Franz Grillparzer monument in Volksgarten, Wien
Franz Grillparzer monument in Volksgarten, Wien , a photo by Avocadoface on Flickr. Started reading his "Poor Musician" this morning.
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Franz Grillparzer (1791 - 1872)
Another Franz alludes to him quite often. I downloaded (to my Kindle) a free version of some "German classics," which include his "Poor Musician" and some of Beethoven's letters. * Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas . He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven 's funeral. [ 1 ] Assessment Although Grillparzer was essentially a dramatist, his lyric poetry is in the intensity of its personal note hardly inferior to Lenau 's; and the bitterness of his later years found vent in biting and stinging epigrams that spared few of his greater contemporaries. As a prose writer, he has left one powerful short story , Der arme Spielmann (1848), and a volume of critical studies on the Spanish drama, which shows how completely he had succeeded in identifying himself with the Spanish point of view. Grillparzer's brooding, unbalanced temperament, his lack ...
Stock im Eisen
According to a footnote in Nerval's "Pandora," the Stock im Eisen "was the trunk of a tree reputed to be part of the forest that originally stood on the site of Vienna." * The Stock im Eisen ( German : staff in iron) is the midsection of a tree-trunk from the Middle Ages , a so-called nail-tree ( Nagelbaum ), into which hundreds of nails have been pounded for good luck over centuries. It is located in Vienna , Austria , in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, now part of Stephansplatz , at the corner of the Graben and Kärntner Straße and is now behind glass on a corner of the Palais Equitable . History The trunk section is 2.19 m (7 feet 2 inches) tall and is held in place by five iron bands; the iron bears the date 1575 [ 1 ] and the initials HB, presumably for Hans Buettinger, the house owner who had the iron replaced. The tree was a forked spruce which started to grow around 1400 and was felled in approximately 1440, [ 2 ] as was revealed by examination in...
Klimt's "Beethoven Frieze"
The Beethoven Frieze is a painting by Gustav Klimt on display in the Secession Building located in Vienna , Austria . Description In 1902, Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger . Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display again until 1986. The Beethoven Frieze is now on permanent display in the Vienna Secession Building . The frieze illustrates human desire for happiness in a suffering and tempestuous world in which one contends not only with external evil forces but also with internal weaknesses. The viewer follows this journey of discovery in a stunning visual and linear fashion. It begins gently with the floating female Genii searching the Earth but soon follows the dark, sinist...
The Golden Knight Beethoven Frieze
The Golden Knight Beethoven Frieze , a photo by CheBella2012 on Flickr.
Klimt's Beethoven Frieze
Klimt's Beethoven Frieze , a photo by jonfholl on Flickr. Though preferring Schiele to Klimt, I too remember this frieze as being quite impressive. I'm not sure that any of my photos have survived.