1.
John Philip Kemble
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John Philip Kemble was an English actor. He was born into a family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal and his other siblings Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock also enjoyed success on the stage. The second child of Roger Kemble – the manager of the theatre company the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – he was born at Prescot. His mother being a Roman Catholic, he was educated at Sedgley Park Catholic seminary, near Wolverhampton, in 1781 he obtained a star engagement at Dublin making his first appearance there on 2 November as Hamlet. He also achieved success as Raymond in The Count of Narbonne. In this role he awakened interest and discussion among the critics such as Harriet Evans Martin rather than the approval of the public. As Macbeth on 31 March 1785 he shared in the enthusiasm aroused by Sarah Siddons, brother and sister had first appeared together at Drury Lane on 22 November 1783, as Beverley and Mrs Beverley in Edward Moores The Gamester, and as King John and Constance in Shakespeares tragedy. Between 1785 and 1787 Kemble appeared in a variety of roles, in December 1787 he married Priscilla Hopkins Brereton, the widow of an actor and herself an actress. He was also able to experiment with whatever parts might strike his fancy, in 1785 the well-known actor, John Henderson, asked his friend, the critic Richard Conversation Sharp, to go and see the newcomer, Kemble, and to report back to him. Very careful study appears in all he says and all he does, excepting in serious parts, I suppose he will never put on the sock. His elocutionary art, his sense of rhythm and emphasis, enabled him to excel in declamation. In all the other great Shakespearean characters he was, according to the best critics, inferior to them, least so in Lear, Hamlet and Wolsey and his production of Cymbeline was staged regularly from 1801 on. In 1803 he became manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, Kemble had been nearly ruined by the fire, and was only saved by a generous loan, afterwards converted into a gift, of £10,000 from the Duke of Northumberland. Kemble took his leave of the stage in the part of Coriolanus on 23 June 1817. His retirement was hastened by the rising popularity of Edmund Kean. The remaining years of his life were spent chiefly abroad, although Kemble was interred at Lausanne, a life-size marble statue of him stands in the chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Abbey, close to that of his sister, Sarah Siddons. He is also commemorated in the name of a street in his place of birth, a bust of Kemble by Charles Molloy Westmacott was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1822
2.
Wolverhampton
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Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 249,470, the demonym for people from the city is Wulfrunian. Historically part of Staffordshire, the city is named after Wulfrun, prior to the Norman Conquest, the areas name appears only as variants of Heantune or Hamtun, the prefix Wulfrun or similar appearing in 1070 and thereafter. Alternatively, the city may have earned its name from Wulfereēantūn after the Mercian King. The variation Wolveren Hampton is seen in records, e. g. in 1381. The city grew initially as a market town specialising in the woollen trade, in the Industrial Revolution, it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making and the manufacture of cars and motorcycles. The economy of the city is based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry. A local tradition states that King Wulfhere of Mercia founded an abbey of St Mary at Wolverhampton in 659, the Mercians and West Saxons claimed a decisive victory and the field of Woden is recognised by numerous place names in Wednesfield. In 985, King Ethelred the Unready granted lands at a place referred to as Heantun to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter and this became the site for the current St. Peters Church. A statue of Lady Wulfrun, sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, Wolverhampton is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as being in the Hundred of Seisdon and the county of Staffordshire. The lords of the manor are listed as the canons of St Mary, with the tenant-in-chief being Samson, Wolverhampton at this date is a large settlement of fifty households. In 1179, there is mention of a market held in the town and this charter for a weekly market held on a Wednesday was eventually granted on 4 February 1258 by Henry III. From the 16th century onwards, Wolverhampton became home to a number of industries including lock and key making and iron. Wolverhampton suffered two Great Fires, the first in April 1590, and the second in September 1696, both fires started in todays Salop Street. The first fire lasted for five days and left nearly 700 people homeless and this second fire led to the purchase of the first fire engine within the city in September 1703. There is also evidence that Wolverhampton may have been the location of the first working Newcomen Steam Engine in 1712. In Victorian times, Wolverhampton grew to be a town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of the abundance of coal. The remains of this wealth can be seen in houses such as Wightwick Manor and The Mount
3.
David Hume
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David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of radical philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. Humes empiricist approach to philosophy places him with John Locke, Francis Bacon, beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature, Hume strove to create a total naturalistic science of man that examined the psychological basis of human nature. Humes compatibilist theory of free will takes causal determinism as fully compatible with human freedom, Kant himself credited Hume as the spur to his philosophical thought who had awakened him from his dogmatic slumbers. Arthur Schopenhauer once declared there is more to be learned from each page of David Hume than from the collected philosophical works of Hegel, Herbart. Hume is thus regarded as a pivotal figure in the history of philosophical thought. David Hume was the second of two born to Joseph Home of Ninewells, an advocate, and his wife The Hon. Katherine. He was born on 26 April 1711 in a tenement on the side of the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh. Humes father died when Hume was a child, just after his birthday, and he was raised by his mother. He changed the spelling of his name in 1734, because of the fact that his surname Home, throughout his life Hume, who never married, spent time occasionally at his family home at Ninewells in Berwickshire, which had belonged to his family since the sixteenth century. His finances as a man were very slender. His family was not rich and, as a younger son and he was therefore forced to make a living somehow. Hume attended the University of Edinburgh at the early age of twelve at a time when fourteen was normal. He had little respect for the professors of his time, telling a friend in 1735 that there is nothing to be learnt from a Professor, which is not to be met with in Books. Aged around 18, he made a discovery that opened up to him a new Scene of Thought. He did not recount what this scene was, and commentators have offered a variety of speculations, due to this inspiration, Hume set out to spend a minimum of ten years reading and writing. He soon came to the verge of a breakdown, suffering from what a doctor diagnosed as the Disease of the Learned. Hume wrote that it started with a coldness, which he attributed to a Laziness of Temper, later, some scurvy spots broke out on his fingers. This was what persuaded Humes physician to make his diagnosis, Hume wrote that he went under a Course of Bitters and Anti-Hysteric Pills, taken along with a pint of claret every day
4.
Forbidden City
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The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and it served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings, the palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, part of the museums former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War. With over 14.6 million annual visitors, the Palace Museum is the most visited art museum in the world, the common English name, the Forbidden City, is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng. The name Zijin Cheng first formally appeared in 1576, another English name of similar origin is Forbidden Palace. The name Zijin Cheng is a name with significance on many levels, zi, or Purple, refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the heavenly abode of the Celestial Emperor. The surrounding celestial region, the Ziwei Enclosure, was the realm of the Celestial Emperor, the Forbidden City, as the residence of the terrestrial emperor, was its earthly counterpart. Jin, or Forbidden, referred to the fact no one could enter or leave the palace without the emperors permission. Today, the site is most commonly known in Chinese as Gùgōng, the museum which is based in these buildings is known as the Palace Museum. When Hongwu Emperors son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers. Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood found in the jungles of south-western China, the floors of major halls were paved with golden bricks, specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou. From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty, in April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty. He soon fled before the armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces. By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, the Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings, to emphasise Harmony rather than Supremacy, made the name plates bilingual, and introduced Shamanist elements to the palace. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City, in 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, the Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925
5.
Samuel Foote
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Samuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall. He was known for his acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic opportunity. Born into a family, Foote was baptized in Truro. His father, Samuel Foote, held public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing Tiverton. His mother, née Eleanor Goodere, was the daughter of baronet Sir Edward Goodere of Hereford, Foote may have inherited his wit and sharp humour from her and her family which was described as eccentric. whose peculiarities ranged from the harmless to the malevolent. About the time Foote came of age, he inherited his first fortune when one of his uncles, baronet Sir John Dineley Goodere, 2nd Baronet was murdered by another uncle and this murder was the subject of his first pamphlet, which he published around 1741. An undisciplined student, he frequently was absent from his Latin and Greek classes and subsequently, Foote was destined for the law, but certainly not by nature. Though he never applied himself to his studies at the Inner Temple, he applied himself to spending money. After finding himself in debt, Foote married a certain Mary Hickes on 10 January 1741, with his wife also came a sizable dowry. Contemporaries note that Foote mistreated his wife, deserting her when his situation improved. But a stronger attraction drew him to the Bedford Coffee-house in Covent Garden and his extravagant living soon forced him into debtors prison in 1742, and friends encouraged Footes going onto the stage to make a living. Footes first training for the stage came under the tutelage of Charles Macklin, by 1744, when they appeared onstage together, Macklin had made a name for himself as one of the most notable actors on the British stage, after David Garrick. His appearance as Shylock in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1741, dismissing the conventional comedic approach to the character, Macklin played the character as consummately evil. Following less than a year of training, Foote appeared opposite Macklins Iago as the role in Shakespeares Othello at the Haymarket Theatre,6 February 1744. In order to skirt this law, the Haymarket Theatre held musical concerts with plays included gratis, following his unsuccessful London appearance, Foote spent the summer season in Dublin at the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley where he found his first success. Returning to England, he joined the company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane which at that time included such noted actors as Peg Woffington, David Garrick and Spranger Barry. There he played comic roles including Harry Wildair in Farquhars The Constant Couple, Lord Foppington in Vanbrughs The Relapse and most notably and it was in this role that Foote publicly showed his gift of mimicry. Borrowing from David Garricks interpretation of the role, Foote used this role to many leading contemporaries
6.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and statesman. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters and he was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He also contributed to the planning of Weimars botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace and his first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. During this period, Goethe published his novel, Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, the verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, and, in 1808. Goethes comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, Goethes father, Johann Caspar Goethe, lived with his family in a large house in Frankfurt, then an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. Though he had studied law in Leipzig and had been appointed Imperial Councillor, Johann Caspar married Goethes mother, Catharina Elizabeth Textor at Frankfurt on 20 August 1748, when he was 38 and she was 17. All their children, with the exception of Johann Wolfgang and his sister, Cornelia Friederica Christiana and his father and private tutors gave Goethe lessons in all the common subjects of their time, especially languages. Goethe also received lessons in dancing, riding and fencing, Johann Caspar, feeling frustrated in his own ambitions, was determined that his children should have all those advantages that he had not. Although Goethes great passion was drawing, he became interested in literature, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. He also took pleasure in reading works on history and religion. He writes about this period, Goethe became also acquainted with Frankfurt actors, among early literary attempts, he was infatuated with Gretchen, who would later reappear in his Faust and the adventures with whom he would concisely describe in Dichtung und Wahrheit. He adored Caritas Meixner, a wealthy Worms traders daughter and friend of his sister, Goethe studied law at Leipzig University from 1765 to 1768. He detested learning age-old judicial rules by heart, preferring instead to attend the lessons of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf, in 1770, he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems. His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets vanished as he became interested in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, already at this time, Goethe wrote a good deal, but he threw away nearly all of these works, except for the comedy Die Mitschuldigen. The restaurant Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Fausts 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the real place in his closet drama Faust Part One. As his studies did not progress, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the close of August 1768, Goethe became severely ill in Frankfurt. During the year and a half that followed, because of several relapses, during convalescence, Goethe was nursed by his mother and sister
7.
Lope de Vega
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Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright, poet, novelist and marine. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century of Baroque literature, nicknamed The Phoenix of Wits and Prodigy of Nature by Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega renewed the Spanish theatre at a time when it was starting to become a mass cultural phenomenon. He defined its key characteristics, and along with Calderón de la Barca and Tirso de Molina, because of the insight, depth and ease of his plays, he is regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in Western literature, his plays still being produced worldwide. He was also one of the best lyric poets in the Spanish language, some 3,000 sonnets,3 novels,4 novellas,9 epic poems, and about 500 plays are attributed to him. Although he has criticised for putting quantity ahead of quality. Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio was born in Madrid to a family of undistinguished origins and his father, Félix de Vega, was an embroiderer. Little is known of his mother, Francisca Fernández Flórez and he later added the distinguished name of Carpio from one of his in-laws. After a brief stay in Valladolid, his father moved to Madrid in 1561, however, Lope de Vega would later affirm that his father arrived in Madrid through a love affair from which his future mother was to rescue him. Thus the writer became the fruit of reconciliation and owed his existence to the same jealousies he would later analyze so much in his dramatic works. The first indications of young Lopes genius became apparent in his earliest years and his friend and biographer Pérez de Montalbán stated that at the age of five he was already reading Spanish and Latin, and by his tenth birthday he was translating Latin verse. His great talent bore him to the school of poet and musician Vicente Espinel in Madrid, in his fourteenth year he continued his studies in the Colegio Imperial, a Jesuit school in Madrid, from which he absconded to take part in a military expedition in Portugal. Following that escapade, he had the fortune of being taken into the protection of the Bishop of Ávila. Following graduation Lope had planned to follow in his patrons footsteps and join the priesthood, thus he failed to attain a bachelors degree and made what living he could as a secretary to aristocrats or by writing plays. Following this he returned to Madrid and began his career as a playwright in earnest and he also began a love affair with Elena Osorio, who was separated from her husband, actor Cristóbal Calderón, and was the daughter of a leading theater director. He went into exile undaunted, taking him the 16-year-old Isabel de Alderete y Urbina, known in his poems by the anagram Belisa. The two married under pressure from her family on 10 May 1588. Just a few later, on the 29th of May, Lope signed up for another tour of duty with the Spanish Navy, this was the summer of 1588. It is likely that his enlistment was the condition required by Isabels family, eager to be rid of such an ill presentable son-in-law
8.
James Beattie (poet)
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James Beattie FRSE was a Scottish poet, moralist and philosopher. James Beattie was born the son of a shopkeeper and small farmer at Laurencekirk in the Mearns, in 1760, he was appointed Professor of moral philosophy there as a result of the interest of his intimate friend, Robert Arbuthnot of Haddo. In the following year he published a volume of poems, The Judgment of Paris, the two works, however, which brought him most fame were An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, and his poem of The Minstrel. The Essay, intended as an answer to David Hume, had immediate success, and led to an introduction to the King, a pension of £200. The first book of The Minstrel was published in 1771 and the second in 1774 and it contains much beautiful descriptive writing. Beattie was prominent in arguing against the institution of slavery, notably in his Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, Beattie was an amateur cellist and member of the Aberdeen Musical Society. He considered questions of philosophy in his essay On Poetry and Music. His poem The Hermit was set to music by Tommaso Giordani, Beattie was co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783. Beattie underwent much domestic sorrow in the death of his wife, Mary Dunn, whom he had married in 1767 and he died in Aberdeen in 1803 and is buried there in St Nicholas Churchyard. His niece, Margaret Valentine, married Rev Prof George Glennie FRSE, a biographical sketch, An Account of the Life of James Beattie, LL. D. was published in 1804 by Alexander Bower. Beattie is one of the sixteen Scottish poets and writers depicted on the Scott Monument on Princes Street in Edinburgh and he appears on the left side of the east face. On poetry and music as they affect the mind, of the origin and general nature of speech. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, london, J. M. Dent & Sons. Beattie, James, Elements of Moral Science,1790, facsimile ed.1975, Scholars Facsimiles & Reprints, ISBN 978-0-8201-1167-4. Chambers, Robert & Thomson, Thomas Napier, a biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen. An Essay on the Nature and Immutability of Truth, in Opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism
9.
Beijing
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Beijing is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China and the worlds third most populous city proper. It is also one of the worlds most populous capital cities, the city, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by population after Shanghai and is the nations political, cultural. It is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas largest state-owned companies, and is a hub for the national highway, expressway, railway. The citys history dates back three millennia, as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political centre of the country for much of the past eight centuries. Beijing was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D, the city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, parks, gardens, tombs, walls and gates. Its art treasures and universities have made it centre of culture, encyclopædia Britannica notes that few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural centre of an area as immense as China. Siheyuans, the traditional housing style, and hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. The city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, many of Beijings 91 universities consistently rank among the best in China, of which Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked in the top 60 universities in the world. Beijings Zhongguancun area is known as Chinas Silicon Valley and Chinas center of innovation. According to the 2016 InterNations Expat Insider Survey, Beijing ranked first in Asia in the subcategory Personal Finance Index, expats live primarily in urban districts such as Dongcheng and Chaoyang in the east, or in suburban districts such as Shunyi. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had other names. The name Beijing, which means Northern Capital, was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing, the English spelling is based on the pinyin romanisation of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is BJ, the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic Homo sapiens also lived more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, the first walled city in Beijing was Ji, a city from the 11th to 7th century BC
10.
Elizabeth Griffith
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Elizabeth Griffith, sometimes also credited Elizabeth Griffiths, was an 18th-century Irish dramatist, fiction writer, essayist and actress. Elizabeth Griffith was born in Glamorgan, Wales, to Dublin theater manager Thomas Griffith, “The family settled in Dublin, where they brought up Elizabeth to be a sociable child, cheerful and at ease among the theatrical community”. In addition to giving her access to the theatre-world, Thomas Griffith educated Elizabeth in French and her father died in 1744, which lead to economic hardship for the family. Her Dublin acting debut took place on 13 October 1749, when she played Juliet to a considerably older Romeo played by Thomas Sheridan at the Smock Alley Theatre. Griffith specialized in roles, such as Jane Shore in Nicholas Rowes The Tragedy of Jane Shore. Elizabeth met her husband, Richard Griffith, in 1746. On May 12,1751, they married in secret, Elizabeth gave birth to two children, Catherine and Richard. Elizabeth and Richard’s five year courtship provided the basis for her first publication, A Series of Genuine Letters Between Henry and Frances, Letters between Henry and Frances was an immediate success that generated fame but not wealth for both writers. Richard traveled after the married and was absent for extended periods. He borrowed a sum of money to develop a linen manufactory. During this time, and while Richard was avoiding debtors court, Griffith continued her acting career at Covent Garden, in London, from 1753 to 1755, though she never played more than minor characters. Capitalizing on the success of the Letters, Elizabeth translated many French works. Between 1764 and 1769, she wrote four plays with varying degrees of success, Griffith’s third play, The Double Mistake was well received at Covent Garden, which emboldened her to approach David Garrick for help staging her next play. Griffith collaborated with Garrick to produce her most successful comedy, The School for Rakes, while the two had a tumultuous relationship, Garrick’s influence on Griffith was clear. After his death, in the advertisement for the print publication for The Times, while she praised Garrick as a primary influence, the connections she made at Smock Alley Theater in Dublin contributed more to the play’s production. Richard Sheridan, the son of her acting mentor Thomas Sheridan, produced The Times, while her fame was not the direct result of her acting career, Griffith’s theatrical connections were invaluable to her success. Elizabeth Griffith’s literary production was steady from 1760 to 1779, garnering her significant notoriety in the circles of London. She published essays, epistolary novels, novelettes, translations, as a hard-working professional writer she produced a large body of diverse works
11.
Ignacy Krasicki
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His most notable literary works were his Fables and Parables, Satires, and poetic letters and religious lyrics, in which the artistry of his poetic language reached its summit. Krasicki was born in Dubiecko, on southern Polands San River and he was related to the most illustrious families in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and spent his childhood surrounded with the love and solicitude of his own family. He attended a Jesuit school in Lwów, then studied at a Warsaw Catholic seminary, in 1759 he took holy orders and continued his education in Rome. Two of his brothers entered the priesthood. Returning to Poland, Krasicki became secretary to the Primate of Poland, when Poniatowski was elected king, Krasicki became his chaplain. He participated in the Kings famous Thursday dinners and co-founded the Monitor and this office gave him a high standing in the social hierarchy and a sense of independence. It did not, however, prove a quiet haven, the Warmia cathedral chapter welcomed its superior coolly, fearing changes. At the same time, there were growing provocations and pressures from Prussia, Krasicki protested publicly against external intervention. In 1772, as a result of the First Partition, instigated by Prussias King Frederick II and he did not, however, pay homage to Warmias new master. He now made frequent visits to Berlin, Potsdam and Sanssouci at the bidding of Frederick and this created a difficult situation for the poet-bishop who, while a friend of the Polish king, maintained close relations with the Prussian king. These realities could not but influence the nature and direction of Krasickis subsequent literary productions, soon after the First Partition, Krasicki officiated at the 1773 opening of Berlins St. Hedwigs Cathedral, which Frederick had built for Catholic immigrants to Brandenburg and Berlin. In 1786 Krasicki was called to the Prussian Academy of Sciences, after Frederick the Greats death, Krasicki continued relations with Fredericks successor. In 1795, six years before his death, Krasicki was elevated to Archbishop of Gniezno, upon his death in Berlin in 1801, Krasicki was laid to rest at St. Hedwigs Cathedral, which he had consecrated. In 1829 his remains were transferred to Polands Gniezno Cathedral, czesław Miłosz describes Krasicki, He was a man of the golden mean, a smiling, skeptical sage prais moderation and despis extremes. His was a mentality which returned to Horatian ideals of the Renaissance, E was a cosmopolit and owed his imposing literary knowledge to his readings in foreign languages, yet. He was indebted to the mentality of the Polish Golden Age, as a poet, he was for that distillation of the language which for a while toned down the chaotic richness of the Baroque. In a way, he returned to the clear and simple language of Kochanowski, E conceived of literature as a specific vocation, namely, to intervene as a moralist in human affairs. Since he was not pugnacious by temperament, his moralizing, rarely distinguishable from sheer play, Krasickis literary writings lent splendor to the reign of Polands King Stanisław August Poniatowski, while not directly advocating the Kings political program
12.
Sturm und Drang
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The period is named for Friedrich Maximilian Klingers play Sturm und Drang, which was first performed by Abel Seylers famed theatrical company in 1777. The philosopher Johann Georg Hamann is considered to be the ideologue of Sturm und Drang, with Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, H. L. Wagner and Friedrich Maximilian Klinger also significant figures. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was also a proponent of the movement, though he. French neoclassicism, a movement beginning in the early Baroque, with its emphasis on the rational, was the target of rebellion for adherents of the Sturm und Drang movement. The term Sturm und Drang first appeared as the title of a play by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, written for Abel Seylers Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft and this seemingly spontaneous movement became associated with a wide array of German authors and composers of the mid-to-late Classical period. Sturm und Drang came to be associated with literature or music aimed at shocking the audience or imbuing them with extremes of emotion, there is much debate regarding whose work should or should not be included in the canon of Sturm und Drang. Nevertheless, the originators of the movement came to view it as a time of premature exuberance that was abandoned in favor of often conflicting artistic pursuits. The literary topos of the Kraftmensch existed as a precursor to Sturm und Drang among dramatists beginning with F. M, Klinger, the expression of which is seen in the radical degree to which individuality need appeal to no outside authority save the self nor be tempered by rationalism. The most important contemporary document was the 1773 volume Von deutscher Art und Kunst, einige fliegende Blätter, a collection of essays that included commentaries by Herder on Ossian and Shakespeare, along with contributions by Goethe, Paolo Frisi, and Justus Möser. The protagonist in a typical Sturm und Drang stage work, poem, or novel is driven to action—often violent action—not by pursuit of noble means nor by true motives, goethes unfinished Prometheus exemplifies this along with the common ambiguity provided by juxtaposing humanistic platitudes with outbursts of irrationality. The literature of Sturm und Drang features an anti-aristocratic slant while seeking to elevate all things humble, natural, Friedrich Schillers drama, Die Räuber, provided the groundwork for melodrama to become a recognized dramatic form. The plot portrays a conflict between two brothers, Franz and Karl Moor. Franz is cast as a villain attempting to cheat Karl out of his inheritance, though the motives for his action are complex and initiate an investigation of good. Both of these works are examples of Sturm und Drang in German literature. The principal themes tend to be angular, with large leaps, tempos and dynamics change rapidly and unpredictably in order to reflect strong changes of emotion. Pulsing rhythms and syncopation are common, as are racing lines in the soprano or alto registers, writing for string instruments features tremolo and sudden, dramatic dynamic changes and accents. Musical theater became the place of the literary and musical strands of Sturm und Drang. The obligato recitative is a prime example, here, orchestral accompaniment provides an intense underlay of vivid tone-painting to the solo recitative
