Monday, May 29, 2017

Audition for Vox16's 2017-2018 Season!

We are pleased to announce auditions for our upcoming 2017-2018 season. We are looking for singers of all voice parts. Interested singers must sign up by June 28th.

2017-2018 SCHEDULE More information about repertoire here

Sat Oct 7 at 7:30pm
Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104

Renaissance and contemporary settings of Marian motets. Featuring England's finest composers Cornysh, Tallis, Tavener, and Jackson.

Mon Sept 25 at 7pm-10pm
Tues Oct 3 at 7pm-10pm
Wed Oct 4 at 7pm-10pm

January 2018

I would like to record a CD of new choral music in January featuring the selected compositions for the April 7 concert (to be released at that concert). A fundraising effort will be announced in the next few weeks to raise money for the project.

Interested composers should contact Markdavin at

Sat April 7 at 7:30pm
Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104

New music from local composers

We are looking for composers to submit new compositions for this program. Compositions will be included in the CD project in January (pending funding) which will be released at this concert.

Mon March 26 7pm-10pm
*This rehearsal will be canceled if we record in January 2018
Wed April 4 at 7pm-10pm
Fri April 6 at 7pm-10pm

Interested singers are required to sign up for a 10-minute audition slot on one of the following dates:

Saturday, July 1, 2017, 2pm-6pm
Saturday, July 8, 2017, 2pm-6pm

Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104

Interested singers must sign up by June 28th.

Singers are required to learn a part of their choice on Lobo's Versa est in luctum and will sing their part with five other singers on the other parts. There will also be a short sight-singing component.

Singers will be evaluated on the following skills:
1. Execution of Assignment  (25%)
2. Tone Quality (25%)
3. Intonation (20%)
4. Ensemble skills (singing with others) (20%)
5. Sight-singing (10%)

Singers are expected to attend all rehearsals and concerts during the 2017-2018 season.

Singers pay no fees and are paid a small honorarium. Singers will be entitled to 1/20 of net revenues (ticket sales minus expenses - (sheet music, program printing, building use fee, etc.) This has typically amounted to about $40-$50 per concert and is paid two weeks after each concert.

If the recording project is funded, singers will receive a fee for each recording session.

Vox16 is a professional chamber ensemble of sixteen singers dedicated to performing unaccompanied choral music from the Renaissance period to the 21st century. An exciting new presence in Seattle’s vibrant choral community, Vox16 was founded in 2015 by director Markdavin Obenza and is part of the Byrd Ensemble's Professional Choral Affiliates Program.

DIRECTOR MARKDAVIN OBENZA has dedicated his career to music. In addition to Vox16, Markdavin is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Byrd Ensemble, a Seattle-based early music vocal group, and Producer for Scribe Records, an independent record label. He is an active singer and has performed with the Tudor Choir (US) and members of the Tallis Scholars (UK), in addition to the Byrd Ensemble. He is currently the Director of Choral Music at Trinity Parish Church (Seattle, WA).

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Minimalists or not?

SATURDAY, April 29th at 7:30pm
Trinity Parish Church
609 8th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

SUNDAY, April 30th at 3:00pm
Faith Lutheran Church
9041 166th Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052

GORECKI - Totus tuus
MUHLY - Lord heare my prayer instantly
MUHLY - In One Place
MUHLY - Pater Noster
MUHLY - Recordare Domine
DUGGAN/LYLE - O sacrum convivium
PÄRT - Seven Magnificat Antiphons
PÄRT - I am the true vine
PÄRT - Magnificat

Save $3 by purchasing your tickets in advance
General Admission: $20
Seniors (65+): $15
Students: $10

Purchase tickets here. Your tickets will be emailed to you. Use your receipt as your ticket, or pick them up at will call.

I can see my music theory professor now, cringing that I’ve labeled Pärt, Górecki, and Muhly as minimalists—this is understandable. Traditionally, we think of Terry Riley, Steve Glass, and John Adams as pioneers of the minimalism movement, so using the same label for the composers on this program warrants some explanation—just because the music contains repetition doesn’t mean it is minimalist!

Minimalism began post-World War II as a response to expressionism. Musically, it was a reaction against the prevailing musical aesthetics—atonal and mathematically generated music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and the like. Minimalism was a movement to reduce music to its most basic elements. American composers Riley, Glass, and Adams led the new style and paved the way to new music based on patterns and extreme repetition. It would not be unusual to encounter a piece based on one pattern and hear it evolve only slightly over the span of twenty minutes.

Repetition and patterning is an important part of the music of Pärt, Górecki, and Muhly; however, their compositional style is not a reaction against expressionism, but instead emerged in a unique and individual way. Nor is their music committed to patterns and repetition to the same degree. Pärt is perhaps the most dedicated ‘patterner,’ but he is quick to break those patterns if it creates unwanted harmony. So, if they aren’t minimalists, how do we describe their style? Some call Pärt and Górecki ‘mystic minimalists’ or more pejoratively ‘pop minimalists.’ Neither of these labels seem to carry the significance their music deserves, so I hope the purists will bear with me while I include them in the minimalist camp for this program.

Arvo Pärt

For the sixth year in a row, Arvo Pärt has been given the title of the “world’s most performed living composer.” Pärt, born in 1935, is an Estonian composer of classical and sacred music. A prolonged struggle with Soviet officials led him to emigrate with his wife and their two sons in 1980. He lived first in Vienna, where he took Austrian citizenship, and then relocated to Berlin, Germany in 1981. He returned to Estonia around the turn of the 21st century and now lives alternately in Berlin and in Tallinn.

After some time experimenting in neoclassical styles, Pärt decided to use Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique and serialism in his compositions—this displeased the Soviet establishment enough to ban his early works. Pärt, not pleased with his output, went into several periods of contemplative silence, during which he studied choral music from the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. His biographer, Paul Hillier, says, “He had reached a position of complete despair in which the composition of music appeared to be the most futile of gestures, and he lacked the musical faith and will-power to write even a single note.”

Pärt spent years immersing himself in Renaissance vocal music and more generally Western music. Out of this period of musical soul-searching emerged a unique compositional style that informed his music beginning in the 1970s—tintinnabuli (bell-like). The tintinnabuli style is a simple compositional technique that allows for a limited number of harmonies. Imagine the harmonies generated by playing a major scale in the left hand and an arpeggio on the right.

The Seven Magnificat Antiphons (1988; revised 1991), marks only the second time that Pärt set a German text. Perhaps the fact that it was commissioned for the Radio Chamber Choir in Berlin, a group whose broadcast performances reached audiences far and wide, suggested that the vernacular language would be the most appropriate choice. Each of these texts, in its normal liturgical context, functions as the antiphon to one iteration of the Magnificat, sung at Vespers on each of the seven evenings preceding Christmas Eve. In Pärt’s composition, these texts are set simply as a series of seven movements.

Pärt’s Magnificat, composed in the tintinnabuli style, employs drones. The solo Soprano part, singing only the pitch C,  provides the tonal center for the piece. Pärt’s setting of the Magnificat, though length and repetition, establishes a sense of timelessness. The half-step dissonances sprinkled throughout alongside the sonorous harmony immediately pull us into a state of contemplation and introspection.

I am the true vine was composed in 1996 for the 900th anniversary of Norwich Cathedral in England. Written for unaccompanied voices, the work offers a twist on Pärt's tintinnabuli technique. Syllables of text are dispersed among the parts in such a way that each part is often often completing another part’s sentence or word. Also, the distribution of the melody among the parts—Bass to Soprano back down to Bass—resembles the vine depicted in the text.

Henryck Mikolaj Górecki (b. 1933) was born in south west Poland to two talented amateur musicians. Musically, the boy developed late, and he enrolled at the conservatoire in Katowice at the age of 22 to study composition. Górecki’s work was not always met with praise. At the 1967 Cheltenham Festival his Refrain (for which he received a prize in Paris) was described: "Players can bang and blow and scrape repeated notes as they wish. The experiment might better have been conducted in private." In London 1978, his music was dismissed as "crude, agitated, often loud and violent". Yet, almost in parallel, Górecki had begun working in a style that could not be more different. His Symphony No 2 (Copernican), from 1972, began a transition towards a more consonant language.

Górecki was a pioneer of modernism in his own country, but, like Pärt, adopted a more pared-down, minimalist style and focused on writing religious music. Totus Tuus was performed at Pope John Paul II’s third visit to Poland, his homeland, in 1987. The outdoor masses were attended by hundreds of thousands of people. Totus Tuus sets a brief prayer to Mary, the patron saint of Poland. Górecki delivers a wonderfully simple but prayerful work for such an occasion.

American composer Nico Muhly (b. 1981) has worked with pop/rock and classical genres. Muhly, only in his mid 30s, is quite the hot contemporary artist. He has worked with Björk and Philip Glass and has composed for the Paris Opera Ballet. Muhly’s sacred music draws from two styles: American minimalism and the Anglican tradition.

Nico Muhly

Muhly’s choral pieces are rarely performed and have not been recorded. Recordare Domine, written for the Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips, is most unlike the others and favors a more dissonant sound. Pater Noster, a setting of the Lord’s Prayer, draws inspiration from Stravinsky's unaccompanied sacred music, notably his setting of the same text. Lord Heare My Prayer Instantly showcases Muhly’s almost incessant use of triplets in a duple meter, which permeates much of his choral music. Unlike Recordare, Lord Heare and the other choral works on the program  are mostly diatonic and feature repeated musical figures. In One Place, a Pentecost Antiphon, incorporates freely sung text; the overall effect is meant, I assume, to depict the apostles speaking in tongues in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We invited composers to submit music that would pair well with the program. We are happy to present two works: Caroline Mallonée’s O Lux, and John Duggan and Teena Lyle’s O Sacrum Convivium (world premiere performance).

Caroline Mallonée (b. 1975) has been performed internationally, including New York City at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, Tribeca New Music Festival, and the Cambridge Summer Music Festival (UK) and has been broadcast several times over National Public Radio on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion.” Dr. Mallonée holds a Ph.D. from Duke University, a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Music, and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. O Lux is an imitative motet celebrating light. The downward contour represents the light streaming in; the rising line that follows it, the light that raises one's spirits. It was commissioned by the Friends School of Baltimore to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the school’s founding.

John Duggan (b.1963) was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral and studied music at Keble College, Oxford. He is an experienced live-sound and recording engineer in both popular and classical fields. He has written a large body of work for choir, both sacred and secular, including a number of settings of the soldier poets of World War I. He was Creative Arts Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford (2012–15) and is currently composer-in-residence at Leeds Cathedral in West Yorkshire. His music is published by Novello and Shorter House.

Teena Lyle (b.1963)  is a percussionist, keyboard player and singer who has worked with many artists including Bob Dylan, Placido Domingo, Robbie Williams, and Gloria Gaynor. She is best known for her touring and recording work with Van Morrison. Alongside her performing, she is developing a career as a composer, artist, and teacher.

The text to O Sacrum Convivium, often attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas, illuminates the pivotal role of the Eucharist in Christian life—from the Last Supper, the mystery of Easter unfolds. The sharing of bread evokes the Passion of Christ, the glory of his Resurrection, and the promise of an eternal feast. The power of this imagery lies in the way in which sharing, receiving, passion, grace, and glory intermingle as the divine ingredients in a timeless, celestial banquet. In writing this piece together we wanted to create a beautiful tableau, a piece that arches over performers and listeners like the stone spans of a medieval cathedral, like a field of flowers opening in a time-lapse sequence. The effect is like the gentle roll of waves, where the power builds invisibly in the undertow and then breaks upon the shore of our hearing.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Victoria, Morales, Lobo and Palestrina

A musical exploration of the Habsburg dynasty, featuring Spanish music written for monarchs Charles V and Philip II

SATURDAY MAR 4, 2017 at 7:30PM
St. Mark's Cathedral
1245 10th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98102

Tomás Luis de VICTORIA - Requiem Mass
Introitus: Requiem aeternam
Sanctus & Benedictus
Agnus Dei I, II & III
Communion: Lux aeterna
Versa est in luctum
Responsory: Libera me

VICTORIA - Magnificat primi toni
Cristóbal de MORALES - Circumdederunt me
MORALES - “Requiem aeternam” from Missa pro Defunctis
Alonso LOBO - Versa est in luctum
Giovanni Pierluigi da PALESTRINA - Nunc dimittis

Danielle Sampson
Margaret Obenza
Christina Siemens

Sarra Sharif Doyle
Joshua Haberman

Orrin Doyle
Kurt Kruckeberg

Peter Lifland
Willimark Obenza
David Stutz

The House of Habsburg was an incredible patron of the arts. During its six-century rule, it shaped the arts world like no other dynasty, employing singers and commissioning composers on an international scale. The program features music by the most prominent Spanish Renaissance composers employed by Charles V and Philip II: Victoria, Morales, and Lobo, and the great Counter-Reformation Italian composer Palestrina.

The House of Habsburg was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. At the height of its power, the dynasty ruled Austria, a vast tract of Central Europe, Spain, the Low Countries, much of South America, and it occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire for nearly three centuries. The Habsburgs held the arts in high regard. In the sixteenth century, the power and wealth of a dynasty were expressed through its patronage of art and science. The most important ruler had to demonstrate that he was also an outstanding patron by commissioning and collecting works of art. Artists employed at the court enjoyed a good income, high social standing, and remarkable freedoms, a rarity during period of religious turbulence. The Habsburg who defined Europe in the Renaissance was Charles V (1500-1558), who ruled Spain and its overseas empire and was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519.

Music played an important role Charles’s court. Sacred music was sung for the daily services in the court chapel, for special memorial services, marriages and affairs of state that required a solemn ceremony in church. Professional singers and the clergy provided the chapel with music. Members of the court chapel performed many duties, as they were often singer, priest, composer, choirmaster, organist, music teacher, and scribe at the same time. Additionally, the nobility received extensive musical education themselves, often from the members of the court chapel, and learned how to sing and play instruments.

Charles surrounded himself with musicians. In Brussels he had a court chapel of mainly Flemish musicians called the “Capilla Flamenca” which he eventually brought with him to Spain. At his Spanish court Charles formed a larger ensemble, “La Grande Chapelle,” made up of the best musicians from the whole of Europe. The group performed sacred polyphony for voices and eventually secular music with instruments, once it came into style in the late sixteenth century. Charles loved both sacred and secular music.

Composer Cristóbal de Morales (c.1500–1553), a contemporary of Charles, is regarded as the most important Spanish composer before Victoria. The preference by Pope Paul III of employing Spanish singers in the papal chapel choir helped Morales, who moved to Rome in 1535 and joined up. During his time, Morales sang on three occasions for the emperor Charles V and received a commission to write music for Charles’s wedding to Isabella of Portugal in 1526. Morales remained employed by the Vatican until 1545, after which he returned to Spain following a period of unsuccessful job hunting in Italy. While regarded as one of the greatest composers in Europe, he was an unpopular employee and had difficulty keeping his jobs.

Morales was one of the first important contributors to a growing repertoire of musical settings of the liturgy for the dead. His antiphon for the the solemn office, Circumdederunt me, set for five voices, achieves a dark mood through slow-moving polyphony and low ranges. The sound fits the text perfectly.

The groanings of death have encircled me: the sorrows of hell have enclosed me.

His settings of funeral music were disseminated widely across Europe. The Missa pro Defunctis was likely sung in Mexico in 1559 at memorial ceremonies for Emperor Charles V and his son, Philip II of Spain.

Philip II of Spain (1527-1598), "Philip the Prudent,” reigned during the so-called “Golden Age.” At the peak of his influence and power, Philip’s empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, including his namesake the Philippine Islands. People described his dominion as “the empire on which the sun never sets.” Unfortunately, his reign also saw the economic decline of Spain and the disastrous decade from 1588-1598 which included the devastating defeat of the Spanish Armada. Philip loved music and was a passionate art patron. He had a wonderful collection of masterpieces at the Escorial, his palace outside of Madrid, and was well educated in History and Politics but poor at languages.

16th-century Spanish music patronage differs from English, French, and Italian music in that the Spanish royal house maintained two royal chapels: the House of Burgundy and the House of Castile. The first was made up of Charles’s and Philip’s Low Countries subjects (Flemish) and the second of Spaniards. Philip’s maintenance of two chapels of singers and players showed an incredible commitment to music, unmatched by his contemporary sovereigns. Philip was also the only monarch of his time who patronized Italian, Spanish, and Flemish composers equally. He was the only patron to whom Palestrina dedicated two books of masses. Philip also helped Spanish composer Guerrero on his first publication, and Victoria dedicated one of his lavish single publications of Magnificats to him in 1563. Philip was the leading international music patron of his age.

Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548-1611), the most famous Spanish composer at the time, was one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer but also an accomplished organist and Catholic priest. Victoria was sent by Philip in 1565 to prepare for holy orders at the German College in Rome. During this time he likely studied under Palestrina, whom he eventually succeeded as director of music at the Roman Seminary.

The Magnificat, the Canticle of Mary, was the next most important part of the liturgy after the Mass in the 16th-century Catholic Church. It was sung at the close of each day’s service of Vespers: Settings of the Magnificat were in demand. Composers served this liturgical need by publishing a complete set of eight or sixteen settings of the Magnificat, covering eight “tones” or keys. Victoria’s Magnificat primi toni, one of his two polychoral settings, employs eight voices and alternates between fugal sections for one choir and full double choir passages for both choirs. The way Victoria balances imitation and full homophonic statements in his Magnificat is strikingly similar to Palestrina’s techniques in Nunc dimittis for double choir—we can hear why Victoria is called the “Spanish Palestrina.”

In 1578 Philip II honored Victoria’s request to return to his native Spain, where he met the pious dowager empress Maria, sister of Philip, and later became her chaplain. His last work was the Requiem Mass (1605) in memory of the empress Maria, his most famous work. All of the music in the Requiem Mass is scored for six voices, except the initial Taedet animam meam funeral motet (not sung in the program) he also wrote for the occasion. The second soprano part often carries the cantus firmus (a pre-existing melody used as the basis of a polyphonic composition), though it disappears into the other parts. Victoria concludes the Mass with the motet Versa est in luctum, which was probably sung as the clergy and dignitaries assembled around the catafalque, a decorated wooden framework supporting the empress’s coffin.

Philip II died at San Lorenzo in 1598. Alonso Lobo (1555-1617) wrote his best motet, Versa est in luctum, for Philip’s funeral at Toledo Cathedral. While the six-part motet is set to text associated with a Requiem Mass, he did not write a complete Requiem Mass setting. Though not as famous as Victoria, this stunning motet filled with beautiful, cascading lines captures the despair of the text and showcases why Victoria considered him to be an equal.

My harp is turned to grieving and my flute to the voice of those who weep. Spare me, O Lord, for my days are as nothing.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Flemish Masters: Gombert, Isaac and Crecquillon

Nicholas Gombert

Flemish Music for the House of Habsburg
FEB 4, 2017 at 7:30PM
St. Mark's Cathedral
1245 10th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98102

Nicolas GOMBERT - Magnificat tertii et octavi toni
GOMBERT - Lugebat David Absalon
Heinrich ISAAC - Tota pulchra es
JOSQUIN - Gaude virgo mater
Thomas CRECQUILLON - Pater peccavi
arr. Ludwig SENFL - Quis dabit oculis nostris
ISAAC - Virgo prudentissima

TICKETS Save $2 per ticket by purchasing in advance
General Admission: $25
Seniors (65+): $20
Students: $15

Soprano: Danielle Sampson, Ruth Schauble, Margaret Obenza
Alto: Sarra Sharif Doyle, Joshua Haberman
Tenor: Orrin Doyle, Kurt Kruckeberg
Bass: Gabriel Lewis-O'Connor, Peter Lifland, Willimark Obenza

The House of Habsburg, one of the most influential royal houses of Europe, shaped the arts world like no other dynasty. In the sixteenth century, the power and wealth of a dynasty were expressed through its patronage of art and science. The most important ruler had to demonstrate that he was also an outstanding patron by commissioning and collecting works of art. Artists employed at the court enjoyed a good income, high social standing, and remarkable freedoms, a rarity during this period of religious turbulence. The program features music by the most famous Franco-Flemish composers employed by Maximilian I (1486-1519) and Charles V (1519-1556).

Music was clearly important to Charles V. He collected musicians during his travels, eventually finding Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-1560) in Flanders and naming him choirmaster for the royal chapel in 1529. He and the singers would travel with the emperor, further spreading the Franco-Flemish polyphonic tradition. He unofficially held the position of court composer, arranging many works commemorating key events during Charles V’s life. In 1540, Gombert ran into trouble with the law and was sentenced to hard labor but was pardoned early sometime around 1547, after Charles heard the Magnificat settings he composed while serving his sentence. These “swansongs” are considered to be Gombert’s greatest works and showcase his style—a preference for dense textures and dissonant harmony. His setting of the Magnificat on the program is the third of a cycle of eight and alternates between plainchant and polyphonic sections. Magnificat begins with three parts and unfolds to eight parts by the end, each section marked with Gombert’s signature splash of dissonance.

Gombert’s eight-voice motet Lugebat David Absalon was originally attributed to Josquin. Josquin (c.1450-1521), a contemporary of Gombert and Isaac, is considered to be the greatest composer of the age and was so famous and admired that many anonymous compositions were attributed to him by copyists, probably to increase their sales. This Lugebat David Absalon is an example. Gombert’s work is an eight-voice motet based on David’s Lament and is a contrafactum (where the composer substitutes one text for another without making substantial changes to the music). The motet is filled with beautiful imitative descending lines (classic lament painting) and the pleading repetition of “O fili mi” (O my son!), making it one of the most moving settings of David’s Lament in the Renaissance.

Heinrich Isaac’s (c.1450-1517) career spanned over 30 years and allowed him to travel far from his homeland of Flanders into Germany, Italy, and Austria. He took several positions as a professional singer before making his way to Vienna to take up the position of court composer for Emperor Maximilian I. Around 1502, Isaac traveled to Ferrara to the Este court, where he wrote the motet La mi la sol la sol la mi in merely two days and competed with Josquin for employment. A famous letter from the agent of the Este Family compared the two composers, “[Isaac] is of a better disposition among his companions, and he will compose new works more often. It is true that Josquin composes better, but he composes when he wants to and not when one wants him to." The program includes two motets by Isaac dedicated to the Virgin Mary, both based on chant (found in the lower voice parts in longer note values). Tota pulchra is scored for four lower voices and, through carefully balanced chordal and homophonic textures, delivers an intimate mood in this setting from the Song of Songs. Isaac’s Virgo prudentissima, one of the grandest motets of the Renaissance, is a musical dedication to the Virgin Mary on one hand but also a tribute to his employer Maximilian I on the other, written for his coronation. The text is by humanist Vadian, and it expresses hope that the Virgin will look mercifully on Maximillian. The motet alternates between chant sung as a duet and with declamatory sections of polyphony, one of Isaac’s most complex works.

Josquin’s Gaude virgo mater Christi is from a time when devotion to the Virgin Mary flourished in the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance, fostering new celebrations, new poetry, and music dedicated to the worship of the Virgin. The text has no liturgical use and was likely written for private devotion. The four-part motet tells the story of Mary’s involvement with the Christ Child from her Annunciation, through his death and resurrection.

Not much is known about Thomas Crecquillon (1505-1557). He was a priest and member of the chapel of Charles V and died probably as a victim of the plague. Though details of his life are spare, his output was somewhat prolific. He wrote twelve masses, over 100 motets, and 200 chansons. Like Josquin, Crecquillon stylistically preferred writing imitative polyphony but rarely varied the texture for dramatic effect, preferring smoothness and consistency, as demonstrated in Pater peccavi, a motet about the story of the Prodigal Son.

Ludwig Senfl (1486-1542) was the most famous student of Isaac and served as his copyist. When Isaac died in 1517, Maximilian I appointed Senfl to fill Isaac’s position as court composer. However, when Maximilian died in 1519, Senfl lost his job, and his situation became worse: Charles V dismissed most of Maximilian’s musicians and refused to pay Senfl the annual stipend owed to him in the event of Maximilian's death. He spent his next few years seeking employment, eventually sympathizing with Protestants (although never officially becoming one) and acquiring a post in Munich which had high musical standards and was tolerant of Protestant sympathizers.

Quis dabit oculis nostris was originally attributed to Senfl, but it was actually composed by Costanzo Festa, who wrote it originally for the death of Anne de Bretagne, the Queen of France whom Maximilian once sought for his wife. Senfl adapted Festa’s motet for Maximillian’s funeral, changing only a few words (“Anna” was replaced by “Maximilianus”) with the necessary rhythmic adjustments, probably because Senfl did not have enough time to compose a new motet.

The sixteenth century was a golden age for Renaissance vocal music, and this program showcases the essence of the Flemish style:  smooth and elegant lines, a predominantly polyphonic texture, and very moderate vocal ranges. From the somber setting of David’s lament in Gombert’s Lugebat David Absalon, to Isaac’s fireworks-of-a-motet Virgo Prudentissima, the program displays the remarkable range of expression in Flemish polyphony.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Recording Retreat at La Maison Verte

  • Adrian Willaert
  • Antoine Brumel
  • Cipriano de Rore
  • Clemens non Papa
  • Heinrich Isaac
  • Josquin des Prez
  • Orlando de Lassus
  • Thomas Crecquillon
Repertoire will be finalized after the singers have been selected.

SCHEDULE: subject to change, a little!
SAT JULY 22 - Arrive and relax!

SUN JULY 23-MON JULY 24 - Time to rehearse

TUES JULY 25-THURS JULY 27 - Recording Sessions

SAT JULY 29 - Goodbye!
A nice brunch as we say farewell!

€695 (that's Euros!)

What your fee includes:
  • An in-depth understanding about the recording process.
  • A lecture about the history behind the music.

The Byrd Ensemble
PO BOX 12505
Seattle, WA 98111-4505

For more information, please contact Markdavin Obenza at

What's so cool about the house?

Where do we rehearse and record?

Rehearsal Room

Cahuzac Isabelle

Tell me about the what's around La Maison Verte!

MORE PHOTOS. Read more about La Maison Verte here.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Christmas in the Sistine Chapel

Luca MARENZIO - Hodie Christus natus est
CHANT - Puer natus est nobis
Cipriano de RORE - Missa Praeter rerum seriem
CHANT - Laetabundus
JOSQUIN - Gaude Virgo
JOSQUIN - Præter rerum seriem
JOSQUIN - Benedicta es
PALESTRINA - Hodie Christus natus est

FOR MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM, the papal choir has been the most important musical body of Christendom. The choir existed as the Roman "schola cantorum" in the 6th century, and in the 15th century the papal choir was re-established in Rome under Sixtus IV, who rebuilt the Sistine Chapel and established the daily sung services which became the official worship of the papal court.
    Because music was always unaccompanied in the Sistine Chapel, it was crucial that the Papal Choir perform at the highest level. Membership in the papal choir came with great rewards, financially and with special privileges. New choir members competed in front of the existing members, who acted as a judge panel, for these coveted positions. The choir was consistently able to attract the finest singers and composers from all over Europe, resulting in a diverse choir made up of three national groups: Franco-Flemish, Italians and the Spanish. After the Counter-Reformation, the personnel was almost entirely exclusively Italian.
    The program explores what Christmas Mass might have sounded like at the Sistine Chapel. The main mass parts feature Renaissance motets by Franco-Flemish and Italian composers, and the interpolated chant, from the Roman Rite, is sung by Vox16.
    Referred to as “the divine composer,” Italian composer Luca Marenzio (1553-1599) brought the Italian madrigal to its highest point of artistic and technical development. He produced seventeen books of madrigals between 1580 and 1589, their contents demonstrating a mastery of the madrigal style. Through imitation, cascading lines, and attention to the text,  Marenzio incorporates madrigal techniques in the 4-part Hodie Christus natus est, a joyful motet about the birth of Christ.
    During the 16th century, Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521), the central figure of the Franco-Flemish School, acquired the reputation as the greatest composer of the age. He joined the papal choir from 1489 to 1495 and may have carved his name into the wall of the Sistine Chapel, as a “JOSQUINJ” was recently found on a wall by workers restoring the chapel. Since it was traditional for singers to carve their names into the wall, it is likely that Josquin did also, and if so, this would be his only surviving autograph.
    Praeter rerum seriem is one of Josquin’s greatest pieces. The Christmas motet scored for six voices is based on a chant melody in long notes. For much of the piece, the polyphony is presented antiphonally between the three upper and the three lower voices. The opening begins with the three lowest voices in minor-mode polyphony, creating a dark and unique sound world. Rore uses this opening in all five of his mass movements.
    Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565) represents a generation of Franco-Flemish composers after Josquin who went to live and work in Italy. Rore found employment with the Duke Ercole II d'Este at the court of Ferrara for whom he composed the Missa Praeter rerum serium. In 1563, Rore was chosen to succeed Adrian Willaert at St. Mark’s, Venice, the most prestigious post for a musician in Italy, but did not stay long and returned to Parma by September 1564, where he died the following year.
    Rore, like Marenzio, wrote a large number of madrigals but also composed sacred music of the highest caliber in the Franco-Flemish tradition, following in Josquin’s footsteps. The Missa Praeter rerum seriem scored for seven parts is based on Josquin’s Christmas motet Praeter rerum seriem and is one of the most elaborate parody masses of its time. (A parody mass is a musical setting of the mass that uses material from another pre-existing piece of music.) Through this work, Rore pays his respects to both his employer Duke Ercole II d'Este and to Josquin. Rore uses the same cantus firmus (a pre-existing melody used as the basis of a polyphonic composition) found in Josquin’s motet, but set it to text in praise of the Duke, “Hercules secundus, dux Ferrariae quartus vivit et vivet” (Hercules the Second, fourth Duke of Ferrara, lives and will live). One might argue that very little of Rore’s Missa Praeter rerum seriem is original. He added an extra soprano part for a brighter sound and turned one of the existing parts into a long-note cantus firmus for the dedication to the Duke, “Hercules secundus...”
    Gaude virgo mater Christi is from a time when devotion to the Virgin Mary flourished in the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance, fostering new celebrations, new poetry, and music dedicated to the worship of the Virgin. The text has no liturgical use and was likely written for private devotion. The four-part motet tells the story of Mary’s involvement with the Christ Child from her Annunciation, through his death and resurrection. Josquin’s famous Benedicta es was sung during the mass for feasts of the Virgin Mary. The motet for six voices is based on a paraphrase of a plainchant sequence Benedicta es.
    Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) was the most prolific composers of his time, composing over 300 motets, 140 madrigals, 104 masses, 72 hymns, 68 offertories, and 35 Magnificats. He was hired by the Sistine Chapel in 1555, but left shortly after the new pope, Paul IV, decided to reinstate the rule of celibacy for anyone working there—Palestrina and two other married singers were forced to leave. During this period, the Council of Trent implemented musical policies to remove the “impure” or secular elements from the liturgy with an emphasis on intelligibility. The Palestrina style embodied the new aesthetic and is characterized by a balance between intelligible text and rich consonant harmony. Palestrina’s Hodie Christus natus est, based on the text of the Magnificat Antiphon at Second Vespers on Christmas Day, contains declamatory cries of joy, “Noe, noe.”

-Markdavin Obenza

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Early music afficionados, a must-have greatest hits disc

MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE: Italy, England & France

ALLEGRI: Miserere mei, Deus
TAVERNER: Quemadmodum
WHITE: Exaudiat te Dominus
TALLIS: Lamentations II
BYRD: Domine, quis habitabit
BRUMEL: Lamentations
PALESTRINA: Magnificat
PALESTRINA: Nunc dimittis

Purchase CD at Scribe Records

The music on this disc spans the late-15th century to the early-17th century and represents the Italian, English, and Franco-Flemish schools of polyphony. From the singular phenomenon that is the Allegri Miserere to the gleaming architecture of Palestrina’s double-choir canticles, the works of the Italian school bookend a brief, chronological survey of the 16th-century English psalm motet as well as two sets of Lamentations, one English, the other Franco-Flemish. In the span of 70 minutes, we are vividly reminded of the remarkable diversity of the late-Renaissance polyphonic repertory.

Gregorio Allegri was an Italian composer and singer who joined the Papal choir in 1629. His setting of Psalm 51, Miserere mei, Deus, is easily the most famous vocal work of the Renaissance, largely due to a somewhat spurious edition dating from the early-20th century, which included a soaring high C for the soprano in the odd-numbered verses sung by a quartet. The history and evolution of Allegri’s setting is now well-known and well-documented.[i] It was composed during the reign of Pope Urban VIII, probably during the 1630s, for use in the Sistine Chapel during Matins, as part of the Tenebrae services on Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week. The service usually would start around 3:00 AM, and during the ritual, candles would be extinguished, one by one, until only one remained alight and hidden.

Originally, the work was simply a succession of chords to which the psalm was chanted (the tone has been identified as tonus peregrinus), but over decades of exclusive performance by the Papal choir, embellishments were added by singers and the piece evolved into a legendary work. A heightened sense of mystery surrounded the piece as the Papal choir jealously guarded it from others. Occasionally, a copy of the music would make its way out into the world, once via a young Mozart, who copied the work from memory after hearing a performance. For this recording, the now-traditional setting serves as the basis for further embellishments developed by Joshua Haberman in the spirit of the abbellimenti tradition.

The English school is represented by a selection of three psalm motets, a genre that developed out of the late-medieval votive antiphon in the 1540s, at a time when, in the climate of reform, prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and other saints fell out of favor. Composers of psalm motets sometimes adopted the structure of the old votive antiphons, beginning in triple time and changing to duple at the midway point. Passages for a reduced number of voices in any variety of combinations alternated with sections for full choir. Other examples of psalm motets were built solely on structural imitation, a technique developed on the continent during the late Renaissance, but which the English were slow to adopt. Psalm motets also continued the use of the five voice-types employed in large-scale votive antiphons: treble (soprano), mean (alto), tenor, baritone, and bass, although a number of examples (including those on this disc) omit the treble.

John Taverner was the most important English composer of the first half the 16th century. He was the first director of music at the newly established Cardinall College from 1525 to 1530. Taverner’s music bridges the gap between the complex, florid style of the Eton Choirbook composers of the late-15th century and the simpler, imitative style of the later mid-16th century composers, including Thomas Tallis and John Sheppard. His work is characterized above all by a sweeping melodic lyricism.

Quemadmodum probably dates from Taverner’s later years. The motet survives in a wordless source, likely used for recreational purposes by musical Elizabethans, but editor Haberman joins his predecessors in taking the lead from the title and fitting the first two verses of Psalm 42 to Taverner’s notes. Quemadmodum, although an early example of the psalm motet, nevertheless more closely resembles a Flemish motet than an English antiphon. The piece is in duple meter throughout, for full choir throughout, and employs structural imitation. The six-voice scoring also follows the Flemish preference for lower voices, creating a dense, compact texture that Tallis would later adopt in his seven-voice works, such as Loquebantur variis linguis, Suscipe quaeso, Domine, and the canon Miserere nostri. Upward transposition of the edition recorded here matches the voices more closely with the traditional English ranges of this period. Yet, despite all that seems un-English about the motet, the giveaway is Taverner’s supreme melodic gift. So beautifully developed in his large-scale Masses and antiphons, his sense of line also lends itself to the shorter melodic statements of imitation, thoroughly worked among the six voices.

Robert White was a leading musical figure in mid-16th century England during this period of continuing turmoil. He was a chorister at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later succeeded his father-in-law Christopher Tye as Master of the Choristers at nearby Ely Cathedral. He next worked at Westminster Abbey, but died of the plague in 1574. White wrote very little music in English, choosing to set Latin texts in an individual style that was at once old-fashioned and modern for its time—the sprawling musical structures of an earlier era were informed with the modern technique of imitative polyphony, with voice after voice repeating similar melodies in patterns that generate genuine urgency and drive.

White’s Exaudiat te Domine is composed using the old antiphon format, alternating full and reduced sections. He employs mean, tenor, baritone, and bass voices, omitting the trebles. Here, the edition is transposed up a minor third, resulting in ranges for soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. The baritone voice is split into a gimell from the beginning. (The gimell is an English device wherein a voice part is divided into two separate lines.) The piece begins with an extended trio for SABar. Imitation dissolves into extended melisma, leading into the first full section for SATBar1Bar2. Changing to duple meter, the motet continues with a double-gimell quartet for sopranos and baritones, followed by a second double gimell for altos and tenors, a passage featuring the false relation—the clash created by the raised leading tone in one voice sounding against the minor seventh in another. The expertly crafted final full section begins with the gradual addition of the other voices—the second baritone, followed by the soprano and first baritone. The resulting seven-voice texture provides White the means for an extended, thoroughly worked point of imitation at “Amen,” filled with cascading parallel thirds and sixths.

Thomas Tallis was unique in working under no fewer than four monarchs during his long life spanning most of the 16th century. He was able to adapt his musical style to meet virtually any requirements. He joined the Chapel Royal in 1543. Tallis’s two settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah are among the most beloved works of Tudor polyphony. They are settings of readings for the Maundy Thursday liturgy, but because the music survives only in manuscript we can’t be certain if Tallis intended them for liturgical performance or private, devotional use. The musical style suggests they were composed during Elizabeth I’s reign. Tallis’s compositional triumph here is his ability to imbue an overall feeling of restraint with a powerful emotional undercurrent.

“Tallis is dead and music dies.” So lamented William Byrd, who was once Tallis’s pupil and later his colleague. Byrd was one of the greatest of all English composers. He remained a Catholic in Protestant England, serving in the court of Elizabeth I for many years before moving out of London to a Catholic community toward the end of his life.

Like Taverner and White before him, Byrd’s voicing for the psalm motet Domine, quis habitabit omits the treble. The nine-voice texture (again, transposed up a minor third for this recording) includes pairs of sopranos, altos, and tenors over triple basses. Byrd eschews the antiphon structure, opting for full scoring throughout, save for a central section omitting two of the bass voices. The thorough working of White’s imitation at the end of Exaudiat te is brought to new heights by Byrd. Following a tutti rest, the final section begins with strong homophony. The texture quickly becomes polyphonic as Byrd introduces his final tour de force: canonic imitative points in each pair of the three upper voice parts as three basses pass motives back and forth, sometimes in literal imitation, sometimes inverse, sometimes abandoning the point altogether for a free polyphonic phrase. With the final text, “in aeternum” (substituting for an “Amen”), Byrd brings us to a rousing and seemingly inevitable final cadence.

French composer Antoine Brumel was a pupil of Josquin Desprez. Among his numerous posts, he was a singer at Chartres Cathedral and Master of the Boys at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. Brumel’s only surviving set of Lamentations is one of the most beautiful in the repertory. Composing for four voices in a chordal style, Brumel strikes a somber and contemplative mood. Following tradition (as did Tallis), he provides musical settings for the names of the Hebrew letters (here, Heth and Caph) that divide the text.

The outstanding composer of the Counter-Reformation years was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. He was probably a choirboy at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and later served there as maestro di cappella for ten years from 1561. The influence of his conservative and harmonically pure style was strongly felt throughout the latter years of the Renaissance and well into the Baroque era. Much of his music was performed by the Papal choir in Rome. Listening to Palestrina’s double-choir settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis back to back on this disc, one must remember they were not composed as a pair for Anglican Evensong, but rather for use separately in the Catholic offices of Vespers (Magnificat) and Compline (Nunc dimittis). Each stands on its own as a powerful expression Palestrina’s lasting achievements.

-Doug Fullington, 2016

Doug Fullington is founder and director of the Tudor Choir, based in Seattle, Washington. As a countertenor, he has performed with the Tallis Scholars as well as the Tudor Choir, Byrd Ensemble, and Cappella Romana. Trained as a musicologist, Doug is also a dance historian, with a focus on 19th-century French and Russian ballet.

[i] See, for example,


Uploaded Images :

Entry Title: "Chickens | Preserving Biodiversity."
emanuela colombo
, Italy
Category and Expertise: Science, Professional

Entry Description: Modern poultry breeding methods only involve the use of two chicken breeds, hybrid and totally created by man through genetic modifications: the breed broiler (meat) and the laying hen (for eggs). The focus on profit has led poultry farmers to ignore the history and territorial origins of the species, to promote a standardized production that has no other aim than the greatest profit. A real cultural and biological pollution, which has almost determined the extinction of hundreds of genetic types and a very high damage to the species biodiversity. Fortunately some nostalgic fans have started researching the last vestiges of the original breeds of chickens and have taken to breed, reviving poultry breeds almost disappeared. If it was not for them many of these chickens would definitely extinct and their genes lost. The breeders of these ancient breeds compete in beauty competitions, each animal is evaluated for posture, size, shape, design and color of the plumage.


ByPeter Matthews, writer at
Writer, Reader, Film watcher
Peter Matthews

Warning: While the plot details of Thor 3 are still unknown, this may contain *potential* spoilers for Thor 3. You have been warned.

At the end of Thor: The Dark World Loki sat on the throne of Asgard, having fooled Thor into thinking he was Odin. And ever since then, there has been speculation as to what would happen in what may well be Chris Hemworth's final Thor movie: Thor 3.

Well, given the hints that have been coming out from the project, all signs point toward the plot for the final Thor movie being the apocalyptic comic book story of Ragnarok.

But what is Ragnarok, and what can fans expect from a final Thor movie which features this as its central event?

1. Loki Dies - because Thor rips his head off

  Thor rips Loki's head off
Thor rips Loki's head off

Well, he kind of had it coming, didn't he?

It's bad news for Loki fans everywhere, but in the build up to the Ragnarok story line Loki raises as army in collaboration with Thor and Odin's arch enemy the Fire Giant Surtur. Loki arms his troops with incredibly powerful weapons forged in the fire caves of Muspellheim (the same place as Thor's hammer).

After a long struggle in which Thor's hammer is smashed, he manages to repel the demon armies from Asgard. And he deals with his trouble making brother as above.

Poor Loki.

2. Asgard Falls - because Thor lets it

  Surtur marches on Asgard
Surtur marches on Asgard

Unfortunately, in all that fighting with Loki, Thor shattered his hammer. Nevertheless, stripped of his most powerful weapon and carrying his brother's severed head, Thor goes to Muspellheim to meet Surtur.

The fire giant wants to know whether Thor wants a final battle, put Thor instead convinces Surtur to allow him to reforge his hammer. In exchange, Thor smashes down a mountain and lets Surtur lead his army of fire demons onto Asgard. The Norse Valhalla is consumed in fire.

But why does Thor allow his homeland to be destroyed?

3. Those who live above in Shadow - and how Thor kills himself

  Thor cuts the tapestry of time
Thor cuts the tapestry of time

Thor has made a traumatic discovery. There are Gods above him, the Gods of Gods or Those who sit above in Shadow, who live from the life force of those in Asgard.

These über-gods have stitched time in a cycle, ensuring the fall and rebirth of Asgard, Odin, Thor and all others. Thor is insulted, and he heads for the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. There he finds how the tapestry of time is stitched together by spinster women known as the Norns.

They offer Thor praise and rewards if he would leave the tapestry alone, but he refuses, severs the thread, and thereby cuts the endless cycle of time and ensures his own glorious death.

All in all, it is an awesome story line - and would be a perfect ending to Chris Hemsworth's involvement in the franchise.

But what do you think? Are we likely to see Ragnarok in Thor 3? Do you think it would be a good way to wrap things up? Write in with your thoughts below the line.

Do you think Thor 3 will see Ragnarok, the Norse apocalypse?

Latest from our Creators


Magpies are absolutely beautiful birds, and we have a lot of them living in this area. In fact, I do not believe I ever saw a magpie before we moved to Geneva. For years we have watched them try to build nests in the trees surrounding our building, fighting pretty gritty turf wars with the neighborhood crows, the latter usually winning. Whenever the first magpie of the day is spotted, my husband would offer it a greeting, “Good day Mr. Magpie,” but the origins of this ritual escaped him.

Doing a quick Google search, I found a website that explains the folklore quite well, so please allow me to cite the passage from Timeless Myths:

Walking down the street, your morning routine is interrupted by a flash of black and white wings, settling down on the street in front of you is a largish blackbird with a few white spots — a magpie! Not wanting to ruin what could be a great day, you tip your hat and say, “Good morning Mr. Magpie. How is your lady wife today?” Congratulations — you’ve just ward off bad luck by saluting a magpie.

Saluting Magpies

Seems little strange, doesn’t it, that saluting a bird could ward off bad luck? Yet in many parts of the United Kingdom spying a single magpie is considered an omen of bad fortune and saluting it is a way of showing the proper respect in hope that the magpie won’t pass on some of the misfortune that follows it. As magpies usually mate for life seeing one on its own is as sign of sorrow because it’s lost it’s mate, whereas if you see two it’s is a sign of joy as it’s with it’s mate. This is why when you see a single magpie you ask after it’s wife, thus suggesting it has a mate and is in fact happy — hence the rhyme one for sorrow , two for joy!

Magpies are known to be among the smartest birds, actually capable of seeing their reflection in a mirror (though I am not sure that one fact has anything to do with the other). I think it is so sweet that Magpies mate for life, and we often see two or three magpies together in the trees that fill the park behind our apartment, and for that I feel very lucky.

The majesty of the bird, and to support them in their on-going battle with the ominous crows, inspired me to capture their likeness in one afternoon’s nail art endeavor:

The magpie actually has a black beak, but I took some artistic license in this depiction because I wanted to be able to see the beak in the design. Although I enjoy mocking lots of British-isms (playfully, of course), greeting the first magpie spied each morning has now become part of my daily ritual. Why not, after all, I, in fact, do hope that his wife and children are doing well.


Trump Can Take Payments From Foreign Governments, U.S. Says

  • Government says emoluments clause doesn’t bar Trump businesses
  • Watchdog group sued president over payments to his companies

Will the Trumps Cash In at the White House?

George Washington did it, so Donald Trump can, too.

That’s the Justice Department’s take on why the 45th president isn’t violating the U.S. Constitution by accepting payments for goods and services from foreign governments without congressional approval.

The foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution doesn’t apply to fair-market commercial transactions, such as hotel bills, golf club fees, licensing payments and office rent, the Justice department argued Friday in a filing. The government is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by a watchdog group that claims Trump’s business dealings violate the Constitution.

If accepted by the court, the argument would eliminate a major legal obstacle for Trump’s businesses to keep money from foreign officials and companies owned by foreign governments.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, sued Trump within days of his inauguration in January, claiming foreign officials are doing business with Trump properties as a way to curry favor with the president. The group is seeking an order from U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan that Trump is violating the foreign emoluments clause and the domestic emoluments clause, which specifically bars presidents from taking payments from federal or state officials.

George Washington

“Neither the text nor the history of the clauses shows that they were intended to reach benefits arising from a president’s private business pursuits having nothing to do with his office or personal service to a foreign power," the government said in the filing. “Were plaintiffs’ interpretation correct, presidents from the very beginning of the Republic, including George Washington, would have received prohibited ‘emoluments.’”

The U.S. said Washington gave detailed instructions for the operation of his Mount Vernon plantation, and exported flour and cornmeal to England, Portugal and Jamaica while president. Thomas Jefferson exported tobacco to Great Britain. No concerns were raised over their receiving foreign emoluments. And Barack Obama received royalties on his books, many of which are held in the libraries of foreign public universities, according to the government.

The Justice Department also argued that CREW and the other plaintiffs in the case lack legal standing -- that they didn’t suffer a sufficient legal harm to allow them to sue. This argument attacks the authority of the court to consider the case at all and could result in a quick dismissal of the case if accepted by the judge. The government also claims it would be unconstitutional for a judge to issue an injunction against the president in his official capacity.

‘Heartily Disagree’

“It’s clear from the government’s response that they don’t believe anyone can go to court to stop the president from systematically violating the constitution," CREW said in a statement. “We heartily disagree and look forward to our day in court."

As part of the suit, CREW seeks access to Trump’s tax returns and other financial records. The group has said Trump should liquidate his business holdings and put the proceeds in a blind trust.

While presidents aren’t subject to ethics laws that apply to other federal officeholders, most lawyers, including Trump’s, agree that the foreign emoluments clause does apply to presidents. Courts haven’t ruled on the question directly, but the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2009 assumed that the clause applied to President Barack Obama but didn’t bar him from accepting a Nobel Peace Prize.

Why ‘Emoluments’ Might Mean Headaches for Trump: QuickTake Q&A

Trump announced in January he would turn over operation of his businesses to his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg. In addition, the Trump Organization vowed not to make any new business deals outside the U.S. while Trump is president. Critics including CREW, members of Congress and the director of the federal Office of Government Ethics said the plan failed to address conflicts of interest between Trump’s roles as president and as a billionaire businessman.

In the original complaint, filed on Jan. 23, the first business day after Trump’s inauguration, CREW targeted payments from diplomats and foreign government officials to Trump’s hotels and golf courses. The group also challenged as improper Trump Tower leases by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.

CREW later added claims including China’s granting of trademarks to the president and the federal government’s decision to permit him to continue leasing the site of his Washington hotel despite claims he is in violation of the lease. CREW argued that since the election, the hotel has marketed to the diplomatic community and has taken money from countries including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"Never before have the people of the United States elected a president with business interests as vast, complicated and secret as those of President Donald J. Trump,” the group said in its amended complaint. His “business interests are creating countless conflicts of interest, as well as unprecedented influence by foreign governments,” leading to “numerous” violations of the Constitution, according to the CREW complaint.

CREW also added plaintiffs who could shore up the group’s legal standing to sue: a restaurant association representing 200 restaurants and thousands of workers; a luxury hotel event booker; and a New York restaurant owner. Democrats in Congress also plan to sue Trump over alleged conflicts of interest, Politico reported on June. 7.

The case is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Trump, 17-cv-00458, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

    Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Infrastructure = Policy + Engineering

[existing landscape largely intact, contrasts belt structure]

in·fra·struc·ture (ĭn'frə-strŭk'chər) n.

Infrastructure is historically defined as follows:

[Negev phosphate mine]

[new earthworks blend with surrounding hills]

  1. Can you provide a citation for your definition of infrastructure?

  2. it is the webster's dictionary definition.

    the online etymology dictionary also has an entry on the word-

  3. Totally agree about how interesting this pair of Aronson's projects are -- though unfortunately it seems to have been a direction that his work briefly turned in, rather than something he pursued consistently.

    There's another one completed in the late 70's which has also fascinated me for a long time, because from what little I've found on it (it's briefly mentioned on his website, and there was a short mention in a book I read while doing thesis research), it seems to prefigure another contemporary landscape interest, that of inducing beneficial changes in ecological communities through the subtle alteration of various parameters (elevation, moisture, micro-climate, etc.).

    I think you could make a case, though, that there's a pretty significant difference between Aronson's work, as the design of large-scale landscape infrastructures which alters the specifics of those infrastructures but accepts the basic structures and techniques of those systems (phosphate mining, for example), and Berger/Belanger, who are trying to not only "bring more large-scale infrastructure projects under the auspices of landscape/architecture", but also to introduce new forms of infrastructures and new patterns of use surrounding them (Belanger's emphasis on waste cycles and the efficiencies that can be created through re-examining them, for instance). That said, I wholly agree that Aronson is a great precedent, and am glad that you've brought him up.

  4. i agree that in a sense belanger and berger's work is significantly different, though not fundamentally (though I may be off base). I see their work as a furthering of shlomo's work (among a few interesting others), and also indicative of the contemporary expanding role of landscape as practitioners/academics, which i would attribute to both those excellent folks as well as other cultural factors (a valuing or "foregrounding" of the landscape/holistic approach to building issues, etc.)

    what most interests me about guys like aronson, however, is their ability to move on to other things, not always focusing on infrastructure. some of his other works show a real ability as a craftsman, how to fashion an excellent water runnel detail or get a lighting effect in an outdoor space just right. i admire that and hope that as a profession we don't "jump the shark" (which the best have already done to some extent).

    i think our greatest capacity is to work within a particular cultural mythology, and enrich it, add to it, be it in an infrastructure project (maybe our moment's zeitgeist) or otherwise.

  5. Really interesting the way you're considering the role of architects in infrastructure; not only designing, arranging, detailing, but also coordinating between parties and finding ways to make projects happen.

    Another bit of added value might be in longterm thinking, as in designing landscapes that thrive for many years in their contexts with viable systems of maintenance.

    I'm thinking of a tweet by Alexis Madrigal the other day: "Statement popped into my head: good design allows organization without management. True?"

    Not the only characteristic of good design, but it's an interesting thought, especially the idea of reducing the need for constant management.

    p.s. Why use the term landscape/architecture? Is it ok just to use architecture? It seems like landscape/architecture could be interpreted as a distinction between landscape and the design of landscape (rather than between landscape architecture and "building" architecture).

  6. faslanyc:

    1. I think maybe that asking someone to become excellent at not only ameliorating the damage caused by existing patterns of landscape infrastructure (which is mostly what Aronson was up to -- though that's quite helpful, as I think it's at least one answer to your larger question about what value landscape architects can add to the design of infrastructures), but also to understand those patterns and the networks of economic, social, and political relationship which support them well enough to redesign the infrastructures for the betterment of those networks, while also developing virtuosic site design abilities, is a really, really tall order. Maybe a few outstanding individuals are up to that task, but I suspect that if landscape architecture is ever to have the broad effect on infrastructure that we seem to be interested in, it'll require the involvement of more than a handful of outstanding individual architects.

    Post-length expansion on the differences between Aronson's work and how a contemporary landscape infrastructurist might intervene in the Dead Sea Works forthcoming and half-written, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to finishing & posting.

    2. I'm not certain about the idea that our peculiar usefulness is related to "cultural mythologies". I know you've brought it up before, but it's not really something I've thought much about. I tend to bracket questions about meaning in landscape, because they're not usually particularly interesting to me. The answer to the question from that essay, "Must Landscapes Mean?", always seemed obvious to me: of course not; though I realize that is a somewhat different topic, as I seem to recall you posting about the difference between meaning and mythology before. I guess I'd probably say that I don't think any totalizing view of the "usefulness" of landscape architects will be completely satisfactory, because the set of things we do is so varied and broad (and, if anything, I'm interested in seeing that set grow more varied and broader). But I'm not trying to say that I think you're wrong, just that I haven't thought about it.

    Since I've got the same habit of referring to landscape/architects, I'll say (speaking only for myself and in respective order) (a) "insecurity" and (b) "No!". When the architects let us into their club, we'll stop trying to force our way in.

  7. Though the whole exhibit of entries is not up yet, have you guys seen the WPA 2.0 finalists? When you say landscape/architecture (and I'm one of the latter, and in the process of a Planning PhD) I assume you are saying either/or. Perhaps the Landscape Urbanism discipline/discourse seems to be more aligned with the project types you are referring to. This might also be of interest: And my apologies if this is all old news to you....

  8. Peter: Very good point of emphasis about long-term thinking, or even process-thinking you might say. I would say it is inherent in landscape, and was actually my reason from switching from architecture to landscape way back when. However, emphasizing it is always a good thing, as even landscape architects are tended to design for that single photo during the last 50 years. Alexis’ tweet about management is also a great point and I think ties in to my earlier post about designing with labor, not capital (although it seems at first glance to be stating the opposite, I would argue that at least in some cases it is the same idea).

    About landscape/architecture: I agree with Rob here on both his points and would add that it is also just a combining of architecture and landscape architecture along with the landscape urbanists and landscape infrastructurists (which I hate writing because it sounds labored, always shows up as misspelled in my word processor, and is a mantle claimed most loudly by brilliant pretentious academics) in a name I think will be palatable to most of the above because a) landscape architects are still called the same thing, except there’s a slash, b) landscape urbanists and infrastructurists are not called landscape architects who they think they are better than and feel closer aligned to architectural legacy which they feel better about, c) architects don’t mind it because some are trying to get in on the urbanist/infrastructurist wave. Alas.

    Rob: 1. Maybe it’s a tall order but what the hell? Why not? It’s also a tall order to be just the first part of that. Also, just to be clear, I’m advocating for a continued generalism, so we speak the language of the metalworker/lighting designer as well as the engineer/scientist/policymaker but aren’t experts at either of those things but rather in the catalyzing and directing of the relationship between them.

    I would love to read your eventual thoughts speculating on how an LI might take on the Dead Sea Works. I would argue that Aronson was not just ameliorating, but rather in understanding the possibilities of an incredible conveyor belt as opposed to new roads/rail tracks and stations (ie lower environmental impact) was not post-facto and was a move Belanger might advocate, along with the “new mining methods” that allowed the Phosphate works fill to be shaped so there were no pits left (in addition to whatever aesthetic beauty they provided- which I personally love). I do think the new guys are more sophisticated and bold about it, though, and it is generally more accepted that they will be more involved at the beginning, even creating the project themselves (such as Pontine).

    2. Yes, I would absolutely state that meaning and mythology are not the same at all. It is akin to the difference in “ground” and “site”. That said, I agree with you that a totalizing view will not be satisfactory. However, I do think there is value in seeing our current work in light of a continued legacy, in addition to a larger cultural context (which I know you agree with- not sure why I’m stating it). To be honest, the idea of “cultural mythology” and the act of landscape design in relation to it is not something I can express clearly or even fully understand, though I’m working on it. It is vaguely similar to the largely accepted statement that “intervening in the landscape is a cultural act”- whatever that means- and at the same time it seems much bigger, more significant, more vague. Like dark matter. That is, there is always some important theme of the day, and we should take our current cause with a grain of salt, even though the environmental cataclysm certainly is upon us. That being said, I don’t have an answer, but really appreciate others’ thoughts.

    Except yours.

    Ha! Kidding. Very good points/thoughts.

  9. @icsamuels
    Yes. I am never referring just to a building, though architecture is obviously more than that, with many architects practicing landscape architecture, landscape urbanism, landscape infrastructure, and landscape superduperstructure (err…)

    Yes, the wpa 2.0 finalists were published though I assume they are developing their schemes further now. I thought it was to be exhibited in DC, though I haven’t followed it as closely. Thanks for the comments, though. I do discuss that WPA 2.0 work on places just a few posts ago (see the “WPA 0.0- Design with Labor” from January, sorry for the lack of html). Thanks for passing them along though.

  10. Just a quick read through that WPA 0.0 post. As a member of the cityLAB team and someone who worked on WPA 2.0 from LA to the DC event, the projects were actually very well-received by the government officials who attended the symposium. Carrion and Sims, the keynotes, were ebullient about the projects, a far cry from undermining our credibility. And though the renderings do speak a kind of architectural language, much work went into dealing with the details.

    In terms of your refutation of an infrastructure crisis, the ACSE ratings are pretty clear on the fact that maintenance and repair are abysmal. Sure, compared to other countries, we've got it far better -- of course -- but that's not really how we judge ourselves. With that said, I agree it's a product not only of investment, but of narrow thinking. I'm working on it. Believe me.

  11. faslanyc:

    Afraid I don't have time to address everything at the moment, but I think (this is based on recollections & notes recorded a few years ago) that Aronson was only called in after the Dead Sea Works had already decided on the concept of the conveyor belt, but the authorities objected because they believed it would disturb the desert ecology too much, which resulted in bringing in Aronson to reduce the ecological damage produced by the conveyor construction -- if I'm wrong about that, then the difference between Aronson & the contemporary landscape infrastructurists is even less than I'd thought, for exactly the reason you note.

    Also, props for the Dripps reference, that's a great essay (and pretty good book).

  12. ROB: I was able to go back and review what I could find on the project and you were correct that it was the company that pushed for the conveyor built and Aronson was brought in to mitigate environmental effects (this was mandated by a conservancy). You definitely have a point and in this case there is a significant or fundamental difference in how and landscape infrastructurist would have approached it (even though the outcome may have been similar). In the Negev Mine he was able to influence more the infrastructure pattern and methodology from the beginning.

    Yes, I like Robin Dripps, what little of hers I have read, and especially appreciate that essay.

    ICSAMUELS: I know the ACSE ratings are abominable, though they are inherently biased, and I am not surprised to hear the projects were well received at the symposium as the drawings are beautiful. That isn’t the same as affecting real policy and devising innovative solutions but I do appreciate the work you’re up to and would love to hear of any developments (though it seems the blogs/online journals are covering the topic well).

  13. I'm interested to know why you think they are inherently biased. You believe the conditions are much better than they say, or that, as you said before, our infrastructure is simply better than typical conditions globally? And on WPA 2.0 -- we spent the day after the symposium meeting with senators, congressmen, EPA, DOT, etc on capitol hill, so there's more there than nice drawings -- at least we hope so.

  14. Wow, a lot of great conversation threads. I don't know anywhere near as much about these topics as I'd like, so thank you all for the introductions, and for explaining landscape/architecture.

    I think of the built environment as a kind of landscape, which makes the combination of landscape and architecture only useful in distinguishing it/them from something like information architecture.

    Landscape architects and architects (hmmm ... landscape/architects is definitely quicker to type :) are both designers, just with different areas of focus. And those seem to be blurring somewhat.

    The landscape architect's understanding of "the elements" (eg, plants, wildlife, soil, water, materials, weather) would be really useful for architects of buildings, it seems. And I like the thought of shaping external landscapes into intimate spaces, almost like buildings, but without full enclosure by walls and ceilings.

    Anyway, I'm so far from really understanding these subjects that I shouldn't keep trying to expound upon them. :) Guess I just get caught up in the conversation. I'll look forward to learning more.


Cities in Motion 2 is a great title with a lot of depth – we really liked it – but on release, it missed basic features such as mouse edge scrolling, and quick saving. Colossal Order have listened to the community, and released a patch to the following tune:

-New feature: Edge mouse scrolling (Can be turned on from the control settings)
-New feature: Quicksave shortcut (Default: F5)
-New feature: Display number of transported passengers for lines, stops and vehicles

-Fixed bug: Citizens don’t use the closest stop when interchanging lines (With old saves reactivate the lines to get it fixed)
-Fixed bug: Sometimes ticket price panel suggest you have lower generic prices than vehicle specific prices
-Fixed bug: Spacebar repeats last button click
-Fixed bug: Missing text when a trying to kick a player out of the game
-Fixed bug: Height tools in mapeditor decrease framerate until mouse button is released
-Fixed bug: If timetable has multiple departures at the same time, only one vehicle is dispatched
-Fixed bug: Stops can change number when editing road under them
-Fixed bug: At some locations placing a stop bulldozes adjacent building
-Fixed bug: After line is modified citizens can use wrong stops (even waypoints) until line is paused and reactived
-Fixed bug: Number of waiting passengers at stop turn negative when line is deleted
-Fixed bug: If mouse zoom is disabled, camera movement is slow until you use keyboard to zoom
-Fixed bug: Broken file in the cloud causes empty load game window

-Improvement: Minimap viewport frustum indicator clearer
-Improvement: Underground view display the grid with thinner lines
-Improvement: Green ticket price colors are more easily distinguished
-Improvement: When constructing roads in map editor allow automatic removal of overlapping buildings

The forums have all the details.


Experimenting With Life

I am a geneticist by training. At one time, I had one of the largest research grants and genetics labs in Canada. The time I spent in this lab was one of the happiest periods of my life and I am proud of the contribution we made to science. My introductory book is still the most widely used genetics text in the world.

When I graduated as a geneticist in 1961, I was full of enthusiasm and determined to make a mark. Back then we knew about DNA, genes, chromosomes, and genetic regulation. But today when I tell students what our hot ideas were in '61, they choke with laughter. Viewed in 2000, ideas from 1961 seem hilarious. But when those students become professors years from now and tell their students what was hot in 2000, their students will be just as amused.

At the cutting edge of scientific research, most of our ideas are far from the mark - wrong, in need of revision, or irrelevant. That's not a derogation of science; it's the way science advances. We take a set of observations or data, set up a hypothesis that makes sense of them, and then we test the hypothesis. The new insights and techniques we gain from this process are interpreted tentatively and liable to change, so any rush to apply them strikes me as downright dangerous.

No group of experts should be more aware of the hazards of unwarranted claims than geneticists. After all, it was the exuberance of geneticists early in this century that led to the creation of a discipline called eugenics, which aimed to improve the quality of human genes. These scientists were every bit as clever, competent, and well-meaning as today's genetic engineers; they just got carried away with their discoveries. Outlandish claims were made by eminent geneticists about the hereditary nature of traits such as drunkenness, nomadism, and criminality, as well as those judged "inferior" or "superior." Those claims provided scientific respectability to legislation in the US prohibiting interracial marriage and immigration from countries judged inferior, and allowed sterilization of inmates of mental institutions on genetic grounds. In Nazi Germany, geneticist Josef Mengele held peer-reviewed research grants for his work at Auschwitz. The grand claims of geneticists led to "race purification" laws and the Holocaust.

Today, the leading-edge of genetics is in the field of biotechnology. The basis of this new area is the ability to take DNA (genetic material) from one organism and insert it into a different species. This is truly revolutionary. Human beings can't normally exchange genes with a carrot or a mouse, but with DNA technology it can happen.

However, history informs us that though we love technology, there are always costs, and since our knowledge of how nature works is so limited, we can't anticipate how those costs will manifest. We only have to reflect on DDT, nuclear power, and CFCs, which were hailed as wonderful creations but whose long-term detrimental effects were only found decades after their widespread use.

Now, with a more wise and balanced perspective, we are cutting back on the use of these technologies. But with genetically modified (GM) foods, this option may not be available. The difference with GM food is that once the genie is out of the bottle, it will be difficult or impossible to stuff it back. If we stop using DDT and CFCs, nature may be able to undo most of the damage - even nuclear waste decays over time. But GM plants are living organisms. Once these new life forms have become established in our surroundings, they can replicate, change, and spread; there may be no turning back. Many ecologists are concerned about what this means to the balance of life on Earth that has evolved over millions of years through the natural reproduction of species.

Since GM foods are now in our diet, we have become experimental subjects without any choice. (Europeans say if they want to know whether GMOs are hazardous, they should just study North Americans.) I would have preferred far more experimentation with GMOs under controlled lab conditions before their release into the open, but it's too late.

David T Suzuki PhD is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. Web: www.davidsuzuki.org


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Beyond Keynesianism in the Year of the Dragon

Justin Yifu Lin's picture

Millions of Chinese have just celebrated the beginning of the year of the Dragon - a year which according to Chinese tradition is auspicious for ambitious undertakings. These may be required as the global economy faces severe headwinds. According to the January edition of Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report the world economy is expected to grow at 2.5 percent and 3.1 percent in 2012 and 2013, significantly below the 3.6 percent projected for both years in last July’s GEP. But even achieving these much weaker outturns is highly uncertain. The downturn in Europe and weaker growth in several large developing countries, such as Brazil and India, could potentially reinforce one another, resulting in an even weaker outcome. But without growth it will be more difficult to reduce the high debt of some advanced economies to sustainable levels and create much needed jobs world-wide.

In these uncertain times, a global infrastructure initiative could help the global economy regain momentum as I argue in my recent Working Paper. Such an initiative would benefit both developed and developing countries. Governments of advanced economies could support growth in their own countries through infrastructure investments by taking additional steps to attract private sector investments in bottle-neck releasing infrastructure investments that are ultimately self-financing. These investments – if well chosen - while improving future competiveness would create much needed jobs directly in the construction and manufacturing sector that have suffered from particularly high unemployment rates in several countries,  and indirectly in service sector as well.

ut opportunities for bottleneck-releasing infrastructure investments in advanced economies tend to be limited, since their infrastructure is on average well developed. In developing countries, to the contrary, lack of infrastructure impinges on the daily lives of millions of people, who have no access to electricity, safe drinking water, basic sanitation or all-weather roads. It also renders firms less competitive, affecting productivity, transaction costs, and output quality adversely. Many businesses are never started, since the required infrastructure services are not available. Going forward the demand for infrastructure is likely to increase even further, as population grows, urbanization rates become higher and countries grow richer.

But infrastructure is not only a by-product of growth. It can also be an important driver of economic development. As I argue in my on New Structural Economics, economic development in any country is a process of continuous technological innovation, industrial upgrading and diversification, and structural transformation. Countries start with more than 85 percent of the population making a living through agriculture when income levels are low. At this agrarian stage, farmers produce mostly for their own consumption and the need for infrastructure services is limited. When the production moves to manufacturing, economies of scale become larger, and producers will mostly produce for other people and no longer for themselves. As market range expands, good infrastructure will enable entrepreneurs to get their goods and services to market in a secure and timely manner and facilitate the movement of workers to the most suitable jobs. Empirical cross-country studies tend to confirm that infrastructure investment has a large effect on growth in developing countries.

Infrastructure investments in developing countries would not only raise their growth, they would also increase demand for capital goods from capital good-exporting countries, most of which are advanced economies, thereby, raising their exports and creating jobs. A US$1 increase in investment in developing countries is associated with a US$0.50 increase in imports. In 2009, about 70 percent of traded capital goods from low-income countries were sourced from high-income countries. A US$1 increase in investment in developing countries is therefore likely to be associated with a US$0.35 increase in exports from high-income countries. These are not small amounts. A global infrastructure initiative could thus generate a virtuous, self-reinforcing cycle of global growth by boosting growth in developing countries and developed countries alike.

History shows that a bold infrastructure initiative can be truly transformative. In 1919, when the young lieutenant colonel, Dwight D. Eisenhower, drove from Washington, D.C., to Oakland, California, with the Motor Transport Corps Convoy, it took him 56 days to cover the 3,250 miles, covering an average of 58 miles during daily 10-hour rides. Upon his return, he reported that bridges were destroyed by the convoy, trucks became stuck during rain, and some roads simply could not accommodate quick and easy travel. When Eisenhower promoted the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 he envisioned that “its impact on the American economy—the jobs that it would produce in manufacturing and construction, the rural areas it would open up—was beyond calculation”. Opportunities to transform economies through infrastructure investments still abound in developing countries today—to the benefit of advanced economies.

A bold global infrastructure initiative would be especially helpful for solving the dilemma besetting the Eurozone countries. Without structural reforms to enhance the competitiveness of the debt crisis-hit countries, any stabilization measure is just buying time and problems will recur sooner or later. Moreover, fiscal adjustments are often contractionary and may further reduce demand, jobs, growth, and government revenues at least temporarily, with dire social and policy consequences. Many structural reforms on the other hand, while key to boosting growth in the medium term, might only gain traction once demand increases. A concerted push for a global infrastructure initiative could increase demand, build confidence and contribute to a sustained global recovery from the current crises. It is a global win-win.

Submitted by Nachiket Mor on
Dear Dr. Lin, As a former banker from India there is no question in my mind that infrastructure is important but I wonder if, given scarce resources, there isn't a need to think much more carefully about how one decides which specific piece of infrastructure has the highest returns and how it must be financed. In the city of Mumbai for example development of roads and bridges including the famous (and relatively new) one over the sea (the Worli Sea Link) has been prioritised even though much of the traffic in the city is through public transportation and walking. And, for a variety of reasons the richest city in India continues to depend on Central Government largesse to finance much of this infrastructure development because its leaders refuse to levy and collect an adequate amount of property tax from its citizens and as a direct consequence do not really have to consult them when they make these decisions. The story unfortunately is not very different even at the level of the smallest unit of government in India -- the gram panchayat -- there is an even stronger reluctance to levy and collect even the existing set of taxes from its citizens. Given this reality, where central or state government funding (as opposed to from local sources) is the principal source of resources for infrastructural projects, there is, to my mind, enormous scope for misallocation of resources - with the government, for example, "struggling" to find the $2 billion or so annually to ensure universal financial access or the $5 billion to provide broad-band connectivity and the panchayat level, while simultaneously having "found" over $10 billion for a large loan waiver programme for larger farmers. I feel that a sense that all type of infrastructure is good, combined with soft budget constraints and the availability of resources from multilateral institutions for these large centrally financed / state government financed infrastructure projects, weakens the pressure for reform on the ground and while in the near-term citizens feel that they are getting a free ride by getting infrastructure which they are not paying for, in the longer-run I feel that these low return investments exert a moderating influence on growth impulses and exacerbate inflationary pressures and cost the citizens far more. Therefore, while agreeing with you that infrastructure has the potential for large impact, I would be eager to learn from you how you feel one should select the most important projects and how one should use the means of financing as a tool to both pay for them as well as to ensure that the highest return investments are being prioritised. Sincerely, Nachiket Mor

Dear Mr. Mor, Thank you very much for your excellent comment. I completely agree with you that identifying the right, bottleneck-releasing projects is key to making any infrastructure initiative a success. Unfortunately, identifying projects with high economic returns can be a very challenging, complex and time-consuming task. As you mention in your comment, in India, but also in many other developing countries, revenue and expenditure assignments related to infrastructure spending have been pushed to lower levels of government. This requires a comprehensive alignment of fiscal responsibility and accountability, but also coordination in terms of project selection, which is often not straight forward. Regional coordination in infrastructure projects could sometimes significantly help in reducing infrastructure costs but is often difficult to implement. Infrastructure projects can also lead to significant positive as well as negative externalities (e.g. environmental damage) which need to be figured in. As a result, identifying the right projects often requires significant an array of institutional, legal, social, environment, financial, regulatory, and engineering studies. These studies tend to be costly, particularly for complex projects. Often both governments and the private sector are reluctant to allocate substantial resources upfront to support project preparation activities. Some new initiatives are underway to address these shortcomings. In November 2010, the World Bank Group launched the Infrastructure Finance Center of Excellence, which aims at leveraging Singapore’s expertise in urban development and financing and the World Bank’s global development knowledge and operational experience to attract more private capital for public infrastructure projects throughout Asia. The center provides tailored technical assistance to governments on project identification, preparation, and marketing and assists client government in securing project preparation funds via third party facilities. In addition, in the context of G20 meetings, the Multilateral Development Banks have developed an Action Plan which proposes concrete actions to improve project preparation, develop regional projects and help countries to improve spending efficiencies. Sincerely, Justin Lin


Fear of Flash Gordon and Sibling Rivalry: Why Authors Use Pen Names

JKRowlingPA_468x461So, like the end of a Scooby Doo cartoon, debut detective novelist Robert Galbraith has been unmasked as none other than J.K. Rowling. And she would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky journalists.

It’s not the first time Rowling has played with her identity. Before the first Harry Potter book was published, she was advised not to use her proper first name, Joanne. Kids, apparently, wouldn’t read a book written by a woman. Ain’t that right, Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter? Initials were deemed the child-friendly way forward. And lo, J.K. Rowling was born. I just hope she gets called Jo at home.

Her new nom de plume is more playful than that initial, fearful switch. And it taps into the rich history of why people use them. If anything, Robert Galbraith has helped get that initialled monkey off her back. “It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name,” she said.

So here, in no particular order, are other reasons why well-known authors have run for the cover of a pen name:

Grief (C.S. Lewis)

C.s.lewis3In 1960 Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis’ wife, died from bone cancer. In the months that followed Lewis tried to write his way through his sorrow. He filled four notebooks of thoughts, feelings, reflections and rage. The result was A Grief Observed, published in 1961 under the pseudonym N.W. Clerk. The initials stand for ‘nat whilk,’ Anglo Saxon shorthand for ‘I know not whom.’ Lewis did not want it to be associated with him. Perhaps he knew his fans would struggle to reconcile his anger towards God and theological questioning with his previous Christian work. Ironically some friends suggested he read A Grief Observed to help him through his loss. It was never published under his own name during his lifetime.

Fear of Flash Gordon (Isaac Asimov)

12448302asim_20010626_20131.jpgIn 1951, science-fiction legend Isaac Asimov was asked to write a series of space epics for kids. The big idea was that these pulpy novels would form the basis of a TV series. Having been unimpressed by the sci-fi spectacles on American TV, Asimov was lukewarm about the idea. That’s when Paul French came to the rescue. Asimov wrote six Lucky Star books as French during the 1950s. When the TV series never materialised Asimov relaxed. His three laws of robotics even started to appear in the Lucky Star books, a link that only the most precocious of 12 year-olds would have got.

Self-doubt (Stephen King)

stephenking23In 1977, Stephen King was already a phenomenon. But his self-doubt was as hard to bury as Carrie. Was his success a fluke or did he have real talent? Did people buy his books out of love for his prose or as a Pavlovian response to his name? To test this, he invented Richard Bachman. Between 1977 and 1982 he published four books under his nom de plume. They sold well, but not to King standards. He was working on his fifth when a Washington DC bookstore clerk noticed the similarities between King’s and Bachman’s writing. A bit of recreational snooping later and King was outed. Bachman died of ‘cancer of the pseudonym.’ King finished the fifth book as himself. Fittingly for Bachman, a name born out of exploring the relationship between an author and his readers, that book was Misery.

Flip the bird at patriarchal publishers (Charlotte, Emily, Anne Bronte)

250px-Painting_of_Brontë_sistersIn May 1846 the Bronte sisters published a collection of their poetry. This was before Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. And so, to bypass a sexist stonewalling by the Victorian publishing establishment they announced themselves to the world as Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. The names were as deliberately androgynous as 1970s David Bowie, because according to Charlotte, “as authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice.” The collection sold only two copies. Public indifference trumped institutionalised chauvinism, so the ladies reverted to their own names. And that, dear reader, is why Bronte, not Bell, is a byword for wind-blasted gothic romance.

Sibling rivalry (Benjamin Franklin)

220px-BenFranklinDuplessisBefore his days of torturing keys and founding the United States, the teenage Benjamin Franklin worked with his older brother, James, printing The New England Courant in Boston. As one of history’s most celebrated polymaths, pressing hot metal onto paper wasn’t enough for Franklin. He wanted to write too. But his brother refused to publish anything he wrote. Incensed he took the most natural course of action for a 16-year-old boy to do: he became Mrs Silence Dogood, a middle-aged widow with a name Dickens would be proud of. Mrs Dogood’s satirical letters were printed in the paper. They were a massive hit. Proposals of marriage flooded in.  Franklin wrote 14 letters in all before James found out. He had to escape to Philadelphia to escape his brother’s wrath. Whether he was in drag or not is subject to scholarly debate.

To speak about yourself in the third person without sounding like a despot or deluded pop star (J.K. Rowling)

CuckoosCallingCoverBack to Ms Rowling: “To those who have asked for a sequel, Robert [Galbraith] fully intends to keep writing the series, although he will probably continue to turn down personal appearances.” That doesn’t sound too North Korean dictat-y, does it?

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