting", ''The Times'', 20 March 1925, p. 6 Germany followed with Gustav Kneip's Christmas opera for children, ''Christkinds Erdenreise'' (The Christ-child's journey on Earth), 24 December 1929, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and '' Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Sutermeister
Heinrich Sutermeister (12 August 1910 – 16 March 1995) was a Swiss composer, most famous for his opera ''Romeo und Julia''. Life and career Sutermeister was born in Feuerthalen. During the early 1930s he was a student at the Akademie der Tonkunst in Munich, where Carl Orff was his teacher. Orff thereafter remained a powerful influence on his music. Returning to Switzerland in the mid-1930s, Sutermeister devoted his life to composition. He wrote some works for the radio, starting with '' Die schwarze Spinne'' in 1936, before turning later to television opera. His most successful stage work was ''Romeo und Julia'', premiered in Dresden in 1940 under Karl Böhm. Sutermeister's penultimate stage work, ''Madame Bovary'', first given in Zurich in 1967, is loosely based on Flaubert's novel. With many characters cut, it consists largely of monologues for Emma Bovary, who was sung by Anneliese Rothenberger. For his final opera, he adapted Eugène Ionesco's play ''Exit the King'' (' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Algernon Charles Swinburne, Swinburne. As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures". Smith was one of "the big three of ''Weird Tales'', with Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft", but some readers objected to his morbidness and violation of pulp traditions. The fantasy critic L. Sprague de Camp said of him th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, Maryland, USA, 1993: Rowman & Littlefield; Joshi, S.T. and Schweitzer, Darrell; Lord Dunsany: A Comprehensive Bibliography (Studies in Supernatural Literature series). Material has continued to appear. He gained a name in the 1910s as a great writer in the English-speaking world. Best known today are the 1924 fantasy novel, ''The King of Elfland's Daughter'', and his first book, ''The Gods of Pegāna'', which depicts a fictional pantheon. Born in London as heir to an old Irish peerage, he was raised partly in Kent, but later lived mainly at Ireland's possibly longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara. He worked with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory supporting the Abbey Theatre and some fellow writers. He was a chess and pistol champio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weird Fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horror fiction. Writers on the subject of weird fiction, such as China Miéville, sometimes use "the tentacle" to represent this type of writing. The tentacle is a limb-type absent from most of the monsters of European folklore and gothic fiction, but often attached to the monstrous creatures created by weird fiction writers, such as William Hope Hodgson, M. R. James, Clark Ashton Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft. Weird fiction often attempts to inspire awe as well as fear in response to its fictional creations, causing commentators like Miéville to paraphrase Goethe in saying that weird fiction evokes a sense of the numinous. Although "weird fiction" has been chiefly used as a historical description for works through the 1930s, it experienced a re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
