1.
Corsier-sur-Vevey
–
Corsier-sur-Vevey is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-dEnhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Corsier-sur-Vevey is first mentioned in 1079 as Corise, until 1953 it was known as Corsier. Corsier-sur-Vevey has an area, as of 2009, of 6.8 square kilometers, of this area,3.03 km2 or 44. 9% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.35 km2 or 34. 8% is forested. Of the rest of the land,1.3 km2 or 19. 3% is settled,0.03 km2 or 0. 4% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 or 0. 4% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1. 3% of the area while housing and buildings made up 9. 8%. Out of the land,27. 3% of the total land area is heavily forested and 7. 6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,6. 4% is used for growing crops and 32. 7% is pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was part of the Vevey District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, the municipality is located on the right side of the Veveyse. It consists of the village of Corsier-sur-Vevey and the hamlet of Les Monts-de-Corsier, the blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent, a Heart Gules above two shaking Hands proper clothed Azure, chief Azure three Mullets Argent. Corsier-sur-Vevey has a population of 3,443, as of 2008,30. 1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 2. 3% and it has changed at a rate of -0. 5% due to migration and at a rate of 4. 2% due to births and deaths. Most of the population speaks French as their first language, with German being second most common, There are 110 people who speak Italian and 4 people who speak Romansh. The age distribution, as of 2009, in Corsier-sur-Vevey is,309 children or 9. 7% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 348 teenagers or 10. 9% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population,368 people or 11. 5% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 421 people or 13. 2% are between 30 and 39,491 people or 15. 4% are between 40 and 49, and 417 people or 13. 0% are between 50 and 59. As of 2000, there were 1,238 people who were single, There were 1,555 married individuals,182 widows or widowers and 225 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000, there were 1,475 private households in the municipality, There were 560 households that consist of only one person and 64 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 1,489 households that answered this question,37. 6% were households made up of just one person and there were 5 adults who lived with their parents
2.
Classical music
–
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical and secular music. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period, Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches, tempo, meter and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation. The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, the earliest reference to classical music recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, the written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them, J. S. The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works, Musical notation enables 2000s-era performers to sing a choral work from the 1300s Renaissance era or a 1700s Baroque concerto with many of the features of the music being reproduced. That said, the score does not provide complete and exact instructions on how to perform a historical work, even if the tempo is written with an Italian instruction, we do not know exactly how fast the piece should be played. Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations, during the Classical era, the composer-performer Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto, during the Romantic era, Beethoven would improvise at the piano. The instruments currently used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century and they consist of the instruments found in an orchestra or in a concert band, together with several other solo instruments. The symphony orchestra is the most widely known medium for music and includes members of the string, woodwind, brass. The concert band consists of members of the woodwind, brass and it generally has a larger variety and number of woodwind and brass instruments than the orchestra but does not have a string section. However, many bands use a double bass. Many of the used to perform medieval music still exist. Medieval instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute. As well, early versions of the organ, fiddle, Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut, during the earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th
3.
Violin
–
The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use, smaller violin-type instruments are known, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused in the 2010s. The violin typically has four strings tuned in fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings. Violins are important instruments in a variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition and in varieties of folk music. They are also used in genres of folk including country music and bluegrass music. Electric violins are used in forms of rock music, further. The violin is sometimes called a fiddle, particularly in Irish traditional music and bluegrass. The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Europe it served as the basis for stringed instruments used in classical music, the viola. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker, the parts of a violin are usually made from different types of wood and on the use of a pickup and an amplifier and speaker). Violins can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, the earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked. Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along East-West trading routes from Asia into the Middle East, the first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lira. These included the rebec, the Arabic rebab, the vielle, the earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around the same time as the words violino and vyollon are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer, by this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe. The violin proved very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility, the French king Charles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560, one of these noble instruments, the Charles IX, is the oldest surviving violin. The Messiah or Le Messie made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 remains pristine and it is now located in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford
4.
Pedagogy
–
Pedagogy is the discipline that deals with the theory and practice of education, it thus concerns the study of how best to teach. Spanning a broad range of practice, its aims range from furthering liberal education to the specifics of vocational education. Instructive strategies are governed by the background knowledge and experience, situation. One example would be the Socratic schools of thought, the teaching of adults, as a specific group, is referred to as andragogy. Johann Friedrich Herbart is the father of the conceptualization of pedagogy, or. Herbarts educational philosophy and pedagogy highlighted the correlation between personal development and the benefits to society. In other words, Herbart proposed that humans become fulfilled once they establish themselves as productive citizens, herbartianism refers to the movement underpinned by Herbarts theoretical perspectives. Referring to the process, Herbart suggested 5 steps as crucial components. Specifically, these 5 steps include, preparation, presentation, association, generalization, Herbart suggests that pedagogy relates to having assumptions as an educator and a specific set of abilities with a deliberate end goal in mind. The word is a derivative of the Greek παιδαγωγία, from παιδαγωγός, itself a synthesis of ἄγω, I lead and it is pronounced variously, as /ˈpɛdəɡɒdʒi/, /ˈpɛdəɡoʊdʒi/, or /ˈpɛdəɡɒɡi/. Negative connotations of pedantry have sometimes been intended, or taken, doctor of Pedagogy, is awarded honorarily by some US universities to distinguished teachers. The term is used to denote an emphasis in education as a specialty in a field. The word pedagogue means leading children some say to the teacher and other leading them, in Denmark, a pedagogue is a practitioner of pedagogy. The term is used for individuals who occupy jobs in pre-school education in Scandinavia. But a pedagogue can occupy various kinds of jobs, e. g. in retirement homes, prisons, orphanages and these are often recognized as social pedagogues as they perform on behalf of society. The pedagogues job is usually distinguished from a teachers by primarily focusing on teaching children life-preparing knowledge such as social skills, there is also a very big focus on care and well-being of the child. Many pedagogical institutions also practice social inclusion, the pedagogues work also consists of supporting the child in their mental and social development. In Denmark all pedagogues are educated at a series of institutes for social educators located in all major cities
5.
Jews
–
The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
6.
Poland
–
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
7.
Gibson Stradivarius
–
The Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius of 1713 is an antique violin fabricated by Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. The Gibson, while owned by Bronisław Huberman, was stolen twice, in 1988, she turned the Strad over to Lloyds, which paid her a $263,000 finders fee and then sold the violin for $1.2 million to Norbert Brainin, an acclaimed English violinist. The Gibson ex-Huberman is currently owned by violinist Joshua Bell, Bell had held and played the violin, and Brainin jokingly told Bell the violin could be his for four million dollars. Shortly thereafter, by chance, Bell came across the violin again, according to his website, Bell was practically in tears. His first recording made with the Gibson ex Huberman was Romance of the Violin in 2003, Stradivarius Gibson Stradivarius in the Cozio Archive at tarisio. com Joshua Bell Official website
8.
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
–
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly Palestine Orchestra, is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded as the Palestine Orchestra by violinist Bronisław Huberman in 1936 and its inaugural concert took place in Tel Aviv on December 26,1936, and was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Its first principal conductor was William Steinberg and its general manager between 1938 and 1945 was Leo Kestenberg, like many of its members, he was a German Jew forced out by the Nazi rise to power and persecution of Jews. During the Second World War the orchestra performed 140 times before Allied soldiers, at the end of the war it performed in recently liberated Belgium. In 1948, after the creation of the State of Israel, in 1958, the IPO was awarded the Israel Prize, in music, being the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization. Bernstein maintained close ties with the orchestra from 1947, and in 1988, the IPO bestowed on him the title of Laureate Conductor, Mehta has served as the IPOs Music Advisor since 1968. The IPO did not have a music director, but instead music advisors, until 1977. In 1981, his title was elevated to Music Director for Life, kurt Masur is the IPOs Honorary Guest Conductor, a title granted to him in 1992. Gianandrea Noseda is Principal Guest Conductor, a role previously occupied by Yoel Levi, with Mehta, the IPO has made a number of recordings for Decca. Under the baton of Bernstein, the IPO also recorded his works, the IPO has also collaborated with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno in the soundtrack of the anime Macross Plus. As of 2006, the composers works have been most frequently performed by the IPO were Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn. The initial concerts of the Palestine Orchestra in December 1936, conducted by Toscanini, the Secretary-General of the orchestra is Avi Shoshani. The IPO has a subscriber base numbering 26,000, commentators have noted the musically conservative tastes of the subscriber base, although the IPO is dedicated to performing new works by Israeli composers, such as Avner Dorman. Zubin Mehta Jean Martinon Bernardino Molinari Paul Paray Leonard Bernstein William Steinberg The orchestras performance in London on September 1,2011 was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, the concert was part of the BBC Proms. The radio broadcast was interrupted, but the concert was broadcast again a few days later, the orchestras secretary-general Avi Shoshani declared to Londons The Times newspaper that the orchestra was unlikely to ever perform in the UK again. Nobody was prosecuted for the disruptions, partly because the management of the Royal Albert Hall, american Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the financial future of the Israel Philharmonic. AFIPO seeks to broaden the reach of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the monies raised by AFIPO are directed towards a fund which assists with the operational support of the orchestra and its musical education programs throughout Israel
9.
Nazi Germany
–
Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
10.
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music
–
The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music is located at ulica Okólnik 2 in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, named for the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, the University dates from the Music School for singers and theatre actors that was founded in 1810 by Wojciech Bogusławski. In 1861 it was revived as Warsaws Institute of Music, after Poland regained independence in 1918, the Institute was taken over by the Polish state and became known as the Warsaw Conservatory. The institutions old main building was destroyed during World War II, after the war, in 1946, the school was recreated as the Higher State School of Music. In 1979 the school assumed the name, Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy, in 2008 the school once again changed its name to the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. The main building, at ulica Okólnik 2 in Central Warsaw, was constructed between 1960 and 1966, there is also a music book shop and antiquarian book shop. The University also has its own dormitory, Dziekanka, at 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmieście, the latter has its own 150-seat concert hall. A ^ Since at that time the Warsaw Conservatory was affiliated with Warsaw Universitys Art Department, home page Akademia Muzyczna w Warszawie, Encyklopedia WIEM
11.
Joseph Joachim
–
Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century. Joseph Joachim was born in Köpcsény, Moson County, Kingdom of Hungary and he was the seventh of eight children born to Julius, a wool merchant, and Fanny Joachim, who were of Hungarian Jewish origin. His infancy was spent as a member of the Kittsee Kehilla and he was a first cousin of Fanny Wittgenstein, née Figdor, the mother of Karl Wittgenstein and the grandmother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein. In 1833 his family moved to Pest, which in 1873 was united with Óbuda to form Budapest, there from 1836 he studied violin with Stanisław Serwaczyński, the concertmaster of the opera in Pest, said to be the best violinist in Pest. Although Joachims parents were not particularly well off, they had been advised to choose not just an ordinary violin teacher. Joachims first public performance was 17 March 1839 when he was of age 8, in 1839, Joachim continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory. In his début performance in the Leipzig Gewandhaus he played the Otello Fantasy by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, on 27 May 1844 Joachim, at age not quite 13, in his London Philharmonic debut with Mendelssohn conducting, played the solo part in Beethovens violin concerto. This was a triumph in several respects, as described by R. W. Eshbach, Ludwig Spohr had harshly criticized it, and after the London premiere by violinist Edward Eliason, a critic had said it might have been written by any third or fourth rate composer. But Joachim was very well prepared to play Beethovens concerto, having written his own cadenzas for it, the audience anticipated great things, having got word from the rehearsal, and so, Mendelssohn wrote, frenetic applause began as soon as Joachim stepped in front of the orchestra. The beginning was applauded still more, and cheers of the audience accompanied every, one for The Musical World wrote The greatest violinists hold this concerto in awe. Attacked it with the vigour and determination of the most accomplished artist, No master could have read it better, and the two cadenzas, written by Joachim, were tremendous feats. Another reviewer, for the Illustrated London News, wrote that Joachim is perhaps the first violin player, not only of his age and he performed Beethovens solitary concerto, which we have heard all the great performers of the last twenty years attempt, and invariably fail in. Its performance was an eloquent vindication of the master-spirit who imagined it, Joachim remained a favorite with the English public for the rest of his career. He visited England in each year 1858,1859,1862, in 1848, Franz Liszt took up residence in Weimar, determined to re-establish the towns reputation as the Athens of Germany. There, he gathered a circle of young disciples, vocally opposed to the conservatism of the Leipzig circle. Joachim was amongst the first of these and he served Liszt as concertmaster, and for several years enthusiastically embraced the new psychological music, as he called it. In 1852 he moved to Hanover, at the same time dissociating himself from the ideals of the New German School
12.
Louis Spohr
–
Louis Spohr, baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Spohr was the inventor of both the violin chinrest and the orchestral rehearsal mark and his output occupies a pivotal position between Classicism and Romanticism, but fell into obscurity following his death, when his music was rarely heard. The late 20th century saw a revival of interest in his oeuvre, Spohr was born in Braunschweig in the duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel to Karl Heinrich Spohr and Juliane Ernestine Luise Henke, but in 1786 the family moved to Seesen. Spohrs first musical encouragement came from his parents, his mother was a singer and pianist. A violinist named Dufour gave him his earliest violin teaching, the pupils first attempts at composition date from the early 1790s. Dufour, recognizing the musical talent, persuaded his parents to send him to Brunswick for further instruction. The failure of his first concert tour, a badly planned venture to Hamburg in 1799, a successful concert at the court impressed the duke so much that he engaged the 15-year-old Spohr as a chamber musician. In 1802, through the offices of the duke, he became the pupil of Franz Eck. Eck, who completely retrained Spohr in violin technique, was a product of the Mannheim school, Spohrs first notable compositions, including his Violin Concerto No. After his return home, the duke granted him leave to make a tour of North Germany. A concert in Leipzig in December 1804 brought the music critic Friedrich Rochlitz to his knees, not only because of Spohrs playing. This concert brought the young man overnight fame in the whole German-speaking world, in 1805, Spohr obtained a position as concertmaster at the court of Gotha, where he stayed until 1812. There he met the 18-year-old harpist and pianist Dorette Scheidler, daughter of one of the court singers and they were married on 2 February 1806, and lived happily until Dorettes death 28 years later. They performed successfully together as a violin and harp duo, touring in Italy, England and Paris, in 1808, Spohr practiced with Beethoven at the latters home, working on the Piano Trio, Op.70 No. Spohr wrote that the piano was out of tune and that Beethovens playing was harsh or careless, in 1812, Spohr conducted a concert in the Predigerkirche of the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt to celebrate Napoleons 43rd birthday. In Kassel on 3 January 1836, he married his second wife and she survived him by many years, living until 1892. In 1857 he was pensioned off, much against his own wish, and in the winter of the year he broke his arm. Nevertheless he conducted his opera Jessonda at the anniversary of the Prague Conservatorium in the following year
13.
Henri Vieuxtemps
–
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th century and he is also known for playing upon what is now known as the Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù, a violin of superior workmanship. Vieuxtemps was born in Verviers, Belgium, son of a weaver and amateur violinist and he received his first violin instruction from his father and a local teacher and gave his first public performance at the age of six, playing a concerto by Pierre Rode. Soon he was giving concerts in surrounding cities, including Liège and Brussels where he met the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot. Back in Brussels, Vieuxtemps continued developing his technique on his own, his musicianship deepened by playing with the deeply musical mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot. A tour of Germany in 1833 brought friendship with Louis Spohr and with Robert Schumann and his first violin concerto, later published as Concerto No. Based in Paris, Vieuxtemps continued to compose with great success, with the pianist Sigismond Thalberg, he concertized in the United States. He was particularly admired in Russia where he resided permanently between 1846 and 1851 as a musician of Tsar Nicholas I and soloist in the Imperial Theatre. He founded the school of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and guided the formation of a Russian school of violinists. In 1871, he returned to his country to accept a professorship at the Brussels Conservatory. For other students, See, List of music students by teacher, a paralytic stroke disabled his right arm two years later and he moved to Paris again, his violin class being taken over by Henryk Wieniawski. Although he seemed to be recovering from his stroke, another one in 1879 ended his career as a violinist for good. It is because of his seven violin concertos, however, that Vieuxtemps is generally known to audiences, Vieuxtemps never indulged in sheer virtuosity for its own sake, like some of his predecessors. Eugène Ysaÿe quotes him as saying Not runs for the sake of runs - sing, sing. The del Gesù refers to the manufacture by Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri who incorporated the nomina sacra, I. H. S. at Vieuxtemps funeral the violin was carried upon a pillow behind the hearse carrying the body. The instrument was played by noted violin masters like Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman. In January 2012 the instrument was purchased, by a collector, for an undisclosed sum. For a complete listing, see List of compositions by Henri Vieuxtemps
14.
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
15.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
16.
Arthur Rubinstein
–
Arthur Rubinstein was a Polish American classical pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the written by a variety of composers. He was described by The New York Times as one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century and he played in public for eight decades. Rubinstein was born in Łódź, Congress Poland on January 28,1887 and he was the youngest of seven children of Felicja Blima Fajga and Izaak Rubinstein. His father owned a textile factory. Rubinsteins birth name was to be Leo, but his brother claimed that His name must be Artur. Since Artur X plays the violin so nicely, the baby may also become a great musician, and so he was called Artur, although in English-speaking countries, he preferred to be known as Arthur Rubinstein. His United States impresario Sol Hurok, however, insisted he be billed as Artur, at age two, Rubinstein demonstrated perfect pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sisters piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as a child prodigy and his father had a predilection for the violin and offered Rubinstein a violin, but Rubinstein rejected it because he thought his instinct was for harmony and polyphony. When the time comes for serious study, bring him to me, on December 14,1894, seven-year-old Arthur Rubinstein had his debut with pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn. When he became ten years of age, Rubinstein moved to Berlin to continue his studies, joseph Joachim recommended Karl Heinrich Barth as the boys piano teacher. As a student of Barth, Rubinstein inherited a renowned pedagogical lineage, Barth was himself a pupil of Liszt, who had been taught by Czerny, who had in turn been a pupil of Beethoven. In 1904, Rubinstein moved to Paris to launch his career in earnest, where he met the composers Maurice Ravel and Paul Dukas and he also played Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2 in the presence of the composer. Through the family of Juliusz Wertheim he formed friendships with the violinist Paul Kochanski, Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. According to his own testimony and that of his son in François Reichenbachs film LAmour de la vie, by 1908, Rubinstein, destitute and desperate, hounded by creditors, and threatened with being evicted from his Berlin hotel room, made a failed attempt to hang himself. Subsequently, he said that he felt reborn and endowed with a love of life. During World War I, Rubinstein stayed in London, giving recitals, in 1916 and 1917, he made his first tours in Spain and South America where he was wildly acclaimed. It was during those tours that he developed an enthusiasm for the music of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla
17.
Adelina Patti
–
Adelina Patti was an Italian-French 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, the composer Giuseppe Verdi, writing in 1877, described her as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived and a stupendous artist. Verdis admiration for Pattis talent was shared by numerous music critics and she was born Adelina Juana Maria Patti, in Madrid, the last child of tenor Salvatore Patti and soprano Caterina Barilli. Her Italian parents were working in Madrid, Spain, at the time of her birth, because her father came from Sicily, Patti was born a subject of the King of the Two Sicilies. She later carried a French passport, as her first two husbands were French and her sisters Amalia and Carlotta Patti were also singers. Her brother Carlo Patti was a violinist who married actress Effie Germon, in her childhood, the family moved to New York City. Patti grew up in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, where her familys home is still standing, Patti sang professionally from childhood, and developed into a coloratura soprano with perfectly equalized vocal registers and a surprisingly warm, satiny tone. Patti learned how to sing and gained understanding of technique from her brother-in-law Maurice Strakosch. Adelina Patti made her debut at age 16 on 24 November 1859 in the title role of Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor at the Academy of Music. On 24 August 1860, she and Emma Albani were soloists in the premiere of Charles Wugk Sabatiers Cantata in Montreal which was performed in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales. In 1861, at the age of 18, she was invited to Covent Garden, to execute the role of Amina in Bellinis La sonnambula. During an 1862 American tour, she sang John Howard Paynes Home, Sweet Home at the White House for the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, the Lincolns were mourning their son Willie, who had died of typhoid. Moved to tears, the Lincolns requested an encore of the song, henceforth, it would become associated with Adelina Patti, and she performed it many times as a bonus item at the end of recitals and concerts. Pattis career was one of success after success and her girlish good looks gave her an appealing stage presence, which added to her celebrity status. Patti, however, turned into a singer in the final phase of her operatic. She knew what suited her aging voice to perfection and she stuck to it, typically, her recital programs during the 1890s featured an array of familiar, often sentimental, not-too-demanding popular tunes of the day, which were sure to appeal to her adoring fans. She also had been prepared to tackle quite dramatic parts in operas like LAfricaine, Les Huguenots and she never attempted to sing any verismo parts, however, because these became popular only in the twilight of her career, during the final decade of the 19th century. Many years earlier, Patti had experienced an encounter in Paris with the bel canto-opera composer Gioachino Rossini
18.
Vienna
–
Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
19.
Johannes Brahms
–
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his life in Vienna. Brahms composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works and he worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished, Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg, the diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahmss works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs, Brahmss father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was from the town of Heide in Holstein. The family name was sometimes spelt Brahmst or Brams, and derives from Bram. Against the familys will, Johann Jakob pursued a career in music, arriving in Hamburg in 1826, where he work as a jobbing musician. In 1830, he married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen, a seamstress 17 years older than he was, in the same year he was appointed as a horn player in the Hamburg militia. Eventually he became a player in the Hamburg Stadttheater and the Hamburg Philharmonic Society. As Johann Jakob prospered, the family moved over the years to better accommodation in Hamburg. Johannes Brahms was born in 1833, his sister Elisabeth had been born in 1831, Fritz also became a pianist, overshadowed by his brother he emigrated to Caracas in 1867, and later returned to Hamburg as a teacher. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training, Johannes also learnt to play the violin, from 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms could be such a good player, at the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as a performer in a private concert including Beethovens quintet for piano and winds Op.16 and a piano quartet by Mozart. He also played as a solo work an étude of Henri Herz, by 1845 he had written a piano sonata in G minor
20.
Anschluss
–
Anschluss is the term used to describe the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. German spelling, until the German orthography reform of 1996, was Anschluß, the idea of an Anschluss began after the Unification of Germany excluded Austria and the Austrian Germans from the Prussian-dominated German nation-state in 1871. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, there had been several years of pressure from supporters in Austria and Germany for the Heim ins Reich movement. Earlier, Nazi Germany had provided support for the Austrian National Socialist Party in its bid to seize power from Austrias Fatherland Front government. Infuriated, on 11 March, Adolf Hitler threatened invasion of Austria, and demanded Chancellor von Schuschniggs resignation, Hitlers plan was for Seyss-Inquart to call immediately for German troops to rush to Austrias aid, restoring order and giving the invasion an air of legitimacy. In the face of threat, Schuschnigg informed Seyss-Inquart that the plebiscite would be cancelled. Nevertheless, the German Führer underestimated his opposition, Schuschnigg did resign on the evening of 11 March, but President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor. At 8,45 pm, Hitler, tired of waiting, around 10 pm, a forged telegram was sent in Seyss-Inquarts name asking for German troops, since he was not yet Chancellor and was unable to do so himself. Seyss-Inquart was not installed as Chancellor until after midnight, when Miklas resigned himself to the inevitable, clearly it was Hitler, and not Schuschnigg, who was terrified by the potential results of the scheduled plebiscite, and that was the best indication of where Austrians loyalty lay. The newly installed Nazis, within two days, transferred power to Germany, and Wehrmacht troops entered Austria to enforce the Anschluss, Austrian citizens of Jewish origin were not allowed to vote. No military confrontation took place, and even the strongest voices against the annexation, particularly Fascist Italy, France, the loudest verbal protest was voiced by the government of Mexico. Although Austria had never been a part of the German Empire, Austria was predominantly ethnically German, prior to annexing Austria in 1938, Nazi Germany had remilitarized the Rhineland, and the Saar region was returned to Germany after 15 years of occupation through a plebiscite. In March 1939, Hitler then dismantled Czechoslovakia by recognising the independence of Slovakia and that same year, Memelland was returned from Lithuania. With the Anschluss, the Republic of Austria ceased to exist as an independent state, at the end of World War II, a Provisional Austrian Government under Karl Renner was set up by conservatives, social democrats and communists on 27 April 1945. It cancelled the Anschluss the same day and was recognized by the Allies in the following months. In 1955 the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, the idea of grouping all Germans into a nation-state country had been the subject of debate in the 19th century from the ending of the Holy Roman Empire until the ending of the German Confederation. Austria had wanted a Großdeutsche Lösung, whereby the German states would be united under the leadership of the Austrian Germans and this solution would include all the German states, but Prussia would have to take second place. This controversy, called dualism, dominated Prusso-Austrian diplomacy and the politics of the German states, by 1871, the decision was to form a kleindeutsch German Empire based on Prussia and excluding Austria
21.
Sumatra
–
Sumatra is a large island in western Indonesia that is part of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island that is entirely in Indonesia and the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2, Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest-southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the west, northwest, and southwest sides of Sumatra with the chain of Simeulue, Nias. On the northeast side the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, on the southeast the narrow Sunda Strait separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra borders the Andaman Islands, while on the eastern side are the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait. The Bukit Barisan mountains, which several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeast sides are outlying lowlands with swamps, mangrove. The equator crosses the island at its center on West Sumatra, the climate of the island is tropical, hot and humid with lush tropical rain forest once dominating the landscape. Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit names of Swarnadwīpa and Swarnabhūmi, the first word mentioning the name of Sumatra was the name of Srivijayan Haji Sumatrabhumi, who sent an envoy to China in 1017. Arab geographers referred to the island as Lamri in the tenth through thirteenth centuries, late in the 14th century the name Sumatra became popular in reference to the kingdom of Samudra Pasai, which was a rising power until it was replaced by Sultanate of Aceh. Sultan Alauddin Shah of Aceh, on letters written in 1602 addressed to Queen Elizabeth I of England, referred to himself as king of Aceh, the word itself is from Sanskrit Samudra, meaning gathering together of waters, sea or ocean. European writers in the 19th century found that the inhabitants did not have a name for the island. The Melayu Kingdom was absorbed by Srivijaya, Srivijaya was a Buddhist monarchy centred in what is now Palembang. Dominating the region trade and conquest throughout the 7th to 9th centuries. The empire was a thalassocracy or maritime power that extended its influence from island to island, Palembang was a center for scholarly learning, and it was there the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim I Ching studied Sanskrit in 671 CE before departing for India. On his journey to China, he spent four years in Palembang translating Buddhist texts, Srivijayan influence waned in the 11th century after it was defeated by the Chola Empire of southern India. At the same time, Islam made its way to Sumatra through Arabs, by the late 13th century, the monarch of the Samudra kingdom had converted to Islam. Marco Polo visited the island in 1292, and Ibn Battuta visited twice during 1345–1346, Samudra was succeeded by the powerful Aceh Sultanate, which survived to the 20th century. With the coming of the Dutch, the many Sumatran princely states fell under their control
22.
Palestine (region)
–
Palestine is a geographic region in Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining territories, the name was used by Ancient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima, and the Islamic provincial district of Jund Filastin. The region comprises most of the claimed for the biblical regions known as the Land of Israel. Historically, it has known as the southern portion of wider regional designations such as Canaan, Syria, ash-Sham. The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, today, the region comprises the State of Israel and the Palestinian territories in which the State of Palestine was declared. Modern archaeology has identified 12 ancient inscriptions from Egyptian and Assyrian records recording likely cognates of Hebrew Pelesheth, the term Peleset is found in five inscriptions referring to a neighboring people or land starting from c.1150 BCE during the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. Neither the Egyptian nor the Assyrian sources provided clear regional boundaries for the term, approximately a century later, Aristotle used a similar definition for the region in Meteorology, in which he included the Dead Sea. The term is accepted to be a translation of the Biblical name Peleshet. The term is used in the Septuagint, who used a transliteration Land of Phylistieim different from the contemporary Greek place name Palaistínē. Following the Muslim conquest, place names that were in use by the Byzantine administration generally continued to be used in Arabic, Modern archaeologists and historians of the region refer to their field of study as Levantine archaeology. The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities, during the Bronze Age, independent Canaanite city-states were established, and were influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, and Syria. Between 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egyptian New Kingdom who held power until the 1178 BCE Battle of Djahy during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The region became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from c.740 BCE, in 539 BCE, the Babylonian empire was replaced by the Achaemenid Empire. In the 330s BCE, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered the region and it ultimately fell to the Seleucid Empire between 219–200 BCE. In 116 BCE, a Seleucid civil war resulted in the independence of certain regions including the Hasmonean principality in the Judaean Mountains, from 110 BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of Palestine, creating a Judaean–Samaritan–Idumaean–Ituraean–Galilean alliance. The Judaean control over the region resulted in it also becoming known as Judaea. Between 73–63 BCE, the Roman Republic extended its influence into the region in the Third Mithridatic War, conquering Judea in 63 BCE, and splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. The three-year Ministry of Jesus, culminating in his crucifixion, is estimated to have occurred from 28–30 CE, in 70 CE, Titus sacked Jerusalem, resulting in the dispersal of the citys Jews and Christians to Yavne and Pella
23.
Promised Land
–
The promise was first made to Abraham, then confirmed to his son Isaac, and then to Isaacs son Jacob, Abrahams grandson. The promised land was described in terms of the territory from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates river, moses anticipated that God might subsequently give the Israelites land reflecting the boundaries of Gods original promise, if they were obedient to the covenant. Palestinians also claim descent from the Israelites and Maccabees, as well as all the other peoples who have lived in the region. The imagery of the Promised Land was invoked in Negro spirituals as heaven or paradise and as an escape from slavery, often which can only be reached by death. The imagery and term have also used in popular culture, sermons and in speeches, such as the Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. And Hes allowed me to go up to the mountain, and Ive seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, the promise that is the basis of the term is contained in several verses of Genesis in the Torah. In Genesis 12,1 it is said, The LORD had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your fathers household, and in Genesis 12,7, The LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. Commentators have noted problems with this promise and related ones, It is to Abrams descendants that the land will be given, not to Abram directly nor there. However, in Genesis 15,7 it is said, He also said to him, I am the LORD, however, how this verse relates to the promises is a matter of controversy. There is nothing in the promise to indicate God intended it be applied to Abraham’s physical descendants unconditionally, exclusively, exhaustively or in perpetuity, the verse is said to describe what are known as borders of the Land. In Jewish tradition, these define the maximum extent of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac. The promise was confirmed to Jacob at Genesis 28,13, other geographical borders are given in Exodus 23,31 which describes borders as marked by the Red Sea, the Sea of the Philistines i. e. the Mediterranean, and the River. The promise is fulfilled at the end of the Exodus from Egypt, deuteronomy 1,8 says, See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and it took a long time before the Israelites could subdue the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. The furthest extent of the Land of Israel was achieved during the time of the united Kingdom of Israel under David, the actual land controlled by the Israelites has fluctuated considerably over time, and at times the land has been under the control of various empires. However, under Jewish tradition, even when it is not in Jewish occupation and this may however reflect an eisegesis or reconstruction of primary verses based on the later biblical emphasis of Jacobs descendants
24.
Israel
–
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
25.
William Steinberg
–
William Steinberg was a German-American conductor. Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany and he displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, conducting his own choral/ orchestral composition at age 13. In 1914, he studies at the Cologne Conservatory, where his piano teacher was the Clara Schumann pupil Lazzaro Uzielli. He graduated with distinction, winning the Wüllner Prize for conducting and he immediately became a second violinist in the Cologne Opera orchestra, but was dismissed from the position by Otto Klemperer for using his own bowings. He was soon hired by Klemperer as an assistant, and in 1922 conducted Fromental Halévys La Juive as a substitute, when Klemperer left in 1924, Steinberg served as Principal Conductor. He left a year later, in 1925, for Prague and he next took the position of music director of the Frankfurt Opera. In 1930, in Frankfurt, he conducted the premiere of Arnold Schoenbergs Von heute auf morgen. He was relieved of his post in 1933 by the Third Reich because he was Jewish, according to the grandson of composer Ernst Toch, Steinberg was rehearsing in Cologne when Nazi brownshirts came storming into the hall and literally lifted the baton out of his hand. Steinberg, who had married Lotte Stern in Frankfurt in 1934, was restricted to conducting concerts for the Jewish Culture League in Frankfurt. The Steinbergs left Germany in 1936 for the British Mandate of Palestine, eventually, with co-founder Bronisław Huberman, Steinberg trained the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, which would later be known as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Steinberg was conducting the orchestra when Arturo Toscanini visited there in 1936, Toscanini was impressed with Steinbergs preliminary groundwork for his concerts and later engaged him as an assistant in preparing for the NBC Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts. Steinberg emigrated to the United States in 1938 and he conducted a number of concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1938 to 1940. Steinberg conducted summer concerts at Lewisohn Stadium in New York, led New York Philharmonic concerts in 1943-44 and he became a US citizen in 1944, and was engaged as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1945 to 1952. He is best known for his tenure as director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1952 to 1976. Steinbergs Pittsburgh appearances in January 1952 were so impressive that he was both engaged as music director and signed to a contract with Capitol Records. Thereafter Pittsburgh was the center of his activity although he held important positions. From 1958 to 1960 he also conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra and he led the New York Philharmonic for twelve weeks while on sabbatical leave from Pittsburgh in 1964-65, which led to his engagement as the Philharmonics principal guest conductor from 1966 to 1968. From 1969 to 1972 Steinberg was music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra while maintaining his Pittsburgh post and he toured Europe with the Boston Symphony in April 1971
26.
Arturo Toscanini
–
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and of the 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for detail and sonority. He was at times the music director of La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the music conservatory. Living conditions at the conservatory were harsh, for example, his diet consisted almost completely of fish. When he became successful, he never ate anything that came from the sea and he joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work, in desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, who knew the whole opera from memory. The public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth and sheer aplomb of this unknown conductor, for the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted eighteen operas, all with absolute success. Thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19, upon returning to Italy, Toscanini set out on a dual path for some time. He continued to conduct, his first appearance in Italy being at the Teatro Carignano in Turin, on November 4,1886, in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalanis Edmea. This was the beginning of Toscaninis lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani, however, he also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdis Otello under the composers supervision. The composer was impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdis Te Deum. Verdi said that he had left it out for fear that certain interpreters would have exaggerated the marking, gradually, Toscaninis reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade, he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the premieres of Puccinis La bohème. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert and he exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898. By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director and he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920/21, during which he made his first recordings. Outside Europe, Toscanini conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and he toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic in 1930. At each performance, he and the orchestra were acclaimed by critics, Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth, and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there
27.
Zubin Mehta
–
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Mehta is also the chief conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino festival. Mehta was born into a Parsi family in Bombay, India, while in school, Mehta was taught to play the piano by Joseph de Lima, who was his first piano teacher. Mehta initially intended to study medicine, but eventually became a student in Vienna at the age of 18. Also at the academy along with Mehta were conductor Claudio Abbado. Mehtas first marriage was to Canadian soprano Carmen Lasky in 1958 and they have a son, Mervon, and a daughter, Zarina. Two years after the divorce, Carmen married Mehtas brother, Zarin Mehta, in July 1969, Mehta married Nancy Kovack, an American former film and television actress. Mehta, a permanent resident of the United States, retains his Indian citizenship, in 1958, Mehta made his conducting debut in Vienna. The same year he won the International Conducting Competition in Liverpool and was appointed assistant conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Mehta soon rose to the rank of chief conductor when he was made Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1960, a post he held until 1967. In 1978 Mehta became the Music Director and Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic and remained there until his resignation in 1991, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra appointed Mehta its Music Advisor in 1969, Music Director in 1977, and made him its Music Director for Life in 1981. Since 1985, Mehta has been conductor of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. Additionally, from 1998 until 2006, Mehta was Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Munich Philharmonic named him its Honorary Conductor. Since 2005, Mehta has been the conductor of the Palau de les Arts. Mehta conducted the Vienna New Years Concert in 1990,1995,1998,2007 and 2015 and he has also made a recording of Indian instrumentalist Ravi Shankars Sitar Concerto No. 2, with Shankar and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in between those appearances he conducted the historic 1992 production of Tosca in which each act took place in the actual setting and at the actual time specified in the score. This production starred Catherine Malfitano in the role, Plácido Domingo as Cavaradossi. On 29 August 1999, he conducted Mahler Symphony No,2, at the vicinity of Buchenwald concentration camp in the German city of Weimar, with both the Bavarian State Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, sitting alongside each other. The making of this production was chronicled in a documentary called The Turandot Project which Mehta narrated, on 26 December 2005, the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, Mehta and the Bavarian State Orchestra performed for the first time in Chennai at the Madras Music Academy
28.
Joshua Bell
–
Joshua David Bell is an American violinist and conductor. Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States and his mother, Shirley, was a therapist. His father, Alan P. Bell, was a psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Indiana University, in Bloomington, and his father is of Scottish descent, and his mother is Jewish. Bell told The Jewish Journal, I identify myself as being Jewish and his parents got a scaled-to-size violin for their then five-year-old son and started giving him lessons. Bell studied as a child first under Donna Bricht, widow of Indiana University music faculty member Walter Bricht, satisfied that the boy was living a normal life, Gingold took Bell on as his student. By age 12, Bell was serious about the instrument, thanks in part to Gingolds inspiration. At the age of 14, Bell appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti and he studied the violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and graduated from Bloomington High School North in 1984. In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University and his alma mater also honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award only two years after his graduation. He has been named an Indiana Living Legend and received the Indiana Governors Arts Award, Bell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985, at age 17, with the St. Louis Symphony. He has since performed many of the worlds major orchestras. As well as the concerto repertoire, Bell has performed new works. Nicholas Maws violin concerto is dedicated to Bell, who premiered it in 1993 and he performed the solo part on John Coriglianos Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film The Red Violin and was also featured in Ladies in Lavender. Bell made an appearance in the movie Music of the Heart, Bells instrument is a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin called the Gibson ex Huberman, which was made in 1713 during what is known as Antonio Stradivaris Golden Era. This violin had been stolen twice from the owner, Bronisław Huberman. Bell had held and played the violin, and its owner at the time, violinist Norbert Brainin, shortly thereafter, by chance, Bell came across the violin again and discovered it was about to be sold to a German industrialist to become part of a collection. According to Bells website, Bell was practically in tears, as with his previous Stradivarius violin, Bell entrusts the upkeep of the Gibson ex Huberman to expert luthier Emmanuel Gradoux-Matt. The story of the theft, return, and subsequent acquisition by Bell is told in the 2013 documentary The Return of the Violin, Bells first recording made with the Gibson ex Huberman was Romance of the Violin in 2003. Bell is a partner for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
29.
Albert Einstein
–
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, Einsteins work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led him to develop his theory of relativity during his time at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Briefly before, he aquired the Swiss citizenship in 1901, which he kept for his whole life and he continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe. He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany and he settled in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1940. This eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project, Einstein supported defending the Allied forces, but generally denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955. Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works, on 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einsteins papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents. Einsteins intellectual achievements and originality have made the word Einstein synonymous with genius, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March 1879. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, the Einsteins were non-observant Ashkenazi Jews, and Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in Munich from the age of 5 for three years. At the age of 8, he was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium, the loss forced the sale of the Munich factory. In search of business, the Einstein family moved to Italy, first to Milan, when the family moved to Pavia, Einstein stayed in Munich to finish his studies at the Luitpold Gymnasium. His father intended for him to electrical engineering, but Einstein clashed with authorities and resented the schools regimen. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning, at the end of December 1894, he travelled to Italy to join his family in Pavia, convincing the school to let him go by using a doctors note. During his time in Italy he wrote an essay with the title On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field
30.
Stradivarius
–
According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed. The name Stradivarius has become a superlative often associated with excellence, the fame of Stradivarius instruments is widespread, appearing in numerous works of fiction. The wood used included spruce for the top, willow for the blocks and linings, and maple for the back, ribs. Stradivari made his instruments using a form, unlike the French copyists, such as Vuillaume. It is clear from the number of forms throughout his career that he experimented with some of the dimensions of his instruments and these results suggest that differences in density differentials in the material may have played a significant role in the sound production of classical violins. The content of copper and aluminium is higher than current instruments, a Stradivarius made in the 1680s, or during Stradivaris Long Pattern period from 1690 to 1700, could be worth hundreds of thousands to several million U. S. dollars at todays prices. The 1697 Molitor Stradivarius, once rumored to have belonged to Napoleon, sold in 2010 at Tarisio Auctions to violinist Anne Akiko Meyers for $3,600,000, at the time a world record. Depending on condition, instruments made during Stradivaris golden period from 1700 to about 1725 can be millions of dollars. In 2011, his Lady Blunt violin from 1721, which is in condition, was sold in London for $15.9 million. It was sold by the Nippon Music Foundation in aid of the Japanese earthquake, the auction failed to reach its minimum bid by 25 June 2014, and the viola was not sold. Vice magazine reported in May 2013 that in recent years, Stradivarius investment funds have started to appear, Stradivarius instruments are at risk of theft. However, stolen instruments are often recovered, even after being missing for many years and they are difficult to sell illicitly as dealers will typically call the police if approached by a seller with a Stradivarius known to have been stolen. In recent years, the General Kyd Stradivarius was stolen in 2004 and it was returned three weeks later by a woman who found it and handed it over to the police. The Sinsheimer/Iselin was stolen in Hanover, Germany in 2008 and recovered in 2009, the Lipinski Stradivarius was stolen in an armed robbery on 27 January 2014 and subsequently recovered. The Ames Stradivarius was stolen in 1981 and recovered in 2015, however a number of stolen instruments remain missing, such as the Davidoff-Morini, stolen in 1995, the Le Maurien, stolen in 2002 and the Karpilowsky, stolen in 1953. Above all, these instruments are famous for the quality of sound they produce, the two violinists were allowed to play all the instruments first. None of the listeners identified more than two of the four instruments, two of the listeners identified the 20th-century violin as the Stradivarius. The majority of the listeners misidentified the winning violin as the Stradivarius. none of them sounded substantially weaker than the others While many world-class soloists play violins by Antonio Stradivari, there are notable exceptions
31.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
32.
Carnegie Hall
–
Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, it is one of the most prestigious venues in the world for both classical music and popular music. Carnegie Hall has its own programming, development, and marketing departments. It is also rented out to performing groups, the hall has not had a resident company since 1962, when the New York Philharmonic moved to Lincoln Centers Philharmonic Hall. Carnegie Hall has 3,671 seats, divided among its three auditoriums, Carnegie Hall presented about 200 concerts in the 2008–2009 season, up 3 percent from the previous year. Its stages were rented for an additional 600 events in the 2008–2009 season, Carnegie Hall contains three distinct, separate performance spaces. The Isaac Stern Auditorium seats 2,804 on five levels and was named after violinist Isaac Stern in 1997 to recognize his efforts to save the hall from demolition in the 1960s, the hall is enormously high, and visitors to the top balcony must climb 137 steps. All but the top level can be reached by elevator, the main hall was home to the performances of the New York Philharmonic from 1892 until 1962. Known as the most prestigious concert stage in the U. S. almost all of the classical music. After years of wear and tear, the hall was extensively renovated in 1986. The Ronald O. Perelman Stage is 42 feet deep, the First Tier and Second Tier consist of sixty-five boxes, the First Tier has 264 seats at eight seats per box and the Second Tier seats 238, with boxes ranging from six to eight seats each. Second from the top is the Dress Circle, seating 444 in six rows, at the top, the balcony seats 837. Although seats with obstructed views exist throughout the auditorium, only the Dress Circle level has structural columns, Zankel Hall, which seats 599, is named after Judy and Arthur Zankel. Originally called simply Recital Hall, this was the first auditorium to open to the public in April 1891, following renovations made in 1896, it was renamed Carnegie Lyceum. The completely reconstructed Zankel Hall is flexible in design and can be reconfigured in several different arrangements to suit the needs of the performers, the 599 seats in Zankel Hall are arranged in two levels. The Parterre level seats a total of 463 and the Mezzanine level seats 136, each level has a number of seats which are situated along the side walls, perpendicular to the stage. These seats are designated as boxes, there are 54 seats in six boxes on the Parterre level and 48 seats in four boxes on the Mezzanine level, the boxes on the Parterre level are raised above the level of the stage. Zankel Hall is accessible and its stage is 44 feet wide and 25 feet deep — the stage occupies approximately one fifth of the performance space, the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Recital Hall seats 268 and is named after Sanford I. Weill, a chairman of the board, and his wife Joan
33.
Lloyd's of London
–
Lloyds of London, generally known simply as Lloyds, is an insurance market located in Londons primary financial district, the City of London. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company and it is a corporate body governed by the Lloyds Act of 1871 and subsequent Acts of Parliament. It is a partially mutualised marketplace within which multiple financial backers, grouped in syndicates, come together to pool and these underwriters, or members, are a collection of both corporations and private individuals, the latter being traditionally known as Names. The insurance business underwritten at Lloyds is predominantly general insurance and reinsurance, the market has its roots in marine insurance and was founded by Edward Lloyd at his coffee house on Tower Street in around 1688. Today, it has a building on Lime Street, opened in 1986. Its motto is Fidentia, Latin for confidence, and it is associated with the Latin phrase uberrima fides. In 2015, there were 84 syndicates that wrote £26.69 billion of premiums on business placed by 242 Lloyds brokers. Insurance lines comprised 68% of the written, mainly property and casualty. Collectively the market reported a profit of £2.12 billion. The market began in Lloyds Coffee House, opened by Edward Lloyd in around 1688 on Tower Street in the historic City of London and this establishment was a popular place for sailors, merchants, and ship-owners, and Lloyd catered to them with reliable shipping news. The coffee house soon became recognised as a place for obtaining marine insurance. The shop was frequented by mariners involved in the slave trade. Lloyds obtained a monopoly on maritime insurance related to the slave trade, just after Christmas 1691, the small club of marine insurance underwriters relocated to Lombard Street, a blue plaque on the site commemorates this. The Royal Exchange was destroyed by fire in 1838, the building was rebuilt by 1844, but many of Lloyds early records were lost. In 1871, the Lloyds Act was passed in Parliament which gave the business a sound legal footing, the Lloyds Act of 1911 set out the Societys objectives, which include the promotion of its members interests and the collection and dissemination of information. On 18 April 1906, an earthquake and resulting fires destroyed more than 80 per cent of the Californian city of San Francisco. This event was to have an influence on building practices, risk modelling. Lloyds losses from the earthquake and fires were substantial, even though at the time the placement of insurance business overseas was viewed with some wariness
34.
National Symphony Orchestra
–
The National Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D. C. Its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for the first period of its history, the NSO performed in Constitution Hall. During the tenure of the first music director, Hans Kindler, the first female member of the NSO was a harpist, Sylvia Meyer, who joined in 1933. Years later, Howard Mitchell made a series of recordings with the orchestra for RCA. Antal Doráti recorded with the orchestra for Decca Records, mstislav Rostropovich made recordings for Teldec, Sony Records, and Erato. The orchestra returned to RCA Victor under Leonard Slatkin, until RCA abandoned new classical recordings, in 1986, the NSO became the artistic affiliate of the Kennedy Center, where it has presented a concert season annually since the Center opened in 1971. The NSO regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for ceremonial state affairs, presidential inaugurations, the NSO itself numbers 100 musicians, presenting a 52-week season of approximately 175 concerts each year. These include classical subscription series, pops concerts, and one of the country’s most extensive educational programs, in addition to these activities, small groups of NSO members develop education programs designed at age levels from pre-kindergarten through high school. Collectively, these ensembles present as many as 100 additional performances a year during the American Residencies, through the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund for New Orchestral Works, the NSO has commissioned more than 50 works, including cycles of fanfares and encores. During his tenure, Slatkin founded the National Conducting Institute in 2000, also of note is the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. Another important project is the National Symphony Orchestra American Residencies for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, established in 1992, the project has taken the NSO to fifteen states. In November 2004, the announced the conclusion of Slatkins NSO directorship in 2008. One report spoke of tensions between the conductor and the orchestra, and mentioned criticisms of Slatkins programming and rehearsal styles, with the 2006–2007 season, Iván Fischer became the principal guest conductor of the orchestra. On 13 April 2007, the announced the appointment of Fischer as the orchestras principal conductor as of the 2008–2009 season. In September 2011, the orchestra extended Eschenbachs contract through the 2014–2015 season, in 2011, Gianandrea Noseda first guest-conducted the NSO, and returned in November 2015 for an additional guest engagement. In January 2016, the NSO announced the appointment Noseda as its music director. He is to serve as music director-designate in the 2016-2017 season, and his initial contract as music director is for 4 seasons
35.
Washington, D.C.
–
Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
36.
Ludwig van Beethoven
–
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he one of the most famous. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies,5 piano concertos,1 violin concerto,32 piano sonatas,16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and he lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose, many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven, a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium, who at the age of twenty moved to Bonn. Ludwig was employed as a singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become, in 1761. The portrait he commissioned of himself towards the end of his life remained proudly displayed in his grandsons rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had one son, Johann, who worked as a tenor in the musical establishment and gave keyboard. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767, she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn. There is no record of the date of his birth, however. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, caspar Anton Carl was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethovens first music teacher was his father and he later had other local teachers, the court organist Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. Beethovens musical talent was obvious at a young age, some time after 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Courts Organist in that year. Neefe taught Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published composition, Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid, and then as a paid employee of the court chapel conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi. His first three piano sonatas, named Kurfürst for their dedication to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich, were published in 1783, Maximilian Frederick noticed Beethovens talent early, and subsidised and encouraged the young mans musical studies. Maximilian Fredericks successor as the Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Francis, the youngest son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, echoing changes made in Vienna by his brother Joseph, he introduced reforms based on Enlightenment philosophy, with increased support for education and the arts
37.
Vienna Philharmonic
–
The Vienna Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is an orchestra regularly considered one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria and its members are selected from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. Selection involves a process, with each musician having to demonstrate his or her capability for a minimum of three years performing for the opera and ballet. After this probationary period, the musician may request from the Vienna Philharmonics board an application for a position in the orchestra, until the 1830s, orchestral performance in Vienna was done by ad hoc orchestras, consisting of professional and amateur musicians brought together for specific performances. Nicolai and the orchestra gave only 11 concerts in the five years, and when Nicolai left Vienna in 1847. Between 1854 and 1857 Karl Eckert – the first permanent conductor of the Vienna Court Opera – led the Vienna Philharmonic in a few concerts. In 1857, Eckert was made Director of the Hofoper – the first musician to have given the post, in 1860. Since that time, writes Vienna Philharmonic violinist and president Clemens Hellsberg, in 1860, the orchestra elected Otto Dessoff to be permanent conductor. According to Max Kalbeck, the Vienna-based music critic, newspaper editor, and biographer, after fifteen years, in 1875, Dessoff was pushed out of his position in Vienna through intrigue, and he left Vienna to become conductor of the Badische Staatskapelle in Karlsruhe, Germany. In Karlruhe the next year, he fulfilled the request of his friend Johannes Brahms to conduct the first performance of his Symphony no,1, in 1873 Brahms had conducted the premiere of his Variations on a Theme by Haydn with Dessoffs Vienna Philharmonic. In 1875, the orchestra chose Hans Richter to take Dessoffs place as subscription conductor and he remained until 1898, except for the season 1882/1883 when he was in dispute with the orchestral committee. Richter led the VPO in the premieres of Brahmss Second Symphony, Tragic Overture. 3, the Violin Concerto of Tchaikovsky in 1881, and in 1892 the 8th symphony of Anton Bruckner and it was Richter who in 1881 appointed Arnold Rosé as concertmaster, who was to become Gustav Mahlers brother-in-law and was concertmaster until the Anschluss in 1938. In order to be eligible for a pension, Richter intended to remain in his position for 25 years, Richter recommended Mahler or Ferdinand Löwe to the orchestra as his replacement. In 1898, on 24 September, the orchestra elected Gustav Mahler, under Mahlers baton the Vienna Philharmonic played abroad for the first time at the 1900 Paris World Exposition. He resigned on 1 April 1901, like Richter, citing health concerns as a pretext, in 1901, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. briefly took his place, he remained only until 1903. He was most renowned for his Beethoven – he programmed at least two symphonies per season, and complete cycles in 1916/17 and 1926/27 and it was Weingartner who led the orchestras first concert devoted to entirely to the music of Johann Strauss, Jr. on 25 October 1925. In 1927, when Weingartner resigned, the orchestra elected Wilhelm Furtwängler and he resigned at the end of the 1929/30 season because of increased professional demands in Berlin
38.
George Szell
–
George Szell, originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born Jewish-American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the centurys greatest conductors. Szell came to Cleveland in 1946 to take over a respected if undersized orchestra, by the time of his death he was credited, to quote the critic Donal Henahan, with having built it into what many critics regarded as the worlds keenest symphonic instrument. Through his recordings, Szell has remained a presence in the music world long after his death. While on tour with the Orchestra in the late 1980s, then-Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi remarked, We give a great concert, Szell was born in Budapest but grew up in Vienna. One of Roberts other students was Rudolf Serkin, Szell and Serkin became lifelong friends, in addition to the piano, Szell studied composition with Eusebius Mandyczewski, and with Max Reger for a brief period. Although his work as a composer is unknown today, when he was fourteen Szell signed a ten-year exclusive publishing contract with Universal Edition in Vienna. In addition to writing pieces, he arranged Bedřich Smetanas String Quartet No. 1, From My Life, for orchestra, at the age of eleven, Szell began touring Europe as a pianist and composer, making his London debut at that age. Newspapers declared him the next Mozart, throughout his teenage years he performed with orchestras in this dual role, eventually making appearances as composer, pianist and conductor, as he did with the Berlin Philharmonic at age seventeen. Szell quickly realized that he was never going to make an out of being a composer or pianist. He made an unplanned public conducting debut when he was seventeen, the Vienna Symphonys conductor had injured his arm, and Szell was asked to substitute. Szell quickly turned to conducting full-time, though he abandoned composing, throughout the rest of his life he occasionally played the piano with chamber ensembles and as an accompanist. Despite his rare appearances as a pianist after his teens, he remained in good form, during his Cleveland years he occasionally would demonstrate to guest pianists how he thought they should play a certain passage. In 1915, at the age of 18, Szell won an appointment with Berlins Royal Court Opera, there, he was befriended by its Music Director, Richard Strauss. Strauss instantly recognized Szells talent and was impressed with how well the teenager conducted Strausss music. Strauss once said that he could die a happy man knowing that there was someone who performed his music so perfectly, in fact, Szell ended up conducting part of the world premiere recording of Don Juan for Strauss. The composer had arranged for Szell to rehearse the orchestra for him, since the recording session was already paid for, and only Szell was there, Szell conducted the first half of the recording
39.
Columbia Records
–
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. the United States division of Sony Corporation. It was founded in 1887, evolving from an enterprise named the American Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of singers, instrumentalists. It is one of Sony Musics three flagship record labels alongside RCA Records and Epic Records, rather, as above, it was connected to CBS, a broadcasting media company which had purchased the company in 1938, and had been co-founded in 1927 by Columbia Records itself. Though Arista Records was sold to Bertelsmann Music Group, it would become a sister label of Columbia Records through its mutual connection to Sony Music. The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer, lawyer and New Jersey native Edward Easton and it derived its name from the District of Columbia, where it was headquartered. At first it had a monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington. As was the custom of some of the regional companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own. Columbias ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Companys breakup, thereafter it sold only records and phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced the XP record, a brown wax record. According to Gracyk, the molded brown waxes may have sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their Toy Graphophone of 1899. For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its catalog of artists. The firm also introduced the internal-horn Grafonola to compete with the extremely popular Victrola sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company, during this era, Columbia used the famous Magic Notes logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia was split into two companies, one to make records and one to make players, Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, and Ed Easton went with it. Eventually it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation, in late 1923, Columbia went into receivership
40.
Ignaz Friedman
–
Ignaz Friedman was a Polish pianist and composer. Critics and colleagues alike placed him among the supreme piano virtuosi of his day, alongside Leopold Godowsky, Moriz Rosenthal, Josef Hofmann, born to an itinerant Jewish musician in Podgórze near Kraków, Ignaz Friedman was a child prodigy. He studied with Hugo Riemann in Leipzig and Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna, Friedman lived in Berlin until 1914 and settled in Copenhagen in 1920. His style was quiet and effortless, imbued with a sense of rhythm and color, grounded in a sovereign technique, as with his compatriot and contemporary Moriz Rosenthal, Friedmans Chopin interpretations, particularly those of the mazurkas, are considered by many to be unsurpassed. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Friedman was in Europe and he settled in Sydney and remained there until his death. His last concert was in Sydney on July 24,1943, Friedmans relatively few recordings, which have been collected by Naxos Records on five CDs, are widely admired, particularly his Chopin and his nine Songs Without Words by Mendelssohn. Like most of the artists of his time who broadcast, much of his recorded material has been lost, including hours of radio recordings made in Australia. He composed more than 90 works, mainly piano miniatures, as well as pieces for cello and a piano quintet and he arranged many works, especially those of J. S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. He edited an almost complete edition of the works of Chopin and also produced editions of Schumann. The Sydney Conservatorium of Music awards an annual Ignaz Friedman Prize for composition, Friedman also taught several important pianists, including Joseph Gurt, Ignace Tiegerman and Bruce Hungerford
