Fine Arts ~ October

Shakespeare (again), Vivaldi, and Rembrandt

I've had a few other things on my plate {grin}, so my monthly fine arts features post for the month of October went by the wayside. Since it is still October (by the skin of my teeth), let's pretend that I'm still on schedule and enjoy a little culture, shall we?

In honor of St. Crispin's Day (this past Monday, October 25th), how about a lovely speech from Shakespeare's Henry V:

(Incidentally, we were learning a bit about the Hundred Years' War between England and France for Classical Conversations this month. I love it when lessons converge like that. Sweet!)

You can't go wrong with Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Autumn, of course) a la Disney's Fantasia:

Be sure to listen to the great radio shows about Vivaldi over at Classics for Kids, listen to Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery from Classical Kids, and print the Vivaldi page from the Famous Composers Wall Chart at Practical Pages. Print the composer's biography or print and play a simple version of Vivaldi's Spring at Making Music Fun.

Looking for an exquisite picture book to read while listening to Vivaldi's music? Look no further, I, Vivaldi is just the ticket.

I just can't help myself. Rembrandt's self portraits... wait for it... set to Vivaldi's Winter:

We read the Rembrandt book in the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series, but I made a lovely discovery. Our library now carries the DVD version. Score.

And here we have more Rembrandt at Garden of Praise and Practical Pages.

Let's wrap up with a few reasonable words:

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Make hay while the sun shines.

Voila, my work here is done.