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Sir Nick Beard's Locquacious Rumitisms on Life... -
Roma g*psies …
Shorter Sir Nick Beard: Nick Beard is a disgusting racist wasting perfectly good carbon. No one should be least bit confused why Nick Beard can’t get a date, can’t find a scholarship, and gets people nervous any time he’s sighted talking to children. Specifically, the common element to all these things is Nick Beard, who literally does nothing to improve the human condition through his existence.
George Bridgetower (1779 - 1860) and Beethoven: a troubled relationship
George Bridgetower, the celebrated English violin virtuoso, came to Vienna in 1803 and met Beethoven. They played together and Beethoven was impressed.
At Bridgetower’s urging, Beethoven agreed to compose a new Violin Sonata, to be performed by the two of them at one of the celebrated morning concerts in the Augarten pavilion, run by Ignaz Schuppanzigh.
Bridgetower was tall and good-looking, with an eye for the ladies. He was a mulatto - his mother Polish, his father West Indian.
Recognised as being of exceptional talent, he had performed for King George III at Windsor Castle, the Prince Regent at the newly built Brighton Pavilion, the Pump Rooms at Bath and across southern England.
For the new sonata, Beethoven took the final movement from an earlier sonata (which he replaced) and composed a new first and second movement. The first movement was huge, opening with solo double-stopping across all four strings for the violinist. He delivered the new movements to Bridgetower only the day before the performance!
A glittering audience assembled for the premiere of the new piece - including the British ambassador, Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lichnowsky, Prince Lobkowitz , and other patrons of the arts.
The performance began. In bar 35 of the first movement Beethoven had written a huge run just for piano, spanning several octaves. It comes in a passage marked ‘to be repeated’. In the repeat, after Beethoven executed the run, Bridgetower imitated it on the violin.
Beethoven looked up from the piano in astonishment, ran across the stage, embraced Bridgetower, ran back to the piano and continued playing.
The performance was a triumph. At celebrations afterwards, Beethoven announced he was dedicating the new Violin Sonata to Bridgetower. He wrote on the top of the title page of the manuscript: Sonata per uno mulaticco lunattico.
Later, the two men were drinking, when Bridgetower made an off-colour remark about a lady Beethoven knew. Beethoven was outraged. He demanded that Bridgetower return the manuscript of the sonata, and informed him he was withdrawing the dedication. He would dedicate it instead, he told Bridgetower, to Europe’s greatest violin virtuoso, who was resident in Paris.
Bridgetower pleaded with Beethoven to change his mind, but Beethoven was adamant. The rift between the two men was not healed, before Bridgetower left Vienna a week later to visit relatives of his mother in Poland.
Beethoven and Bridgetower never met again. Long after Beethoven’s death, Bridgetower - an old man - was living in poverty in a home for the destitute in Peckham, south London. A Beethoven researcher went to see him and asked him if it was true he had once met Beethoven.
Bridgetower related the story of the first performance of the Violin Sonata, how he had copied the piano run, and how Beethoven had dedicated the sonata to him. And how one stupid remark about a lady had made Beethoven withdraw the dedication.
It should be the Bridgetower Sonata, he told the young researcher, his name that should be known across Europe, his name that would live for ever.
Instead he was unknown to history, and destined to remain that way. Bridgetower died in poverty, the woman who witnessed his death signing her name on his death certificate with a cross. He is buried today in Kensal Green cemetery, just off the A40 flyover west of London - his name forgotten.
And the violin virtuoso in Paris to whom Beethoven sent the sonata? Rudolphe Kreutzer, whose name adorns the greatest Violin Sonata Beethoven ever composed: the Kreutzer Sonata.
So next time you hear a performance of the Kreutzer Sonata, spare a thought for the man who gave it its first performance and after whom it should really be named. George Bridgetower.
One final point. When Kreutzer received the manuscript in Paris, he looked at it and declared it impossible to play. Beethoven does not understand the violin, he said, and he never once performed it in public - the sonata that today bears his name.
Don’t only think of Bridgetower when you hear the Kreutzer Sonata, people. Think of Bridgetower every time you find yourself tempted to make an misogynist statement.
ETA: One correction — Bridgetower didn’t die in poverty. He left an estate of 1,000 Pounds, which in 1860 was roughly equivalent to $95,00
(via jepatterson)
I HAVE HAD THESE EXACT THOUGHTS. FREQUENTLY.
Going through a bit of a phase of this myself.
Gotta admit: Having minions is kind of awesome.
(Source: sharpsarcasm)
cthulhu-with-a-fire-extinguisher:
Kaffee und Liebe Sind Am Besten.: kuklarusskaya: Kaffee und Liebe Sind Am Besten.: saltyseababies:…
“IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT EVERY JEW (THAT I’VE SEEN OR HEARD ABOUT) ARE VERY SNOOTY, ARROGANT, AND SELF-CENTRED KNOW-IT-ALLS THAT VALUE MONEY MORE THAN HUMAN LIFE. “
HOW IS THIS NOT ANTISEMITIC.
I’m sorry, just because you didn’t say “I hate Jews” doesn’t mean you’re not an antisemite.
Please, I don’t like being yelled at. You misread what I wrote. I never said I believed it. I said that’s what I heard or have seen them portrayed as. I know a couple of Jews. I’m actually friends with one. But the other talks about his material goods as much as he can, whenever he can. I didn’t mean to make it sound like all Jewish people do that. There are many more non-Jews that brag about how great their lives are and how amazing their new gaming system is or whatever. I’m sorry for inconveniencing you with a rant about a show that paid no attention to the fact that someone commited suicide and worried about a car more than a person.
You’re still defending your very, very antisemitic rants (plural), and then attempting to justify them because…you have a Jewish friend or two?
Really?
If cthulhu-with-a-fire-extinguisher jumps in a lake, I promise to be more worried about it than a car.
Microbitching: I Need to Clear Something Up -
I’m not getting involved in this whole mess & not commenting on who said what & things of that nature, nor am I taking sides, whatsoever..
I do, however, feel like something should be cleared up regarding who runs Holocaust memorials.
Government…Both this ^ and this ^^.
I’m proud to be of both Roma and Jewish heritage, and proud to be forging a strong alliance between both of my people here on Tumblr. And I’m proud to have been able to speak about issues like this with people on both sides—because that’s how it should be. Roma and Jews speaking with each other—not white people speaking for both.
I’m not getting involved in this whole mess & not commenting on who said what & things of that nature, nor am I taking sides, whatsoever..
I do, however, feel like something should be cleared up regarding who runs Holocaust memorials.
Government programs that have resulted in Holocaust memorials or museums are run by the American government.
The U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. is not an independent institution. It is a government institution. The chair persons of the museum are appointed by the sitting president.
Yes, I am full well aware that much of the focus of the Holocaust Museum is centered around the Jewish Holocaust. However, there is extensive research being done at this institution that provides evidence for & documents the suffering of other Holocaust victims.
I am also well aware that the original chair, Elie Wiesel,who was appointed by president Carter, has said some problematic things in terms of victim inclusion.
Most, if not all, of such institutions and memorials throughout the world have chair-persons appointed by the government of their respective nations. Yes, it does fall on the shoulders of these appointees, who are largely Jewish or White, to be inclusive of all Holocaust victims. However, the fact that these persons are chosen by governments comprised largely of White people, it could be the possibility that certain chairs are appointed because they have exclusionist views.
That does not make exclusion acceptable, nor does the fact that these people are government appointees justify any exclusion. It also does not justify the use of slurs on any such memorials.
The individual who was appointed to chair the memorial in New York was Jewish. There was no consultation with Rromani about the memorial. It is inexcusable that the memorial contains a slur, but blaming an entire group of people for the mistake of one such individual, who was commissioned by the city, is also unacceptable.
In Europe, quite a few Rromani memorials, the few we have, were designed or created by Jewish artists. These artists are commissioned by the government in which the memorial exists. Yes, Jewish artists could decline the work, or could consult Rromani persons while creating the memorials, but these are individual grievances & not a systematic oppression at the hands of European Jews..
It is likely that these artists are also given certain criteria and plans to which they must adhere & do not have free artistic jurisdiction over memorial projects.
These governments, in both America & Europe, could appoint or commission Rromani persons for the design of Rromani Holocaust memorials, but more often than not, the persons given the responsibility for creating these sacred sites are White or Jewish.
These are in public spaces. Private memorials can be private, but public ones should be inclusive. These public projects are the responsibility of the government, which is largely White & non-Jewish.
I am not excusing the people who are given these responsibilities, but it is by no means appropriate or acceptable to blame a group of people for the fuck ups of individuals.
It must also be noted that White people write & publish our textbooks, the very textbooks that exclude many Holocaust victims & contain slurs.
It is not the responsibility of Jewish persons to stick their necks out for European Rromani, though many do. It is, however, the responsibility of anyone commissioned to make a Holocaust memorial or chair a Holocaust institution to be as inclusive & respectful as possible, White, Jewish or otherwise.
We can be angry & we have a right to feel anger and pain over these things, but we cannot allow our anger to become hate. The only way we can solve these issues are by inter-racial dialogue & recognizing that it is White supremacy that continues too exploit our pain, on both ends of the spectrum. We need to fight the system that has created this divisiveness instead of succumbing to it.
Useful and instructive prose.
Too many people cite the theory of “white privilege” as a reason to endorse anti-white racism. But “white skin privilege” was a concept from 1965 based on research that spanned back to the 1920’s. In 2013, white privilege is irrelevant and has been replaced by class privilege. You may be treated poorly if you lack an education, good character, or poor management of debt. But not because you aren’t white. If White Privilege existed, there wouldn’t be non-white CEOs, non-white politicians, etc. In my lifetime, I’ve never received preferential treatment for being white, and I’ve been in plenty of situations where that could have happened. I have been treated differently than those who are not in my same class though (lesser education, lesser income, bad credit, etc), but never based on race. So for all you fuck-tards telling me I need to better educate myself; fuck you, because YOU are the hypocritical asshole who needs to be educated.
1) While there have been shifts over the last century around how white supremacy enacts itself, white privilege has not gone away.
2) Class privilege has not replaced white privilege, class privilege has always existed and interacted with white privilege. The non-white CEOs, etc. you tout as evidence of the demise of white privilege face racism.
3) You are a liar when you say you have never received preferential treatment for being white. The only question is if you are lying to yourself as well as to everyone else. If you wish to defend your assertion, here’s two easy ones: tell us how you get police to stop you for “driving while white,” or how many taxi cabs pass you by on the street because you’re white.
Never mind needing to better educate yourself. Education’s for people who are being honest. You need to stop bullshitting.
“Not every white person is a racist, but the genius of racism is that you don’t have to participate to enjoy the spoils. If you’re white, you can be completely oblivious, passively accepting the status quo, and reap the rewards.” —
—Mychal Denzel Smith, “White People Have to Give Up Racism” (via thenationmagazine)
A very good definition of privilege.
(via blueandbluer)
I’m not sure what definition of racism Mr. Smith is using.
I’m under the impression that if one is white, completely oblivious, passively accepting the status quo, and reaping the rewards of racism, one is racist.
(via hardhatpartycat)
A Count Named Slick Brass at #SPWF #rfe #RedForkEmpire #Steampunk