Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

THE Festal Epistles of S. Athanasius, as far as they are extant, are now, for the first time, presented to the English reader. In undertaking to superintend the publication of them, the Editor was, to some extent, aware of the difficulty of the task. In carrying it out, he has not hesitated to make numerous and important alterations in the translation as put into his hands, and not a few passages have been entirely re-modelled by him. He must, therefore, be held responsible for the errors contained in the following pages. Aeterna Press

The book focusses on the origin and transformation of the priestly festival calendar. Since the epoch-making work of Julius Wellhausen at the end of the 19th century the differences between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars have often been explained in terms of a gradual evolution, which shows an increasing historicisation, denaturalisation and ritualisation. The festivals were in Wellhausen's view gradually detached from agricultural conditions and celebrated more and more at fixed points in the year. This study tries to show that the changes in the priestly festival calendar reflect a conscious effort to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the semi-annual layout of the Babylonian festival year. The ramifications of the change only come to the fore after a careful study of the agricultural conditions of ancient Israel - and Mesopotamia - makes clear that passover and the festival of unleavened bread were originally celebrated in the second month of the year. The first month of the year envisaged by the priestly festival calendar for the celebration of passover and the festival of unleavened bread in turn mirrors the date of one of the two semi-annual Babylonian New Year festivals. The two Babylonian New Year festivals were celebrated exactly six months apart at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In order to adapt the ancient Israelite festival calendar to the Babylonian scheme with two New Year festivals a year, the date of passover and the festival of unleavened bread had to be moved up by one month. The consequences for the origin of passover, the festival of unleavened bread, the festival of weeks and the festival of huts are charted and the relations between the various ancient Israelite festival calendars are determined anew.

"The Christian year is full of great feasts, such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. Beautifully illustrated with colour plates, Festival Icons for the Christian Year introduces the general reader to the most important icons of the Orthodox Church associated with these major festivals, accompanied by words of prayer and liturgy." "Discussion of each festival includes background information, extracts from the associated liturgical texts, detailed analysis of the icon illustrated with information about its development, and comment on the theological and spiritual significance of the festival and its icon."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Editing and examining source-critically for the first time the Late Babylonian ritual texts dealing with the New Year Festival, this book proposes an incisive re-interpretation of the most frequently discussed of all Mesopotamian rituals.

Long remembered chiefly for its modernist exhibitions on the South Bank in London, the 1951 Festival of Britain also showcased British artistic creativity in all its forms. In Tonic to the Nation, Nathaniel G. Lew tells the story of the English classical music and opera composed and revived for the Festival, and explores how these long-overlooked components of the Festival helped define English music in the post-war period. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Lew looks closely at the work of the newly chartered Arts Council of Great Britain, for whom the Festival of Britain provided the first chance to assert its authority over British culture. The Arts Council devised many musical programs for the Festival, including commissions of new concert works, a vast London Season of almost 200 concerts highlighting seven centuries of English musical creativity, and several schemes to commission and perform new operas. These projects were not merely directed at bringing audiences to hear new and old national music, but to share broader goals of framing the national repertory, negotiating between the conflicting demands of conservative and progressive tastes, and using music to forge new national definitions in a changed post-war world.

A look at folk music’s legendary home ground. From Pete Seeger to Serena Ryder, the musicians who have graced the stages at Mariposa have carried on a living tradition of folk music connecting the sixties to the present day and tomorrow. Featuring interviews with the people behind the scenes and artists like Gordon Lightfoot and Ken Whitely.