Fersen Cypher

I know that there is much more to the Fresen-Anoinette codes and it is an interesting study, but for lack of a better name for this perticular cypher I have just decided to call it "Fersen".

This is a substitution code, but I find the method of substitition very interesting. Though it is a simple code, it can be used with other forms of cyphers to create a stronger code. But without further ado here is the Fersen Cypher.

A-B
C-D
E-F
G-H
I-J
K-L
M-N
O-P
Q-R
S-T
U-V
W-X
Y-Z

For those who are familier with this cypher: (For those who aren't you can ignore this)
I know I split 'I' and 'J', but it works out neater this way.

This is how it works:

Take my blog name:

A Study in Purple

A becomes B, S becomes T, T becomes S, U becomes V, etc. So incrypted "A Study in Purple" becomes:

B TSVDZ JM OVQOKF.

Simple, non? But then take the encoded name and put it into a geometrical cypher:

B
TS
VDZ
JMOQ
-OKF-

Now we have the incryption: BSZQ TDOF VMK JO. Even if the Fersen code is simple and easy to break, adding a geometric scrambling with make this code multiple times stronger. It makes the geometric shape almost impossible to find because no matter how many shapes one tries, not a single one will produce the message.

Claude Debussy

August 22, 1862 is the birthday of Claude Debussy, one of the most famous Impressionist composers.

When I post these short birthday posts I will select a highlight from the life of that person and (hopefully) write something interesting.

For M. Claude Debussy this highlight shall be the Prix de Rome.

Prix de Rome translated from French means "Price of Rome". Begun in 1663, Le Prix was orignally created as a scholarship for art students. The winners were given several years study in Rome with all expenses paid. At the scholarship's beginning it was offered to painters and sculpters, but was expanded in time to include architects, engravers, and to our interest, musical compositon. Annually, aspiring composers from the Paris Conservatory would submit a single piece for the contest. In 1884 Claude Debussy won this coveted prize with his composition: L'Enfant Prodigue (translation: the child prodigy) at the age of 22. Other famous composers who won this prize include Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet, and Jules Massenet. Maurice Ravel, another famous Impressionist composer contempery of Debussy, tried to win, but came in thrid place.

Some of Debussy's works include:
~Arabsques I&II
~His Etudes (I'm listening to No. 11 right now)
~La Mer
~His Nocturnes
~Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune (forgive my lack of accent marks)
~Suite Bergamasque
~His Violin Sonata (which I really like, especially the Allegro Viva)

Google also recognised Debussy's 151th birthday with a Doodle inspired by Clair de Lune (translation: Moonlight) from Debussey's suite Bergamasque, more specifically: the third movement.

Below is a link to a video of my favourite Debussy piece: Arabesque No. 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1PFa_ltF6k&feature=youtube_gdata_player/a>r
(For those who cannot play it on the piano for themselves.)

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Classical Music Review: Handel's "Messiah"

I have recently enjoyed watching a full preformance of George F. Handel's "Messiah". I can only describe the two and a half hour preformance as awe-inspiring, not only for the composer, the conductor, the orcestra, the singers, and the choir, but more importantly for the Messiah of whom this oratorio is about.

In the version I saw the proformers conststed of a chamber orchestra, a boy's choir, a soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone. This oratorio is preformed in movements (see complete list of movements below) featuring one or more of the afore mentioned performers. For example, two of my favourite movements are #50 O Death, where is thy sting? featuring the Alto and the Tenor and #52 If God be for us, who can be against us? featuring the Soprano. There is no set key for the entire preformance, so every movement has its own independant key, but if you are wondering, the Hallelujah Chorus is in D. Every sung movement is a passage of scripture from the KJV. It is extemely powerful in the order it is sung, as well as the music that accompanies it. One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this work is that the majority of the Scripture is Messianic prophecy from the Old Testament. Here is a web address that lists all of the scriptures for each movement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_Handel's_Messiah

We have all (hopefully) heard the most famous part of "Messiah": the Hallelujah Chorus. It conjures up a feeling of grandure, majesty, of hope, and of joy. Did you know is tradtional to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus? This tradition supposedly originated when King George II rose during the chorus, and everyone in the theater did the same, and that began the tradition of rising during the Hallujah Chorus. This is the most widely proposed theory, but there are more. Why did the king rise? Here are some of the most popular speculations: because he was moved by the music, or because he was moved by the Majesty of God. But there is so much more to this oratorio. It covers the promise of Salvation, the reason of this Salvation: the coming judement, the prophecies of the coming Salvation, the angelicly heralded birth of this Salvation, His life, the emence sorrow and grief of His death, of His subsequent victory over death, of the victory over death (the wages of sin Rom.3:23) that we may obtain through Him, and of the awe-inspiring glory of this Salvation... and more. So, in conclution, I would highly recomend seeing Handel's "Messiah" in it's entirety, I was certainly blessed amd I hope you would be as well. Below is a link to the version I saw on YouTube.

Part I
Scene 1: Isaiah's prophecy of salvation
1. Sinfony (instrumental)
2. Comfort ye my people (tenor)
3. Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (tenor)
4. And the glory of the Lord (chorus)

Scene 2: The coming judgment
5. Thus saith the Lord of hosts (bass)
6. But who may abide the day of His coming (alto)
7. And he shall purify the sons of Levi (chorus)

Scene 3: The prophecy of Christ's birth
8. Behold, a virgin shall conceive (alto)
9. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (alto and chorus)
10. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (bass)
11. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (bass)
12. For unto us a child is born (chorus)

Scene 4: The annunciation to the shepherds
13. Pifa ("pastoral symphony": instrumental)
14a. There were shepherds abiding in the fields (soprano)
14b. And lo, the angel of the Lord (soprano)
15. And the angel said unto them (soprano)
16. And suddenly there was with the angel (soprano)
17. Glory to God in the highest (chorus)

Scene 5: Christ's healing and redemption
18. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (soprano)
19. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (soprano)
20. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd (alto and soprano)
21. His yoke is easy (chorus)

Part II
Scene 1: Christ's Passion
22. Behold the Lamb of God (chorus)
23. He was despised and rejected of men (alto)
24. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (chorus)
25. And with his stripes we are healed (chorus)
26. All we like sheep have gone astray (chorus)
27. All they that see him laugh him to scorn (tenor)
28. He trusted in God that he would deliver him (chorus)
29. Thy rebuke hath broken his heart (tenor or soprano)
30. Behold and see if there be any sorrow (tenor or soprano)

Scene 2: Christ's Death and Resurrection
31. He was cut off (tenor or soprano)
32. But thou didst not leave his soul in hell (tenor or soprano)

Scene 3: Christ's Ascension
33. Lift up your heads, O ye gates (chorus)

Scene 4: Christ's reception in Heaven
34. Unto which of the angels (tenor)
35. Let all the angels of God worship Him (chorus)

Scene 5: The beginnings of Gospel preaching
36. Thou art gone up on high (soprano)
37. The Lord gave the word (chorus)
38. How beautiful are the feet (soprano)
39. Their sound is gone out (chorus)

Scene 6: The world's rejection of the Gospel
40. Why do the nations so furiously rage together (bass)
41. Let us break their bonds asunder (chorus)
42. He that dwelleth in heaven (tenor)

Scene 7: God's ultimate victory
43. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (tenor)
44. Hallelujah (chorus)

Part III
Scene 1: The promise of eternal life
45. I know that my Redeemer liveth (soprano)
46. Since by man came death (chorus)

Scene 2: The Day of Judgment
47. Behold, I tell you a mystery (bass)
48. The trumpet shall sound (bass)

Scene 3: The final conquest of sin
49. Then shall be brought to pass (alto)
50. O death, where is thy sting (alto and tenor)
51. But thanks be to God (chorus)
52. If God be for us, who can be against us (soprano)

Scene 4: The acclamation of the Messiah
53. Worthy is the Lamb (chorus)
Amen (chorus)


Below is a link to the version I saw preformed by The Choir of King's College in Cambridge. The only warning is that the gowns of the alto and sorprano are immodest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZTZRtRFkvk&feature=youtube_gdata_player /a>

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Geometric Cyphers

I will be putting up some of my old posts, like this one.

I have been enjoying Geometry the last few weeks. I love it! Who wouldn't enjoy practical logic puzzles that involve mathematics? I also love cryptology. One of the many ways of encrpting information is by using a geometric shape, such a triangle, rombus, rectangle, or square, to scramble the letters of a message in a fashion that is easily reversed... if you know or can find the correct shape.

For example, take the message "Come at once." in a triangle:

C
AO
NTM
ECOE

The message can now be read as: CAONTMECOE, with spacing as disired, sets of 5 are traditional, but various sets of random lengths may cause a code breaker to try breaking it as a substitution code. It can also be read as: ENACCTOME, ECOENTMAOC, or CANEOTCMOE.

Below, I have a sample that you can try to decrypt, it is a very simple one, I used one of the shapes mentioned above, and the text, once properly arranged, is easily read left to right. The dash in the code is an empty square in the shape. Graph paper is very useful (if you do not use a computer).

TTTH HHHI EEES HGFH ELIA AORN VRMD EYAY NOMW
SFEO DGNR EOTK CDSP LAHS ANOA RDWL E-SM

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Commencement

I have a boring blog: I hardly ever post and when I do it is usually not even something original. Something must be done. Due to the lack of privacy on the Internet; I do not wish to maintain a blog containing information of personal activities, beliefs (though some will probably slip through), photos, Et cetera. Therefore, I am completely restarting this blog. My new blog will be called A Study in Purple, a play on the title of Sherlock Holmes' first adventure recorded by Dr. Watson: A Study in Scarlet. It will be an academic blog featuring articles about Science, Mathematics, Cryptography, Classical Music, Foreign Language, or whatever catches my interest. My goal is to post at least once a month, we'll see how it goes. I am finally getting around to restarting, and it happens to be at the exact date I began this blog on 1 July, 2011.

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