Shakespeare at Winedale is the latest area arts institution to pop up on the
World Wide Web. A page for Dr. James Ayres’ class is up at
http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/engl/special/winedale.html, offering brief
histories of the 25-year-old program and the Winedale Center and info on class
efforts, the work of Ayres’ incomparable aide, Madge Darlington. Visiting it
reminded us that it’s time for the last event of SaW’s Silver Anniversary, the
third annual presentation of The Second Shepherds’ Play. Two years ago,
Ayres and some former students staged this short, 15th-century mystery play for
a Christmas celebration at Round Top, and now it’s a holiday tradition. They
offer it this Saturday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Round Top, with a free
stew first at 5pm. Carols are sung, and if you’re lucky, Frances Harris’ donkey
will join in, as it did last year. Says Ayres, the beast “brayed his own sense
of harmony, reminding us that we’re all creatures of God. He, too, had a say in
what was happening.”

A New Magnificat Is Born

It’s not uncommon in the Yuletide to hear choirs sing a Magnificat, a
cantata based on Mary’s remark, “My soul doth magnify the Lord” in Luke i,
46-55. What is uncommon is to hear one sing a new Magnificat. The
most popular cantatas are from the 18th century, such as the one by J. S. Bach.
But this Yule finds our area with a fresh Magnificat, one by Dr. Linda
Bolding, conductor of the Round Rock Community Choir and choral director at
Pflugerville High. She penned it after having various melodies and harmonies
floating in her head for about a year. “I’m fortunate to have a choir that I
care for and can compose for,” she says. The Round Rock choir will sing
Bolding’s Magnificat Saturday, 7:30pm, and Sunday, 3pm, at C.D. Fulkes
Middle School, 300 W. Anderson, Round Rock. The concerts are free, but
attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food to donate to the Round Rock
Serving Center. Call 255-5458 for info.

Between Art and Politics

Where does art end and the artist begin? What role do an artist’s political or
religious feelings play in presenting and reacting to his work? The questions
are thorny, particularly with Richard Wagner, whose anti-Semitism casts a dark
shadow across his masterful operas. As it readies Tannhauser, its
first-ever production of a Wagner work, Austin Lyric Opera, with the Jewish
Community Center of Austin, will host a panel to discuss these issues. Dr.
Patrick McCreless, UT School of Music; Dr. John Weinstock, UT Department of
Germanic Languages; and Joseph McClain and Margaret Perry of ALO, will talk
about Wagner’s personal views in relation to his music and art appropriated for
political ends. Sandy Levinson, UT Law School, moderates. It happens December
7, Thursday, 7pm, at Temple Beth Israel, 3901 Shoal Creek. Call 472-5927 for
info.

Send news on the local literary, performing, and visual arts scenes to:
“Articulations,”

PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765 or e-mail to: onstage@auschron.com

This article appears in December 1 • 1995 and December 1 • 1995 (Cover).

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