Friday, January 18, 2008

Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 (BWV 1047)

Here is a rendition of Bach's second Brandenburg concerto by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, using "historically informed" or period instruments, including a natural trumpet:

1. Allegro Moderato


2. Andante


3. Allegro Assai

I have to admit that I found the physical movements of the players a bit hurky-jerky

Friday, January 04, 2008

Take It On The Run

YouTube - REO Speedwagon - Take It On The Run (live)

For a while I thought that take it on the run meant something like "sleep around" (as here), but now I think it just means to "run away" (so Wikipedia). I cannot find the sexual meaning in Google Books, but there are clear instances where it means "run away" or "escape":
  • John Dos Passos, The Shackles of Power (1966), 317: "He ran up so many bills that he had to take it on the run, nevertheless, to escape imprisonment for debt; and retired to Sweden."
  • Clint Willis, Wise Guys (2003), 132: "I was going to have to testify, and I offered two choices: take it on the run, on my own, or let us relocate you and give you a new identity."
In other contexts, take it on the run also refers to eating on the go, taking certain things with you, and certain sports and military maneuvers. It also is a line from a famous WWI song, "Over There."

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

bereit (ready)

G bereit and E ready stem the same Germanic root, but with different prefixes:

G bereit < MHG bereite (also gereite) < OHG bireiti < Gmc *raidi- > OE geræde, ræde > ME redi > E ready

The G adv bereits means "already."

Hinsicht (respect)

Hinsicht (respect, aspect, regard) is a compound of hin- (to there) and Sicht (= sight). But don't think "insight"; rather, go through a Latin equivalent to reach the best English.

Sicht would correspond to L spectus, and the hin- suggests L ad-, i.e., "aspectus" From here, we get to "aspect," then to "regard" and "respect."