November 2011
Monthly Archive
7 November 2011
Oxford History of Western Music is considered a landmark study on western music by prominent musicologist Richard Taruskin. Now for the first time we can offer it online!
You can search and browse the complete text which includes all the notes, illustrations and musical examples of the original print edition. Additionally, Oxford History of Western Music Online features 1,700 links which take you directly to relevant entries in Oxford Music Online, one of the key musical reference resources (also available from the library, in the Source).
The Oxford History of Western Music starts with the invention of musical notation more than a thousand years ago, and sweeps across hundreds of years of musical invention and its interaction with culture, politics and art.
Christchurch City Libraries also have many other interactive online musical resources such as Naxos and Music Online in the Source. Have a look around and see what you can read and hear.
6 November 2011
The great pianist, composer and Polish nationalist, Paderewski was born on this day in 1860.
He had the most unusual fate to be both a famous musician and President of his country – although he fairly quickly moved on to being Poland’s representative at the League of Nations. He was the first musician to occupy such a post in any country. Known as a wit and raconteur, he certainly had the right personality for politics. This is one famous story told about him:
At one party, it was reported, the hostess confused him with a famous polo player who was also expected to be a guest, and greeted him effusively. ‘No,’ Paderewski is supposed to have replied, ‘he is a rich soul who plays polo, and I am a poor Pole who plays solo.’
In 1922 he retired from politics and returned to his musical life, although he was to come out of retirement during World War Two protect his country’s interests once more.
He was considered a foremost interpreter of his fellow countryman Chopin and the greatest virtuoso since Liszt. His playing career spanned 50 years and he played in New Zealand twice, performing in Auckland and Wellington in 1904 (wisely bringing his own piano) and visiting again in 1927.
His compositions were Neo-Romantic, among the most popular being Minuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1 in Mozart style, Melody,” Op. 8, and Nocturne, Op. 16.
5 November 2011
Over the past year the library has continued to purchase new and interesting architecture books, in anticipation for the day when Christchurch is given the go ahead to rebuild. In my own suburb I’m gradually noticing that things seem to be moving – slowly – but there are signs that perhaps some rebuilding is starting to happen. The opening of the Cashel Mall has of course brought some life and movement back to the city as well.
Here are just a few of the titles that we have bought, and we hope that you find they bring ideas, hope and passion back into the somewhat daunting rebuild process.
Low price houses by Chris Van Uffelen
Emergency accommodation is something that we have become familiar with in Christchurch. This book offers numerous intelligent ideas for ordinary house construction.
Affordable architecture : great houses on a budget by Stephen Crafti
Showcasing new houses, renovations, kit homes and more than 40 projects from Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia, this book highlights the fact that great ideas are more important than unlimited budgets.
A place in the sun : innovative homes designed for our climate : Australia & New Zealand by Stuart Harrison
We have plenty of it, so Harrison suggests ways in which we can best maximise the sun’s potential and use ideas such as passive design to reduce energy use, as well as looking at how light can add magic to an interior.
Prefabulous + sustainable : building and customizing an affordable, energy-efficient home by Sheri Koones
In some circles the idea of a prefab home is akin to treason, but this book dispels the negative myths associated with prefab homes, and shows the reader how beautiful and remarkably green these homes can be. Filled with photographs, captions and floor plans.
Container atlas: a practical guide to container architecture by Han Slawik
Containers have become familiar in ways we never thought possible, and perhaps a new edition of this title will include our very own Cashel Mall? This book presents a wide range of container architecture projects from around the world, along with an in-depth investigation into the background and evolution of this type of architecture.
My green city : back to nature with attitude and style by Kitty Bolhöfer
The book presents a variety of inspirational projects, from urban farming initiatives and architectural visions that are changing our cities as a whole, to furniture and other everyday objects that can make our own streets and homes greener.
Creating cohousing : building sustainable communities by Kathryn McCamant
For those of you that see an opportunity with the rebuild to do things a bit differently, this title includes innovative ideas and case studies, alongside nuts and bolts practical advice on how to regain a sense of community within the confines of 21st century life.
150 best eco house ideas by Marta Serrats
Full of colour photographs, and eco-friendly house designs, here are the latest innovations in sustainable home design, including solar panelling, wind energy systems, environmentally friendly heating and cooling solutions, thermal glazing, and trombe walls.
You might also like to check out our Library website for links to a multitude of Home and Living ideas.
4 November 2011
A list of notable people who have died recently
- George Baker, 1931-2011
Actor who excelled on stage and screen from his youth as a matinee idol to his best-known role as Chief Inspector Wexford
- David Bedford, 1937-2011
Multi-talented composer who mixed classical and pop to grace Radio 3 and score Tubular Bells for orchestra
- Len Castle, 1924-2011
Renowned New Zealand potter
- Diane Cilento, 1933-2011
Australian actress
- Austen Deans, 1915-2011
Renowned Canterbury artist
- Christopher Doig, 1948-2011
NZ opera singer and arts and sports administrator
- Betty Driver, 1920-2011
Actress who for 40 years dispensed hotpots and forthright common sense at the Rovers Return
- Ian Dunlop, 1925-2011
Scholar-clergyman who wrote and illustrated books about French chateaux, churches and gardens
- Nigel Farrell, 1953-2011
Television documentary maker who recorded the touching idiosyncrasies of British village and island life
- Peter Hammond, 1923-2011
Actor-turned-director who brought the techniques of Hitchcock and Orson Welles to staid television drama
- Arthur Healy, 1917-2011
Christchurch botanist
- Frank Holmes, 1924-2011
One of New Zealand’s most influential and decorated economists
- Bert Jansch, 1943-2011
Masterly guitarist who fled celebrity but influenced the greatest names of folk, rock and pop
- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
Seer of the computer age whose devices shaped the way we work and play
- Roger Kerr, 1945-2011
New Zealand public policy and business leader
- Muammar Qaddafi [Gadaffi], 1942-2011
Libyan dictator whose pursuit of terror at home and abroad ultimately led to his own downfall
- Peter Siddell, 1935-2011
Noted New Zealand artist
4 November 2011
So I have decided this summer since I am poor but still reasonably able-bodied to do the exterior painting on my wee house. Luckily for me most of the house is brick but the eaves and the barge boards (new word for today) were looking grim.
The problem with this is that I only have a two step ladder and ‘tuck shop lady arms’ which do nothing to help sustain the movements of a paint brush above my head! After six odd hours of this I was losing the will to live. Today I am at work – and I ache. Don’t ask me to wave at you – I can not. A grimace is all you get.
If you like myself are undertaking projects in Christchurch this summer then the library does have resources to help. It does pay to do your homework as there is nothing worse than being stuck in Bunnings trying to describe that you need paint for “those woodie bits that your gutter are stuck to” to a bemused tradie!
We have the Home Improvement Collection that you can access 24/7 and print resources all on DIY. Also of use upon reflection are items on weight training to make us all stronger - personally I think I have done enough for one weekend – or at least until the second coat! Sigh.
3 November 2011
I love history, but I baulk at sitting down in the evening and working my way through history texts. I had a grandfather who relaxed by reading encyclopedias, but I obviously didn’t inherit the gene. Instead I prefer to start any delving into history by reading some good historical fiction. This often tweaks my interest in particular areas and sends me to dig around in the non-fiction.
Being a detective fiction buff ,I picked up Edmund Bohan’s series set in early Christchurch as soon as I spotted it. These well researched little books featuring Inspector O’Rorke are an easy read and it’s lots of fun following the Inspector around the city as it existed in second half of the nineteenth century.
They’re a bit romantic for my taste, but they’re absorbing whodunnits and they introduced me to parts of our history I knew nothing about. A Present for the Czar for example is set during the great Russian invasion scare of 1885. Never heard of it? Me neither. Here’s what Te Ara has to say about it:
The Russian scare of 1885 grew out of Anglo–Russian rivalry in Afghanistan and led to the building of major fortifications along New Zealand’s coast.
Rocking Horse Road, set in New Brighton in the early 1980s doesn’t qualify as history to me because I was there, but it will for a lot of others and it is also a good crime read. Next on my list of old favourites is the Oracles and Miracles series by Steven Eldred-Grigg, which follows a working class family through 30s and 40s Christchurch and which gave me the social and political context for my own mother’s recollections of that time.
Next on my list to read are
Do you have any favourite historical New Zealand fiction?
2 November 2011
These days if feels as if quite a lot of our the peril lies in being in Christchurch. In the early days, it was getting here that held most of the dangers. In Unsung Heroines, our own Richard Greenaway points out how lucky Lizzie Coker and Samuel Butler were to get here. It happened only because they changed their minds about which ship to travel on:
Another Burmah passenger, Samuel Butler, later a famous writer, transhipped to the Roman Emperor. Luck was with Lizzie and Samuel. The Regina arrived in December 1859, the Roman Emperor in January 1860. The Burmah sank with all on board.
No need to expand on what happened to Samuel, but Lizzie went on to have “considerable status in musical circles” and marry the prosperous George Allen, leader of a rates revolt (yes it’s all happened before).
After Allen’s death Lizzie married John Coker the founder of the famous Coker’s Hotel. A third marriage took her travelling around the world and left her very well-heeled. Not bad for a girl who left England because she qualified only for “genteel but poorly-paid position of governess.”
1 November 2011
I never tire of going to someone’s house and having a little peek at their bookshelves. CD collections used to be the same until iPods came along. Are they listening to Debussy or Katy Perry? Who would know! Both collections though give a sense of knowing someone - a wee look into their interests, beliefs and taste.
With the advent of e-books will this voyeurism become thing of the past? It would seem a bit odd to casually flip through someone’s e-book reader, whereas a casual flick along the bookshelves seems more socially acceptable.
I wonder too, for those of us who are slightly on the snobby side about what we are seen reading, could we secretly be harbouring the odd erotic romance on our e-book reader and no one need ever know?
Looking at the figures for Christchurch City Libraries e-books by the number of checkouts, it would seem that my theory might not be too far off the mark. Top of the list is Ravishing in red and Sinful in Satin closely followed by Dangerous in Diamonds and Accidentally engaged. Poor old Margaret Drabble languishes at 100 while the popular Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen can only manage a sedate 85.
All indications are that e-books are here to stay and in many cases are outstripping their paper copy companions by a good margin. I will miss the chance to peek into someone’s life via their bookshelves, and will have to think of other ways I can be nosy without being completely obvious and somewhat creepy! Any ideas?
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