Noli Me Tangere by Jose P. Rizal, national hero of the Philippines, is the novel with the greatest impact on Filipino political thinking in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the widest influence on contemporary fiction, drama, opera, dance and film. Its popularity was rooted in its reflection of the times in which it was written, and has continued because of the characters Rizal created, set in situations that still ring true today.

Rizal finished the Noli in 1887, and published 2,000 copies in Berlin. Many thousands more have since circulated, in the orginal spanish, and in translations into German, French, Chinese, English, Filipino, and other Philippine languages. The best known translations in English are those by Charles Derbyshire (1912) and Leon Ma. Guerrero (1961).

From the inside front flap of Noli Me Tangere, translated by Ma. Soledad Lacson-Locsin

Some useful links;

lewrockwell

wikipedia entry on Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal

"One held a shell unto his shell-like ear"

...Gather a shell from the strown beach
And listen at it's lips: they sigh
The same desire and mystery,
The echo of the whole sea's speech,
And all mankind is thus at heart
Not anything but what thou art:
And Earth, Sea, Man, and all in each.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I have been enjoying the musical splendour of Judith Weir's work today, and share my favourite;

Work Notes dedicated to Nicholas Kenyon
Publisher Chester Music Ltd
Category Chorus and Orchestra/Ensemble
Year Composed 1999
Duration 12 Minutes
Orchestration 3perc.hp

Judith Weir’s All the ends of the earth – which was commissioned by the BBC for a Europe-wide radio broadcast on Millennium Day, 1st January, 2000, and is based on Pérotin's organum Viderunt Omnes, composed circa 1200 – and continues by alternating medieval music with music by several other living composers. These including established names (Harvey, Holloway and Finnissy) and some younger composers with growing reputations (such as Gabriel Jackson, whose motet Thomas, Jewel of Canterbury was short-listed for the British Composer Awards 2005).

In this composition, the pitches and proportions of Perotin's cantus firmus and its text have been retained exactly (rescored, however, and sung by tenors and basses). But the duplum, triplum and quadruplum have been replaced by a freely composed setting of the tenth century Alleluyatic Sequence (sung by sopranos and altos).

The Alleluyatic Sequence, based on Psalm 148, was written for the week before Septuagesima, after which the singing of Alleluia was banned in western Europe until Easter.

In addition, a small instrumental ensemble of harp and percussion has been added to embellish the cantus firmus, and to mark punctuation points in the composition.

The duration of the piece is around ten minutes. The voices divide as follows:

SOPRANO; soli, in 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts; then
tutti, in 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts
ALTO; soli, in 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts; then
tutti, in 1, 2, 3 and 4 parts
TENOR; tutti in 2 parts

BASS tutti in 2 parts

VIDERUNT OMNES

Viderunt omnes fines terrae salutare Dei nostri
Jubilate Deo omnis terra
Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum:
ante conspectum gentium revelavit justitiam suum

All the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God.
Rejoice in the Lord, the whole earth.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
He has shown his righteousness in the sight
of the people

THE ALLELUYATIC SEQUENCE

Cantemus cuncti melodum
Nunc Alleluia

In laudibus aeterni regis
Haec plebs resultat
Alleluia

Hoc denique Caelestes chori
Cantant in altum
Alleluia
Let us now sing the melody of Alleluia
In praise of the eternal king let this assembly
resound Alleluia
Then let the heavenly choirs on high sing
Alleluia

Hoc beatorum
Per prata paradisica
Psallat concentus
Alleluia

Quin et astrorum
Micantia luminaria
Jubilant altum
Alleluia
Let the company of the blessed in the fields of
paradise sing Alleluia
Yea, let the glittering shining lamps of the
stars raise their high Alleluia

Nubium cursus
Ventorum volatus
Fulgurum coruscatio
Et tonitruum sonitus
Dulce consonent simul
Alleluia

Fluctus et undae
Imber et procellae
Tempestas et serenitas
Cauma, gelu, nix, pruinae
Saltus, nemora pangant Alleluia
Let the clouds as they sweep, the winds as they
fly, the lightnings as they flash, and the
thunders as they roll utter in harmony their
sweet Alleluia
Let the floods and billows, rain and storms,
tempests and calm, heat, ice, snow, frosts,
woods and forests strike up Alleluia

Hinc, variae volucres
Creatorem
Laudibus concinite cum
Alleluia

Ast illinc respondeant
Voces altae
Diversarium bestiarum
Alleluia Ye many-coloured birds, hymn the creator
with your praises and your Alleluia
With them let the high voices of the divers
beasts answer Alleluia

Istinc montium
Celsi vertices sonent
Alleluia

Illinc vallium
Profunditates saltent
Alleluia Here let the mountain tops sing Alleluia
There let the deep valleys burst forth Alleluia

Nec non terrarum
Molis immensitates:
Alleluia

Nunc omne genus
Humanum laudans exsultet
Alleluia
Let the vast continents too sing Alleluia
Now let the whole human race burst into
praise and shout Alleluia

Et creatori
Grates frequentans consonent
Alleluia

Hoc denique nomen audire
Jugitur delectatur
Alleluia
Let it repeatedly pour forth thanks to the
creator, Alleluia
For he delights in hearing the perpetual
sound of Alleluia

Hoc etiam carmen caeleste
Comprobat ipse Christus
Alleluia

Nunc vos o socii
Cantate laetantes
Alleluia

Et vos pueruli
Respondete semper
Alleluia
Christ himself approves of that heavenly hymn
Alleluia.
Now you, brethren, joyfully sing Alleluia
And you, children, answer always Alleluia

Nunc omnes canite simul
Alleluia Domino
Alleluia Christo
Pneumatique Alleluia

Laus Trinitati aeternae:
Alleluia,alleluia
Alleluia,alleluia
Allelluia,alleluia
Now all of you sing together to the Lord,
Alleluia, to Christ Alleluia and to the Spirit
Alleluia.
Praise be to the eternal Trinity; Alleluia

[Translation from the Penguin Book of Latin Verse. Not all of the above text has been set to music].

© Judith Weir About Judith Weir

The above, is just so beautiful, a perfect paradise, of feelings set alone against the jagged world
Of emotions delicate setting between stone
The place taken remains nameless yet marked for all time, the place set against stone.

lauren6

“When you have completed 95 percent of your journey, you are only halfway there.”
Japanese Proverb

Good morning, what do you have planned for this weekend?
This morning I skipped SpecialK and went for croissant, coffee and soyabeans.
However, the lunch and supper will now have to be SpecialK under the ever-watchful eyes of the nurses, for whom my eating habits have become an obsession, though my spinal breaks have not.

So, Gordon Brown wants a "Britain Day" which on the surface is well-intentioned, I'm sure, but when a senior politician suddenly blurts out a 'plan' of this significance, one cannot help but be suspicious as to the motives.
(I will add that I'm more than happy to fly the Union Jack at any opportunity, and love Britain as my number one nation. But last year people were ordered to remove the UJ, and yet, now, we are being told to 'stand-up' and fly the flag once more? What confusion from No.10. or should that be No.11?)

Without wishing to denounce Chancellor Gordon Brown's idea, I have not heard anyone as yet mention that we already have our national days!!!!!!!! (St-George's Day, on April 23rd, St-Andrew's Day, on November 30th, St-David's Day, on March 1st, and even St-Patrick's Day which is celebrated by the English more than St-George's Day, on March 17th.)

Why don't we make more of what we already have???
Isn't this always the problem with Britain? We have so much within our grasp, within sight, on our doorsteps, and yet we ignore them, even rubbish them...that is if we even realise that they exist at all.
Our government is a prime example of such malaise.

Prescott may sell-off school playing fields, but the government can still believe they have the nation's interests at heart; education and environment too, well, I for one don't believe it. For many years I have worked in education, and feel very deeply regarding this matter.

They tell us we are all too fat, they say children's diets are gross, they inform us that we all need more exercise, but they have sold-off my playing field, the only one within an hour's drive.
If I may draw a parallel with my own health and NHS experience, it is frightening indeed.

1] Government obsession with obesity; local NHS obsession with my diet.
2] Government meeting exam pass-rate targets at staggeringly high levels, though many students still cannot spell at 16; I get my MRI scan, meeting the government target, yet still have no result or even treatment after one year!
3] Government selling-off school playing fields to raise cash; local Government and NHS trusts closing countless health centres to save cash, (because of government underfunding, or withdrawal of ALL funding.)

My dear government, what are you trying to teach us?

Additionally, you, the government, and you, the local council, want to build a filthy archaic incinerator beside 170,000 inhabitants. It has been proven that these things are a danger, and outmoded, (re-Nottingham, below), so is it any wonder everyone is so dissillusioned.

You earn respect, just as you earn contempt, but it is twice as hard to win respect back again once it is lost.

[May I remind us all, of the definition of the word government;
1 the system used for controlling a country, city, or group of people:
2 the activities involved in controlling a country, city, group of people, etc
...so why do we vote in people to control us? It's ultimately our own fault really.]

Families in Norwich could become victims to a second dose of cancer-causing cadmium if a proposed incinerator gets the go ahead, campaigners claimed today.

The chemical was sprayed over the city in the 1960s as part of a military tests and has since been linked with a hotspot of oesophageal cancers in the area.

Now quantities of the same chemical have been recorded as polluting the air and water from an incinerator in Nottingham.

It is feared that the pollutants could bilge into the atmosphere from a proposed incinerator plant in Longwater Lane, Costessey.

It is planned that the Waste Recycling Group (WRG) will build the £90 million incinerator which the county council says is necessary to meet European landfill targets for 2009/10.

But the very same company last year saw pollutants being pumped out for six hours in different instances.

By its own admission WRG has recorded 28 higher than usual emissions levels at its Nottingham plant in just four years. And in 2003, 1kg of the cancer-causing cadmium was lost down the sewers and 1kg pumped into the air. According to the Environment Agency, 100,000kg of carbon monoxide was pumped out of the plant in 2003.

Other regular emissions coming from the Nottingham plant include nitrogen oxides, hydrogen chloride, arsenic, lead and mercury.

A campaigner who has experienced the ill effects of incineration in Nottingham today warned families in Norwich of what to expect if the Costessey plant gets the go ahead.

Noxious fumes, towering chimneys, polluted emissions, falling house prices, and mechanical breakdowns have already blighted the lives of families in Nottingham for more than 30 years.

With government backing of a new wave of incinerators to be built across the country, including four in the pipeline for Norfolk, campaigner Jon Beresford said the people of Norwich must act now to put a stop to the plans.

Mr Beresford, spokesman for the Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill (NAIL) campaign, said: "These hazardous pollutants will affect people in Norwich. The incinerator in Nottingham is much older but it still has to comply with the same emission controls as the one in Norwich would. A lot of work has been done on the Nottingham plant to bring it up to date but it is still breaching set levels.

"All sorts of heavy metals, including cadmium which is known to cause neurological and cancer problems, dioxins, carbon monoxide, and dust are being expelled by the plant in Nottingham and exactly the same will go into the atmosphere in Norwich.

"People here are outraged about what is happening and the community in Norwich must start campaigning hard to get this incinerator stopped before it is too late."

Fiona Macintosh, spokeswoman for WRG, said that an incinerator in Norwich could only be built with full backing from the Environment Agency.

She said: "The plant would be regulated by the Environment Agency under new strict emissions laws which came into effect in 2005. In order to build the facility we will have to secure not only planning permission but also the Environment Agency will have to determine whether to grant the scheme permission. They will only do that if they are certain that it will not cause harm to the environment or human health.

"The Eastcroft (Nottingham) facility has never had an environmental prosecution. On a small number of occasions technical issues have arisen over short periods of time which needed to be corrected to bring the operation of the plant quickly back within its strict limits."

Gerry Mole, head of environment and waste at Norfolk County Council, said: "If you look at anything which was built 30 years ago, like cars or TVs, you will see how technology has changed and advanced over that time. The incinerator in Nottingham is very old and this new one in Norwich would be at the very forefront of technology.

"When it comes to emissions from Nottingham, they were picked up by the Environment Agency but they were still very low and not detrimental to human health at all."

A public debate is being staged by the Evening News so families can get information about WRG's plans to build a waste incinerator at Costessey.

Stakeholders from all sides of the debate have been personally invited to the open forum which will be chaired by Evening News editor David Bourn at Costessey High School.

The public meeting will be inside the main hall at Costessey High School at 7.30pm on January 23.

Colour: Sky blue
Music: Guido Schneider & Andre Galuzzi: Survivor
Vector Lovers: Suicide Android
Shostakovich String Quartets