Gentlemen (and lady), Naming is personal. Nostradamus chose the name he would write under. And (US Pres) Jimmy Carter's press secretary, Hamilton Jordan pronounced his name "Jerdan". I once nearly married a rich lady from Newport, RI, who referred to the "bawdy street" downtown (where the sailors went) as "Tems Street", although spelled Thames. The river in London is the "Tems" (Norman difficulty with the "th" sound, going back a thousand years). The street, and the river in Connecticutt are both Thames (with the "th"). And the town Cairo outside of Chicago is "Cayro". And when I was living in Brussels some years ago I went for breakfast at a Brit place on Rue Archimedes, which the Brits (Anglophone) pronounced closer to the ancient Greek than the French. "Archimed" versus "Arkimedes", but both have the vowels wrong.
Summary, a proper name is just that, the name used by the owner or the locality. And if they chose to change it during their career there is no problem (except for historians). I get the sneaky feeling that Attila the Hun's birth certificate wasn't in Romanic letters. BTW, were I to find a famous musician in my ancestry his Anglisized name would probably be Mercou rather than Murphy. Translation "sea warrior" (loose translation), meaning I ain't Irish - I'm the product of Danish rape <g>. Nomenclature, and exact verbiage, are a verdant plain for the world's nit-pickers. They can graze on the green grass of homonym and find synonym. The spelling of a name is variable, at least in the time of Shakspere, or is it Shakespeare, or is it Shkspre. In the day of handwritten documents the spelling was not so necessary as the word of the signer. And I say this as the newly confirmed, by the Motor Vehicle Department of the state of New Jersey, Jonathan W. Murphy. Eight years I have driven on an illegal NY lisence (not truly illegal, but living in NJ I was supposed to get the Jersey License. But they said may name was Alan J. Murphy, while Social Security and my passport and everything else read Jonathan W. Murphy. Finally won the argument, and have a legal driver ID as Jonathan W. Murphy - being christened Alan Jonathan Wyman Murphy). OK, So if van Rijn (also spelled van Rin, or van Rjn) wants to use his first name, Rembrandt on one painting, and just call himself Amos on another, it is his right). If an Italian lutenist wants to play in France and use the French spelling, then he is "entitled". (Good NYC term, as long as you make the "ts" into "ds"). It is not the exact spelling of the name, it is the person who is attached to the name. And that does make it difficult to be historically correct. Was it "the school of Rembrandt", or the man himself. Not important except to investors. And the same applies to the luthiers and the lutenists. Just enjoy the music and don't worry about who wrote it. Best, Jon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anthony Glass" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2004 5:04 PM Subject: RE: HIN (Historical Informed Naming) > This raises an interesting point--why do we so often refer to certain > Renaissance artists (and others I'm sure) by their forenames? After all, > who ever heard of Buonarroti's "David"? Sure, you read about the "da Vinci > Code", but his artworks are at least as often attributed to Leonardo. And, > should it be "Rembrandt" or "van Rijn"? "Dante" or "Alighieri"? It does > seem > a rather arbitrary convention--is it only us Anglophones who use it? What > rules govern the usage or non-usage of forenames as the proper heading? > > Curiously yours, > > Tony > > >> Please, PLEASE!! Stop, once and forever, to call Francesco da Milano (or >> Francesco Canova if you prefer) just as Francesco! There are a few other >> much more important composers named Francesco, Francesco Durante and >> Francesco Geminiani just to name two, and even a Francesco da Parigi >> lutenist, not to say millions of Francesco living in Italy and in >> the world. >> PLEEAAASE! Be truly Historically Informed and call people with their >> right >> name. >> >> Thanks a lot in advance! >> >> Francesco Tribioli >> >> >> >> > > > > > >
