Micah 6:8
Exodus 25:10-16
Yes, your life matters.
Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?
On 22 September 1869 Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold was heard for the first time. It is the first of the four operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen, and the premier took place at the National Theatre in Munich. The other three music dramas are Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. In some ways, Das Rheingold serves as a prelude to the three other operas of Der Ring, much as the Hobbit was a prelude to the three volumes of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
It's an interesting coincidence that the Hobbit was published on 21 September 1937 (see yesterday's post), as both Wagner and Tolkien were using many of the same mythological and legendary sources from Germanic (those in the know prefer the term Teutonic!) lore in the crafting of their master works. It's also interesting how differently these two men reused those source materials based, in large part, on their very different world-views.
As an unrelated historical aside, on this date in 2007 Marcel Marceau shuffled off this mortal coil. His performance in the Mel Brooks classic, "Silent Movie," was very memorable, and I'll never forget his final words, "."
Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.
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