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Beginning Schubert

Schubert collection

2019

Childe Hassam, Promenade - Winter in New York, 1895.

Scrapbook for December

Legitimacy restored

Posted on  UTC 2019-12-01 02:01

Words: 239; reading time: 1 minute

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Schubert in love

Four trembling hands in F minor.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-12-21 08:16

Words: 4,919; reading time: 22 minutes

A review of Werner Vogt's book, 'Liebesgrüsse aus Limerick'

Limericks in German

Liebesgrüsse aus Limerick: A suitable case for treatment.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-12-18 16:44

Words: 614; reading time: 2 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Chillin' with the Kinskys

Joseph von Spaun touches his forelock.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-12-18 08:02

Words: 8,827; reading time: 40 minutes

Jules Bastien-Lepage, 'The Annunciation to the Shepherds', 1875 (detail).

Quote and image of the month for December

Quote: Werner Bergengruen, The Shepherds. Image: Jules Bastien-Lepage, The Annunciation to the Shepherds.

Posted on  UTC 2019-12-16 07:13

Words: 1,110; reading time: 5 minutes

Caravaggio (1571–1610), The Burial of Saint Lucy, c.1608 (detail).

13 December Saint Lucy's Day

What's in a name? From obscure beginnings to theological eminence.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-12-10 09:12

Words: 9,712; reading time: 44 minutes

Gerard ter Borch, A Woman Writing a Letter, c1655 (detail).

Comments on Figures of Speech

A new plaything for our readers – not just for Christmas, either.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-12-01 14:16

Words: 853; reading time: 3 minutes

Justyna Kopania, 'Untitled', 2011.

Scrapbook for November

In the bleak midwinter | 240 years ago today | The illustrated Schubert collection | A Boris™ Johnson lie tracker

Posted on  UTC 2019-11-01 02:01

Words: 764; reading time: 3 minutes

The Brexiteer, magazine of the UK Brexit Party.

Wrecking the Brexit Party brand

Nigel breaks his new toy.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-11-12 13:27

Words: 1,012; reading time: 4 minutes

Updated on  2019-11-13

Dice rolling for pleasure and profit.

Dice throwing for beginners

The inscrutable UK election on 12 December.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-11-04 17:32

Words: 723; reading time: 3 minutes

All Souls' Day in a Polish cemetery.

All Souls' Day 2019

2 November in the words of Rainer Maria Rilke.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-11-02 14:22

Words: 660; reading time: 3 minutes

The constellation of Orion the hunter.

Quote and images of the month for November

Quote: Robert Frost, The Star Splitter. Images: The Orion constellation.

Posted on  UTC 2019-11-01 07:27

Words: 1,602; reading time: 7 minutes

Peter Ilsted, 'Interior with Two Girls', 1904.

Scrapbook for October

Citation functionality changes | That Brexit Deal thingy | A geological excursion | Greta Thunberg: climate victim (2)

Posted on  UTC 2019-10-01 02:01

Words: 1,260; reading time: 5 minutes

From the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) – The Biblical plague of locusts.

Climate facts and a Climate Credo

Essential tools for surviving the Gretaceous era.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-30 14:22

Words: 1,048; reading time: 4 minutes

Boris™ Johnson

Boris™ blusters on

The terror of the empty ditch on Halloween: is the corpse still walking the earth?

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-29 11:04

Words: 855; reading time: 3 minutes

Björn Höcke (detail).

Thuringia has voted!

Another rip in the increasingly tattered fabric of German politics. Still no change though – yet.

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-10-28 11:14

Words: 1,082; reading time: 4 minutes

Jose Fontano on Unsplash, Padlock (detail).

Hate speech sanitizer

A simple tool for those who don't want to cause offence. 'So shines a good deed in a naughty world'.

Posted by Austin Morris on  UTC 2019-10-26 16:14

Words: 1,032; reading time: 4 minutes

Swiss elections, October 2019, Nationalrat.

Switzerland has voted!

Be still my beating heart. Or, even better, be young and be green.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-20 19:19

Words: 500; reading time: 2 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-21

Peder Severin Krøyer (1851-1909), Wine Harvest in the Tyrol, 1901 (detail).

Quote and image of the month for October

Quote: Georg Trakl, Verklärter Herbst. Image: Peder Severin Krøyer, Wine Harvest in the Tyrol.

Posted on  UTC 2019-10-18 10:17

Words: 614; reading time: 2 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Another Schubert portrait turns up

Well, its got the specs at least, but nothing else.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-10-17 07:19

Words: 1,477; reading time: 6 minutes

The good old days: Irish customs stop

Dividing the two Irelands

More at stake than the administrative fudge of a 'backstop'.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-15 14:09

Words: 1,258; reading time: 5 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-20

The daydream of the Green Liberal party in Switzerland.

The green daydream

A 20-second animated glimpse into the psychopathology of the green mind.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-14 09:05

Words: 2,267; reading time: 10 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-15

Quince blossom in May.

The quince

Still inedible after two and a half millennia.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-10-08 14:03

Words: 1,228; reading time: 5 minutes

Titian (1490-1576), 'Sisyphus' (1548-49).

Green steering charges

Bad if they don't work, terrible if they do.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-10-04 14:09

Words: 3,071; reading time: 13 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-05

Vincent van Gogh, 'Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase', 1890.

Scrapbook for September

The Brexit deal explained | On the rug edge | Half-baked | Dim and dimmer | Greta Thunberg: climate victim | Home page illustrations | Die Schöne Müllerin website

Posted on  UTC 2019-09-01 02:01

Words: 1,273; reading time: 5 minutes

Temperature forecasting by wax crayon ©MeteoSwiss.

A Swiss simpleton's guide to Global Warming

More fakery from MeteoSwiss, created for and by simpletons.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-09-29 14:28

Words: 1,010; reading time: 4 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

A Schwanengesang website

Will this delusion ever end? Doesn't look like it.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-09-29 10:08

Words: 781; reading time: 3 minutes

The leaves of the European Aspen, the 'trembling poplar'.

The trembling aspen

A look at the literary and musical life of a Populus tremula, with a contribution from Franz Schubert.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-09-27 14:12

Words: 6,752; reading time: 30 minutes

Updated on  2019-09-30

Boris™ Johnson

Boris™ in the bunker

The end cannot come soon enough for the incredible one.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-09-19 11:16

Words: 1,272; reading time: 5 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-07

He's back! But not for long.

David Cameron

Risen from the crypt but still not getting it.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-09-18 08:43

Words: 937; reading time: 4 minutes

Updated on  2019-09-19

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), 'The Problem We All Live With', 1963 (detail).

Quote and image of the month for September

Quote: Rudolf Hagelstange Bei den schwarzen Baptisten. Image: Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With.

Posted on  UTC 2019-09-17 13:02

Words: 1,928; reading time: 8 minutes

Ursula von der Leyen, Candidate for President of the EC, at the Plenary session of the EP © Copyright European Commission 2019.

The New Age dawns in the EU

Social engineering in the service of the European Way of Life.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-09-14 14:03

Words: 972; reading time: 4 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Dr Rita Steblin

An obituary notice for the Beethoven and Schubert scholar.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-09-13 10:13

Words: 320; reading time: 1 minute

Frans Timmermans, December 2018, Wikimedia.

The European Green Deal

Double Dutch: for 'Deal' read 'Diktat'.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-09-11 11:27

Words: 444; reading time: 2 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Franz Schubert and Ludwig Rellstab

Yet more Schwanengesang nonsense. Seven execrable poems, six desperate settings, one super hit.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-09-09 14:27

Words: 9,402; reading time: 42 minutes

Updated on  2020-10-22

Mephistopheles to Faust: 'Your are going into a deep sleep'.

No change in Sachsen and Brandenburg

State elections in Germany: All quiet on the eastern front – and everywhere else for that matter.

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-09-02 14:18

Words: 1,174; reading time: 5 minutes

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, Playa de Valencia, 1907.

Scrapbook for August

Tempting fate | The Dam Busters | Contempt karma

Posted on  UTC 2019-08-01 02:01

Words: 312; reading time: 1 minute

Olaf Scholz, German Federal Finance Minister. Image: Bundesministerium der Finanzen / Photothek / Thomas Koehler.

German solidarity

Sticking it to the rich.

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-08-29 17:22

Words: 1,449; reading time: 6 minutes

Monastery entrance, Kloster Maulbronn, Germany.

The chestnut tree at the gate

How to learn German in nine days.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-08-28 09:27

Words: 2,321; reading time: 10 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-04

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Heinrich Heine and Franz Schubert

Two worlds collide.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-08-26 09:07

Words: 6,392; reading time: 29 minutes

Election poster for the SVP 2019

News from the bunker

The Swiss People's Party readies itself for the next election. Are they mad?

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-08-20 09:47

Words: 299; reading time: 1 minute

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Franz Schubert and Heinrich Heine

Dismantling Schwanengesang — and about time, too.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-08-14 17:12

Words: 18,353; reading time: 1 hour 23 minutes

Updated on  2019-09-15

Jan Sanders van Hemessen (1519-1564), The surgeon or The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (1550-1555).

Quote and image of the month for August

Quote: Arthur Schopenhauer Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung. Image: Jan Sanders van Hemessen, The Extraction of the Stone of Madness.

Posted on  UTC 2019-08-01 07:32

Words: 774; reading time: 3 minutes

Swiss National Day, 1 August

Swiss National Day, 1 August

Alphorns in high places.

Posted by George Meredith on  UTC 2019-08-01 07:12

Words: 576; reading time: 2 minutes

William Blair Bruce, Landscape with Poppies, 1887.

Scrapbook for July

Boris™ again | Remainers still at the controls | On the moon | Carl Gustaf saves the planet

Posted on  UTC 2019-07-01 02:01

Words: 330; reading time: 1 minute

Boris Johnson

Boris™ blusters

A ten-minute rhetorical shambles from the new UK Solon.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-07-27 13:14

Words: 5,239; reading time: 23 minutes

Boris Johnson

Boris™

Start as you mean to go on – with a shambles.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-07-24 09:30

Words: 458; reading time: 2 minutes

Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, 20 March 2016.

Nothing has been learned

Looking in vain for some backbone in dealing with Iran.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-07-21 09:22

Words: 576; reading time: 2 minutes

Green paper strips, but not green.

Matter and light

Clearing away legacy thinking about colour.

Posted by Austin Morris on  UTC 2019-07-19 12:22

Words: 2,068; reading time: 9 minutes

'Man with scroll (NOT Catullus)' – wall painting from the Museo Archeologico di Sirmione

Catullus and Lesbia

The arc of a love-hate affair.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-07-16 14:01

Words: 1,781; reading time: 8 minutes

Helena Riedel, Paar (Couple), c1930.

Scrapbook for June

Boris the Card | Lindenbaum | The choice is theirs | News from the asylum | The last insanity

Posted on  UTC 2019-06-01 02:01

Words: 863; reading time: 3 minutes

The Climate Devil as seen by the Swiss People's Party.

Why does the Devil have all the best tunes?

Because he has the best people writing them.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-06-24 13:26

Words: 547; reading time: 2 minutes

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) c. 1920.

The Green-Red media infestation in Germany

Mixing green and red makes brown – no arguing with that.

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-06-22 14:13

Words: 985; reading time: 4 minutes

In the MeteoSwiss kindergarten.

Getting down with the kids

Swiss climate propaganda for little ones of all ages.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-06-21 17:21

Words: 285; reading time: 1 minute

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Schubert the Insignificant

Time to get rid of the 'Circles of Friends'. While we are about it, let's cast a gimlet eye on the Schubertiaden, those instruments of exploitation and oppression.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-06-21 08:21

Words: 6,435; reading time: 29 minutes

Goethe showing how it's done. Detail from Wilhelm von Kaulbach: 'Der junge Goethe auf dem Eise' 1867.

Goethe on ice

Showing off in Frankfurt and Weimar.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-06-16 08:22

Words: 4,333; reading time: 19 minutes

Updated on  2019-11-13

The UK ship of state ready for whatever the future may bring. Image: Aneta Foubíková on Unsplash

Could a UK prime minister be worse than Theresa May?

We are about to find out. The dreary political months in prospect in the UK.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-06-10 10:43

Words: 1,044; reading time: 4 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Diving deep into Goethe's Der Fischer

Keeping cool on the bottom with the eighteen year-old Franz Schubert.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-06-08 16:51

Words: 8,922; reading time: 40 minutes

Updated on  2019-06-12

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

How many people listen to Schubert's music these days?

Not many.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-06-02 14:03

Words: 1,945; reading time: 8 minutes

Leo von König, Am Frühstückstisch / At the breakfast table, 1907.

Scrapbook for May

Calm and contented | Doris Day | Seen recently in passing

Posted on  UTC 2019-05-01 02:01

Words: 293; reading time: 1 minute

No laughing matter, Mr Farage.

The European Parliament election 2019

No comfort for Brexiters as the green-red tsunami rolls on.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-05-27 09:07

Words: 763; reading time: 3 minutes

Updated on  2019-05-27

The logo of the Conservative Party UK.

The Tory party at prayer

They are going to need all the divine intervention they can get.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-05-26 13:09

Words: 911; reading time: 4 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Not a portrait of Franz Schubert

Let's sort it all out, once and for all.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-05-23 08:21

Words: 9,494; reading time: 43 minutes

Updated on  2019-05-28

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Franz Schubert's Mensch

What did the preacher in Zseliz mean?

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-05-13 08:42

Words: 4,697; reading time: 21 minutes

Updated on  2019-05-14

Helvetia: God's own country – for the moment.

19 May: Another day, another referendum

Another act of Swiss obeisance to its international partners.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-05-06 09:12

Words: 990; reading time: 4 minutes

Updated on  2019-05-26

Benediktinerkloster Disentis

5 May 1799: A little local difficulty in Switzerland

220 years ago in the land of neutrality, peace and compromise.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-05-05 15:07

Words: 8,149; reading time: 37 minutes

Updated on  2019-05-08

Heinrich Heine, by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, 1831.

Quote for the first day of May

From romance to realism

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-05-01 10:21

Words: 523; reading time: 2 minutes

Gustave Baumann, Plum and Peach Blossom, 1915.

Scrapbook for April

Blending in | David Lama | Sunday morning coming down | Lest we forget | To leave or not to leave…

Posted on  UTC 2019-04-01 02:01

Words: 1,340; reading time: 6 minutes

David Teniers the Younger, 'Hexensabbat', 1633.

Walpurgisnacht

Chimney breasts – bottoms, too. Can Walpurgisnacht survive the #metoo era?

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-04-28 10:03

Words: 352; reading time: 1 minute

The Stone of St Zeno, near Schluein, Switzerland

Two fabled stones from Graubünden

A walk on the wild side to Saint Zeno's Stone and the Baby Stone, both currently gathering moss.

Posted by George Meredith on  UTC 2019-04-24 19:06

Words: 3,766; reading time: 17 minutes

Updated on  2019-04-26

Hazel catkins, February 2007.

Pollen

Earlier and more pollen – another nail in our climate coffin.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-04-17 11:15

Words: 2,768; reading time: 12 minutes

Notre Dame, Paris, 15 April 2019.

Notre Dame: What now?

Knock it down and build something better.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-04-16 13:53

Words: 1,124; reading time: 5 minutes

Updated on  2019-04-17

Michaelangelo (1475-1564), Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508-1512), Isaiah.

Isaiah the Obscured

Where is he when we need him?

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-04-15 12:43

Words: 5,022; reading time: 22 minutes

Updated on  2019-10-30

The discography page of the new website winterreise.online.

All things Winterreise

An impressive new website for the Schubert/Müller song cycle.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-04-11 08:07

Words: 302; reading time: 1 minute

Updated on  2019-07-16

Don't drink the green stuff, Jekyll! Too late – meet Mr Climate.

Scientists – dontcha luv em?

Not much.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-04-03 12:04

Words: 5,729; reading time: 26 minutes

Updated on  2019-04-20

Helvetia: God's own country

Switzerland

All rocks and hard places at the moment. The old Switzerland has gone, but can the new one survive?

Posted by Mad Mitch on  UTC 2019-04-01 10:04

Words: 5,722; reading time: 26 minutes

Updated on  2019-07-28

Frantisek Kupka, White on Blue and Red, c.1934.

Scrapbook for March

Pete North: defiant to the end

Posted on  UTC 2019-03-01 02:01

Words: 344; reading time: 1 minute

Franz Grillparzer, postcard portrait, ND

Heloise Höchner's first and last love

That dithering, heartless narcissist, Franz Grillparzer.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-03-20 12:04

Words: 22,866; reading time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Updated on  2025-02-01

Joan Miro, Bird with Unfolded Plumage flies to the Silver Tree, 1953.

A farewell to Google

The new Figures of Speech site search.

Posted by Austin Morris on  UTC 2019-03-04 17:50

Words: 1,691; reading time: 7 minutes

Anders Zorn, Portrait of Emma Zorn, 1887.

Scrapbook for February

New: citation function | Let them eat plastic | http/https on Figures of Speech

Posted on  UTC 2019-02-01 02:01

Words: 598; reading time: 2 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Wilhelm Müller's 'three suns'

Memories of Die Winterreise in the current northern hemisphere cold snap.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-02-01 11:04

Words: 1,197; reading time: 5 minutes

Gustave Loiseau, Hiver à Triel-sur-Seine, 1914.

Scrapbook for January

Brexit: Are we there, yet? | Why was this website taken offline etc.?

Posted on  UTC 2019-01-01 02:01

Words: 541; reading time: 2 minutes

Francis Jammes at Orthez in 1900.

In praise of simplicity

Francis Jammes' Prayer to go to Paradise with the Donkeys.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-01-29 14:45

Words: 1,318; reading time: 5 minutes

Bernard-Henri Lévy

Speaking in tongues through a glass darkly

Bernard-Henri Lévy – madness mangled.

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-01-27 16:36

Words: 1,613; reading time: 7 minutes

Robert Burns, by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787

Wer böpperlet a der chammer a?

Burns Night, 25 January. Night-time pranks, Swiss style.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-01-25 14:23

Words: 724; reading time: 3 minutes

Doris Leuthard

Doris Leuthard: smiling through

A review of Werner Vogt's new biography of a Swiss political superstar.

Posted by George Meredith on  UTC 2019-01-24 11:04

Words: 5,387; reading time: 24 minutes

Not long now, Dobbin! Elizabeth Butler, The Remnants of an Army, 1879

Brexit: the end is in sight

But what end would that be? Who knows?

Posted by Thersites on  UTC 2019-01-17 11:12

Words: 520; reading time: 2 minutes

Franz Schubert, Pencil sketch by Friedrich Lieder, 1827

Dass sie hier gewesen D 775: Rückert and Schubert

Two lyrical geniuses at work.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-01-16 15:29

Words: 2,828; reading time: 12 minutes

Karl Barth (1787–1853), portrait of Friedrich Rückert (1826)

Friedrich Rückert – Kindertodtenlieder

Blogging rhymes of passage through the dark forest of shades.

Posted by Richard on  UTC 2019-01-13 10:39

Words: 27,368; reading time: 2hours 4 minutes

Updated on  2020-07-11

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