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The Macedonian Dynasty
The Macedonian Dynasty of Byzantium (800-1100 AD) saw the tide turning, bringing victories when the Empire was receding and losing against invaders. No other time since Justinian were the borders pushed out again, and not since that time has Christian art flourished in Byzantium than in the Macedonian period. Churches, Mosaics and Icons of that period are some of the most beautiful.
Although engaged in warfare against Muslims, the Macedonian dynasty also fought against the Slavic invaders like Simeon the Great and Samuil, both Bulgarian emperors who invaded Macedonia. Despite the aggression, the Slavs became Christians and were inspired by Byzantine culture to form great Christian Empires of their own.
Byzantium was a Christian Empire itself from its inception, and its culture was overwhelmingly Greek, though it was a multi-ethnic society.
The Emperors were Greeks of Macedonia, and many also traced their origins to Cappadocia and Armenia:
Basil I the Macedonian (Βασίλειος Α') (811 - 886, ruled 867 - 886) - married the Varangian Eudokia Ingerina, mistress of Michael III; died in hunting accident (Origin: Armenian, born in Thema Makedonikon)
Leo VI the Wise (Λέων ΣΤ' ο Σοφός) (866 - 912, ruled 886 - 912) -- likely son of Basil I and Eudokia Ingerina, possibly the natural son of Michael III;
Alexander (Αλέξανδρος του Βυζαντίου) (870 - 913, ruled 912 - 913) -- son of Basil I, regent for nephew
Constantine VII the Purple-born (Κωνσταντίνος Ζ' ο Πορφυρογέννητος) (905-959, ruled 913 - 959) -- son of Leo VI
Romanos I Lekapenos (Ρωμανός Α' ο Λεκαπηνός) (870 - 948, ruled 919 - 944) -- father-in-law of Constantine VII; coemperor, deposed by his sons and entered monastery (Origin: Armenian)
Romanos II the Purple-born (Ρωμανός Β' ο Πορφυρογέννητος) (939 - 963, ruled 959 - 963) -- son of Constantine VII
Nikephoros II Phocas (Νικηφόρος Β' Φωκάς ή Νικηφόρος Β' ο Φωκάς) (912 - 969, ruled 963 - 969) -- Strategos; married Romanus II's widow, regent for Basil; assassinated (Origin: Cappadocian)
John I Tzimiskes (Ιωάννης Α' Κουρκούας ο Τσιμισκής) (925 - 976, ruled 969 - 976) -- brother-in-law of Romanus II, lover of Nicephorus's wife but banned from marriage, regent for Basil (Origin: Armenian)
Basil II the Bulgar-slayer (Βασίλειος Β' ο Βουλγαροκτόνος) (958 - 1025, ruled 976 - 1025) -- son of Romanus II (Origin: Armenian)
Constantine VIII (Κωνσταντίνος Η')(960-1028, ruled 1025 - 1028) -- son of Romanus II; silent co-emperor with Basil II
Zoe I (Ζωή Α') ((c. 978 - 1050, ruled 1028 - 1050) -- daughter of Constantine VIII
Romanos III Argyros (Ρωμανός Γ' ο Αργυρός) (968 - 1034, ruled 1028 - 1034) -- eparch of Constantinople; Zoe's first husband, arranged by Constantine VIII; murdered
Michael IV the Paphlagonian (Μιχαήλ Δ' ο Παφλαγών) (1010 - 1041, ruled 1034 - 1041) -- Zoe's second husband
Michael V the Caulker (Μιχαήλ Ε' ο Καλαφάτης) (1015 - 1042, ruled 1041 - 1042) -- Michael IV's nephew, Zoe's adopted son
Theodora (Θεοδώρα) (980 - 1056, ruled 1042) -- daughter of Constantine VIII, coempress with Zoe
Constantine IX Monomachos (Κωνσταντίνος Θ' ο Μονομάχος) (1000 - 1055, ruled 1042 - 1055) -- Zoe's third husband
Theodora (Θεοδώρα) (ruled 1055 - 1056) -- restored
***
The paintings are mostly from Raphael. The song 'On the Rose-Bush'(ΑΠΑΝΩ ΣΤΗΝ ΤΡΙΑΝΤΑΦΥΛΛΙΑ), is taken from The Guardians of Hellenism, VOL 7, Macedonia and Thassos. The song originates in Polygiros, Chalkidiki.
LYRICS:
On the rose - my black eyes,
On the rose-bush partridges build their nest,
Partridges build - my black eyes -
Partridges build a nest, the birds go in and out.
The birds go in and out and the rose-bush shakes,
And the roses fall in the bride's lap,
And I humbly gathered them and sent them to my love,
With kisses as many as the grapes on the vine.
Singer: Domna Mega
Length: 151
Rating: 4.20 (24 ratings)
Tags: Byzantium Macedonia Greek Orthodox Basil Leo Alexander
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Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
SIXTEEN TONS
(Merle Tavis)
Huge 1955 hit by Tennessee Ernie Ford
HISTORY OF "SIXTEEN TONS"
(This article from Wikipedia)
"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the misery of coal mining. Although generally credited as being written in 1947 by U.S. country singer Merle Travis, it has also been claimed that the Travis version was actually a rip-off of an earlier song called "Nine-to-ten tons", written by a singer called George S. Davis in the 1930s. A 1955 version recorded by 'Tennessee' Ernie Ford was on the b-side of his cover of the Moon Mullican standard, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A BABY TO CRY". However, it was Ford's "SIXTEEN TONS" that reached number one in the Billboard charts, besting the performance of the competing version by Johnny Desmond. Another competing version by Frankie Laine was released only in the UK where it gave Ford's version some stiff competition on the charts. On October 17, it was released and, by October 28, it sold 400,000 copies. On November 10, a million copies had been sold. The record had sold two million copies by December 15.
The well-known chorus runs:
You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store...
The line from the chorus "another day older and deeper in debt" was a phrase often used by Travis's father, a coal miner himself.
This and the line "I owe my soul to the company store" is a reference to the truck system and to debt bondage. Under this system workers were not paid cash; rather they were paid with unexchangeable credit vouchers for goods at the company store (usually referred to as scrip). This made it impossible for workers to store up cash savings. Workers also usually lived in company-owned dormitories or apartment buildings, the rent for which was automatically deducted from their pay.
In the U.S. the truck system and associated debt bondage persisted until the strikes of the newly-formed United Mine Workers and affiliated unions forced an end to such practices.
The song has been covered by a wide variety of musicians. In 1955 it was recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford and hit Billboard's Country Music charts in November and held the #1 position for ten weeks, then crossed over and held the #1 position on the pop music charts for eight weeks. Other examples include a rock version released by Eels on their live album "Sixteen Tons (10 Songs)" (2005), a country version released by Johnny Cash on his live album "The Best of Johnny Cash in Concert" (1995), a version with a rock edge by Tom Jones that became a hit in 1967, a blues-rock version recorded in 1972 by CCS, a slow, jazzy version released by Stan Ridgway on the album Anatomy (1999), a cumbia version by nuclear polka band Brave Combo, and a traditional roots country version released by Corb Lund on the album Modern Pain (1995). A folk-punk version was also performed by This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. Swedish doom metal band Memento Mori recorded a version of this song as a hidden track on their 1993 debut album Rhymes of Lunacy. The song can be found if the listener allows the CD to remain playing several minutes after the final listed song ends. Serbian hard rock band Riblja Čorba recorded a cover version called "16 noći" (Trans. "16 nights"), which appeared on their 1999 album Nojeva barka.
The 1990 rendition of the song by Eric Burdon was used for the memorable opening to the comedy JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO. The song is also sung in the undersea horror movie LEVANIATHAN.
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's rendition of the song on January 8, 2007 received fairly widespread media play on a variety of television stations and on the popular website YouTube.
In Russia, Moscow's venue "Sixteen Tons" is named after the song by Merle Travis. "Sixteen Tons" track is a house song and can be heard before each concert held in the club.
In Russia this song has been famous since the Soviet times, but in the Platters' version. The song was so influential, that in the USSR several cover versions were made in Russian. In one of the Russian versions the words in the chorus were about US plans to attack the USSR with 16 ton bombs:
Sixteen tons, the heavy load Planes are flying to bomb the Soviet Union
The planes are flying to the East
To bomb a simple soviet village
In 2005, General Electric ran a series of ads for its new "clean coal" campaign. With clear disregard for the message of "Sixteen tons," they used it to sell coal and the coal industry.
Length: 159
Rating: 4.90 (777 ratings)
Tags: tennessee ernie ford sixteen 16 tons
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