Day: November 16, 2009

Poetry,

November 16 – Psalm IX by Wespazjan Kochowski

Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes!

That Attributeth the Fortunate Election in Anno 1672 unto God’s Destiny

The thankfulness for the Giver

1 Praise the Lord, all nations!
Sing Him and thank with joy, generation of Slavic Lech!
2 Let the resounding echo spread upon the Polish plains
And let the noise of merry Vivat! spike the heaven!
3 God, our Creator that giveth the kings, liveth;
Let the king, given by God, live longlastingly too!
4 The king that not a feminine womb or a paltry cradle shall raise unto the throne,
But the volition of God of hosts through the votes of the numerous knighthood shall make the lord.
5 Not corrupted electors, not sophisticated scheming or some refinement,
But the votes of the noble people have chosen the best from among itself.

The excellent choice

6 Be delighted, free for an age Sarmatia,
That used to stay in a little captivity under the reign of the aliens, as in a sweetened curb!
7 Joy, Polish men, for getting the lord from your blood;
Ye that until now, electing foreigns, used to judge thyself unworthy of the sceptre!
8 Be merry, fecund mothers, for the lesser necessity of the knowledge of the abroad languages for your sons with the old Polish virtue,
When they shall talk perfectly with the king-compatriot in Polish!
9 Take courage, holy justice,
Because there is no more need to explain the judging king the native laws!
10 I know that there is nice for thee, virtue and rectitude,
Because that lord that the goodness hath exalted above the equals, cannot be friendly for the crimes!
11 Flourish now and shine, Polish fame,
When the sign of salvation is elevated above the Mussulmanic moon!

The king given by God

12 But thou too, our liberty, worship God’s name,
That hath put in way that through the free election we have chosen the well-pleased of the heaven;
13 That in the rumble and noise of so many assembled heads —“
And remember that upon Mount Sinai God hath given Israel the order and the order’s giver in the thunder and beating of lightnings too —“
14 This way it was proper both for God that giveth to announce His benefit
And for the people that taketh to renounce not the appropriate thankfulness!

The Defender of the Republic

15 Now let not the kingdoms that stay under the monarchs say:
Our hope in the baby that sucketh the breast of his mother.
16 But let Poland with the adjoined provinces say:
My hope in God that giveth me the kings, knowing me as His property.
17 The Lord is my Giver, Protector and Guardian
And although —“ Poland sayeth it —“ for the wars I am naked from the decoration, He is able to give me back the first beauty.
18 He needeth not the rainforcements for the war,
Because even a fly, when He ordereth, is a soldier for Him, and He recruiteth frogs unto the army against Egypt.
19 Of His volition an angel shall beat the forces of Sennacherib
Or, as in France, one girl shall smash English athletes.

The doxology

20 This is the day that the Lord hath made and decided, of the election of our king;
Let be unto Him only, the Giver, honour and glory in the ages of ages.
21 Glory unto the Father and unto the Son and unto the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, so it is now and it shall be forever and in the ages of ages. Amen.

From the translator’s website of Psalms by Kochowski

Szczęśliwą elekcyją in anno 1672 przeznaczeniu Boskiemu przypisujący

Wezwanie do wdzięczności Podawcy

1 Chwalcie Pana, wszytkie narody!
Śpiewaj Mu i dziękuj z radością, słowieńskiego Lecha pokolenie!
2 Niech się po równinach polskich tubalne echo rozchodzi,
A odgłos wesołego Vivat! niechaj niebiosa przebija!
3 Żyje Bóg, Stwórca nasz, króle podający;
Niech i król długowiecznie żyje, od Boga podany!
4 Którego nie żywot niewieści albo marna kolebka na tronie posadzi,
Ale wola Boga zastępów przez głosy mnogiego rycerstwa panem uczyni;
5 Nie przekupieni elektorowie, nie wymyślne praktyki albo subtelność jaka,
Ale najlepszego spośród siebie kreski szlachetnego ludu obrały.

Świetny wybór

6 Ciesz się, od wieku wolna Sarmacyja,
Któraś pod panowaniem obcych, jak w przysłodzonym wędzidle, w nieznacznej zostawała niewoli!
7 Radujcie się, mężowie polscy, że ze krwie waszej otrzymaliście pana;
Którzy obierając cudzoziemców, dotądeście sami siebie niegodnymi berła sądzieli!
8 Weselcie się, płodne matrony, że synom waszym przy staropolskiej cnocie mniej potrzebna zagranicznych języków umiejętność,
Kiedy z królem-ziomkiem po polsku doskonale się rozmówią!
9 Podnoś głowę, sprawiedliwości święta,
Bo już sądzącemu królowi ojczystych praw tłumaczyć nie trzeba!
10 Cnoto i poczciwości, wiem, że-ć miło,
Bo nie może ten pan występkom być przyjazny, którego dobroć nad rówienniki wywyższyła!
11 Zakwitnij, sławo polska, i rozjaśniej teraz,
Kiedy nad bisurmańskim miesiącem znamię zbawienia wywyższone!

Król podany przez Boga

12 Ale i ty, wolności nasza, wielbij imię Boskie,
Które zdarzyło, że przez wolną elekcyją obraliśmy upodobanego niebu;
13 Że w huku i odgłosie tak siłu zgromadzonych głów —“
A wszak i na górze Synaj we grzmocie i biciu piorunów podawał Bóg Izraelowi zakon i zakonodawcę —“
14 Tak przystało i dającemu Bogu ogłosić dobrodziejstwo Swoje,
I biorącemu ludowi nie zaniechywać powinnej wdzięczności!

Bóg Obrońcą Rzeczypospolitej

15 Niechajże teraz nie mówią królestwa pod monarchami zostające:
Nadzieja nasza w niemowlęciu, piersi matki swojej ssącym,
16 Ale niech mówi z przyległymi prowincyjami Polska:
Nadzieja moja w Bogu, który mi króle podaje, znając mię dziedzictwem Swoim.
17 Pan jest Podawcą moim, Opiekunem i Stróżem,
A chociażem —“ tak mówi Polska —“ przez wojny obnażona z ozdoby, mocen jest pierwszą mi przywrócić krasę.
18 Nie potrzebuje On na wojnę posiłków,
Gdyż u Niego i mucha, kiedy każe, żołnierzem i z żab wojska zaciąga przeciw Egiptowi.
19 Z woli Jego wybije anioł wojska Sennacherybowe,
Albo, jako we Francyjej, dziewczysko jedno potłucze mocarzów angielskich.

Doksologia

20 Ten ci jest dzień, który uczynił i postanowił Pan obrania króla naszego;
niechajże Jemu samemu, Podawcy, będzie cześć i chwała na wieki wieków.
21 Chwała Ojcu i Synowi i Duchowi Świętemu,
Jako była na początku, tak i teraz, i zawsze, i na wieki wieków. Amen.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , , ,

The music scene in Krakow, beyond avant garde…

From A.V. Club: Live Report: Krakow’s Unsound Festival by Andy Battaglia. Check out the entire article and some really nice photos.

I almost puked in a club in a Stalinist suburb in Poland, and not for any of the reasons I had ever almost puked before, in a club or anywhere else. The cause was straightforward enough, but it only really makes sense in context.

I went to Krakow, Poland, at the end of October for Unsound, an ambitious music festival whose bill included a week’s worth of performances by a disparate lot: Stars Of The Lid, Omar-S, Sunn O))), Kode 9, Grouper, Johann Johannsson, Pole, Monolake, Nico Muhly, Biosphere, 2562, Ben Frost, and a group of Hasidic Jews from France who played gleaming blue keytar in front of smiling Stars of David, to name just a few. The mix was all over the place, and the mood followed suit.

The mood of Krakow, as much as could be gleaned during a fleeting week there, was rich. The city itself is beautiful and more than a little eerie. Some of the buildings, including an enormous castle right in the city center, date back to the 11th century. Certain statues and gargoyles could probably get active status in an actors’ guild, so expressive are their writhing gestures and anguished looks. Images of dragons proliferate. At least one of the countless churches open to leering boasts desiccated skulls as decoration. The whole city, especially at night, looks fantastic in a fog.

The Unsound Festival, started in 2003, is one of a group of municipally minded music festivals that belong to a burgeoning collective known as I.C.A.S., or International Cities Of Advanced Sound. Others include Mutek in Montreal, Club Transmediale in Berlin, Dis-patch in Belgrade, Sperm Festival in Prague, and Communikey in Boulder, Colorado. Each shares an affinity for electronic and experimental music, as well as the artier ends of indie-rock and classical composition. Each also answers for a stated ethos that —favors quality, critical reflection, innovation and exchange over profit.— (Disclosure: I went to Krakow as a guest of Unsound, both to cover the festival and to help plan an Unsound offshoot to happen in New York in February 2010.)

Unsound 2009 got off to a disquieting start. Opening night featured a contemplative set by the Polish composer Jacaszek, who traffics in ambient sounds haunted by churchly voices and slathered with strings. He played a laptop, backed by cello and violin, in a serene Japanese art museum called Manggha. A crowd of several hundred sat rapt, especially during a piece that played alongside a black-and-white video of swallows swooping in ethereal formation. After the concert came a screening of Beats Of Freedom, a documentary about revolutionary music in Poland from the 1960s to the fall of Communism in the late ’80s. It was startling, as a visitor, to watch such a film in the presence of an audience for whom the notion of —revolutionary music— is both recent and very real. It was even more startling to hear such an audience throw up its hands and laugh away chilling tales of secret-police interrogations and spells of military aggression—”laughter as absurdist rejoinder…

Perspective, PNCC

A perspective

…on what it is to be Catholic. A well written, very short, synopsis that packs a lot in. I like the mention of the PNCC of course, but beyond that, the references to Catholicism’s influence on the world and its central role in the evolution of Christianity. See: Catholicism: The Widespread Belief In Jesus Christ by Susan Esterbill:

Catholicism is a general term referring to various things depending on the context to which the word is used. Despite the myriad of meanings associated with it, Catholicism is known to be that which encompasses the Catholic faith, its believers and its followers.

Variety
A number of diverse groups are under this faith, although there are also variations in their ways and beliefs. Included in this list would be major groups, under apostolic succession who consider themselves Catholic. These are the Roman Catholic Church (Western and Eastern churches), Orthodox Churches (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican), the Evangelicals (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Church in Canada, etc.). …

Unity
Among these sects, it is the Roman Catholic Church that is considered the largest. In fact, it is estimated to have 1.1 billion members, all of whom believe in Jesus Christ and consider the Roman Pope as their highest Church leader, the one who serves as the church’s successor after the apostle Peter. Moreover, in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the bishops take the place of the other apostles. …

Dissonance
On the other hand, the Catholic groups who don’t pledge allegiance to the Pope include those who follow Anglican ways like the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Organization. Moreover, there are also much smaller sects like the Philippine Independent Church and the Polish National Catholic Church. The history involving the evolution of Catholicism that brought about all these divisions and other differences in beliefs is a long and detailed account of centuries of religious conflict and spiritual growth. A number of other religions have also resulted from this faith and is said to be continuously growing in numbers. The influence of Catholicism is incomparable in size and magnitude, and its growth and development continue to affect billions of people all over the world. …

Influence
Catholicism and its role in shaping the history of mankind can be seen in the various cultures and nations that exist today. The learning of its key concepts and beliefs are essential to the comprehension of its complexity. Catholicism wasn’t built in a day, nor can it be fully learned and explored in a single day.

LifeStream

Daily Digest for November 16th

twitter (feed #4)
New blog post: Daily Digest for November 15th http://bit.ly/337Ohy [deacon_jim]
lastfm (feed #3)
Listened to 25 songs.
twitter (feed #4)
New blog post: A perspective https://www.konicki.com/2009/11/16/a-perspective/ [deacon_jim]