‘The architecture and decor of historic Hudson River villas'

Middletown — A lecture with slides titled, “Living in Nature’s Realm: The Architecture and Decor of Historic Hudson River Villas,” will be held at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15, in the Morrison Hall mansion. The speaker will be Barrymore Laurence Scherer. Nineteenth-century America saw the widespread influence of Romanticism on poetry, painting, and lifestyles. This influence was particularly apparent in the Romantic design of country houses, which were called villas. Architects Andrew Jackson Downing and Alexander Jackson Davis popularized the notion of the special qualities inherent in a country house. Writers such as Longfellow and Washington Irving promoted these picturesque ideals. The presentation will provide a tour of old country houses in the Hudson Valley, with a side trip to Newport, Rhode Island. It will include many rare period photographs that show how villas like Sunnyside, Lyndhurst, and Olana were furnished when the region was home to the likes of Washington Irving, Jay Gould, Frederick Edwin Church, the Roosevelts, and the Vanderbilts. An introductory program of authentic period music will set the tone. Scherer is music critic for The Wall Street Journal and author of the book “The History of American Classical Music” as well as “Bravo! A Guide to Opera for the Perplexed.” He is a a regular commentator for NPR, and a contributing editor of Art and Auction magazine. In addition, he lectures at Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the National Gallery, and with the New York Philharmonic. This Lyceum lecture event is free and open to the public. It is presented by Cultural Affairs department at Orange County Community College and sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities, Speakers in the Humanities. For more information call 341-4891, e-mail cultural@sunyorange.edu, or visit www.sunyorange.edu/lyceum.