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The Day Vesuvius Erupted: Lost World of Pompeii

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The Day Vesuvius Erupted: Lost World of Pompeii

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The Ancient City Frozen In Ash | Lost World Of Pompeii | Timeline

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Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History

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Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History

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(Image credit: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-99860p1.html">Klagyi</a> | <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/">Shutterstock</a>)

Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is best known because of the eruption in A.D. 79 that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but Vesuvius has erupted more than 50 times.

Mount Vesuvius facts

Vesuvius in 2013 was 4,203 feet (1,281 meters) tall. After each eruption, the size of the cone changes, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The volcano also has a semicircular ridge called Mount Somma that rises to 3,714 feet (1,132 m). The valley between the cone and Mount Somma is called Valle del Gigante or Giant's Valley.

Mount Vesuvius is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its proximity to the city of Naples and the surrounding towns on the nearby slopes.

The volcano is classed as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows. A pyroclastic flow is a high-density mix of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash and volcanic gas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Vesuvius and other Italian volcanoes, such as Campi Flegrei and Stromboli, are part of the Campanian volcanic arc. The Campanian arc sits on a tectonic boundary where the African plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate.

Under Vesuvius, scientists have detected a tear in the African plate. This "slab window" allows heat from the Earth's mantle layer to melt the rock of the African plate building up pressure that causes violent explosive eruptions. In the past, Mount Vesuvius has had a roughly 20-year eruption cycle, but the last serious eruption was in 1944.

Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii, a city south of Rome, in A.D. 79 in about 25 hours, according to History. Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site is a well-preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. There is also a detailed account of the disaster recorded by Pliny the Younger, who interviewed survivors and recorded events in a letter to his friend Tacitus. [ Related: Pompeii 'Wall Posts' Reveal Ancient Social Networks]

(Image credit: deepblue-photographer Shutterstock)

Pompeii was established in 600 B.C. and was slowly recovering from a major earthquake that rocked the city in February of A.D. 62. The shallow quake, originating beneath Mount Vesuvius, had caused major damage to the springs and piping that provided the city's water. Reconstruction was being carried out on several temples and public buildings. Seneca, a historian, recorded that the quakes lasted for several days and also heavily damaged the town of Herculaneum and did minor damage to the city of Naples before subsiding. The major quake was followed by several minor shakes throughout the following years. [ Image Gallery: Pompeii's Toilets]

Because seismic activity was so common in the area, citizens paid little attention in early August of 79 when several quakes shook the earth beneath Herculaneum and Pompeii. People were unprepared for the explosion that took place shortly after noon on the 24th of August. Around 2,000 residents survived the first blast.

(Image credit: Alessandro Colle Shutterstock)

Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, described the massive debris cloud. "It resembled a (Mediterranean) pine more than any other tree. Like a very high tree the cloud went high and expanded in different branches ... sometimes white, sometimes dark and stained by the sustained sand and ashes." In Pompeii, ash blocked the sun by 1 p.m. and the people tried to clear heavy ash from rooftops as it fell at a rate of about 6 inches (15 centimeters) an hour. [ Image Gallery: Preserved Pompeii - Photos Reveal City in Ash]

Shortly after midnight, a wall of volcanic mud engulfed the town of Herculaneum, obliterating the town as its citizens fled toward Pompeii. About 6:30 a.m. on the following morning, a glowing cloud of volcanic gases and debris rolled down Vesuvius' slopes and enveloped the city of Pompeii. Most victims died instantly as the superheated air burned their lungs and contracted their muscles, leaving the bodies in a semi-curled position to be quickly buried in ash and thus preserved in detail for hundreds of years.

Far away in Misenum, approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Pompeii, Pliny the Younger, the 18-year-old nephew of Pliny the Elder, and his mother joined other refugees escaping the earthquakes rocking their city. They observed, "the sea retreating as if pushed by the earthquakes." This was probably caused by a tsunami at the climax of the eruption, which gives us the time frame for historical record. Pliny writes of "black and horrible clouds, broken by sinuous shapes of flaming wind." He describes people wheezing and gasping because of that wind; the same wind that doomed the people of Pompeii.

It is believed that around 30,000 people died from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79.

WWII eruption

On March 17, 1944, a two-week-long eruption began with lava from the summit of Mount Vesuvius. In an article by Life Magazine, Giuseppe Imbo, director of the Mt. Vesuvius Observatory, is quoted as saying, "A marvelous thing, my Vesuvius. It covers land with precious ash that makes the earth fertile and grapes grow, and wine. That's why, after every eruption, people rebuild their homes on the slopes of the volcano. That is why they call the slopes of Vesuvius the compania felix - the happy land."

During the eruption, soldiers and airmen of the 340th Bomber Group were stationed at the Pompeii Airfield just a few miles from the base of the volcano. Diaries record the awesome sights and sounds they witnessed in this latest major eruption. Guards wore leather jackets and "steel pot" helmets to protect themselves from rains of hot ash and small rocks. Tents collapsed or caught fire when hot cinders were blown over them.

Sgt. Robert F. McRae wrote in his diary on March 20, 1944, according to the American Geosciences Institute, "As I sit in my tent ... I can hear at four- to 10-second intervals the loud rumbling of the volcano on the third day of its present eruption. The noise is like that of bowling balls slapping into the pins on a giant bowling alley. To look above the mountain tonight, one would think that the world was on fire. The thickly clouded sky glows like that above a huge forest fire. Glowing brighter as new spouts of flame and lava are spewn from the crater. As the clouds pass from across the top of the mountain, the flame and lava can be seen shooting high into the sky to spill over the sides and run in red streams down the slopes. ... Today it is estimated that a path of molten lava 1 mile long, half a mile wide, and 8 feet deep is rolling down the mountain. Towns on the slopes are preparing to evacuate. Our location is, apparently, safe. At any rate no one here, civilian or Army authorities, seems too much worried. Lava has not started to flow down this side of the mountain as yet but is flowing on the other side toward Naples."

On March 22, they were forced to evacuate, leaving behind 88 Allied aircraft. After the volcano subsided, they returned on the 30th to find the planes were a total loss. Engines were clogged by ash, control panels were useless tangles of fused wire, canopies had holes from flying rock or were etched to opacity by wind driven ash.

One airman of the 489th Bomber Squadron complained in his diary when Axis Sally broadcast a radio show dedicated to the "survivors" of the Vesuvius eruption (actually the most severe human casualty was a wrist sprained during the evacuation). She told all of Europe that "Colonel Vesuvius" had destroyed all of them. The diarist was justifiably proud of the work he did with his fellows in recovery. By April 15, the planes had been replaced and the 340th Bomber Group was back to full strength and ready to fly missions from their new base.

Though no soldiers were killed, 26 Italian civilians died and nearly 12,000 were displaced by the 1944 eruption, according to the American Geosciences Institute.

Current status

Since 1944, there have been hundreds of minor earthquakes in the region around Mount Vesuvius. The most serious earthquake rocked Naples in October 1999. The magnitude-3.6 quake was felt as far as 15 miles (24 km) from the base of the volcano and was of the same magnitude as a quake that occurred 17 years prior to the last truly major explosion that devastated Naples in 1631.

In 2016, excavations on the outskirts of Pompeii revealed more victims of the volcanic eruption. Archaeologists discovered the remains of four people, including one teenage girl, in the ruins of a shop, according to a statement from the Soprintendenza Pompei, the Italian authority in charge of managing the ancient site.
Additional reporting by Alina Bradford, Live Science contributor Additional resources

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Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History

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(Image credit: Klagyi | Shutterstock ) Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is best known because of the eruption in A.D. 79 that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but Vesuvius has erupted more than 50 times.

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I recently had the honor of interviewing composer and teacher Frank Ticheli. In addition to composing, he joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. He is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in the repertoire. However, as you will read, he is an extremely prolific composer of many musical genres. He received his doctoral and master's degrees in composition from the University of Michigan. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw, and Encore Music, and are recorded on the labels of Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Klavier, Koch International, Mark Custom, Naxos, and Reference Recordings. When did you begin in music?
By age nine, I had already been exposed to a lot of early jazz music. I grew up near New Orleans, and my father would take me into the jazz clubs, and play lots of records of traditional jazz. When it was time to get an instrument, my father took me to a pawn shop in the heart of the French Quarter. In the shop window was a beautiful used clarinet for $80 that really got my attention, and an old beat-up trumpet that looked horrible, but was selling for $45. My dad said, "Sorry, Son, you're going to play the trumpet!"
Did you have a specific "a-ha" moment when you knew you wanted to be a musician?
There were many signal moments, starting with my early exposure to New Orleans Jazz. At age 13 my family moved from Louisiana to Richardson, Texas, jolting me from a very modest music program to the powerhouse program at Berkner High School. I had no idea kids my age could even sound that good. Going straight from playing out of method books in Louisiana to playing very high- level music in Texas was a culture shock to me. It lit a fire in my belly that has never been extinguished.
What inspired you to become a composer?
The above-mentioned culture shock had a lot to do with this. I remember fantasizing about creating music that sounded as good as the stuff my high school director, Bobby Floyd, exposed us to. I also began lifting music off of records - mostly Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson recordings - to see what made the music tick. An assistant director, Jerry Brumbaugh, told me that what I was doing was unique, and suggested that I had the ear of a composer. Dictating music came very naturally to me, and I thought any musician could do it. But he pointed out that no, most musicians could not write down whatever they hear, and that it was a kind of talent that composers need to have. It really got me thinking in that direction.
When did you start composing and what instrument or ensemble did you start writing for?
When I began my undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University back in the mid-1970s, I applied for the major in composition; however, because I had not yet composed any real music, I was told it was too late for me! This, of course, made me want to work even harder to prove the professor wrong, and fortunately for me, I was admitted to the program by my junior year. My first official piece, Trio for Brass, is a little suite built from quartal (4th-based) harmony. It was okay for a first piece, but, like all of my undergraduate works, lacked formal tension and any sense of urgency. It took a long time for me to learn how to compose music that deserves to have a life. It takes most composers a long time to learn this.
Do you have a mentor, or someone who has influenced your style of writing the most? If so, who would that be?
I did my graduate studies in composition at the University of Michigan, where I had the privilege of studying with William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett and William Albright. I'll never forget my first lesson with Bill Bolcom. I showed up with what I thought was a respectable amount of music for a first lesson. Bill proceeded to read it flawlessly at the piano, casually saying, "Ah, yes, it's a sequence; it goes up. But what else do you have to show?"

Ouch!

In a flash, I learned that if I wanted to call myself a composer, I'd better start composing!

Another signal moment occurred not with a teacher, but with a fellow student, Mark Kilstofte (now a successful composer at Furman University). When we were just 23 or 24 years old, I said to him one day, "I think I'm going to quit composing altogether; I'm not even the best student composer here at Michigan, so how on earth am I going to make it in the real world?" His reply possessed the wisdom of a much older person: "Frank, we don't compose to be the best. We do it because each of us is different; each of us brings something unique to the world of music. Stop wasting your energy on trying to be the best; instead, spend it on getting to know who you really are!" Thankfully, I listened to him.
What would you say defines your style?
I'm actually uncomfortable talking about my musical style. Music takes us to a place that transcends words. If it didn't, there would not be much point in writing the music. I will say that, like so many American composers, I've been influenced by a whole gumbo of musical cultures: early jazz, Cajun/Creole, folk, popular, European modernism, classical. It's all there; I just don't like analyzing it too deeply. I prefer to just do it.
What are you working on now?
I just finished Songs of Love and Life for soprano and small wind ensemble (18 players), based on poems by four contemporary American poets. It's for my dear friend Allan McMurray, who recorded it with his terrific Colorado University Wind Ensemble and soloist Jennifer Bird-Arvidsson for the Klavier label (I think it's coming out in the fall.) Eugene Corporon is also releasing a recording sometime in early 2013. If all goes well, my wonderful publisher, Manhattan Beach Music, should be releasing it later this year. I'm very excited about this work.

But now, I'm right in the middle of a big choral symphony, The Shore, to be premiered next season in celebration of the Pacific Chorale conductor John Alexander's 40th anniversary season. It's based on four terrific poems by poet/colleague David St. John. The Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony are recording it for the Delos label, and I can't wait!

It's ironic that many who will read this blog know me only as a composer of band works. My last three commissions have not been for the traditional band medium. I love the band medium, but I also love wearing different hats.
Do you have one of your own works which you would call your favorite?
Each work is kind of like a child, and it's always difficult to pick a favorite child. But as a conductor I love how Angels in the Architecture covers this huge expressive range, from very personal private moments to public gargantuan moments. It's so much fun to conduct when performed well. I enjoy Blue Shades , and American Elegy is very special to me because of its connection to Columbine High School. My choral work, There Will Be Rest, is very special as it is dedicated to the memory of the son of one of my dearest friends. Finally, my new Clarinet Concerto, composed for soloist Håkan Rosengren, is perhaps one of my very best works to date. Each of the three movements pays tribute to a different American icon: Rhapsody for George (Gershwin), Song for Aaron (Copland), and Riffs for Lenny (Bernstein). For whatever reason, the concerto ended up meeting, even exceeding, my expectations. Sometimes we composers get lucky.
Do you have any advice or tips for those interested in composing?
Listening to music by the masters, preferably with the score, is just as important as composing. I encourage my students to find moments from the repertoire that particularly speak to them, then take the time to make a score reduction of those moments. They can then bang the music out on the piano and discover why they love it. A licensed mechanic needs to take a car apart and put it back together again to really know the car. We do not do this enough as musicians. Isolate the music that you love, reduce it, take it apart, and take the time to really find out why you love it.

Listening to rehearsals and live performances of your own music is also important. A 45-minute rehearsal session can teach a young composer more about their music than an entire semester of private lessons because it can produce instant epiphanies. You can sometimes hear in an instant why a whole section doesn't work, or, on the other hand, why one isolated measure is good enough to inspire the entire next piece!
Would you say your music comes to you more often through slow, careful planning, or by sudden inspiration?
Yes. (laughs)

Sometimes music arrives in bursts where my pencil can't keep up with my imagination, and sometimes it seems as though it will never come. Sometimes a short motive or even a single chord can inspire a whole piece. Other times, it may just be a vague feeling, and then I need to find the music to fit that feeling. It's more an art than a craft, more a mystery than a method, and with every new piece, I feel a bit like a beginner again. I really don't trust anybody who claims to understand how one composes. Music is mysterious, elusive, hard won. I used to try to ignore the difficulty, but I've since come around to celebrating it. It's these very mysteries and challenges that draw us to music.
Do you have a specific type or style of work you prefer to write for?
I would love to write more chamber music, and also an opera set in old New Orleans.
What is your favorite aspect of composing?
I love doing the work! I go to my backyard studio every day and ask myself, "what if?" Some days are better than others, but I can't wait to get out there. The fact that I get to create something that hasn't been heard before is amazing. They pay me for this? I feel very lucky. I also love it when gifted conductors and performers show me another correct point of view about my own music, something I hadn't thought of. I love those who are not afraid to show the heart and soul of the music, the human vulnerability that lies behind the notated page, the excitement, sadness, joy, fear, darkness, light. It's the subtlety, the poetry of music that turns me on, not the literal stuff.
Could you tell me something people don't know about you?
I love languages. I have studied Italian for 12 years. I speak German, badly, but enough to get by. I'm currently studying Mandarin Chinese, and I love the tonal aspect of that language. I also love history, and am an obsessive reader of nonfiction. We live at the foot of a very large mountain, and I love to hike it with my wife and kids.
"Inside the Actors Studio"-Type Questions:

What is your favorite word? - In Italian: "Andiamo! " ("Let's go!") In English: "Epiphany"

What is your least favorite word? - "Like" (as overused by so many young folks)

What sound or noise do you love? - Offstage trumpet

What sound or noise do you hate? - My current trumpet sound

What is on your iPod? - Most recently: David Diamond symphonies and Piazzolla tangos

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt? - Cooking

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with, living or dead, that you haven't yet? - More poets

If you were stranded on a desert island, and could only have the music of one composer, other than yourself, who would that, be? - Beethoven (oh, how cliché of me!)

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Band Composer Series: Frank Ticheli - Cued In

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I recently had the honor of interviewing composer and teacher Frank Ticheli. In addition to composing, he joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. He is well known for his works for concert band, many of which have become standards in [...]

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Vesuvius for Concert Band by Frank Ticheli (FULL SCORE)

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The complete conductor score of Vesuvius for concert band by Frank Ticheli

The complete conductor score of Vesuvius for concert band by Frank Ticheli

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Vesuvius for concert band by Frank Ticheli

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The complete conductor score of Vesuvius for concert band by Frank Ticheli

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Frank Ticheli (b. January 21, 1958) is an American born composer. His works are diverse and include pieces for concert band, orchestra, chorus, and various chamber groups. Ticheli graduated high school from L.V. Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas. Upon graduating high school, he attended Southern Methodist University in University Park Texas. Here he studied with Donald Erb and Jack Waldenmaier and earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition. Ticheli then studied with William Albright, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, and George Wilson and the University of Michigan, where he earned both his Master's and Doctorate degrees in Composition.

Following completion of his degree's, Ticheli became an Assistant Professor of Music in San Antonio, Texas at Trinity University. While in Texas, he was a member of the advisory committee for the San Antonio Symphony's "Music of the Americas" project and also served on the board of directors of the Texas Composers Forum. From 1991 thru 1998, Ticheli was composer-in-residence with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in Orange County, California. He has been a Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California's Thorton School of Music since 1991.

Over his lifetime, Ticheli has been the recipient of many awards. He has received The Arts and Letters Award, Goddard Lieberson Fellowship, and Charles Ives Scholarship, all from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Ticheli has also received the National Band Association/Revelli Memorial Prize, the A. Austin Harding Award, and First Prize in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, the Britten-on-the-Bay Choral Composition Contest, and the Virginia CBDNA Symposium for New Band Music. At USC, he has received the Virginia Ramo Award for excellence in teaching, and the Dean's Award for Professional Achievement. In 2011, Ticheli even endowed the "Frank Ticheli Composition Scholarship" which is to be awarded to an incoming graduation composition student each year.

Ticheli's music has been described as being as "optimistic and thoughtful" by the Los Angeles Times, "lean and muscular" by the New York Times, "brilliantly effective" by the Miami Herald and "powerful, deeply felt crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors" by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. His works are published by Manhattan Beach, Southern, Hinshaw, and Encore Music and are recorded on the labels Albany, Chandos, Clarion, Equilibrium, Klavier, Koch International, Mark, Naxos, and Reference.
For orchestra For solo with orchestra For chorus For concert band/wind ensemble For chamber ensemble

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Frank Ticheli (b. January 21, 1958) is an American born composer. His works are diverse and include pieces for concert band, orchestra, chorus, and various chamber groups. Ticheli graduated high school from L.V. Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas. Upon graduating high school, he attended Southern Methodist University in University Park Texas.

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A Conductor's Perspective  of Ticheli's Vesuvius by Andy Pease

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A Conductor's Perspective  of Ticheli's Vesuvius by Andy Pease

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Educated at the University of Michigan, composer Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) has become one of the biggest names in new wind band repertoire. Since 1991 he has been a Professor of Composition USC-Thornton and, until 1998, Composer in Residence of the Pacific Symphony. The recipient of many awards, he was most recently winner of the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest for his Symphony No. 2.

Ticheli's own program note best describes his intent in writing Vesuvius:

Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that destroyed Pompeii in A.D. 79, is an icon of power and energy in this work. Originally I had in mind a wild and passionate dance such as might have been performed at an ancient Roman Bacchanalia. During the compositional process, I began to envision something more explosive and fiery. With its driving rhythms, exotic modes, and quotations from the Dies Irae from the medieval Requiem Mass, it became evident that the Bacchanalia I was writing could represent a dance from the final days of the doomed city of Pompeii.

More info on Ticheli's Vesuvius can be found here, at his publisher's website. This site is also home to a complete, downloadable set of mp3s of the vast majority of his large ensemble music - quite a find!

Frank Ticheli's personal website, Frankticheli.com.

Ticheli bio on wikipedia.

Frank Ticheli's Facebook fanclub.

A video interview with Ticheli in which he talks about composing.

An anonymous band plays Vesuvius:

Want to know more about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius? Check it out on wikipedia.

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Educated at the University of Michigan, composer Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) has become one of the biggest names in new wind band repertoire. Since 1991 he has been a Professor of Composition USC-Thornton and, until 1998, Composer in Residence of the Pacific Symphony.

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Score Analysis of Frank Ticheli's Vesuvius

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Score Analysis of Frank Ticheli's Vesuvius

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SCORE STUDY EPISODE #16: VESUVIUS (Frank Ticheli)