Kristen Clough AMD1

For my first week of AMD I watched Big Bang Theory dubbed into German.  I chose this show because I'm very familiar with it in English and I thought that would help me follow along.  (I couldn't find a version with English subtitles, so knowing the plot was important.)  I was of course a bit intimidated at how FAST the language sounds when people are speaking at full speed.   But it's comforting to remember in real life you can always ask people to speak more slowly.  That being said I did catch some of our vocab words, die tafel made an appearance several times for example.  I also heard someone say Ich weiss nicht, when they didn't know something.  And of could Penny in response to Sheldon's nagging says "Was, Was, Was!"  Overall I was pretty pleased with my ability to grab onto cognates and names and use those moments to follow along even if I didn't understand a lot.  (Hearing "superman" clues you into what's going on in the conversation pretty quick!)  Overall for two weeks of German I thought I caught onto quite a bit.  It will be interesting to revisit over the course of the semester and spot more familiar words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd2bzHb6NNY

Kultur1 - Romantisim and Forests - Kristen Clough

The image of the log card found on page 12 struck me immediatly.  A deeper reading of this section reveled some themes that touch on my own field of music and musicology and thus I have decided to expland in this post upon the idea of the importance of the Forest in 19th century German and German immigrant culture.

First a brief reminder of what we read:
     For many German immigrants the lure of America lay in its wealth of land.  Land that could be owned and passed down from generation to generation.  This drew many immigrants to more rural sections of the country such as Wisconsin.  (Wisconsin actively encouraged this as we see in the log card which suggested writing back to Europe to tell friends and family where they too could find more information about Wisconsin.)  But there is lots of land all over the country.  Swaths of it at the time realitively untouched, why was Wisconsin and that area so special?  The answer seems to lie in the forests.  Landscapes that seemed deeply family to people who had traveled so far.  Our reading indicates to us that the German immigrants took special care of their lands and there successful stewards of the land and forest.

Forests in 19th Century Romantism:
     Once upon a time there was a girl lost in the forest.... or a witch that lived in a forest.... or a tower mysteriously glistening in a clearing... or a prince lost in the mad race of a hunt....
Think over some fairytales you know.  Many of them I would venture (especially those of the brothers Grimm) feature a forest.  Forests can be naive and inviting, dark and sinester, and stimulate many old emotions.  They are romantic and fascinating, something that sparked the interest of many 19th century German composers.

Schubert:
From Schubert I present two contrasting examples, Im Haine and Die Erlköning.

Im Haine has a light magical feel, and talks about the serenity, safety, and timelessness of the forest.
Find the text below

Sonnestrahlen

Durch die Tannen, 

Wie sie fallen, 

Ziehn von dannen 

Alle Schmerzen, 

Und im Herzen
Wohnet reiner Friede nur. 

Stille Sausen
Lauer Lüfte, 

Und in Brausen
Zarter Düfte, 

Die sich neigen 

Aus den Zweigen, 

Atmet aus die ganze Flur. 

Wenn nur immer 

Dunkle Bäume, 

Sonnenschimmer, 

Grüne Säume 

Uns umblühten 

Und umglühten, 

Tilgend aller Qualen Spur!

Translated: (from recmusic.org)

Sunbeams
through the fir-trees
falling,
Draw from there
all pain;
and in our hearts
dwells pure peace only.

The still murmuring
of mild breezes,
And the whispering
of delicate scents:
they float down
from the branches,
breathing gently on the entire meadow.

If only
the dark trees,
the shimmering sunlight,
and the green forest-edge,
could blossom
and glow around us all the time,
erasing every trace of pain!

You can listen to it here : http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GTCPf-pEygs (sorry embeding videos is on my to learn list!)

My second example, Die Erlköning shows the darker side of forests and fairytale.  It outlines the 

story of three characters in the forest, a father, a son, and death.  

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