68 résultats pour "dramatic"

• African Theater I INTRODUCTION African Theater, traditional, historical, and contemporary dramatic forms in Africa south of the Sahara.

  The period after World War II ended in 1945 led to the struggle for and achievement of independence in many African countries. The new nation-states were oftenestablished along colonial boundaries and power was handed over to a bourgeois class who had been educated in Europe. The epoch-making era of nationalismproduced a number of African playwrights who merged African theatrical traditions with European forms. These plays are still widely performed and read in many partsof the continent. Nigeri...

• African Theater I INTRODUCTION African Theater, traditional, historical, and contemporary dramatic forms in Africa south of the Sahara.

  The period after World War II ended in 1945 led to the struggle for and achievement of independence in many African countries. The new nation-states were oftenestablished along colonial boundaries and power was handed over to a bourgeois class who had been educated in Europe. The epoch-making era of nationalismproduced a number of African playwrights who merged African theatrical traditions with European forms. These plays are still widely performed and read in many partsof the continent. Nigeri...

• Richard Wagner.

  which took place in August 1876. Wagner completed his final opera, Parsifal (which he called a 'festival drama of dedication' for the Festspielhaus), in 1882, and it premiered that July. In September Wagner moved to Venice, where in February 1883, after a heated argument with Cosima, he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was buried in Bayreuth. III MUSIC AND THOUGHT In the early 19th century, an opera was structured as a succession of conventional self-contained forms such as aria (a vocal so...

• American Literature: Drama I INTRODUCTION American Literature: Drama, literature intended for performance, written by Americans in the English language.

  American plays, while still a minority, began to appear in the theater repertory in the 19th century. Although American plays were still styled after British models, theirsubject matter came to be based on specifically American incidents or themes. In the United States as in Britain, many plays reflected the influence of romanticism , a European literary and artistic movement. Melodrama, with its outpourings of emotion, was the most prevalent dramatic form in the 19th century. Gothic melodramas...

• Asian Theater I INTRODUCTION Asian Theater, live performance, featuring actors or puppets, native to Asia, a continent with more than 2 billion people of many nations and cultures.

  III THEATER IN EAST ASIA Theater in East Asia includes the traditions of China, Japan, and Korea. Most Chinese theater is urban, secular (nonreligious) entertainment, influenced by the ethics of Confucianism. However, a belief in spirits influences rituals performed by ethnic minorities in China, and Buddhism dominates traditional Tibetan performance. Japanesedramatic forms combine native shamanistic performance, secular entertainment, and cultural or religious influences from China and Kore...

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

  including the sacred style of church music and the so-called galant (courtly) idiom. The elegant though often superficial galant style dominated much instrumental music of the 1760s and 1770s. Mozart’s mastery often demonstrates itself in an ability to expand and deepen the stylistic possibilities of the time. The manner in which heextended the character and form of the concerto, for instance, owes much to his experience in writing operatic arias. A Musical Expressiveness In the masterful Je...

• Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky I INTRODUCTION Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's work combined Russian and European influences.

  The period of his connection with von Meck was one of rich productivity for Tchaikovsky. To this time belong the operas Eugene Onegin (1879), The Maid of Orleans (1881), Mazeppa (1884), and The Sorceress (1887); the ballets Swan Lake (1877) and The Sleeping Beauty (1890); the Violin Concerto in D Major (1878) and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major (1881); the orchestral works Marche Slave (1876), Symphony No. 4 in F Minor (1878), Capriccio Italien (1880), Serenade (1881), the 1...

• George Frideric Handel I INTRODUCTION Handel's Water Music In addition to his popular operas and oratorios, German-born composer George Frideric Handel wrote music in the 1700s for the church and for royal celebrations.

  During the 1720s and 1730s Handel worked primarily as a composer and producer of operas for the London stage. This extremely productive phase of his career beganwith the opening of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1719. The Royal Academy was founded with the support of the king and aristocratic subscribers for theproduction of Italian operas. Its directors sent Handel to continental Europe to hire some of the world’s greatest singers. Handel was not the only composer writingoperas for Aca...

• Theater I INTRODUCTION The Art of Theater BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.

  Theater at EpidaurusAncient Greek dramas were performed in open-air theaters like this one in Epidaurus, Greece, which was designed byPolyclitus the Younger in 350 bc. A festival of ancient Greek drama is still held in the summer in this 14,000-seat theater.Roger Wood/Corbis Fundamental to the theater experience is the act of seeing and being seen; in fact, the word theater comes from the Greek word theatron , meaning 'seeing place.' Throughout the history of world cultures, actors have used...

• Comedy I INTRODUCTION Laurel and Hardy Stan Laurel, in overalls, and Oliver Hardy, left, formed one of the most popular comedy teams in motion-picture history.

  The elements and techniques of comedy are diverse and differ from culture to culture. More than tragedy or serious drama, comic entertainment is controlled by socialconventions that define the boundaries of acceptable humor and topics that are taboo or off-limits for humor. What is considered funny in one place and time may beforbidden culturally or viewed as infantile or in poor taste in another. Virtually every component of human behavior is subject to comic treatment. This includes bodilyfunc...

• ESSAI SUR LA POÉSIE DRAMATIQUE [Essay on Dramatic Poesy]. (résumé)

• George Frideric Handel.

  Handel’s most important contribution to music history undoubtedly lies in his oratorios. Although the genre had existed in the 17th century, Handel seems to haveinvented the special type known as English oratorio, with its dazzling choruses. His influence on later generations can be seen most clearly in the history of the oratorio:Handel’s Messiah is one of only a few 18th-century works to remain in the performance repertory from its composer’s lifetime until today. The oratorios of later comp...

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart I INTRODUCTION Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an 18th-century Austrian classical composer and one of the most famous musicians of all time, came from a family of musicians that included his father and sister.

  The opera, Mitridati, rè di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus), was produced in 1770 in Milan under Mozart’s direction with success. Also that year the pope made Mozart a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. A Salzburg and Germany From 1775 to 1780 Mozart was based mainly in Salzburg working for the archbishop Hieronymous von Colloredo. Although dissatisfied with the low pay and limitedopportunities his employment offered, Mozart composed many works during this period, including his first...

• Environment.

  escape into space of the infrared energy radiated back out by Earth. This process is referred to as the greenhouse effect. These gases, primarily carbon dioxide,methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, insulate Earth’s surface, helping to maintain warm temperatures. Without these gases, Earth would be a frozen planet with anaverage temperature of about -18°C (about 0°F) instead of a comfortable 15°C (59°F). If the concentration of these gases rises, they trap more heat within theatmosphere, caus...

• Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982), Swedish actor, born in Stockholm, and educated at the Royal Dramatic Theater School, Stockholm.

• Tom Hanks Tom Hanks, born in 1956, American motion-picture actor, a two-time Academy Award winner who is acclaimed for both his comic and dramatic performances.

• Ludwig van Beethoven I INTRODUCTION Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), German composer, considered one of the greatest musicians of all time.

  dedication after learning that Napoleon had taken the title of emperor. Beethoven’s other instrumental works from the period of the Eroica also tend to expand the formal framework that he inherited from Haydn and Mozart. The Piano Sonata in C major op. 53 ( Waldstein ) and the Piano Sonata in F minor op. 57 ( Appassionata ), completed in 1804 and 1805 respectively, each employ bold contrasts in harmony, and they use a broadened formal plan, in which the meditative slow movements flow directly...

• Ludwig van Beethoven.

  dedication after learning that Napoleon had taken the title of emperor. Beethoven’s other instrumental works from the period of the Eroica also tend to expand the formal framework that he inherited from Haydn and Mozart. The Piano Sonata in C major op. 53 ( Waldstein ) and the Piano Sonata in F minor op. 57 ( Appassionata ), completed in 1804 and 1805 respectively, each employ bold contrasts in harmony, and they use a broadened formal plan, in which the meditative slow movements flow directly...

• Ludwig van Beethoven I INTRODUCTION Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven is considered possibly the greatest Western composer of all time.

  the other hand, breaks up the opening theme into contrasting segments in different tempi, whereas customary practice called for stating the theme in its entirety at thebeginning of a movement. In the first movement of the Eroica Symphony, one of the major works from Beethoven’s middle period, he again sought ways to expand upon the prevailing musical forms. At that time, composers usually organized movements in three major parts. First, the exposition introduces the musical themes of the pie...

• Latin American Painting I INTRODUCTION Diego Rivera Museum Gallery The studio of Mexican painter Diego Rivera is now maintained as an art museum in Mexico City.

  The Viceroy Arrives at PotosíThe discovery of silver on a hillside near the town of Potosí in 1545 turned this Bolivian city into a key Spanish possessionin the Americas. The population of Potosí shot up until it reached 150,000 inhabitants by the year 1611. The work shownhere, The Viceroy Arrives at Potosí, by 17th-century Bolivian painter Melchor Pérez de Holguín, was painted during thezenith of the town’s fortunes.Archivo Fotografico Oronoz From about 1580 to 1650 European styles became domin...

• São Paulo (city) - geography.

  universities include the State University Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (1976), and the even larger University of São Paulo (1934), which incorporates the city’s famousand influential Faculty of Law. Important private universities are Mackenzie University, originally founded by Presbyterian missionaries from the United States (1870);the Paulista University (1972); the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (1946); and the University São Judas Tadeu (1971). The city is home to the São Pau...

• Baroque Art and ArchitectureIINTRODUCTIONGerman Baroque ArchitectureThe baroque style of architecture flourished in Germany in the 18th century.

  C Early baroque styles Conversion of Saint PaulItalian baroque painter Caravaggio painted scenes of realism and drama, often selecting lofty, religious themes anddepicting them with lower-class characters and settings with dramatic spotlighting. With its unidealized characters andfocus on the horse’s body, his Conversion of Saint Paul seems to record a stable accident, not a miraculous conversion byGod. This work was painted in 1601 and is in the Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, It...

• Belarus - country.

  In the last complete census conducted in the Soviet Union in 1989, the population of Belarus was 10,151,806; a 2008 estimate was 9,685,768, giving the country apopulation density of 47 persons per sq km (121 per sq mi). The most notable demographic trend since the 1950s has been the steady migration of the population fromthe villages to urban centers, and the correspondent aging of the population remaining in the rural areas. In 1959 urban residents accounted for 31 percent of thepopulation; in...

• Ballet I INTRODUCTION Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker The Nutcracker is a classic ballet with music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

  Joffrey Ballet SchoolTraining for classical ballet dancers must begin when the students are very young. Here, teacher Dorothy Lister workswith her pre-ballet class of six-year-olds at the Joffrey Ballet School. These students are learning the five basic positions ofclassical ballet.Susan Kunklin/Photo Researchers, Inc. Different systems of ballet training have evolved, named after countries (Russia, France) or teachers (Italian dancer Enrico Cecchetti, Danish choreographer AugustBournonville). T...

• Native Americans of North America.

  addition to smallpox and measles, explorers and colonists brought a host of other diseases: bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, pleurisy, mumps,diphtheria, pneumonia, whooping cough, malaria, yellow fever, and various sexually transmitted infections. Despite the undisputed devastation wreaked on Indian populations after European contact, native populations showed enormous regional variability in their response todisease exposure. Some peoples survived and, in some cases, even...

• Native Americans of North America - Canadian History.

  addition to smallpox and measles, explorers and colonists brought a host of other diseases: bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, pleurisy, mumps,diphtheria, pneumonia, whooping cough, malaria, yellow fever, and various sexually transmitted infections. Despite the undisputed devastation wreaked on Indian populations after European contact, native populations showed enormous regional variability in their response todisease exposure. Some peoples survived and, in some cases, even...

• Richard Wagner I INTRODUCTION Richard Wagner (1813-1883), German composer, conductor, and essayist, one of the most influential cultural figures of the 19th century.

  May 1864 he was summoned to Munich by the 18-year-old King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who settled Wagner's debts, paid him a generous allowance, and provided himwith housing. Wagner was soon joined in his new home by Cosima von Bülow, Liszt’s daughter and the wife of German conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow. Wagnerand Cosima began a relationship that produced three children before the dissolution of the Bülows' marriage in 1870. Mounting hostility toward Wagner by members ofLudwig’s court resulted...

• Musical I INTRODUCTION George Gershwin American pianist, songwriter, and composer George Gershwin was one of the most important figures in popular song in the 1920s and 1930s.

  C Extravaganzas Another predecessor of musical comedy, the extravaganza, evolved soon after the American Civil War (1861-1865) from traditional English pantomime. Extravaganzaswere typically based on fairy tales and Mother Goose. They introduced some of the elements—songs, dances, and comedy combined with spectacular stage sets andeffects—that American musical comedy later became known for. The first and most famous extravaganza show was The Black Crook (1866), often described as America’s fi...

• Tragedy I INTRODUCTION Euripides Unlike other 5th-century BC Greek playwrights, tragic poet Euripides addressed the plight of the common people, rather than that of mythic heroes.

  SenecaSeneca was a Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman. His tragedies later influenced Renaissance dramatists,including William Shakespeare. The bust of Seneca shown here is a Roman copy of a Greek original.Art Resource, NY Aeschylus is one of the best known of the ancient Greek tragic playwrights. The author of some 90 plays, he established many of the conventions of the tragic dramaticform, which he perfected throughout his career. Aeschylus's skillful use of poetic language and brilli...

• O Teatro Moderno Brasileiro

  acomodação. Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, Villa-Lobos, Anita Malfati e tantos outros renovaram a poesia, o romance, a música, a pintura e as demais artes, atualizando-as simultaneamente pelos padrões internacionais provenientes do Futurismo, do Cubismo e dos demais ismos europeus, e pelo mergulho nas fontes brasileiras não convencionais, a começar pela adoção de uma linguagem que se aproximava da fala popular, rompida com a rígida sintaxe lusitana. Não houve uma manifestação artísti...

• Comedy

  Socrates suffered in the comedy of Aristophanes. Throughout history, opposition to comedy and laughter has been strongest in societies which emphasize physical restraint, decorum and conformity. Many medieval monastic orders had statutes forbidding laughter. The Puritan and Victorian eras saw many condemnations of comedy and laughter. The more authoritarian the regime, the greater its suppression of comedy. Hitler even set up ‘joke courts' to punish those who made fun of his regime - one Berl...

• Japanese Music I INTRODUCTION Shamisen Performance The shamisen is a Japanese instrument with three strings.

  utilizes six modes, or scales, of Chinese origin, all derived from two basic pentatonic (five-note) scales: ryo, D E-flat G A B-flat, plus F and C as auxiliary pitches; and ritsu, D F G A C, plus auxiliary pitches E-flat and B-flat. The meters in gagaku music are basically duple (in twos). IV DRAMATIC MUSIC Classical Nō Drama of JapanInspired both spiritually and artistically by Zen Buddhism, the Japanese n ō theater is composed of four main components:music (voices, instruments), choreogra...

• Geoffrey Chaucer I INTRODUCTION Geoffrey Chaucer Fourteenth-century English poet and public servant Geoffrey Chaucer wrote verse renowned for its humor, understanding of human character, and innovations in poetic vocabulary and meter.

  Tale of the Wife of BathThe Canterbury Tales by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer contains 22 verse tales and 2 prose tales presumably told bypilgrims to pass the time on their way to visit a shrine in Canterbury, England. An excerpt from the tale of the Wife ofBath is heard here. The wife relates that she has been married and widowed five times but the church has recognized onlyone marriage. You can follow the Middle English text and modern translation as you listen to the audio excerpt.The Wife of...

• Dante Alighieri I INTRODUCTION Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet, and one of the supreme figures of world literature, who was admired for the depth of his spiritual vision and for the range of his intellectual accomplishment.

  Dante AlighieriOne of the greatest poets in the history of world literature, Italian writer Dante Alighieri composed poetry influenced byclassical and Christian tradition. Dante’s greatest work was the epic poem La divina commedia (1321?; The DivineComedy, 1802). It includes three sections: the Inferno (Hell), in which the great classical poet Virgil leads Dante on a tripthrough hell; the Purgatorio (Purgatory), in which Virgil leads Dante up the mountain of purification; and the Paradiso(Paradi...

• Chinese Music I INTRODUCTION Classical Peking Opera Of the many major forms of regional theater in China, Peking opera is by far the most famous.

  World Music TourClick on the instruments to hear music from around the world.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. However, the Confucian beliefs about music were constantly eroded throughout Chinese history by a long tradition of popular entertainment music, favored both at thecourt and by the common folk. Although excluded from official ritual performances for several thousand years, Chinese women musicians and entertainers had a centraland formative role in this entertainment music as...

• Rembrandt I INTRODUCTION Rembrandt (1606-1669), Dutch baroque artist, who ranks as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art.

  of his collection of art and antiquities, taken before an auction to pay his debts, showed the breadth of Rembrandt's interests: ancient sculpture, Flemish and ItalianRenaissance paintings, Far Eastern art, contemporary Dutch works, weapons, and armor. Unfortunately, the results of the auction—including the sale of hishouse—were disappointing. These problems in no way affected Rembrandt's work; if anything, his artistry increased. Some of the great paintings from this period are The Jewish Brid...

• Pittsburgh - geography.

  College of Allegheny County (1966), with branches in the city and suburbs. Pittsburgh has many outstanding cultural institutions. The Oakland district is where Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh are located. The CarnegieMuseums of Pittsburgh include The Carnegie Museum of Art (including the Scaife Galleries), which holds a distinguished motion-picture and video collection and a uniquestudy of architecture; the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which displays an extensi...

• Great Depression in the United States - U.

  prices would continue to rise and they could soon sell their stocks at a profit. The widespread belief that anyone could get rich led many less affluent Americans into the market as well. Investors bought millions of shares of stock “on margin,” arisky practice similar to buying products on credit. They paid only a small part of the price and borrowed the rest, gambling that they could sell the stock at a highenough price to repay the loan and make a profit. For a time this was true: In 1928 the...

• London (England) - geography.

  In the northern part of the West End is Bloomsbury, the city’s traditional intellectual center, with its concentration of bookshops and homes of writers and academics. Inthe early 20th century a number of famous writers, critics, and artists who lived here became known as the Bloomsbury Group. Here, too, is the British Museum, one ofLondon’s chief tourist attractions. Nearby is the giant complex of the University of London, whose various colleges and departments have taken over much ofBloomsbury...

• President of the United States.

  Democrats and Republicans—select delegates to attend their party conventions. Primary voters and caucus participants choose delegates who will support their favoredcandidate at the convention. The party conventions, held in the summer before the November general election, formally nominate the winner of the primaries andcaucuses. Would-be candidates crisscross the states that hold the earliest primaries, especially New Hampshire, which holds the country’s first primary, usually in mid-February....

• Spain - country.

  B Natural Resources Spain has a number of mineral resources. The largest known deposits are of iron ore, zinc, and lead. Spain also produces significant quantities of copper and mercury.These deposits are mined mainly in Huelva province in southwestern Spain, around Cartagena on the Mediterranean, and at various points along the Bay of Biscay inthe north. Additionally, uranium is mined in the region of Extremadura, near the Portuguese frontier, where pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, tungsten, and po...

• Peter Paul Rubens I INTRODUCTION Thetis Dipping Achilles in the Styx The sea nymph Thetis is seen dipping her son Achilles in the River Styx to make him immortal.

  Rubens, Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of LermaIn 1603 Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens traveled to Spain as part of a diplomatic mission. While there, he received acommission for this portrait of the Duke of Lerma, the powerful prime minister of Spanish king Philip III. The painting nowhangs in the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.The Prado Museum, Madrid/Archivo Fotografico Oronoz Shortly thereafter, following the example of many northern European artists of the period, Rubens traveled to Italy...

• Dante Alighieri.

  illustrate the larger meaning of their actions in the universal scheme. Dante is guided through hell and purgatory by Virgil, who is, to Dante, the symbol of reason. Thewoman Dante loved, Beatrice, whom he regards as both a manifestation and an instrument of the divine will, is his guide through paradise. Each section contains 33 cantos, except for the first section, which has, in addition, a canto serving as a general introduction. The poem is written in terza rima (third rhyme), a three-line...

• Nicklaus-Watson Match.

  until 1977, primarily because golf officials felt that there weren't enough hotel rooms in the area to attract and accommodate the crowds. But officials finally relented,deciding that the majestic course deserved to stage golf's most noble tournament. The sun shone brightly over this scene for the July event. Nicklaus and Watson were both on the leader board after the first two rounds with identical scores of 68-70-138. Their dramatic play began in the third round, on Friday. Nicklaus jumped...

• William Shakespeare I INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who lived in the late 1500s and early 1600s, is regarded as the greatest dramatist in the history of English literature.

  Avon, Warwickshire, a prosperous town in the English Midlands. Based on this record and on the fact that children in Shakespeare’s time were usually baptized two orthree days after birth, April 23 has traditionally been accepted as his date of birth. The third of eight children, William Shakespeare was the eldest son of John Shakespeare, a locally prominent glovemaker and wool merchant, and Mary Arden, thedaughter of a well-to-do landowner in the nearby village of Wilmcote. The young Shakespeare...

• William Shakespeare I INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• William Shakespeare.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• 1996 Summer Olympics.

  jump, the first African woman ever to win an Olympic field event. In the first Olympic women's soccer competition, the United States returned to world prominence with a 2-1 gold medal victory over China before more than 76,000spectators—believed to be the largest crowd in history for a women's sporting event. The U.S. team won the first women's World Cup in 1991, defeating Norway inthe final match, but had failed to defend the title in 1995 when they lost to the Norwegians in the semifinals...

• Lima (Peru) - geography.

  home to a wide range of museums, many focusing on Peru’s indigenous heritage. These include the National Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, the GoldMuseum of Peru, the Museum of the Central Reserve Bank, and the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum, which specializes in pre-Hispanic ceramics. Art and history museumsare also found in metropolitan Lima, including the National Museum of the Republic, the Museum of Peruvian Culture, and the Museum of the Inquisition, in the buildingwhere colonial Cathol...

• Hundred Years' War.

  knowledge of English tactics. Du Guesclin became Constable of France (head of the army) in 1370, and when he died in 1380, Clisson succeeded him. Charles also reorganized the French military, developing a full-time, professional army for the first time, and established a regular system of taxation to pay for it. Inaddition, France gained an important ally on the throne of the Spanish kingdom of Castile, Henry II, who had pledged support for Charles V. When the Caroline war began in 1369, the Eng...