Imaginary

Visual Arts

• Frida Kahlo, Portrait of Eva Frederick (1931)
• Valentin Serov, Mika Morozov (1901)
• Giovanni Batista Tiepolo, Prudence, Sincerity and Temperance (1743)
• Raphael Sanzio, Portrait of Julius II (c. 1512)
• Hans Memling, Portrait of Anthony of Burgundy (1467)

Fictional Narratives

You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.  That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. [Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1906), Chapter I, “I Discover Moses and the Bullrushers”.]

From the dark side:

Whatever may have been the obstinate injustice of destiny in this case, Thénardier was one of those men who understand best, with the most profundity and in the most modern fashion, that thing which is a virtue among barbarous peoples and an object of merchandise among civilized peoples,--hospitality. Besides, he was an admirable poacher, and quoted for his skill in shooting. He had a certain cold and tranquil laugh, which was particularly dangerous.  His theories as a landlord sometimes burst forth in lightning flashes. He had professional aphorisms, which he inserted into his wife's mind. "The duty of the inn-keeper," he said to her one day, violently, and in a low voice, "is to sell to the first comer, stews, repose, light, fire, dirty sheets, a servant, lice, and a smile; to stop passers-by, to empty small purses, and to honestly lighten heavy ones; to shelter travelling families respectfully: to shave the man, to pluck the woman, to pick the child clean; to quote the window open, the window shut, the chimney-corner, the arm-chair, the chair, the ottoman, the stool, the feather-bed, the mattress and the truss of straw; to know how much the shadow uses up the mirror, and to put a price on it; and, by five hundred thousand devils, to make the traveller pay for everything, even for the flies which his dog eats!" [Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (1862), Volume II – Cosette; Book Third – Accomplishment of a Promise Made To a Dead Woman, Chapter II, Two Complete Portraits.]

What happens when one party is sincere, and the other is not?

• Henry James, Washington Square (1881): an heiress, whose domineering father has left her at a disadvantage in gaining men’s attentions, is faced with the question whether the young man who proclaims his love for her is sincere.
• Robert Harris, Munich: A Novel (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018): “Neville Chamberlain flew to the birthplace of the Third Reich to meet Hitler and try to stave off a conflict. Twenty-four hours later, Chamberlain returned to London, where he brandished an agreement permitting Nazi Germany to occupt the territory and pronounced four words that would forever be linked with naivete and appeasement: ‘Peace for our time.’”
• Lucia Berlin, Evening in Paradise: More Stories (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018): stories about women confronted with challenges to their sweetness and sincerity: “One thing that makes Berlin so valuable is her gift for evoking the sweetness and earnestness of young women who fall in love (one thinks that being a good wife is handing her husband his coffee handle first, while she grasps the hot side) and then catching them at that moment when things begin to turn, when the trees of their being are forced to grow bark.”

Film and Stage

• Before Sunrise, a romantic tale about “two nice kids, literate, sensitive, tentative, intoxicated by the fact that their lives stretch out before them, filled with mystery and hope, and maybe love”, who meet, are strongly attracted to each other and spend most of their time talking.
• Faces, this film consisting “almost exclusively of tight, uncomfortable close-ups” exploresan unhappy marriage
• La Chienne(The Bitch), about one character who is sincere and another who is not
• Wilson: though his legacy is ugly with racism, Woodrow Wilson saw himself as a man of high principle.
• Closely Watched Trains(Ostre Sledované Vlaky): a film about innocence, in which a young man performs a heroic act without heroic motives

From the dark side:

• The Heiress, based on Henry James’ novellaWashington Square: is the young man in love with her or merely after her wealth?
• Dark Eyes (Oci Ciornie), illustrating that the grass on someone else’s lawnmay not be as green as it looks from a distance
• Lola, about looking the other way
• Play Misty for Me, about dangerousdeception
• The Servantwas serving himself

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess (1935) (approx. 130-190 minutes), is based on the 1925 novel, Porgy, by Dubose Heyward. “The story begins in summertime on Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina. Disabled beggar Porgy is in love with Bess, who's entangled with violent dock worker, Crown, and plagued by drug dealer and con man, Sportin' Life. It's a community where everyone is trying to get by.” It presents a “traditional image of Porgy, a disabled beggar, and the woman he loves, Bess, who has suffered from abuse and addiction.” They handle their difficulties in opposite ways, at least on the surface. Recordings feature Warfield & Price in 1952, White & Mitchell in 1975, Albert & Dale in 1976, White & Haymon in 1986, and Powell & Lister in 2002.

The blues sides of Blind Blake, early blues, raw and unadorned.

Cara Dillon is a popular Irish traditional, folk and ballad singer with a sweet plaintive soprano voice. True to the Irish song tradition, her “slow songs” are tined with melancholy. Her albums include:

• “Live at Cooper Hall” (2021)
• “Wanderer” (2017)
• “Hill of Thieves” (2009)
• “After the Morning” (2006)
• “Sweet Liberty” (2003)
• “Cara Dillon” (2001)

Dmitry Bortnyanski (1751-1825) composed 35 short Sacred Concertos. Written for a capella choir, they capture the emotional virtue of unadorned sincerity.

• No. 1, “Oh sing unto the Lord a new  song”
• No. 2, “Triumph, o ye this day”
• No. 3, “The king shall joy in thy strength”
• No. 4, “Make a joyful noise unto God”
• No. 5, “Lord hear thee in thy day of trouble”
• No. 6, “Glory to God in the highest”
• No. 7, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord”
• No. 8, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever”
• No. 9, “This is the day which the Lord hath made”
• No. 10, “Sing praises to God”
• No. 11, “Blessed is the Lord”
• No. 12, “I will sing a new song unto thee”
• No. 13, “Sing aloud unto God our strength”
• No. 14, “My heart is inditing a good matter”
• No. 15, “Ye people, let us come and sing of Christ’s resurrection”
• No. 16, “I will extol thee”
• No. 17, “How amiable are they tabernacles, o Lord of hosts!”
• No. 18, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord”
• No. 19, “The Lord said unto my Lord”
• No. 20, “In thee, o Lord, to I put my trust”
• No. 21, “He that dwelleth in the secret place”
• No. 22, “The Lord is my light and my salvation”
• No. 23, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound”
• No. 24, “I will lift mine eyes up to the hills”
• No. 25, “We, the unworthy, shall not cease”
• No. 26, “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee”
• No. 27, “I cried unto the Lord with my voice”
• No. 28, “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord”
• No. 29, “I will praise the name of God with a song”
• No. 30, “Hear my voice, o God”
• No. 31, “O clap your hands, all ye people”
• No. 32, “Lord, make me to know my end”
• No. 33, “Why art thou cast down, o my soul?”
• No. 34, “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered”
• No. 35, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?”

Other compositions:

• Glazunov, Symphony No. 6 in C minor, 58 (1896): “In the profoundly sincere music of the Sixth Symphony, there is nothing superficial or borrowed, everything is connected with the need to express its inner being.” [from the program notes for this album] Similarly, Glazunov, Symphony No. 1 in E Major, Op. 5, "Slavonian Symphony" (Slavyanskaya) (1884), and Symphony No. 3 in D Major, Op. 33 (1890)
• Arnold, Symphony No. 2, 40
• Bax, Legend Sonata for Violincello and Piano (1943)
• Berwald, Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, "Sinfonie Serieuse" (1842)
• Bowen, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op. 33 (1913)
• Antonin Dvořák, Youth Concerto for Cello and Orchestra
• Harbison, Piano Trio No. 2 (2003) (of serious intention)
• Harbison, The Violist’s Notebooks (2002): Book I; Book II.

Albums:

• Thibaut Roussel and Les Musiciens du Roi, Le Coucher du Roi, “an informal and intimate concert from the king’s bedchamber
• “Cameroon Garage Funk”: this a collection of tracks from Cameroon in the 1970’s conveys a feeling of earnestness.
• Various artists, “Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy”: they wear it on their shirtsleeves.

On the dark side:

• In Verdi’s La Traviata, sincerity is crushed by social artifice and convention. Here are links to performances conducted by Bernard, Gergiev and Conlon.
• Grétry, Le Magnifique (1773): a conniving suitor

Poetry

They went home and told their wives, / that never once in all their lives, / had they known a girl like me, / But... They went home.
They said my house was licking clean, / no word I spoke was ever mean, / I had an air of mystery, / But... They went home.
My praises were on all men's lips, / they liked my smile, my wit, my hips, / they'd spend one night, or two or three. / But...

[Maya Angelou, “They Went Home”]

From the dark side:

• Edgar Lee Masters, “Dora Williams”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Sérgio Assad, Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion, “The Innocent”
• Dvořák, Waldesruhe (Silent Woods), for Cello and Orchestra, B 182 (1893) [From the Bohemian Forest, B 133, Op. 68, No. 5]