Benedictus

 

A libretto on the life of Spinoza. I have been playing with this for a while. As it stands, it is I think a little wordy to be a libretto. Perhaps something can be done with it. See below for the first and last scenes.

 

The Lesson

 

The Free Man Thinks Least of All of Death 

 

 

Spinoza and Amsterdam

 

There is a statue to Spinoza in Amsterdam, which I visited recently. He is a little marooned in front of the town hall and the sculpture itself isn't that impressive, but it is good to see Amsterdam honouring one of its most famous sons. There is also a Spinoza Street (although the location itself has nothing to do with Spinoza). And although the synagogue from which Spinoza was expelled no longer exists, the Portuguese Synagogue was completed towards the end of 1675, just over a year before Spinoza's death. It was closed the day I visited.