text: Chinese

text: daughter

text: Empress Shōshi

text: Fujiwara no Michinaga

text: Lake Biwa

text: The Diary of Lady Murasaki

text: Japanese literature

text: ukiyo-e

text: Heian-kyō

text: Fujiwara clan

text: Fujiwara no Yoshifusa

text: Fujiwara regent

text: Fujiwara no Kanesuke

text: Twenty-one Imperial Anthologies

text: Collections of Thirty-six Poets

text: Yamato Monogatari

text: Ki no Tsurayuki

text: Fujiwara no Tametoki

text: Daigaku-ryō

text: Chinese classics

text: Heian era

text: Shikibu-shō

text: wisteria

text: patrilineal

text: missions to China

text: kana

text: syllabary

text: Chinese

text: Japanese literature

text: classical Chinese

text: Chinese literature

text: calligraphy

text: Japanese poetry

text: Echizen Province

text: Richard Bowring

text: cholera

text: monogatari

text: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

text: The Tales of Ise

text: The Tale of Genji

text: Ishiyama-dera

text: Lake Biwa

text: Prince Genji

text: lady-in-waiting

text: concubine

text: Heian Palace

text: canon

text: Fujiwara no Michitaka

text: Fujiwara no Michikane

text: Fujiwara no Korechika

text: Teishi

text: Emperor Ichijō

text: Emperor Kazan

text: Donald Shively

text: salons

text: Arthur Waley

text: Izumi Shikibu

text: Akazome Emon

text: vernacular

text: The Tale of Flowering Fortunes

text: Sei Shōnagon

text: The Pillow Book

text: Bai Juyi

text: Chinese script

text: Nihongi

text: court poets

text: Fujiwara no Kintō

text: George Aston

text: Motoori

text: Sutra

text: Echigo Province

text: Emperor Go-Ichijō

text: Miidera

text: wet nurse

text: Emperor Go-Reizei

text: Daini no Sanmi

text: The Tale of Genji

text: The Diary of Lady Murasaki

text: Poetic Memoirs

text: Chinese character

text: man'yōgana

text: kana

text: monogatari

text: Nikki Bungaku

text: Edwin Reischauer

text: calligraphers

text: Fujiwara no Teika

text: New Collections of Ancient and Modern Times

text: novel

text: waka

text: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

text: The Tales of Ise

text: parody

text: satire

text: narrator

text: mono no aware

text: protagonist

text: fusuma

text: Helen McCullough

text: Confucian

text: Kumazawa Banzan

text: Genji Monogatari Emaki

text: handscroll

text: Gotoh Museum

text: Tokugawa Art Museum

text: Dowry

text: Tokugawa Iemitsu

text: lacquer

text: screens

text: Kanō Tan'yū

text: Tosa Mitsuoki

text: hanging scrolls

text: ukiyo-e

text: Hiroshige

text: Kiyonaga

text: Utamaro

text: Edo period

text: samurai

text: emaki

text: byōbu-e

text: manga

text: Liza Dalby

text: Austen

text: Proust

text: Shakespeare

text: Elizabethan England

text: Tale of Genji Museum

text: Uji

text: Jūnihitoe

text: 2000 yen

text: plant

text: Tosa Mitsunobu

text: Edo period

text: Aston, William

text: Bowring, Richard John

text: Keene, Donald

text: McCullough, Helen

text: Reschauer, Edwin

text: Shively, Donald

text: Waley, Arthur

text: Rozan-ji Temple, Kyoto

text: Exhibition: The Tale of Genji, A Japanese Classic Illuminated

categories: Women memoirists,Mythopoeic writers,Fujiwara clan,11th-century women writers,973 births,Japanese diarists,Hyakunin Isshu poets,Ladies-in-waiting of Heian-period Japan,11th-century Japanese women,People of Heian-period Japan,11th-century deaths,11th-century Japanese poets,Japanese women novelists,The Tale of Genji,Japanese novelists,11th-century novelists,11th-century Japanese writers,Japanese women poets,Women of medieval Japan

paragraph: Murasaki Shikibu

paragraph: Heian women were traditionally excluded from learning Chinese, the written language of government, but Murasaki, raised in her erudite father's household, showed a precocious aptitude for the Chinese classics and managed to acquire fluency. She married in her mid-to late twenties and gave birth to a daughter before her husband died, two years after they were married. It is uncertain when she began to write "The Tale of Genji", but it was probably while she was married or shortly after she was widowed. In about 1005, Murasaki was invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court by Fujiwara no Michinaga, probably because of her reputation as a writer. She continued to write during her service, adding scenes from court life to her work. After five or six years, she left court and retired with Shōshi to the Lake Biwa region. Scholars differ on the year of her death; although most agree on 1014, others have suggested she was alive in 1031.

paragraph: Murasaki wrote "The Diary of Lady Murasaki", a volume of poetry, and "The Tale of Genji". Within a decade of its completion, "Genji" was distributed throughout the provinces; within a century it was recognized as a classic of Japanese literature and had become a subject of scholarly criticism. Early in the 20th century her work was translated; a six-volume English translation was completed in 1933. Scholars continue to recognize the importance of her work, which reflects Heian court society at its peak. Since the 13th century her works have been illustrated by Japanese artists and well-known ukiyo-e woodblock masters.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Murasaki Shikibu was born c. 973 in Heian-kyō, Japan, into the northern Fujiwara clan descending from Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, the first 9th-century Fujiwara regent. The Fujiwara clan dominated court politics until the end of the 11th century through strategic marriages of Fujiwara daughters into the imperial family and the use of regencies. In the late 10th century and early 11th century, Michinaga, the so-called Mido Kampaku, arranged his four daughters into marriages with emperors, giving him unprecedented power. Murasaki's great-grandfather, Fujiwara no Kanesuke, had been in the top tier of the aristocracy, but her branch of the family gradually lost power and by the time of Murasaki's birth was at the middle to lower ranks of the Heian aristocracy—the level of provincial governors. The lower ranks of the nobility were typically posted away from court to undesirable positions in the provinces, exiled from the centralized power and court in Kyoto.

paragraph: Despite the loss of status, the family had a reputation among the literati through Murasaki's paternal great-grandfather and grandfather, both of whom were well-known poets. Her great-grandfather, Fujiwara no Kanesuke, had fifty-six poems included in thirteen of the Twenty-one Imperial Anthologies, the "Collections of Thirty-six Poets" and the "Yamato Monogatari" ("Tales of Yamato"). Her great-grandfather and grandfather both had been friendly with Ki no Tsurayuki, who became notable for popularizing verse written in Japanese. Her father, Fujiwara no Tametoki, attended the State Academy (Daigaku-ryō) and became a well-respected scholar of Chinese classics and poetry; his own verse was anthologized. He entered public service around 968 as a minor official and was given a governorship in 996. He stayed in service until about 1018. Murasaki's mother was descended from the same branch of northern Fujiwara as Tametoki. The couple had three children, a son and two daughters.

paragraph: In the Heian era the use of names, insofar as they were recorded, did not follow a modern pattern. A court lady, as well as being known by the title of her own position, if any, took a name referring to the rank or title of a male relative. Thus "Shikibu" is not a modern surname, but refers to "Shikibu-shō", the Ministry of Ceremonials where Murasaki's father was a functionary. "Murasaki", an additional name possibly derived from the color violet associated with wisteria, the meaning of the word "fuji" (an element of her clan name), may have been bestowed on her at court in reference to the name she herself had given to the main female character in "Genji". Michinaga mentions the names of several ladies-in-waiting in a 1007 diary entry; one, Fujiwara no Takako (Kyōshi), may be Murasaki's personal name.

paragraph: In Heian-era Japan, husbands and wives kept separate households; children were raised with their mothers, although the patrilineal system was still followed. Murasaki was unconventional because she lived in her father's household, most likely on Teramachi Street in Kyoto, with her younger brother Nobunori. Their mother died, perhaps in childbirth, when the children were quite young. Murasaki had at least three half-siblings raised with their mothers; she was very close to one sister who died in her twenties.

paragraph: Murasaki was born at a period when Japan was becoming more isolated, after missions to China had ended and a stronger national culture was emerging. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Japanese gradually became a written language through the development of kana, a syllabary based on abbreviations of Chinese characters. In Murasaki's lifetime men continued to write formally in Chinese, but kana became the written language of intimacy and of noblewomen, setting the foundation for unique forms of Japanese literature.

paragraph: Chinese was taught to Murasaki's brother as preparation for a career in government, and during her childhood, living in her father's household, she learned and became proficient in classical Chinese. In her diary she wrote, "When my brother ... was a young boy learning the Chinese classics, I was in the habit of listening to him and I became unusually proficient at understanding those passages that he found too difficult to understand and memorize. Father, a most learned man, was always regretting the fact: 'Just my luck,' he would say, 'What a pity she was not born a man! With her brother she studied Chinese literature, and she probably also received instruction in more traditional subjects such as music, calligraphy and Japanese poetry. Murasaki's education was unorthodox. Louis Perez explains in "The History of Japan" that "Women ... were thought to be incapable of real intelligence and therefore were not educated in Chinese." Murasaki was aware that others saw her as "pretentious, awkward, difficult to approach, prickly, too fond of her tales, haughty, prone to versifying, disdainful, cantankerous and scornful". Asian literature scholar Thomas Inge believes she had "a forceful personality that seldom won her friends".

paragraph: Section::::Marriage.

paragraph: Aristocratic Heian women lived restricted and secluded lives, allowed to speak to men only when they were close relatives or household members. Murasaki's autobiographical poetry shows that she socialized with women but had limited contact with men other than her father and brother; she often exchanged poetry with women but never with men. Unlike most noblewomen of her status, she did not marry on reaching puberty; instead she stayed in her father's household until her mid-twenties or perhaps even to her early thirties.

paragraph: In 996 when her father was posted to a four-year governorship in Echizen Province, Murasaki went with him, although it was uncommon for a noblewoman of the period to travel such a distance on a trip that could take as long as five days. She returned to Kyoto, probably in 998, to marry her father's friend Fujiwara no Nobutaka (c. 950 – c. 1001), a much older second cousin. Descended from the same branch of the Fujiwara clan, he was a court functionary and bureaucrat at the Ministry of Ceremonials, with a reputation for dressing extravagantly and as a talented dancer. In his late forties at the time of their marriage, he had multiple households with an unknown number of wives and offspring. Gregarious and well known at court, he was involved in numerous romantic relationships that may have continued after his marriage to Murasaki. As was customary, she would have remained in her father's household where her husband would have visited her. Nobutaka had been granted more than one governorship, and by the time of his marriage to Murasaki he was probably quite wealthy. Accounts of their marriage vary: Richard Bowring writes that the marriage was happy, but Japanese literature scholar Haruo Shirane sees indications in her poems that she resented her husband.

paragraph: The couple's daughter, Kenshi (Kataiko), was born in 999. Two years later Nobutaka died during a cholera epidemic. As a married woman Murasaki would have had servants to run the household and care for her daughter, giving her ample leisure time. She enjoyed reading and had access to romances (monogatari) such as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" and "The Tales of Ise." Scholars believe she may have started writing "The Tale of Genji" before her husband's death; it is known she was writing after she was widowed, perhaps in a state of grief. In her diary she describes her feelings after her husband's death: "I felt depressed and confused. For some years I had existed from day to day in listless fashion ... doing little more than registering the passage of time ... The thought of my continuing loneliness was quite unbearable".

paragraph: According to legend, Murasaki retreated to Ishiyama-dera at Lake Biwa, where she was inspired to write "The Tale of Genji" on an August night while looking at the moon. Although scholars dismiss the factual basis of the story of her retreat, Japanese artists often depicted her at Ishiyama Temple staring at the moon for inspiration. She may have been commissioned to write the story and may have known an exiled courtier in a similar position to her hero Prince Genji. Murasaki would have distributed newly written chapters of "Genji" to friends who in turn would have re-copied them and passed them on. By this practice the story became known and she gained a reputation as an author.

paragraph: In her early to mid-thirties, she became a lady-in-waiting ("nyōbō") at court, most likely because of her reputation as an author. Chieko Mulhern writes in "Japanese Women Writers, a Biocritical Sourcebook" that scholars have wondered why Murasaki made such a move at a comparatively late period in her life. Her diary evidences that she exchanged poetry with Michinaga after her husband's death, leading to speculation that the two may have been lovers. Bowring sees no evidence that she was brought to court as Michinaga's concubine, although he did bring her to court without following official channels. Mulhern thinks Michinaga wanted to have Murasaki at court to educate his daughter Shōshi.

paragraph: Section::::Court life.

paragraph: Heian culture and court life reached a peak early in the 11th century. The population of Kyoto grew to around 100,000 as the nobility became increasingly isolated at the Heian Palace in government posts and court service. Courtiers became overly refined with little to do, insulated from reality, preoccupied with the minutiae of court life, turning to artistic endeavors. Emotions were commonly expressed through the artistic use of textiles, fragrances, calligraphy, colored paper, poetry, and layering of clothing in pleasing color combinations—according to mood and season. Those who showed an inability to follow conventional aesthetics quickly lost popularity, particularly at court. Popular pastimes for Heian noblewomen—who adhered to rigid fashions of floor-length hair, whitened skin and blackened teeth—included having love affairs, writing poetry and keeping diaries. The literature that Heian court women wrote is recognized as some of the earliest and among the best literature written in Japanese canon.

paragraph: Section::::Court life.:Rival courts and women poets.

paragraph: When in 995 Michinaga's two brothers Fujiwara no Michitaka and Fujiwara no Michikane died leaving the regency vacant, Michinaga quickly won a power struggle against his nephew Fujiwara no Korechika (brother to Teishi, Emperor Ichijō's wife), and, aided by his sister Senshi, he assumed power. Teishi had supported her brother Korechika, who was discredited and banished from court in 996 following a scandal involving his shooting at the retired Emperor Kazan, causing her to lose power. Four years later Michinaga sent Shōshi, his eldest daughter, to Emperor Ichijō's harem when she was about 12. A year after placing Shōshi in the imperial harem, in an effort to undermine Teishi's influence and increase Shōshi's standing, Michinaga had her named Empress although Teishi already held the title. As historian Donald Shively explains, "Michinaga shocked even his admirers by arranging for the unprecedented appointment of Teishi (or Sadako) and Shōshi as concurrent empresses of the same emperor, Teishi holding the usual title of "Lustrous Heir-bearer" "kōgō" and Shōshi that of "Inner Palatine" ("chūgū"), a toponymically derived equivalent coined for the occasion". About five years later, Michinaga brought Murasaki to Shōshi's court, in a position that Bowring describes as a companion-tutor.

paragraph: Women of high status lived in seclusion at court and, through strategic marriages, were used to gain political power for their families. In the case of Shōshi and other such marriages to members of the imperial clan, it enabled the woman's clan to exercise influence over the emperor—this was how Michinaga, and other Fujiwara Regents, achieved their power. Despite their seclusion, some women wielded considerable influence, often achieved through competitive salons, dependent on the quality of those attending. Ichijō's mother and Michinaga's sister, Senshi, had an influential salon, and Michinaga probably wanted Shōshi to surround herself with skilled women such as Murasaki to build a rival salon.

paragraph: Shōshi was 16 to 19 when Murasaki joined her court. According to Arthur Waley, Shōshi was a serious-minded young lady, whose living arrangements were divided between her father's household and her court at the Imperial Palace. She gathered around her talented women writers such as Izumi Shikibu and Akazome Emon—the author of an early vernacular history, "The Tale of Flowering Fortunes". The rivalry that existed among the women is evident in Murasaki's diary, where she wrote disparagingly of Izumi: "Izumi Shikibu is an amusing letter-writer; but there is something not very satisfactory about her. She has a gift for dashing off informal compositions in a careless running-hand; but in poetry she needs either an interesting subject or some classic model to imitate. Indeed it does not seem to me that in herself she is really a poet at all."

paragraph: Sei Shōnagon, author of "The Pillow Book", had been in service as lady-in-waiting to Teishi when Shōshi came to court; it is possible that Murasaki was invited to Shōshi's court as a rival to Shōnagon. Teishi died in 1001, before Murasaki entered service with Shōshi, so the two writers were not there concurrently, but Murasaki, who wrote about Shōnagon in her diary, certainly knew of her, and to an extent was influenced by her. Shōnagon's "The Pillow Book" may have been commissioned as a type of propaganda to highlight Teishi's court, known for its educated ladies-in-waiting. Japanese literature scholar Joshua Mostow believes Michinaga provided Murasaki to Shōshi as an equally or better educated woman, so as to showcase Shōshi's court in a similar manner.

paragraph: The two writers had different temperaments: Shōnagon was witty, clever, and outspoken; Murasaki was withdrawn and sensitive. Entries in Murasaki's diary show that the two may not have been on good terms. Murasaki wrote, "Sei Shōnagon ... was dreadfully conceited. She thought herself so clever, littered her writing with Chinese characters, [which] left a great deal to be desired." Keene thinks that Murasaki's impression of Shōnagon could have been influenced by Shōshi and the women at her court because Shōnagon served Shōshi's rival empress. Furthermore, he believes Murasaki was brought to court to write "Genji" in response to Shōnagon's popular "Pillow Book". Murasaki contrasted herself to Shōnagon in a variety of ways. She denigrated the pillow book genre and, unlike Shōnagon who flaunted her knowledge of Chinese, Murasaki pretended to not know the language, regarding it as pretentious and affected.

paragraph: Section::::Court life.:"The Lady of the Chronicles".

paragraph: Although the popularity of the Chinese language diminished in the late Heian era, Chinese ballads continued to be popular, including those written by Bai Juyi. Murasaki taught Chinese to Shōshi who was interested in Chinese art and Juyi's ballads. Upon becoming Empress, Shōshi installed screens decorated with Chinese script, causing outrage because written Chinese was considered the language of men, far removed from the women's quarters. The study of Chinese was thought to be unladylike and went against the notion that only men should have access to the literature. Women were supposed to read and write only in Japanese, which separated them through language from government and the power structure. Murasaki, with her unconventional classical Chinese education, was one of the few women available to teach Shōshi classical Chinese. Bowring writes it was "almost subversive" that Murasaki knew Chinese and taught the language to Shōshi. Murasaki, who was reticent about her Chinese education, held the lessons between the two women in secret, writing in her diary, "Since last summer ... very secretly, in odd moments when there happened to be no one about, I have been reading with Her Majesty ... There has of course been no question of formal lessons ... I have thought it best to say nothing about the matter to anybody."

paragraph: Murasaki probably earned an ambiguous nickname, "The Lady of the Chronicles" ("Nihongi no tsubone)", for teaching Shōshi Chinese literature. A lady-in-waiting who disliked Murasaki accused her of flaunting her knowledge of Chinese and began calling her "The Lady of the Chronicles"—an allusion to the classic "Chronicles of Japan"—after an incident in which chapters from "Genji" were read aloud to the Emperor and his courtiers, one of whom remarked that the author showed a high level of education. Murasaki wrote in her diary, "How utterly ridiculous! Would I, who hesitate to reveal my learning to my women at home, ever think of doing so at court?" Although the nickname was apparently meant to be disparaging, Mulhern believes Murasaki was flattered by it.

paragraph: The attitude toward the Chinese language was contradictory. In Teishi's court, Chinese had been flaunted and considered a symbol of imperial rule and superiority. Yet, in Shōshi's salon there was a great deal of hostility towards the language—perhaps owing to political expedience during a period when Chinese began to be rejected in favor of Japanese—even though Shōshi herself was a student of the language. The hostility may have affected Murasaki and her opinion of the court, and forced her to hide her knowledge of Chinese. Unlike Shōnagon, who was both ostentatious and flirtatious, as well as outspoken about her knowledge of Chinese, Murasaki seems to have been humble, an attitude which possibly impressed Michinaga. Although Murasaki used Chinese and incorporated it in her writing, she publicly rejected the language, a commendable attitude during a period of burgeoning Japanese culture.

paragraph: Murasaki seems to have been unhappy with court life and was withdrawn and somber. No surviving records show that she entered poetry competitions; she appears to have exchanged few poems or letters with other women during her service. In general, unlike Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki gives the impression in her diary that she disliked court life, the other ladies-in-waiting, and the drunken revelry. She did, however, become close friends with a lady-in-waiting named Lady Saishō, and she wrote of the winters that she enjoyed, "I love to see the snow here".

paragraph: According to Waley, Murasaki may not have been unhappy with court life in general but bored in Shōshi's court. He speculates she would have preferred to serve with the Lady Senshi, whose household seems to have been less strict and more light-hearted. In her diary, Murasaki wrote about Shōshi's court, "[she] has gathered round her a number of very worthy young ladies ... Her Majesty is beginning to acquire more experience of life, and no longer judges others by the same rigid standards as before; but meanwhile her Court has gained a reputation for extreme dullness".

paragraph: Murasaki disliked the men at court whom she thought to be drunken and stupid. However, some scholars, such as Waley, are certain she was involved romantically with Michinaga. At the least, Michinaga pursued her and pressured her strongly, and her flirtation with him is recorded in her diary as late as 1010. Yet, she wrote to him in a poem, "You have neither read my book, nor won my love." In her diary she records having to avoid advances from Michinaga—one night he sneaked into her room, stealing a newly written chapter of "Genji." However, Michinaga's patronage was essential if she was to continue writing. Murasaki described her daughter's court activities: the lavish ceremonies, the complicated courtships, the "complexities of the marriage system", and in elaborate detail, the birth of Shōshi's two sons.

paragraph: It is likely that Murasaki enjoyed writing in solitude. She believed she did not fit well with the general atmosphere of the court, writing of herself: "I am wrapped up in the study of ancient stories ... living all the time in a poetical world of my own scarcely realizing the existence of other people ... But when they get to know me, they find to their extreme surprise that I am kind and gentle". Inge says that she was too outspoken to make friends at court, and Mulhern thinks Murasaki's court life was comparatively quiet compared to other court poets. Mulhern speculates that her remarks about Izumi were not so much directed at Izumi's poetry but at her behavior, lack of morality and her court liaisons, of which Murasaki disapproved.

paragraph: Rank was important in Heian court society and Murasaki would not have felt herself to have much, if anything, in common with the higher ranked and more powerful Fujiwaras. In her diary, she wrote of her life at court: "I realized that my branch of the family was a very humble one; but the thought seldom troubled me, and I was in those days far indeed from the painful consciousness of inferiority which makes life at Court a continual torment to me." A court position would have increased her social standing, but more importantly she gained a greater experience to write about. Court life, as she experienced it, is well reflected in the chapters of "Genji" written after she joined Shōshi. The name Murasaki was most probably given to her at a court dinner in an incident she recorded in her diary: in c. 1008 the well-known court poet Fujiwara no Kintō inquired after the "Young Murasaki"—an allusion to the character named Murasaki in "Genji"—which would have been considered a compliment from a male court poet to a female author.

paragraph: Section::::Later life and death.

paragraph: When Emperor Ichijō died in 1011, Shōshi retired from the Imperial Palace to live in a Fujiwara mansion in Biwa, most likely accompanied by Murasaki, who is recorded as being there with Shōshi in 1013. George Aston explains that when Murasaki retired from court she was again associated with Ishiyama-dera: "To this beautiful spot, it is said, Murasaki no Shikibu (sic) retired from court life to devote the remainder of her days to literature and religion. There are sceptics, however, Motoori being one, who refuse to believe this story, pointing out ... that it is irreconcilable with known facts. On the other hand, the very chamber in the temple where the "Genji" was written is shown—with the ink-slab which the author used, and a Buddhist Sutra in her handwriting, which, if they do not satisfy the critic, still are sufficient to carry conviction to the minds of ordinary visitors to the temple."

paragraph: Murasaki may have died in 1014. Her father made a hasty return to Kyoto from his post at Echigo Province that year, possibly because of her death. Writing in "A Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of "The Tale of Genji"", Shirane mentions that 1014 is generally accepted as the date of Murasaki Shikibu's death and 973 as the date of her birth, making her 41 when she died. Bowring considers 1014 to be speculative, and believes she may have lived with Shōshi until as late as 1025. Waley agrees given that Murasaki may have attended ceremonies with Shōshi held for her son, Emperor Go-Ichijō around 1025.

paragraph: Murasaki's brother Nubonori died in around 1011, which, combined with the death of his daughter, may have prompted her father to resign his post and take vows at Miidera temple where he died in 1029. Murasaki's daughter entered court service in 1025 as a wet nurse to the future Emperor Go-Reizei (1025–1068). She went on to become a well-known poet as Daini no Sanmi.

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: Three works are attributed to Murasaki: "The Tale of Genji", "The Diary of Lady Murasaki" and "Poetic Memoirs", a collection of 128 poems. Her work is considered important because her writing reflects the creation and development of Japanese writing during a period when Japanese shifted from an unwritten vernacular to a written language. Until the 9th century, Japanese language texts were written in Chinese characters using the man'yōgana writing system. A revolutionary achievement was the development of kana, a true Japanese script, in the mid-to late 9th century. Japanese authors began to write prose in their own language, which led to genres such as tales (monogatari) and poetic journals (Nikki Bungaku). Historian Edwin Reischauer writes that genres such as the monogatari were distinctly Japanese and that "Genji", written in kana, "was the outstanding work of the period".

paragraph: Section::::Works.:Diary and poetry.

paragraph: Murasaki began her diary after she entered service at Shōshi's court. Much of what we know about her and her experiences at court comes from the diary, which covers the period from about 1008 to 1010. The long descriptive passages, some of which may have originated as letters, cover her relationships with the other ladies-in-waiting, Michinaga's temperament, the birth of Shōshi's sons—at Michinaga's mansion rather than at the Imperial Palace—and the process of writing "Genji", including descriptions of passing newly written chapters to calligraphers for transcriptions. Typical of contemporary court diaries written to honor patrons, Murasaki devotes half to the birth of Shōshi's son Emperor Go-Ichijō, an event of enormous importance to Michinaga: he had planned for it with his daughter's marriage which made him grandfather and "de facto" regent to an emperor.

paragraph: "Poetic Memoirs" is a collection of 128 poems Mulhern describes as "arranged in a biographical sequence". The original set has been lost. According to custom, the verses would have been passed from person to person and often copied. Some appear written for a lover—possibly her husband before he died—but she may have merely followed tradition and written simple love poems. They contain biographical details: she mentions a sister who died, the visit to Echizen province with her father and that she wrote poetry for Shōshi. Murasaki's poems were published in 1206 by Fujiwara no Teika, in what Mulhern believes to be the collection that is closest to the original form; at around the same time Teika included a selection of Murasaki's works in an imperial anthology, "New Collections of Ancient and Modern Times".

paragraph: Section::::Works.:"The Tale of Genji".

paragraph: Murasaki is best known for her "The Tale of Genji", a three-part novel spanning 1100 pages and 54 chapters, which is thought to have taken a decade to complete. The earliest chapters were possibly written for a private patron either during her marriage or shortly after her husband's death. She continued writing while at court and probably finished while still in service to Shōshi. She would have needed patronage to produce a work of such length. Michinaga provided her with costly paper and ink, and with calligraphers. The first handwritten volumes were probably assembled and bound by ladies-in-waiting.

paragraph: In his "The Pleasures of Japanese Literature", Keene claims Murasaki wrote the "supreme work of Japanese fiction" by drawing on traditions of waka court diaries, and earlier monogatari—written in a mixture of Chinese script and Japanese script—such as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" or "The Tales of Ise". She drew on and blended styles from Chinese histories, narrative poetry and contemporary Japanese prose. Adolphson writes that the juxtaposition of formal Chinese style with mundane subjects resulted in a sense of parody or satire, giving her a distinctive voice. "Genji" follows the traditional format of monogatari—telling a tale—particularly evident in its use of a narrator, but Keene claims Murasaki developed the genre far beyond its bounds, and by doing so created a form that is utterly modern. The story of the "shining prince" Genji is set in the late 9th to early 10th centuries, and Murasaki eliminated from it the elements of fairy tales and fantasy frequently found in earlier monogatari.

paragraph: The themes in "Genji" are common to the period, and are defined by Shively as encapsulating "the tyranny of time and the inescapable sorrow of romantic love". The main theme is that of the fragility of life, "the sorrow of human existence", "mono no aware"—she used the term over a thousand times in "Genji". Keene speculates that in her tale of the "shining prince", Murasaki may have created for herself an idealistic escape from court life, which she found less than savory. In Prince Genji she formed a gifted, comely, refined, yet human and sympathetic protagonist. Keene writes that "Genji" gives a view into the Heian period; for example love affairs flourished, although women typically remained unseen behind screens, curtains or fusuma.

paragraph: Helen McCullough describes Murasaki's writing as of universal appeal and believes "The Tale of Genji" "transcends both its genre and age. Its basic subject matter and setting—love at the Heian court—are those of the romance, and its cultural assumptions are those of the mid-Heian period, but Murasaki Shikibu's unique genius has made the work for many a powerful statement of human relationships, the impossibility of permanent happiness in love ... and the vital importance, in a world of sorrows, of sensitivity to the feelings of others." Prince Genji recognizes in each of his lovers the inner beauty of the woman and the fragility of life, which according to Keene, makes him heroic. The story was popular: Emperor Ichijō had it read to him, even though it was written in Japanese. By 1021 all the chapters were known to be complete and the work was sought after in the provinces where it was scarce.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: Murasaki's reputation and influence have not diminished since her lifetime when she, with other Heian women writers, was instrumental in developing Japanese into a written language. Her writing was required reading for court poets as early as the 12th century as her work began to be studied by scholars who generated authoritative versions and criticism. Within a century of her death she was highly regarded as a classical writer. In the 17th century, Murasaki's work became emblematic of Confucian philosophy and women were encouraged to read her books. In 1673 Kumazawa Banzan argued that her writing was valuable for its sensitivity and depiction of emotions. He wrote in his "Discursive Commentary on Genji" that when "human feelings are not understood the harmony of the Five Human Relationships is lost."

paragraph: "The Tale of Genji" was copied and illustrated in various forms as early as a century after Murasaki's death. "The Genji Monogatari Emaki", is a late Heian era 12th-century handscroll, consisting of four scrolls, 19 paintings, and 20 sheets of calligraphy. The illustrations, definitively dated to between 1110 and 1120, have been tentatively attributed to Fujiwara no Takachika and the calligraphy to various well-known contemporary calligraphers. The scroll is housed at the Gotoh Museum and the Tokugawa Art Museum.

paragraph: Female virtue was tied to literary knowledge in the 17th century, leading to a demand for Murasaki or "Genji" inspired artifacts, known as genji-e. Dowry sets decorated with scenes from "Genji" or illustrations of Murasaki became particularly popular for noblewomen: in the 17th century genji-e symbolically imbued a bride with an increased level of cultural status; by the 18th century they had come to symbolize marital success. In 1628, Tokugawa Iemitsu's daughter had a set of lacquer boxes made for her wedding; Prince Toshitada received a pair of silk genji-e screens, painted by Kanō Tan'yū as a wedding gift in 1649.

paragraph: Murasaki became a popular subject of paintings and illustrations highlighting her as a virtuous woman and poet. She is often shown at her desk in Ishimyama Temple, staring at the moon for inspiration. Tosa Mitsuoki made her the subject of hanging scrolls in the 17th century. "The Tale of Genji" became a favorite subject of Japanese ukiyo-e artists for centuries with artists such as Hiroshige, Kiyonaga, and Utamaro illustrating various editions of the novel. While early Genji art was considered symbolic of court culture, by the middle of the Edo period the mass-produced ukiyo-e prints made the illustrations accessible for the samurai classes and commoners.

paragraph: In "Envisioning the "Tale of Genji"" Shirane observes that ""The Tale of Genji" has become many things to many different audiences through many different media over a thousand years ... unmatched by any other Japanese text or artifact." The work and its author were popularized through its illustrations in various media: emaki (illustrated handscrolls); byōbu-e (screen paintings), ukiyo-e (woodblock prints); films, comics, and in the modern period, manga. In her fictionalized account of Murasaki's life, "The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel", Liza Dalby has Murasaki involved in a romance during her travels with her father to Echizen Province.

paragraph: "The Tale of the Genji" is recognized as an enduring classic. McCullough writes that Murasaki "is both the quintessential representative of a unique society and a writer who speaks to universal human concerns with a timeless voice. Japan has not seen another such genius." Keene writes that "The Tale of Genji" continues to captivate, because, in the story, her characters and their concerns are universal. In the 1920s, when Waley's translation was published, reviewers compared "Genji" to Austen, Proust, and Shakespeare. Mulhern says of Murasaki that she is similar to Shakespeare, who represented his Elizabethan England, in that she captured the essence of the Heian court and as a novelist "succeeded perhaps even beyond her own expectations." Like Shakespeare, her work has been the subject of reams of criticism and many books.

paragraph: Kyoto held a year-long celebration commemorating the 1000th anniversary of "Genji" in 2008, with poetry competitions, visits to the Tale of Genji Museum in Uji and Ishiyama-dera (where a life size rendition of Murasaki at her desk was displayed), and women dressing in traditional 12-layered Heian court Jūnihitoe and ankle-length hair wigs. The author and her work inspired museum exhibits and Genji manga spin-offs. The design on the reverse of the first 2000 yen note commemorated her and "The Tale of Genji". A plant bearing purple berries has been named after her.

paragraph: A "Genji Album", only in the 1970s dated to 1510, is housed at Harvard University. The album is considered the earliest of its kind and consists of 54 paintings by Tosa Mitsunobu and 54 sheets of calligraphy on "shikishi" paper in five colors, written by master calligraphers. The leaves are housed in a case dated to the Edo period, with a silk frontispiece painted by Tosa Mitsuoki, dated to around 1690. The album contains Mitsuoki's authentication slips for his ancestor's 16th-century paintings.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Adolphson, Mikhael; Kamens, Edward and Matsumoto, Stacie. "Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries". (2007). Honolulu: Hawaii UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Aston, William. "". (1899). London: Heinemann.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bowring, Richard John (ed). "Introduction". in "The Diary of Lady Murasaki". (1996). London: Penguin.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bowring, Richard John (ed). "Introduction". in "The Diary of Lady Murasaki". (2005). London: Penguin.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bowring, Richard John (ed). "The Cultural Background". in "The Tale of Genji". (2004). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Frédéric, Louis. "Japan Encyclopedia". (2005). Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Geczy, Adam. "Art: Histories, Theories and Exceptions". (2008). London: Oxford International Publishers.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Inge, Thomas. "Lady Murasaki and the Craft of Fiction". (May 1990) "Atlantic Review". (55). 7–14.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Henshall, Kenneth G. "A History of Japan". (1999). New York: St. Martin's.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan". (1983) New York: Kōdansha.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Keene, Donald. "Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest times to the Late Sixteenth Century". (1999). New York: Columbia UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Keene, Donald. "The Pleasures of Japanese Literature". (1988). New York: Columbia UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "The Japan Book: A Comprehensive Pocket Guide". (2004). New York: Kodansha International.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lillehoj, Elizabeth. "Critical Perspectives on Classicism in Japanese Painting, 1600–17". (2004). Honolulu: Hawaii UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lockard, Craig. "Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume I: To 1500: A Global History". (2008). Boston: Wadsworth.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mason, R.H.P. and Caiger, John Godwin. "A History of Japan". (1997). North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing.

paragraph: BULLET::::- McCormick, Melissa. ""Genji" Goes West: The 1510 Genji Album and the Visualization of Court and Capital". (March 2003). "Art Bulletin". (85). 54–85

paragraph: BULLET::::- McCullough, Helen. "Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology". (1990). Stanford CA: Stanford UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mostow, Joshua. "Mother Tongue and Father Script: The relationship of Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu". in Copeland, Rebecca L. and Ramirez-Christensen Esperanza (eds). "The Father-Daughter Plot: Japanese Literary Women and the Law of the Father". (2001). Honolulu: Hawaii UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mulhern, Chieko Irie. "Heroic with Grace: Legendary Women of Japan". (1991). Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mulhern, Chieko Irie. "Japanese Women Writers: a Bio-critical Sourcebook". (1994). Westport CT: Greenwood Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Perez, Louis G. "The History of Japan". (1990). Westport CT: Greenwood Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Puette, William J. "The Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide". (1983). North Clarendon VT: Tuttle Publishing.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Reschauer, Edwin. "Japan: The Story of a Nation". (1999). New York: McGraw-Hill.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Shirane, Haruo. "The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of "The Tale of Genji"". (1987). Stanford CA: Stanford UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Shirane, Haruo. "Envisioning the Tale of Genji: Media, Gender, and Cultural Production". (2008a). New York: Columbia UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Shirane, Haruo. "Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600". (2008b). New York: Columbia UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Shively, Donald and McCullough, William H. "The Cambridge History of Japan: Heian Japan". (1999). Cambridge UP.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Tsunoda, Bunei. "Real name of Murasahiki Shikibu". "Kodai Bunka (Cultura antiqua)". (1963) (55). 1–27.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ueno, Chizuko. "The Modern Family in Japan: Its Rise and Fall". (2009). Melbourne: Transpacific Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Waley, Arthur. "Introduction". in Shikibu, Murasaki, "The Tale of Genji: A Novel in Six Parts". translated by Arthur Waley. (1960). New York: Modern Library.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Rozan-ji Temple, Kyoto

paragraph: BULLET::::- Exhibition: The Tale of Genji, A Japanese Classic Illuminated at Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 5–June 16, 2019

description: Japanese novelist and poet

enwikiquote_title: Murasaki Shikibu

wikidata_label: Murasaki Shikibu

wikipedia_title: Murasaki Shikibu


text:
American
street art
wheat pasting
Mikaela Mayer
Nita Strauss
zine
LAUSD
Venice Family Clinic
Gliobastoma Multiforme grade 4

categories: 2016 deaths,1984 births,Street artists,American female guitarists

paragraph: Tina St. Claire

paragraph: Tina St. Claire (28 May 1984 — 9 March 2016) ( T.S. Claire and TFail) was an American musician and artist who specialized in street art.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Tina St. Claire was a self-taught artist whose easily distinguishable work could be found throughout the city of Los Angeles, sometimes on abandoned structures or alongside graffiti. St. Claire displayed her work in over 100 gallery spaces throughout the U.S. She was also featured in "Juxtapoz" in 2012.

paragraph: St. Claire's art often complimented her partner, fiancé and frequent collaborator, Dereck Seltzer. Often shown together, his work leans on the masculine and sharp side of aesthetic while St. Claire's lingers in the darkness but lives in the light, feminine edge of contemporary street culture. Her creations are heavily infused with mysticism and street art style. With a background in wheat pasting and mural-style street art, her design-heavy artistic style, whether on panels, canvas, skateboard decks, or paper, is heavily informed by the street. Most of her pieces surround the female form or face, and a ghostly energy with crystals, skulls, and pupil-less eyes peering into the depths of your soul. With fangs, sharp jaw lines, and a feminine strength that is unmatched, her work stands out from the crowd of other L.A. artists. Together, the collaborative works of Dereck and Tina—or Haunted Euth and TFail is unmistakable and hypnotic.

paragraph: St. Claire is remembered as an illustrator above all else, but she also worked with high end clients, studios, companies and organizations, and she taught herself a multitude of disciplines in order to be the best artist she could. Her work tends to be multi-disciplinary in her style and technique. She creating thousands of pieces of art in her lifetime that varied from full paintings, sketches in her moleskin journals, silk screen print editions, numerous legal and illegal street installations, stickers, tapestries, zines, clothing of her designs, and fine art.

paragraph: Section::::Music.

paragraph: St. Claire first picked up a guitar when she was 13. Her inspiration for doing so came from bands such as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Silverchair. She joined her first real band around 15, and hung around with that band until she was 18. They toured the mid-western U.S., played shows in Hollywood and all over California, but ultimately, it didn't progress into anything bigger. She left that band and started her own band, called LiaFail in July 2003. With a strong desire for an all girl line-up, and a passionate grouping of musicians including Mikaela Mayer, Nita Strauss, Henry James (aka Heather D. Welborn) and Kirsten Schlüter. The band toured the US a few times and played a number of well known clubs, events, and festivals including Warped Tour multiple times in the United States before disbanding (in 2008). It was through the band that she adopted the name TFAIL—a reference to the band's namesake.

paragraph: Lia-Fail was not a “cause” band nor did they shy away from heavy subjects. They'll address the serious issues of today but not in any way you'll expect. Their last concern was image and their first concern was having a kick-ass time playing shows and making great music. Playing typically male-dominated types of music was like walking a fine line for them. They were constantly fighting the “chick” stereotypes, but wanted to be watched and valued for their music more than their bodies. They were not the typical female band in that they were not afraid to bring the pain and heaviness and were not concerned with being “ladies.” These girls just wanted play shows and have a good time doing it, according to a press release from the band back in 2006.

paragraph: Section::::Artwork.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "TMRWLND"

paragraph: "TMRWLND" (spoken as "Tomorrow Land") is a hardcover book that also exists as a compendium of all three issues of the zine by the same name, made by St. Claire and Seltzer. Established in 2013, "TMRWLND" morphed from a zine project into a full-time creative studio entity and working space. The collaborative zine project and book highlighted the two artists’ individual talents and distinctive individual styles of art and art-making. The artists used techniques such as inking, drawing, silkscreen printing, and hand painting, in "TMRWLND."

paragraph: BULLET::::- Street art

paragraph: St. Claire created many large scale hand painted pieces that she installed around the city of Los Angeles. The work was instantly recognizable and stylistically unlike anything being done in L.A. at the time. Every piece was drawn, painted and installed by hand. She utilized wheat pasting, graphic design, silk screening, acrylic, spray and enamel painting in her work on the street, and stood out as a force in the L.A. street art scene with her distinctive style. Most of her pieces surround the female form or face, and a ghostly energy; crystals, skulls, pupil-less eyes, peer into the depths of your soul. With fangs, sharp jaw lines, and a feminine strength that's unmatched, her work stands out from the crowd of other L.A. artists.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Fine art

paragraph: St. Claire's paintings, drawings, and mixed media works could be spotted a mile away—there weren't many other artists with such striking style during her heyday. Tina's work often featured “feminine” color schemes, but with strong and sometimes jarring images of women skulls, symbolism, cats, crystals, and other personally significant imagery to Tina. Her paintings were shown all over the country, and were collected at reasonable prices by people all over the world. Her pieces evoked a kind of inspiring and powerful feeling in their audience. The subjects in most of her paintings and drawings were life forms of some kind, whether animals, animal skulls or women, and they always had empty eyes, full of power and promise, of mysticism and magic. Her online following was enormous, and helped her artwork sales and popularity. Her Tumblr, Instagram, blogspot and other social media sites were constantly flooded with great content, messages, and fantastic original works of art, whether in-progress or completed.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Collaboration with Dereck Seltzer

paragraph: Tina St. Claire and Dereck Seltzer (Haunted Euth) met in October 2011 and began dating and working together creatively shortly after. The two partnered on murals, installations, pop-up shows and the now internationally published book TMRLWND, despite having very little to almost no backing or support from the contemporary Los Angeles art scene. Over the next five years, their installations and murals could be seen in the Downtown L.A. Arts District, Culver City Arts District and along Sunset Boulevard most frequently. Seltzer proposed to Tina St. Claire shortly before her hospitalization for cancer treatment in 2016. He stayed with her day and night while she resided in the hospital and actively worked to raise money to support her medical bills through a Gofundme Campaign.

paragraph: Section::::Charity.

paragraph: St. Claire devoted countless hours to helping to try and balance the gender and racial inequalities in the art world, both on the street and in the gallery; and she has worked independently to create artwork, imagery and content that represents those who have been marginalized or looked over by society as a whole, bringing awareness and thought to valid current social issues.

paragraph: St. Claire painted a large mural for Temple Magnet School (LAUSD) for which she received a letter of recognition from the school board and Los Angeles. She also hand-painted numerous skateboard decks for charity which were auctioned off to help the Venice Family Clinic in Los Angeles.

paragraph: “She believed wholly in the individual’s power to change the world and she did so herself, donating monthly (in secret no less) to charities that supported animal rights, peace, and the idea of equality for people of all color and genders.”

paragraph: Section::::Death and legacy.

paragraph: St. Claire passed away as a result of Gliobastoma Multiforme grade 4 on March 9, 2016 in Los Angeles.

paragraph: Her recently published book "TMRWLND" is now available internationally, through Not A Cult publishing. There is a second book of her art in the works, currently untitled, curated and designed by her fiancé Dereck Seltzer. There is currently an "untitled" documentary about her life and art in production with Director Rich Ragsdale at the helm. There is charity being developed as well, in her name, that uses the TMRLWND art that she and Dereck Seltzer created together and gives its profits to Glioblastoma Multiforme research.

wikidata_label: Tina St. Claire

wikipedia_title: Tina St. Claire


text: Barcelona

text: Paris

text: Conservatoire de Paris

text: Gabriel Fauré

text: Enrique Granados

text: José Iturbi

text: Isidor Philipp

text: Marcel Samuel-Rousseau

text: the war

text: Émile Vuillermoz

text: Claude Debussy

text: Catalonia

text: German occupation of Paris

text: Spanish Civil War

text: bell foundry

text: Kenneth MacMillan

text: John Lanchbery

text: Sadler's Wells

text: Xavier Montsalvatge

text: a play

text: Lorca

text: Brilliant Classics

text: Chevalier des arts et lettres

text: Premio Nacional de Música

text: honoris causa

text: Universitat de Barcelona

text: Franco

text: Montjuïc Cemetery

text: National Library of Catalonia

text: Jordi Masó

text: Marcel Worms

text: impressionism

text: Erik Satie

text: Gabriel Fauré

text: ostinato

text: John of the Cross

text: Alexandre Tansman

text: Manuel Rosenthal

text: Cançons i danses

text: Variations on a Theme of Chopin

text: Chopin

text: Prelude No. 7 in A major

text: Bécquer

text: Xavier Montsalvatge

text: Francis Poulenc

text: Andrés Segovia

text: "Cançó i dansa No. 10

text: "Cançó i dansa No. 13

text: Brilliant Classics

text: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Guiomar Novaes

text: Magda Tagliaferro

text: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

text: Alicia de Larrocha

text: Stephen Hough

text: Arcadi Volodos

text: Jordi Masó

text: Naxos Records

text: Daniil Trifonov

text: Alexandre Tharaud

text: Jenny Lin

text: Aaron Krister Johnson

text: Javier Perianes

text: Martin Jones

text: Victoria de los Ángeles

text: Andrés Segovia

text: Piano Society: Frederic Mompou

categories: 20th-century classical composers,Musicians from Barcelona,Catalan pianists,Spanish male classical composers,Pupils of Isidor Philipp,Spanish classical composers,1987 deaths,Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu alumni,Catalan composers,20th-century Spanish musicians,Spanish classical musicians,Burials at Montjuïc Cemetery,1893 births,Composers for piano

paragraph: Federico Mompou

paragraph: Frederic Mompou Dencausse (; alternatively Federico Mompou; 16 April 189330 June 1987) was a Spanish composer and pianist. He is remembered for his solo piano music and, to a degree, his songs.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Section::::Life.:Early years.

paragraph: Mompou was born in Barcelona to the lawyer Frederic Mompou and his wife Josefina Dencausse, who was of French origin. His brother (1888–1968) became a painter. His sketch of a simple farmhouse appeared on the covers of all of Frederic's published music.

paragraph: Mompou studied piano under Pedro Serra at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu before going to Paris, to study at the Conservatoire de Paris, which was headed by Gabriel Fauré. Mompou had heard Fauré perform in Barcelona when he was nine years old, and his music and performing style had made a powerful and lasting impression on him. He had a letter of introduction to Fauré from Enrique Granados, but it never reached its intended recipient. He entered the Conservatoire (with another Spaniard, José Iturbi), but studied with Isidor Philipp, head of the piano department. He also took private piano lessons with Ferdinand Motte-Lacroix and harmony and composition lessons with Marcel Samuel-Rousseau. His extreme shyness, introspection and self-effacement meant that he could not pursue a solo career, but chose to devote himself to composition instead. In 1917 he returned to Barcelona, fleeing the war. His first published work, "Cants magics", appeared in 1920, mainly as a result of the advocacy of his friend Agustin Quintas.

paragraph: Mompou returned to Paris in 1921, by which time his music was being regularly performed publicly, by his former teacher Motte-Lacroix and others, and he found himself the darling of Paris. In 1921, his "Scènes d'enfants" (1915–18), performed by Motte-Lacroix, inspired the French critic Émile Vuillermoz to proclaim Mompou "the only disciple and successor" to Claude Debussy. Mompou himself often performed his own compositions, but only at private soirees, never in public. However, his time in Paris was not easy. He published no music between 1931 and 1941, when he left for his native Catalonia, fleeing the German occupation of Paris. In that time, his father died and his brother became seriously ill. The Spanish Civil War troubled him greatly. His personal financial situation was often dire enough to lead him away from music and into various business ventures, including an attempt to revive the traditional family bell foundry.

paragraph: Kenneth MacMillan's ballet "La Casa de los Pájaros" ("The House of Birds"), set to orchestrations by John Lanchbery of various piano pieces by Mompou, was premiered at Sadler's Wells in London in 1955 and was also staged at the 4th Festival de Música y Danza at Granada.

paragraph: In 1956 appeared "Don Perlimpin" (also seen as "Don Perlimpinada"), a ballet written in collaboration between Mompou and Xavier Montsalvatge and based on a play by Lorca. Most of the music was by Mompou, but Montsalvatge helped with the orchestration and linking passages and added two numbers of his own.

paragraph: In 1957, aged 64, Mompou married the pianist Carmen Bravo (c.192329 April 2007). She was 30 years his junior. It was the first marriage for both of them and they had no children.

paragraph: Section::::Life.:Later years.

paragraph: In 1974 Mompou recorded his piano works for the Spanish label Ensayo. These invaluable recordings have been issued on compact discs by both Ensayo and Brilliant Classics. During his career Mompou received numerous awards, including: "Chevalier des arts et lettres" (France), Premio Nacional de Música (Spain), Doctor "honoris causa", Universitat de Barcelona (1979) and Medalla d'Or de la Generalitat de Catalunya (1980).

paragraph: An initial supporter of Franco's regime, in Barcelona he became a member of the Royal Academy of San Jorge, but otherwise lived quietly there until his death in 1987 at the age of 94 from respiratory failure. He is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.

paragraph: After the death of his widow in 2007 about 80 unpublished and hitherto unknown works were discovered in Mompou’s files at his home and also in the files of the National Library of Catalonia. Some of them were given performances in Barcelona in 2008 by Jordi Masó and Mac McClure. Many others were given their premiere performances in 2009 by Marcel Worms.

paragraph: Section::::Style.

paragraph: Mompou is best known as a miniaturist, writing short, relatively improvisatory music, often described as "delicate" or "intimate". His principal influences were French impressionism, Erik Satie and Gabriel Fauré, resulting in a style in which musical development is minimized and expression is concentrated into very small forms. He was fond of ostinato figures, bell imitations (his mother's family owned the Dencausse bell foundry and his grandfather was a bell maker), and a kind of incantatory, meditative sound, the most complete expression of which can be found in his masterpiece "Musica Callada" (or the "Voice of Silence") based on the mystical poetry of Saint John of the Cross.

paragraph: He was also influenced by the sounds and smells of the maritime quarter of Barcelona, the cry of seagulls, the sound of children playing and popular Catalan culture. He often dispensed with bar lines and key signatures. His music is rooted in the chord G-C-E-A-D, which he named "Barri de platja" (the Beach Quarter).

paragraph: score vorbis="1"

paragraph: /score

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.:Piano solo.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "" (1911–1914) ("Intimate impressions")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Pessebres" (1914–1917) ("Nativity Scenes")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Scènes d'enfants" (1915–1918) ("Scenes of children"; later orchestrated by Alexandre Tansman)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Suburbis" (1916–1917) ("Suburbs"; later orchestrated by Manuel Rosenthal)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cants màgics" (1920) ("Magic Songs")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Fêtes lointaines" (1920–1921) ("Distant Celebrations")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Charmes" (1920–1921)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cançons i danses" (1921–1979) ("Songs and dances")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Dialogues" (1923)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Préludes" (1927–1960)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Variations on a Theme of Chopin" (1938–1957) (based on Chopin's Prelude No. 7 in A major)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Paisatges" (1942–1960) ("Landscapes")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "El Pont" (1947)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cançó de bressil" (1951) ("Lullaby")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Música callada" ("Silent music" or "Voices of silence") (Primer cuaderno – 1959, Segundo cuaderno – 1962, Tercer cuaderno – 1965, Cuarto cuaderno – 1967)

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.:Voice and piano.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "L'hora grisa" (1916) ("The grey hour")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cuatro melodías" (1925) ("Four melodies")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Comptines" (1926–1943) ("Nursery Rhymes")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Combat del somni" (1942–1948) ("Dream combat")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cantar del alma" (1951) ("Soul Song")

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Canciones becquerianas" (1971) ("Songs after Bécquer")

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.:Ballets.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Don Perlimpin" (1956; written with Xavier Montsalvatge)

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.:Choral.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Los Improperios" ("The Insults"), for chorus and orchestra (1964; written in memory of Francis Poulenc)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "L'Ocell daurat" ("The Golden Bird"), cantata for children's choir (1970)

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.:Guitar.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Suite Compostelana" for guitar (1962; composed for Andrés Segovia)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cançó i dansa No. 10 "(Sobre dos Cantigas del Rei Alfonso X)", originally for piano (1953), transcribed for guitar by the composer (undated manuscript)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Cançó i dansa No. 13 "(Cançó: El cant dels ocells; Dansa (El bon caçador))" for guitar (1972)

paragraph: Section::::Recordings.

paragraph: Mompou himself recorded a few of his piano pieces for EMI in 1950 and then a much larger portion of his piano output, including the "Musica callada", for Ensayo in 1974, when he was over 80 years old. The later recordings have been released in a boxed set of 4 CDs by Brilliant Classics. For decades, other pianists rarely recorded his works, with major figures such as Arthur Rubinstein, Guiomar Novaes, Magda Tagliaferro, and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli recording just a handful of his pieces. In the late 1950s, Mompou's wife, Carmen Bravo, recorded some of his works for EMI. The Spanish specialist Alicia de Larrocha recorded a larger selection, and more recently, Mompou's works have received greater attention. Acclaimed contemporary pianists such as Stephen Hough in 1997 and Arcadi Volodos in 2013 have released full CDs devoted to his pieces, and Jordi Masó has recorded a cycle of Mompou's piano works for Naxos Records. Other contemporary pianists who have recorded Mompou's pieces include Daniil Trifonov, Alexandre Tharaud, Herbert Henck, Jenny Lin, Aaron Krister Johnson, and Javier Perianes, among others. British pianist Martin Jones has recorded the complete piano works of Mompou for Nimbus, including those unpublished in Mompou's lifetime, many of which were discovered when his apartment was cleared out in 2008. The great Spanish soprano Victoria de los Ángeles recorded Mompou's haunting song cycle "El combat del somni", and a video from 1971 survives of her singing one of these songs in her living room with the composer as her accompanist. Also, Spanish guitar great Andrés Segovia recorded Mompou's Suite Compostelana, which was dedicated to him.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Biography, catalogue, discography, gallery – in Spanish, French and English

paragraph: BULLET::::- Piano Society: Frederic Mompou

description: Spanish composer and pianist

wikidata_label: Federico Mompou

wikipedia_title: Federico Mompou


text:
Valencia del Mombuey
Badajoz
Spain
Vélez
New Kingdom of Granada
conquistador
Genovese
Vélez
Oiba
Charalá
Santander
Colombia
Spanish conquest of the Muisca
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Bogotá
Guane
Valencia del Mombuey
Badajoz
encomendera
List of conquistadors in Colombia
Spanish conquest of the Muisca
El Dorado
Spanish conquest of the Guane
Hernán Pérez de Quesada
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Guane
Vélez

categories: Encomenderos,History of the Muisca,Year of birth unknown,People from Genoa,Spanish conquistadors,City founders,16th-century Spanish people,Year of death unknown,16th-century explorers,Extremaduran conquistadors

paragraph: Martín Galeano

paragraph: Martín Galeano (?, Valencia del Mombuey, Badajoz, Spain - ?, Vélez, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador of Genovese descent who is known as the founder of the towns of Vélez, Oiba and Charalá in Santander, Colombia. He took part in the expedition of the Spanish conquest of the Muisca led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. After the foundation of Bogotá, he was sent northwards into Guane territories.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Martín Galeano was born in Valencia del Mombuey, Badajoz or Genoa and had one brother, Pedro Galeano, and one sister, Ángela Jiménez Galeano. He married twice: with an unnamed woman; and with Isabel Juan de Meteller, formerly married to Pedro Ortuño Royo. With the unnamed woman, Galeano had one daughter; Marina, or Martina, Galeano, who became an encomendera.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- List of conquistadors in Colombia

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spanish conquest of the Muisca

paragraph: BULLET::::- "El Dorado"

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spanish conquest of the Guane, Hernán Pérez de Quesada

paragraph: BULLET::::- Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Guane, Vélez

description: Spanish conquistador of the 16th century

wikidata_label: Martín Galeano

wikipedia_title: Martín Galeano


text: Málaga

text: Castile

text: Tunja

text: New Kingdom of Granada

text: conquistador

text: Boyacá

text: Spanish conquest of the Muisca

text: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

text: Hernán Pérez de Quesada

text: zaque

text: Andalusia

text: Málaga

text: Suárez River

text: Hernán Pérez de Quesada

text: Gonzalo García Zorro

text: zipa

text: Sagipa

text: Casa del Fundador Gonzalo Suárez Rendón

text: List of conquistadors in Colombia

text: Spanish conquest of the Muisca

text: El Dorado

text: Tunja

text: Hernán Pérez de Quesada

text: Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

categories: History of Colombia,Andalusian conquistadors,People from Málaga,Governors of Boyacá Department,1590 deaths,Year of birth uncertain,History of the Muisca,City founders,Spanish conquistadors,16th-century Spanish people,16th-century explorers

paragraph: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón

paragraph: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón (1503, Málaga, Castile – 1590 (or 1583), Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador, known as the founder of the capital of Boyacá; Tunja. He took part in the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, and later by his brother Hernán Pérez de Quesada. On August6, 1539, he founded Tunja on the site of the former seat of the "zaque" (ruler) of the Hunza.

paragraph: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón is mentioned in the work of uncertain authorship "Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada" as "Suarex".

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Personal life.

paragraph: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón was born around 1503 in the Andalusian city of Málaga to Rodrigo Suárez Rendón de Jerez and Isabel Jiménez, or Ximénez, Suárez. He had one brother and one sister: Rodrigo Sabariego Suárez Rendon; and María Suárez Rendón. He married Mencia de Figueroa y Godoy in 1563 and the couple had four children: two sons and two daughters.

paragraph: Section::::American expeditions.

paragraph: The Suárez River, which the conquistadors followed to reach the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in early 1537, was named after Suárez Rendón when his horse drowned in it.

paragraph: Together with Hernán Pérez de Quesada and Gonzalo García Zorro, Suárez Rendón was one of the torturers of the last "zipa", Sagipa.

paragraph: Section::::House in Tunja.

paragraph: The house built by Suárez Rendon, ("Casa del Fundador Gonzalo Suárez Rendón"), between August7, 1539, the day after the foundation of Tunja, and 1570, still exists as the oldest colonial building in Tunja and the only remaining house of a colonial city founder in Latin America; it has been a museum since 1965.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "El Dorado"

paragraph: BULLET::::- Tunja, Hernán Pérez de Quesada

paragraph: BULLET::::- Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

description: Spanish conquistador

wikidata_label: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón

wikipedia_title: Gonzalo Suárez Rendón


href: geology paleontology stratigraphy Barnard%20College Cisuralian

text:
geology
paleontology
stratigraphy
Barnard College
Early Permian

categories: American paleontologists,1971 deaths,1896 births

paragraph: Mary Welleck Garretson

paragraph: Mary Welleck Garretson (December 16, 1896 - May 8, 1971) was a geology teacher and a consultant in the fields of paleontology and stratigraphy. She received a degree in 1919 from Barnard College in New York, studying zoology, stratigraphy and sedimentation.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.

paragraph: Mary was born on December 16, 1896 in Cincinnati, Ohio where she spent the majority of her childhood. Her father was Ernest Welleck, a well-known scientific editor and journalist. Her mother was the daughter of Thomas Satterwhite Noble, the noted 19th century American artist. Mary attended grade school at the Girls Latin School in Boston from 1909 - 1914. After graduating from grade school, she attended Barnard College in New York where she studied a wide diversity of subjects, mostly related to the sciences, and earned an A.B. in 1918. While attending Barnard college, she studied under Professor Amadeus W. Grabau, and later went on to work as his research assistant on multiple research projects at Columbia University. She received her M.A. degree in Geology from Columbia in 1919, specializing in invertebrate zoology, stratigraphy and sedimentation. While working and studying at Columbia, Mary met her husband, William Melvin Garretson and was married on September 27, 1922. She had two children, Mary Louise Garretson and William Welleck Garretson. She died in White Plains, New York, on May 8, 1971 after a brief illness.

paragraph: Section::::Work in Geology and Science.

paragraph: While working on her graduate studies at Columbia University, Mary found a job as a teacher at the Young Men's Christian Association. In her first teaching job, Mary taught her students an Introduction to Geology course from 1921 to 1923. During her teaching job, she also became an assistant at the Brooklyn Children's Museum where her contributions were made throughout 1920. While continuing teaching, Mrs. Garretson began her consulting work in the field of geology during World War Two. She was hired by airline and industrial companies from 1946 to 1951, where she studied and wrote about the geological characteristics of many areas to help these companies thrive. One of these articles was published in the New York Times and was about the geological characteristics of New York City. After finishing her consulting roles, Mary returned to her teaching jobs and eventually become the Vice President of the Haitian- American Resource Company from 1956 to the time of her death. She made tremendous contributions to the Haitian government by consulting and advising on mineral economics, and the development of geological studies and developments in Haiti.

paragraph: In 1966, Mrs. Garretson's contributions to geology were recognized and she became a member of The Geological Society of America, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, the International Society of Economic Geologists, the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of China, the New York Historical Society, and became a founder of the Westchester County Conservation Association and was on the board of Directors from 1933 to 1950.

paragraph: Perhaps Mrs. Garretson's greatest achievement was her contribution and aid to the works of Professor Grabau. Mary is referenced in Grabau's "Introduction to Geology" textbook, and says that she "has been my assistant throughout the arrangement of this text for the press, and has been of the greatest service in securing illustrations.” Professor Grabau and Mrs. Garretson's research was instrumental in the studies and knowledge of sedimentation. With Garretson's help, Grabau went on to write papers about his findings on North American index fossils. Grabau attempted to collect fossil evidence that could link North American fossils to fossils around the world in hopes of reaffirming his idea of a Paleozoic Pangaea.

paragraph: Section::::Contributions to Geological Theory.

paragraph: Grabau and Garretson believed in and studied the theory of horizontal displacement, and was considered to be a mobilist. The theory of horizontal displacement was first proposed by Alfred Wegner in 1912 and, due to popular belief at that time, was not widely accepted, especially in North America and Europe. The theory starting gaining traction when the model of plate tectonics and continental drift were first introduced. With these models in place, geologists began searching for fossil evidence that could prove that organisms, that can be found all over the globe now, once existed in the same location. Professor Grabau and Mrs. Garretson were among the scientist who took interest to Wegner's claim, and began looking for fossil evidence in North America. During her tenure at Columbia University, Mrs. Garretson assisted Professor Grabau in his book titled "North American Index Fossils." The goal of this paper was to study the various index fossils found in North America and try to compile evidence that supported the theory that a single, great continent was existed on Earth called Pangaea. The book goes into tremendous detail regarding information on each class of fossils found, and each class having its separate structural descriptions and general description of key characteristics tying it to a family, or, genus.

paragraph: In the early 1930s, Professor Grabau moved to China to study the continental stratigraphy and index fossils the country possessed. During his study in China, Mrs. Garretson was his representative in the United States, and served as his research assistant. Grabau searched for further for evidence of the ancient super continent and informed Mrs. Garrestson of his research, who then summarized and reported his findings to several Geology groups and faculties in North America. Mrs. Garretson assisted, and was referenced in, all of Professor Grabau's Chinese research papers until his eventual death, including:

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Ordovician Fossils of North China (1921)"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Early Permian Fossils of China (1934)"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Paleozoic Corals of China (1921)"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Stratigraphy of China (1924–25)"

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: 2. https://archive.org/details/northamericanind02grab

description: geologist and paleontologist

wikidata_label: Mary Welleck Garretson

wikipedia_title: Mary Welleck Garretson


text:
Helsinki
Finnish
music producer
multi-instrumentalist
Sunrise Avenue
On the Way to Wonderland
Samu Haber
Fairytale Gone Bad
Forever Yours
bandleader
jazz
musical composition
Sibelius Academy

categories: Musicians from Helsinki,Finnish male musicians,Finnish record producers,Businesspeople from Helsinki,Living people,1982 births

paragraph: Jukka Backlund

paragraph: Jukka Henri Kristian Backlund (born 30 December 1982, Helsinki) is a Finnish music producer and multi-instrumentalist. Backlund is best known for producing the first Sunrise Avenue album "On the Way to Wonderland", which is the best selling international debut from Finland. Many of the songs on the album were co-written by Backlund and the lead singer Samu Haber, including the singles "Fairytale Gone Bad" and "Forever Yours".

paragraph: As a musician Backlund has worked as a bandleader and keyboardist for numerous artists since he started his professional career in 1998. In 2011 he founded the band DEAD SIRIUS 3000 with his brother Tapio Backlund and guitarist Petteri Sariola. In this band Backlund plays drums.

paragraph: Backlund started studying classical piano at the age of five. Later he studied jazz and musical composition in the youth department of Sibelius Academy.

paragraph: Section::::Awards.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 2 Finnish Grammy Awards

paragraph: BULLET::::- 6 NRJ Radio Awards

paragraph: BULLET::::- European Border Breaker Award

paragraph: BULLET::::- Eska Award

paragraph: BULLET::::- Impala Award

paragraph: BULLET::::- Radio Regenbogen Award

paragraph: Section::::Selected discography.

paragraph: Jukka Backlund has contributed to these records among others:

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- http://www.ds3000.net

paragraph: BULLET::::- https://web.archive.org/web/20110526175025/http://www.sunriseave.com/bio.php

paragraph: BULLET::::- http://meteli.net/jukkabacklund

paragraph: BULLET::::- https://www.facebook.com/jukkabacklund

description: music producer

wikidata_label: Jukka Backlund

wikipedia_title: Jukka Backlund