Jacob von Rueysdale - Windmill; Georg Philipp Telemann - Viola Concerto in G Major, A.A. Milne - Buckingham Palace

There are lots of fun details in this painting by Jacob von Rueysdale.  Notice how tiny the people are in the right lower corner.  I like the light and shadows - on the windmill and roof and even the cloud shadows on the water. Lots of blues and greens in this painting with that bit of orange roof. 

 
Note:  For those of you wanting to study a particular artist, composer or poet and want to see if they've been featured in past posts - the search button to the right should bring them up by name if they've been featured on this blog - just type in the last name you are looking for. Three of my favorite artists from past posts are William Bouguereau, Thomas Cole and Joseph Farquharson.

 This week's music by Georg Philipp Telemann is Viola Concerto in G Major Today you can watch the musicians perform.  

And our poem by A.A. Milne is -

Buckingham Palace

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
"A soldier's life is terrible hard,"
Says Alice.

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
We saw a guard in a sentry-box.
"One of the sergeants looks after their socks,"
Says Alice.

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
We looked for the King, but he never came.
"Well, God take care of him, all the same,"
Says Alice.

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
They've great big parties inside the grounds.
"I wouldn't be King for a hundred pounds,"
Says Alice.

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
A face looked out, but it wasn't the King's.
"He's much too busy a-signing things,"
Says Alice.

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
"Do you think the King knows all about me?"
"Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea,"
Says Alice.

Jacob von Rueysdale - Landscape with a Waterfall; Georg Philipp Telemann - Suite for Recorder in A Minor; A.A.Milne - Sneezles

It's  interesting to contrast these two paintings by Jacob von Rueysdale.  both are titled Landscape with a Waterfall, but they are very different from one another in coloring, mood and even the buildings. 

Landscape with a Waterfall

Landscape with a Waterfall

Music this week by Georg Philipp Telemann - Suite for Recorder in A Minor

Here is a picture of two different sized recorders.  They make a fun and inexpensive first instrument.  


 


There are many wonderful books for learning and teaching recorder. Penny Gardner's Nine-Note Recorder Method is one we have enjoyed using along with her book of recorder duets.

 

















A fun poem this week by A.A.Milne for Spring colds.... I love how he plays with words and shares his wonderful sense of humor with us.

Sneezles

By A. A. Milne

  Christopher Robin

     Had wheezles

     And sneezles,

     They bundled him

     Into

     His bed.

     They gave him what goes

     With a cold in the nose,

     And some more for a cold

     In the head.

     They wondered

     If wheezles

     Could turn

     Into measles,

     If sneezles

     Would turn

     Into mumps;

     They examined his chest

     For a rash,

     and the rest

     Of his body for swellings and lumps.

     They sent for some doctors

     In sneezles

     And wheezles

     To tell them what ought

     To be done.

     All sorts of conditions

     Of famous physicians

     Came hurrying round

     At a run.

     They all made a note

     Of the state of his throat,

     They asked if he suffered from thirst;

     They asked if the sneezles

     Came after the wheezles,

     Or if the first sneezle

     Came first.

     They said, “If you teazle

     A sneezle

     Or wheezle,

     A measle

     May easily grow.

     But humour or pleazle

     The wheezle

     Or sneezle,

     The measle

     Will certainly go.”

     They expounded the reazles

     For sneezles

     And wheezles,

     The manner of measles

     When new.

     They said, “If he freezles

     In draughts and in breezles,

     Then PHTHEEZLES

     May even ensue.”

 

Christopher Robin

Got up in the morning,

The sneezles had vanished away.

And the look in his eye

Seemed to say to the sky,

“Now, how to amuse them today?”

Jacob von Rueysdale - Winter Landscape, Georg Philipp Telemann - Overture for Trumpet and Oboe in D Major, A.A.Milne - Forgiven

I don't know about you, but we still have snow where I live, so this winter scene by Jacob von Rueysdale seemed appropriate....  Spring will come even here in the North, God has promised, so we wait with eager expectation.

Winter Landscape

 Our musical piece this week by Georg Philipp Telemann is Overture for Trumpet and Oboe in D Major.  Following are pictures of a trumpet and an oboe.  

Forgiven by A.A. Milne

I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...
And Nanny let my beetle out -
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -
She went and let my beetle out -
And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind,
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid -
And we'd get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.

Jacob Van Ruysdael - Canal With Bridge, George Philipp Telemann - Chamber Works, A.A.Milne - At the Zoo

Our new artist for this coming term is Jacob van Ruysdael.  The following links are to biographical sketches and lists of his works.

First, a link to my Picasa Web album with the paintings I've chosen to study this term in case you want to copy them ahead Jacob von Rueysdale paintings - Picasa Web Album

The National Gallery biographical sketch

Artble - Jacob van Ruisdael  "Jacob van Ruisdael is considered one of the great masters of landscape painting. Drawing inspiration from his surroundings and from the stories of incoming travelers, he created paintings that evoked emotion and thought. Van Ruisdael also used his imagination to create dramatic scenes and some of the most astounding landscape art works ever produced."

Wikipedia - Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael

A Slideshow of 71 paintings by Jacob Ruisdael

Canal With Bridge

Our new musician is George Philipp Telemann

Chamber Works by Telemann is our first piece.

Biographical sketches here - 

Wikipedia - GeorgPhilipp Telemann 

Baroque Composers and Musicians 

I haven't listened to this myself yet, but I found a site online that has "radio" programs for kids including this one about Telemann.  Might be worth checking out. 
Classics for Kids - About Georg Philipp Telemann 

I didn't find a children's biography of his life, let me know if any of you find a good one...  


Being a lover of Winnie the Pooh stories I thought it would be fun to feature Alan Alexander Milne as our poet this Spring.

Wikipedia - A. A. Milne 
Just-Pooh.com
A biographical sketch of A.A.Milne
A. A. Milne Quotes 

You may enjoy two of his poetry books for children, When We Were Young, and Now We Are Six.  If you haven't yet read the Pooh books I highly recommend them.  We read and reread these wonderful stories.  

We'll start with "At the Zoo"

          At the Zoo

There are lions and roaring tigers,
and enormous camels and things,
There are biffalo-buffalo-bisons,
and a great big bear with wings.
There's a sort of a tiny potamus,
and a tiny nosserus too -
But I gave buns to the elephant
when I went down to the Zoo!

There are badgers and bidgers and bodgers,
and a Super-in-tendent's House,
There are masses of goats, and a Polar,
and different kinds of mouse,
And I think there's a sort of a something
which is called a wallaboo -
But I gave buns to the elephant
when I went down to the Zoo!

If you try to talk to the bison,
he never quite understands;
You can't shake hands with a mingo -
he doesn't like shaking hands.
And lions and roaring tigers
hate saying, "How do you do?" -
But I give buns to the elephant
when I go down to the Zoo!