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Thomas Schoenberger Releases “brokenhearted.com” Featuring Lenny Williams

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Thomas Schoenberger has waited many years to release this single. Produced by Preston Glass, as gifted  producer that ever lived. The singer is the extraordinary Lenny Williams, who was the legendary singer of Tower of Power.

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This song was written for you.
The song is being released to a world seeking answers, a world where Facebook friends replace flesh and blood friends, where people seek solace in avatars rather than in themselves. Where a global hermit movement must be challenged and vanquished. Please spread this song far and wide, cast a net of music.  This is a new concept. Something unheard of in the music business.The song was written before 9/11, before the economy died, before we lived our lives through the cyber  cobweb Thank you for listening and I hope you get some inspiration from this melody.

Thomas Schoenberger

 

 

 

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The Coming Era of Pizza Delivery Drones By Thomas Schoenberger

Aerial vehicles (UAVS), also known as drones, are aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or increasingly, autonomously following a pre-programmed mission. (While there are dozens of different types of drones, they basically fall into two categories: those that are used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and those that are armed with missiles and bombs.
The Drones are coming !

The Drones are coming !

Drones have been around since WW2 and only in recent years have the technological capabilities been expanded. With recent news that real estate agents have been using drones to map out neighborhoods, we can only conclude that one day, we will have pizza’s delivered via drone. Why  stop there? The post office might want to get in on the act. And let’s consider groan drones, unmanned aircraft that can deliver grievances, nasty-grams, Dear John letters, you get the picture,…

Military drone manufacturers are seeking civilian uses for remote sensing drones to expand their markets and this includes the use of drones for domestic surveillance. Drones will no doubt make possible the dramatic expansion of the surveillance state.But, if drones also develop a commercial market,instead of just being restricted to miltary use, then it stands to reason that one day, drones will be dog watchers, volcano observers, even wedding photographers.
Travelocity may even promote a “roaming Drone” And much like the ancient Greeks believed., the sky is watching us.As a believer in privacy, I hope we do not become one nation under surveillance.
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How Weather Saved Washington from Utter Destruction. You can’t make this stuff up!

With all the winds blowing out of Washington these days, I thought it might be interesting to give you an account of a hurricane combining with a tornado that appears to have routed the British from completely destroying Washington. This strange chain of events goes down as one of the most curious days in American History. I have taken an excerpt from Washington Weather, and the following story is incredible yet true.

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Washington, August 24, 1814

During the summer of 1814, British warships sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and headed towards Washington. The warships sailed up the Patuxent River and anchored at Benedict, Maryland on August 19, 1814. Over 4,500 British soldiers landed and marched towards Washington. The British mission was to capture Washington and seek revenge for the burning of their British Capitol in Canada, for which they held the United States responsible. A force of 7,000 Americans was hastily assembled near the Potomac River to defend Washington. During the afternoon of August 24, in 100°F heat, the two armies clashed. The British Army quickly routed the less disciplined American volunteers, mostly due to a series of American blunders and a new British rocket that did little damage, but unnerved the raw American troops with a very loud, shrill noise. President Madison and Secretary of State Monroe, who had led a group of officials to watch the battle, were almost captured in the confusion. It was noted that the 100°F temperatures added to everyone’s discomfort.

After the battle, the British Army marched quickly into Washington while American soldiers, United States government officials, and residents fled the city. There were no officials left in Washington from whom the British could seek terms of surrender. The British admiral ate dinner in the White House, then gave the order to set fire to Washington. Within hours, the White House, the Capitol, and many other public buildings and residences were burning.

On the morning of August 25, Washington was still burning. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the British soldiers continued to set fires and destroy ammunition supplies and defenses around the city. As the soldiers spread fire and destruction throughout the city, the early afternoon sky began to darken and lightning and thunder signaled the approach of a thunderstorm. As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a “frightening roar.” A severe thunderstorm was bearing down on Washington, and with it was a tornado.

The tornado tore through the center of Washington and directly into the British occupation. Buildings were lifted off of their foundations and dashed to bits. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were sucked out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. A few British cannons were picked up by the winds and thrown through the air. The collapsing buildings and flying debris killed several British soldiers. Many of the soldiers did not have time to take cover from the winds and they laid face down in the streets. One account describes how a British officer on horseback did not dismount and the winds slammed both horse and rider violently to the ground.

The winds subsided quickly, but the rain fell in torrents for two hours. (There may have been a second thunderstorm that followed quickly after the first thunderstorm.)  Fortunately, the heavy rain quenched most of the flames and preventedWashington from continuing to burn. After the storm, the British Army regrouped on Capitol Hill, still a bit shaken by the harsh weather. They decided to leave the city that evening. As the British troops were preparing to leave, a conversation was noted between the British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm:  The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.”

Hours later, the British forces left Washington and returned to their ships on the Patuxent River. The journey back was made difficult by the numerous downed trees that lay across the roads. The war ships that lay waiting for the British force had also encountered the fierce storm. Wind and waves had lashed at the ships and many had damaged riggings. Two vessels had broken free from their moorings and were blown ashore.

President Madison and other government officials returned to Washington and began the difficult process of setting up government in a city devastated by fire and wind. Never again would the British Army return to the city, and only rarely would Washington suffer damaging tornadoes. Tornadoes are rare in D.C., which makes the 1814 incident even more amazing. Three struck that day in 1814 (they may have all been the same one, though) and only seven others have been reported since. The most recent occurred in 1995; it whipped through the National Arboretum. Damage was limited to uprooted trees. And thus, Washington was saved.

 

 

 

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If Nero was a Gigging Musician

Bust of Nero. Glyptothek München (Germany). Photo Marco Prins.

I have wondered what Nero would have been like if he were a gigging musician today. He played the lyre and fashioned himself a stellar musician, though he was ridiculed by the majority who sufferd through his performances. Of course, in those days, it was considered dangerous to mock an emperor.Smart Roman’s held their tongue, if not their ears. So, lets teleport Nero to the modern age, install him in the role of working stiff musician and see how he does.
Nero would have been a steely eyed driver. He would have probably received speeding tickets, if we are to judge by his penchant for chariot races. So the modern day client would have watched in apprehension as Nero carreened into the parking lot.
Nero would have been a vainglorious performer, demanding that he be taken seriously, despite his questionable talent as a musician. As one of histories most ill tempered and narcissistic characters, Nero would have never admitted fault,,would have offended clients with his hulking frame and double chin, and would probably have been a confrontational person to deal with. In short, Nero would have been a bad hire. I have compiled a short history of Nero from the excellent biography website, so the reader can glean an insight into this curious and disturbed historical figure:

Nero was born in 37 A.D., the nephew of the emperor. After his father’s death, his mother married his uncle and persuaded him to name Nero his successor. Nero took the throne at 17, rebuffed his mother’s attempts to control him, and had her killed. He spent lavishly and behaved inappropriately. He began executing opponents and Christians. In 68, he committed suicide when the empire revolted.

Early Life and Ascent to the Throne

Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. He was educated in the classical tradition by the philosopher Seneca and studied Greek, philosophy and rhetoric.

After Ahenobarbus died in 48 A.D., Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. She persuaded him to name Nero as his successor rather than his own son, Britannicus, and to offer his daughter, Octavia, as Nero’s wife, which he did in 50 A.D.

Claudius died in 54 A.D., and it is widely suspected that Agrippina had Claudius poisoned. Nero presented himself to the Senate to deliver a eulogy in Claudius’s honor and was named Emperor of Rome. He took the name Nero Claudius Caesar AugustusGermanicus, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17.

Agrippina’s Influence

Agrippina was domineering and attempted to influence her son’s rule. She was angered by the more moderate advice of Nero’s advisors, his former tutor Seneca and the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Burrus.

Agrippina also tried to assert her authority in Nero’s private life. When Nero began an affair with Claudia Acte, a former slave, and threatened to divorce Octavia, Agrippina advocated for Octavia and demanded that her son dismiss Acte. Although he and Octavia remained married, Nero began living openly with Acte as his wife in spite of his mother’s protests.

After Nero spurned his mother’s influence in both public and private affairs, she was infuriated. She began championing Britannicus, then still a minor, as emperor. However, Britannicus died suddenly in 55, the day before he was to be proclaimed an adult. It is widely assumed that Nero poisoned Britannicus, although Nero claimed that he died from a seizure. Even after Britannicus had died, Agrippina tried to agitate the public against Nero, and Nero banished her from the family palace.

By 58, Nero had dismissed Acte and fallen for Poppaea Sabina, a noblewoman who was married to a member of the Roman aristocracy. He wanted to marry her, but public opinion did not look favorably upon a divorce from Octavia and his mother staunchly opposed it. Fed up with his mother’s interference and no longer content with her removal from the palace, Nero took matters into his own hands. Agrippina was murdered in 59 at Nero’s command.

Nero’s Reign

Until the year 59, Nero was described as a generous and reasonable leader. He eliminated capital punishment, lowered taxes and allowed slaves to bring complaints against their masters. He supported the arts and athletics above gladiator entertainment and gave aid to other cities in crisis

Agrippina’s murder, and the advent of 60 A.D. seem to have unhindged the emporor.Nero descended into a hedonic lifestyle that was marked not just by lavish self-indulgence but tyranny. He spent exorbitant amounts of money on artistic pursuits and around 59 A.D., began to give public performances as a poet and lyre player,
When Burrus died and Seneca retired in the year 62, Nero divorced Octavia and had her killed, then married Poppaea. Around this time accusations of treason against Nero and the Senate began to surface, and Nero began to react harshly to any form of perceived disloyalty or criticism. One army commander was executed for badmouthing him at a party; another politician was exiled for writing a book that made negative remarks about the Senate. Other rivals were executed in the ensuing years, allowing Nero to reduce opposition and consolidate his power.a significant breach of etiquette for a member of the ruling class.

THE GREAT FIRE

By 64, the scandalous nature of Nero’s artistic antics may have begun to cause controversy, but the public’s attention was diverted by the Great Fire. The fire began in stores at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus and ravaged Rome for 10 days, decimating 75 percent of the city. Although accidental fires were common at the time, many Romans believed Nero started the fire to make room for his planned villa, the Domus Aurea. Whether or not Nero started the fire, he determined that a guilty party must be found, and he pointed the finger at the Christians, still a new and underground religion. With this accusation, persecution and torture of the Christians began in Rome.

POLITICAL DEMISE AND DEATH

After the Great Fire, Nero resumed plans for the Domus Aurea. In order to finance this project, Nero needed money and set about to get it however he pleased. He sold positions in public office to the highest bidder, increased taxes and took money from the temples. He devalued currency and reinstituted policies to confiscate property in cases of suspected treason.

These new policies resulted in the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot formed in 65 by Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an aristocrat, along with knights, senators, poets and Nero’s former mentor, Seneca. They planned to assassinate Nero and crown Piso the ruler of Rome. The plan was discovered, however, and the leading conspirators, as well as many other wealthy Romans, were executed.

Just three years later, in March 68, the governor Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against Nero’s tax policies. He recruited another governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, to join him and to declare himself emperor. While these forces were defeated and Galba was declared a public enemy, support for him increased, despite his categorization as a public enemy. Even Nero’s own bodyguards defected in support of Galba.

Fearing that his demise was imminent, Nero fled. He planned to head east, where many provinces were still loyal to him, but had to abandon the plan after his officers refused to obey him. He returned to his palace, but his guards and friends had left. He ultimately received word that the Senate had condemned him to death by beating and so he decided to commit suicide. Unable to carry out the deed by himself, however, his secretary, Epaphroditos, assisted him. As he died, Nero was said to have exclaimed, ‘What an artist dies in me!’ He was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors. So, despite all his power, wickedness and cruelty, Nero fashioned himself a musician to the end. Glad I never saw him perform.

 

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The Longest Song in History

ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) is a musical piece composed by John Cage and is the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. It was originally written in 1987 for organ and is adapted from the earlier work ASLSP 1985; a typical performance of the piano piece lasts for about 20 to 70 minutes.[1] In 1985, Cage opted to omit the detail of exactly how slowly the piece should be played.

Tommy (1)

 

The current organ performance of the piece at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, began in 2001 and is……


I can’t even yawn that long. But beyond that, one wonders what statement Cage  was making. Was it about laughing at the tradition of tradition? Was it about the immortality of  music? Or was he simply angry at church organists?cheduled to have a duration of 639 years, ending in 2640.

 

 

Years ago, I had a birthday at Spago’s in L.A.( see picture at right) The pianist playing that night seemed a bit arrogant, especially considering he was either having an “off” night , or , as I suspect, had a tin ear and no sense of verve or timing.

I decided to play a  joke on him, and noticing he was accepting ten dollars a song request, I calmly took out a 100 dollar bill and asked him to play Happy Birthday TEN times.  By the fourth rendition, the diners were looking over, eyes raised, perplexed. By the sixth version, piano boy was sweating. He never made it to the 8th repeat because he became so flustered, so worried, he practically ran to our table to return the entire 100 dollars. Of course we did our best to stifle the laughter welling up inside. Our fellow diners stopped by our table as they left, winking and smiling. It was a birthday to remember. And the longest song I ever experienced.;)

 

Thomas Schoenberger

 

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My Mother, Elsebeth Schoenberger, the Resistance Fighter

 

73 years ago, on a cool spring afternoon, my mother’s country was invaded by the Nazi’s. Her small Danish town suddenly found itself in the clutches of the diabolical Nazi war machine. The country was joined in subjection by France and Netherlands. That spring, the world looked on in horror. Later that year, London would endure a Christmas season from hell, with Santa Claus nowhere to be found, and the only sleigh in the sky seemed to be the horrific V1 and V2 rockets causing death and destruction from above. For my mother, a hopeful and innocent 11 year old girl, the advance of  the Nazi thugs was the second major blow in her life. She had lost her father 4 years before. He was an M.D. and never made it past his 38th year.I never knew my grandfather.

SchoenbergerBookThe German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 was part of a wider campaign in Scandinavia designed partly to provide bases for the German navy and partly to secure the German supply of iron ore from Sweden. The main target of the German operation was Norway, but the occupation of Denmark was also judged to be necessary to protect the southern end of the sea route to Narvik, the winter port for the iron ore trade.

Planning work for the invasion began in January 1940. The operation was given the codename Weserübung (Weser Exercise), with the invasion of Denmark known as Weserubung Süd (Weser Exercise South). The tiny Danish army was to be overrun by two infantry divisions (the 170th and 198th) and the 11th rifle brigade (motorized). Landings were to take place at Copenhagen, Middlefart, Esbjerg, Tyborøn, Korsør, Gjedser and Nyborg, while more troops would invade Jutland across the land border with Germany.

The plan worked perfectly. A small naval expedition, led by the minelayer Danzig entered Copenhagen harbour at 5.00am on 9 April, and landed troops who were able to seize the citadel. Ålborg airfield at the northern tip of Denmark was captured by German paratroops, and at 7.30 am an infantry battalion landed at the airfield. At 5.25 am the land invasion began. Here there was some fighting, but the defenders of the Danish border were quickly overwhelmed. Further resistance was clearly pointless, and the Danish government was forced to agree to a German ultimatum to end the fighting. King Christian ordered a cease fire, to start at 7.20am. Denmark would be occupied by the Germans until the end of the war.

The invasion seemed to waken the ancient Viking psyche of the Danish people. My mother, who just months before had been playing with dolls and dreaming of a career in academia, marrying a Prince Charming, and living happily after, had to confront poverty, violence , death and intimidation daily.

So what did she do in light of these overwhelming odds? She fought back. She become an active member of the Danish Resistance  She braved detention and even execution.During the 5 years of daily challenge and privation, she learned to combat the enemy, carrying messages and weapons for the Danish resistance,every day risking her life and freedom for her country. This little Lutheran girl found the courage to face impossible odds,and deep within the wall of her construct, over 65 years later, she wrote a book, chronicling her experiences.

The book is becoming popular.It’s topical. In this new global village, one need not look far to find countries swept up in the grip of totalitarianism.To my mother,occupy has nothing to do with camping in a park. My mother lived a “Danish Spring” in 1940,she fought thuggery,brutality and impossible odds, and though she lost her childhood in the process, she gained a sagacity well beyond her tender years,and her story is one that must be told, now more than ever. Her book, Birgetta’s War  now speaks to a new crop of resistance fighters, children facing the spector of evil, children finding hope in the most unnatural of places, the fog of war.

This week she turns 84. In the last 3 years, she has become a widow, an author and, to the delight of everyone, a new bride. Nothing new for this incredible and inspirational figure. Happy birthday Mom. Please visit her website, and buy the book

http://www.birgitteswar.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Robert Levin, American Mozart

The amazing talents of Robert Levin continue to stun and delight audiences globally. Beyond my friend’s surpreme musical gifts, are his powers of musical history interpetation. Levin simply channels Mozart, like nobody else on the planet perhaps.

His exquisite wife Ya  Fei is breathtakingly talented as well, and they perform as a husband wife duo. carving out their own highly defined musical niche, much to the world’s delight. At any given time, Robert will call me up to chat, and he is always somewhere exotic. From Finland to Genoa, to Jerusalem to Moscow, you need a team navagational experts to keep up with this towering figure. Robert Levin has a number of incredible Youtube movies that are, in my opinion, highly education and entertaining. Its most rare to find someone who understands the delicate balance needed to appreciate the fragility and hence the beauty of Classical Music. Who is Robert Levin? Well…..

Pianist Robert Levin has been heard throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia, in recital, as soloist, and in chamber concerts. His solo engagements include the orchestras of Atlanta, Berlin, Birmingham, Bos­ton, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, Utah and Vienna on the Steinway with such conductors as James Conlon, Bernard Haitink, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle and Joseph Silverstein. On period pianos he has appeared with the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Baroque Soloists, the Handel & Haydn Society, the London Classical Players, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, with Christopher Hogwood, Sir Charles Mackerras, Nicholas McGegan, Sir Roger Norrington, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. He has performed frequently at such festivals as Sarasota, Oregon Bach, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Bremen, Lockenhaus, and the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. As a chamber musician he has a long association with violist Kim Kashkashian and appears frequently with his wife, pianist Ya-Fei Chuang, in duo recitals and with orchestra. After more than a quarter century as an artist faculty member at the Sarasota Music Festival he succeeded Paul Wolfe as Artistic Director in 2007.
Robert Levin is renowned for his restoration of the Classical period practice of improvised embellishments and cadenzas; his Mozart and Beethoven performances have been hailed for their active mastery of the Classical musical language. He has made recordings for DG Archiv, CRI, Decca/Oiseau-Lyre, Deutsche Grammophon, ECM, Klavierfestival Ruhr, New York Philomusica, Nonesuch, Philips, and SONY Classical. Among these are the complete Bach concertos with Helmuth Rilling as well as the English Suites and the Well-Tempered Clavier (on five keyboard instruments) for Hänssler’s 172-CD Edition Bach-akademie. Other recordings include a Beethoven concerto cycle with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révoluionnaire et Romantique for Archiv, a Mozart concerto cycle with Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music for Decca/Oiseau-Lyre and the first volume of a Mozart sonata cycle for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. A passionate advocate of new music, Robert Levin has commissioned and premiered a large number of works, including Joshua Fineberg’s Veils (2001), John Harbison’s Second Sonata (2003), Yehudi Wyner’s piano concerto Chiavi in mano (Pulitzer Prize, 2006), Bernard Rands’ Preludes(2007) and Thomas Oboe Lee’s Piano Concerto (2007).  His recording of the complete piano music of Henri Dutilleux was released by ECM this year.

Please look at this video below and  tell me Robert Levin is not one of the brightest stars in the America’s skies.

Robert Levin studied piano with Louis Martin and composition with Stefan Wolpe in New York. He worked with Nadia Boulanger in Fontainebleau and Paris while still in high school, afterwards attending Harvard. Upon graduation he was invited by Rudolf Serkin to head the theory department of the Curtis Institute of Music, a post he left after five years to take up a professorship at the School of the Arts, SUNY Purchase, outside of New York City.  In 1979 he was Resident Director of the Conservatoire américain in Fontainebleau, France, at the request of Nadia Boulanger, and taught there from 1979 to 1983. From 1986 to 1993 he was professor of piano at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.  President of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is Dwight P. Robinson, Jr. Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.
In addition to his performing activities, Robert Levin is a noted theorist and Mozart scholar, and is the author of a number of articles and essays on Mozart. A member of the Akademie für Mozartforschung, his completions of Mozart fragments are published by Bärenreiter, Breitkopf & Härtel, Carus, Peters, and Wiener Urtext Edition, and have been recorded and performed throughout the world. Levin’s cadenzas to the Mozart violin concertos have been recorded by Gidon Kremer with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Vienna Philharmonic for Deutsche Grammophon and published by Universal-Edition. Henle has issued his cadenzas to the flute, flute and harp, oboe, horn and bassoon concertos and to the Beethoven violin concerto. His reconstruction of the Symphonie concertante in E-flat major for four winds and orchestra, K.297B, was pre­mièred by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg, and has subsequently been performed worldwide. The first of the many recordings of the work, by Philips, won the 1985 Grand Prix International du Disque.

In August 1991 Robert Levin’s completion of the Mozart Requiem was premièred by Helmuth Rilling at the European Music Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, to a standing ovation. His completion of the Mozart Mass in C minor, K. 427, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, was premiered by Rilling in New York in January 2005 and in Europe two months later. Both works have been performed worldwide and are published by Carus-Verlag.

 


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Rogue history. The weirdest day in Nuremberg’s history by Thomas Schoenberger

Ufo case report: Rogue History

UFO ‘battle’ over Nuremberg, Germany in 1561

Date: April 14th 1561 Dawn
Location: Nuremberg, Germany

At sunrise on the 14th April 1561, the citizens of Nuremberg beheld “A very frightful spectacle.” The sky appeared to fill with cylindrical objects from which red, black, orange and blue white disks and globes emerged. Crosses and tubes resembling cannon barrels also appeared whereupon the objects promptly “began to fight one another.” This event is depicted in a famous 16th century woodcut by Hans Glaser.

Hans Glaser woodcut from 1566 of the 1561 event over Nuremberg. (Wickiana Collection, Zurich Central Library)

Source: Various sources

Below are descriptions of the event from various sources: Prepare to be amazed. Thomas Schoenberger Rogue Historian
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At dawn of April 14, in the sky of Nuremberg (Germany), a lot of men and women saw a very alarming spectacle where various objects were involved, including balls “approximately 3 in the length, from time to time, four in a square, much remained insulated, and between these balls, one saw a number of crosses with the color of blood. Then one saw two large pipes, in which small and large pipes, were 3 balls, also four or more. All these elements started to fight one against the other.” (Gazette of the town of Nuremberg).

The events lasted one hour and had such repercussions that an artist, Hans Glaser, drew a woodcut of it at the time. It describes two immense black cylinders launching many blue and black spheres, blood red crosses, and flying discs. They seem to fight a battle in the sky, it also seems that some of these spheres and objects have crashed outside the city.

(UFOs at Close Sight – Ufologie.net)

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Today in Rogue History, an eerie battle raged in the skies above Nuremberg, Germany. It began at dawn,April 14th 1561,  as dozens, if not hundreds, of crosses, globes and tubes fought each other above the city. It ended an hour later, when “the globes in the small and large rods flew into the sun,” and several of the other objects crashed to earth and vanished in a thick cloud of smoke.

According to the Nuremberg Gazette, the “dreadful apparition” filled the morning sky with “cylindrical shapes from which emerged black, red, orange and blue-white spheres that darted about.” Between the spheres, there were “crosses with the color of blood.” This “frightful spectacle”was witnessed by “numerous men and women.” Afterwards, a “black, spear-like object” appeared. The author of the Gazette warned that “the God-fearing will by no means discard these signs, but will take it to heart as a warning of their merciful Father in heaven, will mend their lives and faithfully beg God, that he avert His wrath, including the well-deserved punishment, on us, so that we may, temporarily here and perpetually there, live as His children.” In the same year, a Lutheran clergyman on progress in Nuremberg wrote: “…God the Almighty has … placed in the heavens many horrible and hitherto unheard of signs… We have seen far more signs now than in any other year. The sun and the moon have been darkened on a number of occasions. A crucifix in the sky was seen, as were biers and coffins with black men beside them. Further, rods and whips and many other signs were seen in a multitude of places… and scarcely a year has passed of late without an eclipse of the sun or moon…”

(News of the Odd)

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Nuremberg, Germany. April 14th 1561. The Hans Glaser wood-cut from 1566, 5 years after the event and in the same year as the Basle report.

At sunrise on the 14th April 1561, the citizens of Nuremberg beheld “A very frightful spectacle.” The sky appeared to fill with cylindrical objects from which red, black, orange and blue white disks and globes emerged. Crosses and tubes resembling cannon barrels also appeared whereupon the objects promptly “began to fight one another.” After about an hour of battle, the objects seemed too catch fire and fell to Earth, where they turned too steam. The witnesses took this display as a divine warning. This report is unique in the annals of Ufology, in that it has never been repeated. There is no record of such “objects” in either local or German national folklore. The surviving Town records from the period, give no indication of any unrest either civil or external. Given the uniqueness of the incident, it appears that something supernatural or paranormal took place.

(Jim Morris)

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April 1561 – A War In Heaven?

One of the most astounding of documented sightings of aerial phenomena took place in 1561 over Nuremberg, Germany. What was described could only be called a war in the heavens, with a wide variety of craft ranging from spheres to spear-like cylinders to crosses. The sky was apparently filled with the machines, clashing in battle. Comets and such were well identified and charted in this period, so it is highly unlikely that what the people witnessed was merely a celestial phenomenon like a ‘meteor shower’, as some debunkers suggest. Rather, what is described are physical objects of unique detail and shapes, in ‘battle’ for over an hour. The battle was such that a winner was perceived as well. Spheroid UFOs were seen emerging from cylindrical ‘motherships’. At the conclusion of the battle, it seems a magnificent, black, spear-like super-ship of some kind came upon the scene…

It began at dawn, as dozens, if not hundreds, of crosses, globes and tubes fought each other above the city. It ended an hour later, when “the globes in the small and large rods flew into the sun,” and several of the other objects crashed to earth and vanished in a thick cloud of smoke.

According to the Nuremberg Gazette, the “dreadful apparition” filled the morning sky with “cylindrical shapes from which emerged black, red, orange and blue-white spheres that darted about.” Between the spheres, there were “crosses with the color of blood.” This “frightful spectacle” was witnessed by “numerous men and women.” Afterwards, a “black, spear-like object” appeared. The author of the Gazette warned that “the God-fearing will by no means discard these signs, but will take it to heart as a warning of their merciful Annunciation with St. Emidius Father in heaven, will mend their lives and faithfully beg God, that he avert His wrath, including the well-deserved punishment, on us, so that we may, temporarily here and perpetually there, live as His children.”

(Rense.com)

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A broadsheet that dates from 1561, held in the Wickiana Collection of Switzerland’s Zurich Central Library, describes an ancient battle of ufos over the skies of Nuremberg, Germany, on April 14th of that very same year. At sunrise, many people witnessed large numbers of dark red, blue and black ‘globes’ or ‘plates’ near the sun, ‘some three in a row, now and then four in a square, also some alone. And amongst these globes some blood colored crosses were seen.’ The document also refers to two great tubes ‘ in which three, four and more globes were seen. They then all began to fight each other.’ This went on for about an hour, until ‘they all fell…… from the sun and sky down to the earth, producing alot of steam’. Beneath the globes a long object that looked like a great black spear was also described as being seen.

(Subversive Element) Now for my pet theory. The winter of 1560 was a wet one in Germany. There were reported outbreaks of “wolves tooth”, the German name for Ergot poisoning. Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps.[1] The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea. This fungus grows on ryeand related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its fruiting structure (called ergot sclerotium).[2][3] Claviceps includes about 50 known species, mostly in the tropical regions. Economically significant species include C. purpurea(parasitic on grasses and cereals), C. fusiformis (on pearl millet, buffel grass), C. paspali (on dallis grass), and C. africana[4] (on sorghum). C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale, wheat and barley. It affects oats only rarely. Could the people of Nuremberg have actually be on some strange psychotropic excursion, courtesy of the accidental consumption of a bad batch of rye bread? This phenomenon was known to occur throughout the middle ages in Europe.Whole villages went mad due to sporadic outbreaks of Egotism. It might be more mundane than UFOs raging in futuristc conflict over a reframation era sky, but the rogue historian thinks this possibility not only exists, but should be explored.There should also be a look into the possibility this was a meteor shower,and there were sonic booms which happen when meteors strike the earth. This happened in Russia in the early 20th century and there were miles of flattened trees due to the impact.We are due for another such event soon, perhaps even a meteor year in 2013..( my conclusion based on my studies) and perhaps this is what occurred so long ago in a Nuremburg, Germany….. Thomas Schoenberger

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Fredrick Scarf,The Man Who, in 1980, Predicted Meteors would arrive

3 decades ago, I was a struggling composer, interested in the oddest things. From Paleontology to Plasma Physics (from Ancient Greek: φύσις physis “nature”), to reading and retaining vast quantities of classical Greco Roman material, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, and Cicero… the good stuff. I also had a keen interest in space, comets,asteroids and meteors.Like most kids I suppose.

One day, I spied a beautiful young lady staring at me. She was a lithe brunnete with amazing grey green cat eyes. We fell madly and promptly in love, and I learned,beneath her external beauty lay a keen intellect. We were both 20 years old and the world was indeed our oyster. In time, I met her father, and we took a liking to each other. Soon her mother was cooking dinners and I became , by no fault of my own, a member of the Scarf salon of San Fernando Valley.   Fredrick and I had an odd first conversation..We were introduced, and proceeded to speak of small matters, the weather, Carter, the traffic, and all of a sudden, I saw a paper in his hands, an acedemic paper on plasma physics ! We forgot the traffic and immediately began a lively  discussion regarding things not of this earth, the variants of plasma, and interplnartary medium ( cosmic dust, hot plasma, dust), the great comet of 1680, the comets of 1531 and 1533, the molecular make up of comets, and outer space exploration and expectation.. I had no idea I was in conversation with America’s leading space theorist, but I realized it minutes into our exchange.Now for a little background on space plasma.

The term “interplanetary” appears to have been first used in print in 1691 by the scientist Robert Boyle: “The air is different from the æther (or vacuum) in the… interplanetary spaces” Boyle Hist. Air.

The notion that space is considered to be a vacuum filled with an “aether“, or just a cold, dark vacuum continued up until the 1950s (see below).

In 1898, American astronomer Charles Augustus Young wrote: “Inter-planetary space is a vacuum, far more perfect than anything we can produce by artificial means…” (The Elements of Astronomy, Charles Augustus Young, 1898).

Since plasma is the “fluid glue” in which the planets and comets and asteroids adhere to, the plasma is also super conductive, and is affected by gravity and CME’s ( Coronal Mass Eruptions, or for the rest of us, sun tantrums) Fredrick, an intuitive man if ever one was born, sensed my intense interest in such celestial mattersOver the next couple of months,he took me under his wing, and taught me things about the heavens I thought no earthly human could know. His kindness to me, and his patience, are lessons I still treasure. And class, he had more of that then most men on this planet.

One day,I went to see his daughter and after taking her to our favorite Thai joint, I dropped her off and snuck into Fredrick’s study for a chat. Fredrick was working on his usual scholarly pursuits, this time trying to extrapolate where life would be found, if it was to be found in outer space…a postulate he questioned..I interrupted him and exclaimed that we might someday inject life into other planets/solar systems, like a hyperdermic needle injects antibiotics into the bloodstream. Fredrick kept quiet, and I thought I had blundered and said something stupid again, a fault that I am guilty of even today. A month later, Fredrick called me into his study, and showed me a paper. He was smiling, and obviously enjoying the moment. He told me that evening that I had “innocently” stumbled upon a question worthy of great contemplation, and urged me to become a scholar in plasma physics. He was not joking I found out. The 11 page paper explained in detail that my idea was particularly meritious and he planned, at some point, to “get it to the right people” I was humbled to see this great human being, taking the time to work out a complex therum for his daughers beau.I was also amazed at just how well he understood what I, a teenager with little in the way of writing technical papers on lofty subjects, was trying to say. But Fredrick “got” people. An affable and charming man,he could also out think everyone he met. You see , Fredrick was a genius in the truest form.

Fredrick built the Voyager. And much more….Fredrick explored Halleys comet..I kid you not. Fredrick believed we would see non man made space debris hitting earth within 40 years,and this prediction was made in 1980. He was casual in his delivery, but serious. He said, Thomas, there is an asteroid belt, and a better chance than not that we have ” cosmic events” Most likely, he explained, the sea would be the delivery point. But, he added, population centers would, in his opinion, be affected. He said, several years later, the greatest part of Star Wars, a program developed by Reagan, was the potential to deflect, or push, asteroids out of our path. In light of recent events, it seems Dr.Scarf knew what he was talking about.

Fredrick was one of the few men responsible for fast track developments in the US Space program. His Plasma Antennae are still, over 20 years after his passing, viable and groundbreaking. I have enclosed the obituary of this true hero of America, a man who peered into the heavens and came back with answers, answers we are only now beginning to understand. Fredrick’s daughter, still a close and trusted friend has sent me two pictures today, unseen by the public until this post. The pictures show both a 1/25 model of the Voyager and Dr. Scarf’s plasma antennae…..Before viewing these pictures, unseen until today, please read the obituary of America’s comet man Fredrick Scarf. A special thank you to Elizabeth , his amazing daughter and still my dearest of friends, for giving me the right to present your father’s pictures.

Obituaries : Frederick L. Scarf; Space Scientist at TRW Had a Worldwide Impact

July 20, 1988|LEE DYE | Times Science Writer

    • German Woodcut Great Comet

Frederick L. Scarf, a theoretical physicist who played a major role with nearly every space agency in the world, has died in Moscow after collapsing last week during an international space meeting there.

Scarf, 57, chief scientist for space research and technology at TRW (Thompson-Ramo-Wooldridge) in Redondo Beach, was widely regarded as the world’s leading expert in a field of profound importance to space research–the study of the plasma waves that move through the subatomic particles, gas and solar wind of the interplanetary medium.

Friends who were with him said he appeared to have been in perfect health before he collapsed at Moscow’s Space Research Institute on July 12. He was rushed to a Moscow hospital with what appeared to have been a brain tumor, although no official cause of death has been announced.

His wife, Mimi, of Sherman Oaks, flew to Moscow and was there when he died Sunday.

Planning Missions

Scarf was in Moscow to help plan future missions in the Soviet space program, in which he had been involved for more than a decade. He was one of the lead scientists in the twin missions to the Martian moon of Phobos that the Soviet Union launched earlier this month, and he was to have played a similar role in that country’s ambitious exploration of Mars during the years ahead.

Scarf was also involved in several European programs, including the European Space Agency’s mission to Halley’s Comet three years ago, and he served in a key role with the Japanese space program. In addition, he was involved in numerous U.S. space projects, including serving as principal investigator for plasma wave experiments on Pioneers 8 and 9, Voyagers 1 and 2, and the Pioneer/Venus Orbiter.

As a scientist, Scarf came along at just the right moment, when the tools were first being put into space that could unlock secrets that had long puzzled physicists. Like the few others who understood his field, Scarf wondered what effect a celestial body like the Earth had on space as it moved through it.

He helped design the instruments that measured that effect, demonstrating something that many had theorized but none had been able to prove. As the Earth, or any other large body, moves through space it is preceded by a “bowshock,” a plasma wave pushed by the planet through space, just as the bow of a boat pushes through the water.

Detected by Antennas

The antennas that Scarf put on numerous spacecraft detected that effect. Electrically charged particles in space bombarded the craft, and the number of “hits” rose dramatically as the spacecraft passed through the wave of increasingly dense particles.

Scarf made a recording of the sounds the particles made as they hit the antennas. To almost anyone else, it sounded like static, rapidly changing in pitch and frequency as the spacecraft passed through the wave. But to Scarf, it was music, which he once described as sounding like a choir of birds.

As gregarious as he was scholarly, Scarf delighted in working his way around bureaucratic roadblocks. He was one of five U.S. scientists who continued working with the Soviet space program even after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was prohibited from direct participation. Scarf went to work part time for UCLA and used that academic tie to get a grant from NASA to continue his work with the Soviets.

Dr Scharf’s fururistic Plasma Antennae 1983

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Thomas Schoenberger Inks Deal with Pet Company that Produces Sherpa’s Pet Carriers

Thomas Schoenberger, composer of the successful series music for infants announces that his music will be included in a new improved version of the popular Sherpa pet carriers. The Sherpa line, carried internationally, has garnered much positive press for creating micro environments for pets travelling with their owners. Quaker Pet Group http://www.quakerpetgroup.com/, a leading promoter of health products for pets worldwide, has chosen Thomas Schoenberger’s compositions to be “implanted” in the newest round of the ever popular Sherpa’s pet carriers. 

No stranger to composing music to soothe the animal spirit,Schoenberger released his Dog Gone Songs CD series in 2006, and quickly gained a new international fan base, per owners. The story is interesting to say the least.Schoenbereger’s baby CD’s were secretly tested and a number of Guide Dogs for the Blind facilities and oddly enough, the animals observed seemed to be calmed by the music.

The resulting CD series Dog Gone Songs became a cult classic in both the US and Asia, with product placement at Pet Co and Smart Pet, and a slew of satisfied pet owners reporting positive results from their pets.

With the scheduled 2013 release of Schoenberger’s music into the Sherpa carriers, a whole new generation of pet owners, and pets for that matter, will be introduced the the music of Thomas Schoenberger.

 

 

DogGone-Songs-Thomas-Schoenberger

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Could Da Vinci Have “Coded” His Later Paintings? By Thomas Schoenberger

I may have stumbled upon something new, something overlooked, and something that could rewrite the history books on Da Vinci. Could his greatest riddles lie right before our eyes?

Hair is water. At least it was to Leonardo. The riveting,and cascading, often turbulent hair noted in the subjects of his greatest paintings, Mona Lisa, John the Baptist, the Virgin, the Last Supper, all seem to draw the attention of the admirer in the most intriguing way. But what exactly did the artist think?Leonardo was fascinated by turbulent motion. Vortex motion was especially powerful, since a vortex speeds up towards its center  Using meticulous observation and intricate theory, he created compelling images of water in spiral motion. It reminded him, typically, of the curling of hair. Therein could lie a key in solving what I believe is a mystery hidden on history’s front porch, overlooked by every major art scholar since the 17th century, a secret that could reveal a slew of messages Leonardo hoped one day we would find. Messages that speak to his fear that water remains our greatest challenge.  As I write this, I am reminded that the mid section of the US suffered a drought in 2012 that destroyed 68% of our corn and wheat, or thereabouts .That we have suffered the increasing ravages of “Super Storms”.  Storms that threaten entire counties, entire states, and the cities where our founding fathers once planned a revolution.

Some of my thoughts since the advent of these spectacular hurricanes, tsunami’s and super storms once again center around Leonardo Da Vinci and his obsession with water and its endless mysteries. Da Vinci was also obsessed with meteor’s, light and shadow,and weapons, but above all, water fascinated him……
Before I begin, I want to calibrate my gentle readers to the marrow of my argument. That Da Vinci was able to extrapolate the flood(s) he saw in his lifetime, to a larger argument that, as Florence goes, so goes the world.  Da Vinci’s codex’s are an area of great interest for me. I have studied them for decades. In light of recent meteorological events, they lead me to conclusions that I hope others may now ponder.In short, I believe that behind many of Da Vinci’s greatest paintings lie a host of hidden markings, clues and riddles,meant to be discovered only after his passing and only when the technologies of the day can meet the challenge. I believe that upon extensive examination through x rays, we may be able to expose the secrets Leonardo hid underneath his masterpieces. As a composer who frequently uses hidden and arcane messages in my own music, I have a great appreciation for how Da Vinci chose to express his muse. I have written music inspired by the astonishment I have felt watching Mother Nature throw  overwhelming tantrums. http://music.thomasschoenberger.com/track/mayhem. We all have seen, or felt Mother Nature’s fury.

Now if a master polymath such as Da Vinci, a student of autonomy, mathamatics, engineering and vibration, applied all these disiplines into his later paintings, could he have viewed the canvas as a foundational bone structure, a skeleton as it were, and hence viewed the finished surface of the paintings as their flesh? Following this thought, it might inidicate that Da Vinci would have put a score of messages underneath the pigment, as flesh itself covers sinew, muscle and blood. If this is found out to be the case, then we will have to look at the paintings in a whole new context. We should also look at some of his famous codex’s for clues.

The website http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/f/forster-codices-leonardo-da-vinci-notebooks/ contains a simple yet accurate accounting of the Forster Codices: The abbreviated information below is a good start for amateur Da Vinci sleuths: 

Leonardo was just 14 when the river Arno overflowed its banks, sending rivets of death and destruction upon the city state of Florence. The scene must have been crazy ! Young Leonardo, a talented boy who was being schooled in art at the time, was probably tramatized, if his later writings are any indication. I have studied these codex’s for many years and have reached conclusions, about what Da Vinci may have seen..and they point to many different scenario’s , including massive floods, a meteor storm that causes havoc soon,and even new weapons not yet developed,,,more on that this summer when I come up with a new paper on Da Vinci and his riddles.. What is a codex?

A codex is a bound book made up of separate pages. It developed in late Roman times and replaced the scroll as the preferred way of keeping texts. Codices were originally hand-written, though they began to be printed from the mid-15th century. Some texts, including personal memoranda and writings such as notebooks, continued to be written by hand. Of particular interest to me is the so called Forster Codices.

The Forster Codices were part of the library of John Forster (1812–76), bequeathed to the V&A on his death as a gesture of support for its educational mission. The Codices are made up of five of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, bound into three volumes.

It is not known when the notebooks were bound together in this way. They may have been brought together and bound in Spain while they were owned by the Spanish sculptor Pompeo Leoni (1533–1608). Leonardo may have compiled the notebooks when they were unbound or in wrappers of some kind. The notebooks are not bound in any logical fashion and only one carries any indication of when it was made (Codex Forster I1).

The notebooks

The notebooks are written in Leonardo’s famous ‘mirror-writing’. This writing has given rise to much speculation. Was he trying to ensure that only he could read his notes? He was left-handed and probably found it easier to write from right to left. Writing masters of the period were liable to make demonstrations of mirror-writing, so that it may not have seemed as strange as it does today. The letter-shapes are in fact very ordinary: Leonardo used the kind of script that his father, a notary, would have used. Once the eye has become accustomed to the scripts of the period, it soon learns to decipher the mirror-writing Leonardo used.

The paper for the notebooks was probably bought at one of the many stationers’ shops in Milan. Leonardo either bought full-size sheets and folded them to make booklets, or bought the booklets ready-made. The ink probably came from the same source.

Codex Forster I2 (Milan, about 1487–90)
The earliest of the V&A’s notebooks was compiled around 1487–90 when Leonardo was a servant of the Sforza duke in Milan. It contains notes and diagrams for devices relating to hydraulic engineering and on the moving and raising of water. Some of the ideas recorded investigate perpetual motion. The writing on a few sheets of this notebook extend beyond the gutter which indicates that Leonardo wrote them before the sheets were folded into the booklet as it survives today.

Codex Forster III (Milan, about 1490–93)
This is the most miscellaneous of the notebooks. Interspersed with notes on geometry, weights and hydraulics are sketches of a horse’s legs, perhaps connected with Leonardo’s work on an equestrian statue for the founder of the Sforza dynasty, drawings of hats and cloths that may have been ideas for costumes at balls, and an account of the anatomy of the human head.

Codex Forster II1 (Milan, about 1495)
This notebook was compiled around 1495. It contains notes on the theory of proportions and mentions the work of Leonardo’s colleague in Milan, a famous mathematician named Luca Paccioli (died about 1514). It also contains a good deal of miscellaneous material: bells and a striking mechanism, a portrait of the General of the Franciscan Order, Francesco Nanni-Samson, and a passage discussing the postures of a group at a table, possibly relating to Leonardo’s work on the Last Supper fresco in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, begun in about 1495.

Codex Forster II2 (Milan, 1495–97)
Made up between about 1495 and 1497, Codex Forster II2 has extensive notes on the theory of weights, traction, stresses and balances. It also contains an examination of a crossbow (a terrifying weapon outlawed on several occasions by the Papacy), and a remark ridiculing those who thought perpetual motion possible.

Codex Forster I1 (Florence, 1505)
A note in Leonardo’s own hand gives this notebook a title, ‘Libro titolato de strasformatione’, and dates it July 1505. This shows that it was begun when he was in Florence, just after he had undertaken to produce his famous ‘Battle of Anghiari’ mural in the Palazzo della Signoria, the centre of the city’s government. The notes consider the measurement of solid bodies and the problems of relating changes in shape to those of volume, a branch of mathematics known today as topology.

 

I am keenly interested in Paccioli, not because he was considered the father of accounting ( he invented double digit entry) but because he seems to have been at least someone that Leonardo knew and trusted, but also a person who shows up in the codexes by no accident, or so I assume. I have been busy studying a most interesting book by Paccioli, one that delves into magic and math. Wiki describes the mystery book here:
De viribus quantitatis (Ms. Università degli Studi di Bologna, 1496–1508), a treatise on mathematics and magic. Written between 1496 and 1508 it contains the first reference to card tricks as well as guidance on how to juggle, eat fire and make coins dance. It is the first work to note that Leonardo was left-handed. De viribus quantitatis is divided into three sections: mathematical problems, puzzles and tricks, and a collection of proverbs and verses.

 

The book has been described as the “foundation of modern magic and numerical puzzles”, but it was never published and sat in the archives of the University of Bologna, seen only by a small number of scholars since the Middle Ages. The book was rediscovered after David Singmaster, a mathematician, came across a reference to it in a 19th-century manuscript. An English translation was published for the first time in 2007 .So there you have it, a book written by Leonardo’s friend and fellow researcher, living in Milan, sharing in Leonardo’s secrets, obsessed with mathematics and alchemaic matters, a fellow genius who happened to be both neighbor and colleague … More on all this later gentle readers……..Any good blog , if it is to be read, must reveal its secrets a hint at a time..If this little blog can open up the mysteries of one of the greatest geniuses of all time, then it shall remain modest in both it’s temperament and it’s tempo….lest it overwhelm the reader.
Thomas Schoenberger

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Albrecht Durer – Child Genius

Albrecht Durer’s first known work, drawn as a silverpoint, when he was just 13 years old.  A beautiful achievement of child genius. Some people are born into greatness or find it at an early age.

In composing my “Music for Infants” series, I strove to create a musical backdrop that could help foster an environment that would compel infants to imagine, and think, and develop their natural skills in mathematics, perception, and sense.

It’s my belief that there is genius in all of us, waiting to flower and take root.

My life’s work as a composer is to urge the youngest minds on the planet to prepare to meet and beat, or at least emulate. the great geniuses of prior centuries.  In keeping with the themes of genius, perspective, nuance and polyphonic melodies that promote learning, please listen to a fugal melody I composed in honor of Durer’s brilliance. The piece is based on one of his mathematical equations.

By the age of thirty, Dürer had completed or begun three of his most famous series of woodcuts on religious subjects: The Apocalypse (1498), the Large Woodcut Passion cycle (ca. 1497–1500), and the Life of the Virgin (begun 1500). Durer, a blue chip genius of history 

Thomas Schoenberger

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Musical Robot Bands of the 13th Century – Strange But True

Al-Jazari, an inventor of the 13th century, and a clever creator of over 100 devices ranging from automata to a myriad of water pumping devices seems to have invented a marvelous musical robot band,something unlike any other invention in history.  Move over Steve Jobs.

Al Jazari’s work described fountains and musical automata, in which the flow of water alternated from one large tank to another at hourly or half-hourly intervals. This operation was achieved through his innovative use of hydraulic switching.  He also created a musical automaton, which was a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties.

Professor Noel Sharkey has argued that it is quite likely that it was an early programmable automata and has produced a possible reconstruction of the mechanism; it has a programmable drum machine with pegs (cams) that bump into little levers that operated the percussion. The drummer could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns if the pegs were moved around.I have included an image of the “oddest band in history” at left.

Thomas Schoenberger

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Thomas Schoenberger Composing Soundtracks to History’s Greatest Works of Art -Recently discovered Leonardo Da Vinci

A Lost Love Shall Return Track SchoenbergerIn composing music for my newest work entitled Heaven, I turned my attention to whispers of a “lost” Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece “Salvator Mundi’ otherwise known as the “Savior or the World”. Here is the first track of the Heaven album “A Lost Love Shall Return”. When I actually saw an image of the painting, I knew it was indeed Da Vinci circa 1513. Why? Because all the clues were there. We know he painted the piece, and the watery flowing ringlet nature of the figure’s hair is also a dead give away. Beyond that, the globe in his hand, an orbitas opulus was, according to my research, a prop that Leonardo himself actually owned. The painting did not appear until 1649, well after Leonardo has passed away(1519) and the provenance showed it was owned by a king who coveted it. I felt that this was the lost Salvator Mundi I had heard of over the years, from both art and art historian circles. I immediately set out to explore everything I could about the painting and the research team investigating its authenticity. I was delighted to discover the seminal investigative work of Robert Simon, who’s careful research into the painting’s manner provenance and pedigree was both terribly astute and prudent. Mr Simon is a true visionary, a man that I suspect Da Vinci would have enjoyed the company of.  Then I composed the piece of music for the work, A Lost Love Shall Return, as part of my Heaven series.  I have posted both the image, the research and my composition, so the viewer may listen to the music while gazing at the painting (high resolution image) and be transfixed as Leonardo intended. Thomas Schoenberger Salvbator Mundi

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Wolfgang Schoenberger video goes viral, three years later.

In late May of 2009, my son Wolfgang, just 9, surprised me by creating a youtube, using haunting images from the vast store of early European art I had in my computer at the time. The Youtube has just been picked up by a London company. The youtube was a delightful gift and showed my son to be not just an amazingly talented child, but the greatest son a father ever had.

 

Now a London based company has picked up the video and it’s attracting attention ! You can see the video here

Congratulations son !

 

Dad (aka Thomas Schoenberger)

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucp0Nwa7PYQ

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