Saturday, April 27, 2019

SATURDAY NIGHT JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, ENNIO MORRICONE.

First Johann Sebastian Bach with the Badinerie of his Orchestral Suite #2 In B Minor, BWV 1067.





As noted before, in an earlier post, BWV stands for Bach Werke Verzeichnis, or Bach Works Catalogue.



Then Ennio Morricone with Gabriel's Oboe, from the soundtrack of the 1986 movie The Mission, a film by Roland Joffé.





I don't know how long ago it is that I watched this movie, probably more than two decades, but it was certainly a long time before I knew and appreciated its historical context. If next time you come across another Christianity-hating nitwit here's another argument with which to put him/her/it in place: the existence of a Jesuit Republic in what is now Paraguay, from 1609, when it was founded by the Jesuit Superior Antonio Ruiz de Montoya, to around 1768, when it was overrun by Spanish and Portuguese colonial authorities. The arts and some kind of proto-industry flourished there, and cities had paved streets and beautiful buildings. The 'Republic', where the native population, mostly Guarani Indians, lived free and slavery was forbidden, consisted of initially 30, then later 23 so-called reducciones. Its downfall came because of the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, which caused the ceding of Latin American land by Spain to Portugal, and conspiracies in Europe against the Jesuit Order. It is a topic well worth studying.

The title 'Gabriel's Oboe' refers to the character of Father Gabriel, portrayed by Jeremy Irons, playing his Oboe in a successful attempt to win the Guarani over to accepting him in their community.


Good night.


MFBB.

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