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10 unusual facts about Belshazzar


Adolph Robert Kraus

His death was hastened by madness induced by failure to complete a sculpture of Belshazzar at the moment of seeing the handwriting on the wall; he died in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Belshazzar

During the 1884 United States presidential campaign, Republican candidate James G. Blaine dined at a New York City restaurant with some wealthy business executives including "Commodore" Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, etc.

The Austin, Texas band Sound Team references Belshazzar with the lyric: "But I don't have to sleep at Belshazzar's house anymore / Gave up the center line" on the track "No More Birthdays" off their Movie Monster LP.

Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, liked to incorporate historical names into his pseudo-historical stories.

Howard also used the name of 'Nabonidus' (father of Belshazzar) in the Conan tale "Rogues in the House" which appeared in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian #11.

Hoffnung Music Festival

They included works such as Haydn's Surprise Symphony 'with extra surprises' added by Donald Swann, an 'excerpt from Belshazzar's Feast, with full orchestra and chorus conducted by William Walton himself (with a fly swat), which turned out to consist of just a single chord with the word "Slain!", and humorous works specially commissioned from well-known composers of the day.

Paul-Alain Beaulieu

In contrast to the previous book by Raymond P. Dougherty, Beaulieu's book downplays the role of Nabonidus' heterodox religious beliefs in causing his split rule with his son Belshazzar, instead highlighting political and economic factors.

Peter G. Fletcher

At Dalhousie, he was conductor of the Dalhousie Chorale and the Dalhousie Orchestra, and with the chorale gave performances of several large works including the St. John Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach and Belshazzar's Feast by William Walton.

Spaceship Warlock

The player can afford a ticket to the luxurious cruise spaceship Belshazzar.

Susan Hiller

Many of her works explore the liminality of certain phenomena including the practice of automatic writing (Sisters of Menon, 1972/79; Homage to Gertrude Stein, 2010), near death experiences (Clinic, 2004) and collective experiences of unconscious, subconscious and paranormal activity (Dream Mapping, 1974; Belshazzar's Feast, 1983-4; Dream Screens, 1996;


1745 in poetry

Charles Jennens, Belshazzar: An oratorio, verse and music; performed in March; music by Handel

Jennens

Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar.

Robin Milford

In September 1931 his oratorio A Prophet in the Land Op. 21 was performed in Gloucester Cathedral as part of the Three Choirs Festival - the work was somewhat overshadowed by the splash made by William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast performed the same year.

Yuri Kara

Yuri Kara became known in Russia with his movies Thieves within the Law (1988) and The Feasts of Belshazzar, or a Night with Stalin (1990), and with his conflict with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) which was caused by his film The Prize is a Trip into Space, based on the novel Cassandra's Brand written by the Russian author Chinghiz Aitmatov.