Late Night Post #16

Sometimes we follow ourselves too far and seek too many things until we get lost and we forget exactly what was it worth following. Reality or ghosts of our imagination wondering on the empty streets of a sleeping city. What are we following from birth to death, from smiles to tears, from tears to smiles and to some other king of life again. I do not know and so I wander.

Soundtrack of a revolution [Top 10]

     The word revolution today implies many different things for different people. While most are just numb to the idea of having a heart that shouts with a voice just as loud, there are people who for whatever reason seek change. Security agencies which gained an almost unprecedented degree of power in democratic societies know all about it. Why rebel and against what? Most countries on the map today are the product of rebellions and revolutions.

     The songs I am presenting now to you are not arranged in a strict value hierarchy, it would be a difficult job to do such a thing objectively. I instead took a series of factors into consideration like the attitude, the depth of the lyrics, the history of the band/artist regarding such themes, success to the public and overall artistic impression.

[Utopian Dystopia] - The Running Man [1987 / USA]

     After economic collapse, the world finds itself divided. The movie adopts the idea that when the ruling class attains power it will concentrate strictly upon itself.
     Control of the population is not accomplished directly as in "1984" and the world isn't, at a technological level, as different from its own past as it was the case in "Brave New World". Unlike "Equilibrium" in the case of this movie, control is exerted through emotions and it's mainly about entertainment. Everything about the past is censored. This element of censorship, of controlling information, is at the base of all books and movies that address such themes.
     "The Running Man" is mainly about a television show that has the subject of sending a number of inmates through a natural and urban labyrinth where they finally face certain death at one point or another. A series of heroes gained popularity and I'm not talking about the actual competitors, the executioners all have some sort of a superhero aesthetics, each bolstering a particular superpower.
   

Francois Dufault [French composer 17th century]

Suite in A minor by Francois Dufault

Theodoor Rombouts
The Lute Player, c. 1620

The 17th century was a time of great development in France but also of conflicts and revolts. Cardinal Richelieu, minister of Louis XIII began a series of projects to strengthen France militarily and culturally, the methods he used were not always to most peaceful and pleasant. In December 1642 he died and after five months Louis XIII also died in Paris leaving the country in the hands of minister Cardinal Mazarin and king Louis XIV who continued in the trend set during the first half of the century.

Regarding Francois Dufault not much remained except for twelve lute compositions and a few individual works in manuscripts. His works are written with a lot of harmonic freedom. He was born in Bourges around 1604 and died in England probably in the early 1670's. Dufault was a contemporary of Sebastien Bourdon.An excellent article about this composer can be found here.