Apotheosis

I was going to respond to a thread on Ravelry, but then I did some research and got too caught up in my findings.

When I was a kid I read a lot of fantasy. I also listened to a lot of classical music and I had an overactive imagination. For some reason, I had this image of how I wanted my wedding to be. Think: large beautiful cathedral with sunlight streaming in from high windows. Fresh flowers and vines in baskets lining the aisles and the sides of the room. Screw traditional white gowns, I'd be wearing a jewel-toned medieval (think Renaissance Fair) style dress with wildflowers in my fine fluffy blonde- er I mean straght flat black hair. Han Solo would be standing there waiting for me, a la the final throne room scene in the first Star Wars movie. I knew THE song to be played for the procession too. It would be the Apotheosis from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet. While listening to it, I would play out the procession in my head, timing the steps of the flower girl and the bridesmaids, through the procession of the bride myself.

It has the feeling of a regal court procession, and according to various dictionaries, "apotheosis" means "elevation to the status of a god". Wikipedia says the Apotheosis was when the characters would take their final bows, so I suppose when the actor-dancers were transformed to the status of gods of ballet. From this thread on a ballet forum, I learned that the melody used by Tchaikovsky is not actually unique! It was used by Rossini 15 years before Tchaikovsky wrote his ballet. Even more interesting is that this tune is actually an unofficial anthem of France, "Vive Henry IV". Liszt produced a piano arrangement of this tune, and you can listen to a sample of it here on Amazon. No doubt about it, this is the tune. It was used as the national anthem of France after the monarchy was reintroduced in the early 1800s. Apparently Russia has been greatly influenced by France, so it's natural that Tchaikovsky would probably have known of Vive Henry IV.

One of the posters on the previously linked thread hints at political motivations in using the melody: "Given the rather tepid history of the Bourbon Restoration, I wonder if using this music to represent the restoration of the monarchy after 100 years sleep at the end of Sleeping Beauty was as reassuring to the ruling classes at the premiere as it was allegedly meant to be."

SO, while a mere online streaming sample can not do justice to this piece, you can listen to one here (#11).

Alan Rickman

A funny thing I've noticed on the knitting forums (although probably not limited to them) is an obsession with Alan Rickman (Snape from the Harry Potter movies). Although already in several famous movies before the Harry Potter series, I personally never noticed him until then. And then when I saw Love Actually in 2003. And then I watched him in Sense and Sensibility and listened to him in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Notable Alan Rickman avatars on Ravelry (ravatars) include one of him as Snape holding a knitting magazine to his chest, and another one of his naked upper body holding onto a bust (of Apollo I think).

I don't know what it is about him...he's definitely not your stereotypical ladies' man. Perhaps it's that dry, cynical sense of humor combined with the hint of inner warmth his characters tend to portray that makes women swoon. I can't help but feel giddy thinking of him in Sense and Sensibility. heh heh.

Back in the game

So I've still been playing WoW for the past couple of months. I just haven't been playing my Stormscale characters. I made a hunter on Draenor for the Ravelry guild. Level 70! I also have a 16 warrior and 24 mage there. However, recently I've started playing on Stormscale again. Why? Well, Lawrence decided to play again. I may even have a group to PVP with. Not so much raid because that's too much of a continuous time commitment...and needs too many people. However, for Arenas, my gear is seriously outdated and not suitable. In the mean time I'm PVPing in the Battlegrounds to get enough honor so I can buy the gear from Arena Season 1. I've been doing Alterac Valley, as it's the best BG for honor farming. With people who know what they're doing (both horde and alliance), it goes very quickly and can actually be rather fun!