1.
Mayfair
–
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the east edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in London and the world, the area around Mayfair was originally part of the manor of Eia and remained largely rural in nature until the early 18th century. It became well known for the annual May Fair that took place from 1686 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market, the fair attracted an unpleasant, downmarket element and gradually became a public nuisance. The Grosvenor family, later to become the Dukes of Westminster, acquired land through marriage, the work included three major squares – Hanover Square, Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square, all of which were surrounded by luxury homes, and the church of St George Hanover Square. By the end of the 18th century, most of Mayfair was built on with prestigious housing to suit the upper class, unlike some nearby areas of London, it has never lost its affluent status. There remains a substantial quantity of luxury property, upmarket shops and restaurants. Mayfairs prestigious status has been commemorated by being the most expensive property square on the London Monopoly board. The Mayfair area is in the London Borough of Westminster and mainly consists of the estate of Grosvenor, along with the estates of Albemarle, Berkeley, Burlington. It is bordered on the west by Park Lane, north by Oxford Street, east by Regent Street, beyond the bounding roads, to the north is Marylebone, to the east, Soho and to the southwest, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Mayfair is surrounded by parkland, both Hyde Park and Green Park run along its boundary, the 8-acre Grosvenor Square is roughly in the centre of Mayfair, and is the centrepiece of the area, containing numerous expensive and desirable properties. There has been speculation that the Romans settled in the area before establishing Londinium, the proposal has been disputed owing to lack of archaeological evidence. This area was known as the manor of Eia in the Domesday Book and it was subsequently given to the Abbey of Westminster, who owned it until 1536 when it was taken over by Henry VIII. Mayfair was mainly open fields until development started in the Shepherd Market area around 1686-8 to accommodate the May Fair that had moved from Haymarket in St Jamess because of overcrowding. There were some buildings before 1686 – a cottage in Stanhope Row, dating from 1618, a 17th century English Civil War fortification was established in what is now Mount Street in Mayfair, and known as Olivers Mount by the 18th century. The May Fair was held every year at Great Brookfield from 1 –14 May and it was established during the reign of Edward I, where the area beyond St. James was open fields. The fair was recorded as Saint Jamess fayer by Westminster in 1560 and it was postponed briefly in 1603 because of plague, but otherwise continued throughout the 17th century. In 1686, the moved to what is now Mayfair. By the 18th, it had attracted various showmen, jugglers and fencers, popular attractions included bare-knuckle fighting, semolina eating contests and womens foot racing
2.
George Frideric Handel
–
George Frideric Handel was a German, later British baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712 and he was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that Handel was not only a great composer, he was a dramatic genius of the first order. As Alexanders Feast was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works, after his success with Messiah he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759 and his funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London. Handel was born in 1685 in Halle-on-Saal, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and his father,63 when George Frideric was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Georg Händel was the son of a coppersmith, Valentin Händel who had emigrated from Eisleben in 1608 with his first wife Anna Belching and they were Protestants and chose reliably Protestant Saxony over Silesia, a Hapsburg possession as religious tensions mounted in the years before the Thirty Years War. Halle was a prosperous city, home of a salt-mining industry. Even the smaller churches all had able organists and fair choirs, and humanities, the Thirty Years War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. But since the middle of the war the city was under the administration of the Duke of Saxony, the arts and music, however, flourished only among the higher strata, which did not describe Handels family. Handel was the child of this marriage, the first son died still born. Two younger sisters were born after the birth of George Frideric, Dorthea Sophia, born 6 October 1687 and Johanna Christiana, born 10 January 1690. Early in his life Handel is reported to have attended the gymnasium in Halle, Mainwaring is the source for almost all information of Handels childhood, and much of that information came from J. C. Smith, Jr. Handels confidant and copyist. Whether they came from Smith or elsewhere, Mainwaring frequently relates misinformation and it is from Mainwaring that the portrait of Handels father as implacably opposed to any musical education comes. This did nothing to dampen young Handels inclination, in fact, Mainwaring tells the story of Handels secret attic spinnet, Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately conveyd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep, but Handel had to have had some experience with the keyboard to have made the impression in Weissenfels that resulted in his receiving formal musical training. Somehow Handel made his way to the organ, where he surprised everyone with his playing. Overhearing this performance and noting the youth of the performer caused the Duke to recommend to Georg Händel that Handel be given musical instruction, Handels father engaged the organist at the Halle parish church, the young Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, to instruct Handel
3.
Jimi Hendrix
–
James Marshall Jimi Hendrix was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music, born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the U. S. Army and trained as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Hey Joe, Purple Haze, and The Wind Cries Mary. Hendrix was inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues and he favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in utilizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a pedal in mainstream rock. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented, Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as a sound source. Hendrix was the recipient of several awards during his lifetime. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, Jimi Hendrix was of African American descent. Both his mother Lucille and father Al were African Americans and his paternal grandmother, Zenora Nora Rose Moore, was African American and one-quarter Cherokee. On June 10,1919, Hendrix and Moore had a son they named James Allen Ross Hendrix, in 1941, Al met Lucille Jeter at a dance in Seattle, they married on March 31,1942. Al, who had been drafted by the U. S. Army to serve in World War II, Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27,1942, in Seattle, he was the first of Lucilles five children. In 1946, Johnnys parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of Al and he spent two months locked up without trial, and while in the stockade received a telegram announcing his sons birth. During Als three-year absence, Lucille struggled to raise their son, when Al was away, Hendrix was mostly cared for by family members and friends, especially Lucilles sister Delores Hall and her friend Dorothy Harding. Al received a discharge from the U. S. Army on September 1,1945. After returning from service, Al reunited with Lucille, but his inability to find steady work left the family impoverished and they both struggled with alcohol, and often fought when intoxicated. The violence sometimes drove Hendrix to withdraw and hide in a closet in their home and his relationship with his brother Leon was close but precarious, with Leon in and out of foster care, they lived with an almost constant threat of fraternal separation. In addition to Leon, Hendrix had three siblings, Joseph, born in 1949, Kathy in 1950, and Pamela,1951, all of whom Al and Lucille gave up to foster care
4.
Harpsichord
–
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed, Harpsichord designates the whole family of similar plucked keyboard instruments, including the smaller virginals, muselar, and spinet. The harpsichord was used in Renaissance and Baroque music. During the late 18th century, it disappeared from the musical scene with the rise of the piano. In the 20th century, it made a resurgence, being used in historically informed performances of music, in compositions. Harpsichords vary in size and shape, but all have the basic functional arrangement. The player depresses a key that rocks over a pivot in the middle of its length, the other end of the key lifts a jack that holds a small plectrum, which plucks the string. When the player releases the key, the far end returns to its rest position, the plectrum, mounted on a tongue that can swivel backwards away from the string, passes the string without plucking it again. As the key reaches its rest position, a felt damper atop the jack stops the strings vibrations and these basic principles are explained in detail below. The keylever is a pivot, which rocks on a balance pin that passes through a hole drilled through the keylever. The jack is a thin, rectangular piece of wood that sits upright on the end of the keylever, the jacks are held in place by the registers. These are two strips of wood, which run in the gap between pinblock and bellyrail. The registers have rectangular mortises through which the pass as they can move up. The registers hold the jacks in the location needed to pluck the string. In the jack, a plectrum juts out almost horizontally and passes just under the string, historically, plectra were made of bird quill or leather, many modern harpsichords have plastic plectra. When the front of the key is pressed, the back of the key rises, the jack is lifted, the vertical motion of the jack is then stopped by the jackrail, which is covered with soft felt to muffle the impact. When the key is released, the falls back down under its own weight. This is made possible by having the plectrum held in a tongue attached with a pivot and a spring to the body of the jack
5.
Clavichord
–
The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge to the soundboard, the name is derived from the Latin word clavis, meaning key and chorda meaning string, especially of a musical instrument. An analogous name is used in other European languages, many languages also have another name derived from Latin manus, meaning hand. Other names refer to the nature of a fully fretted clavichord. Italian also used sordino, a reference to its quiet sound, the clavichord was invented in the early fourteenth century. In 1504, the German poem Der Minne Regeln mentions the terms clavicimbalum and clavichordium, One of the earliest references to the clavichord in England occurs in the privy-purse expenses of Elizabeth of York, queen of Henry VII, in an entry dated August 1502, Item. The same day, Hugh Denys for money by him delivered to a stranger that gave the queen a payre of clavycordes, in crowns form his reward iiii libres. The clavichord was very popular from the 16th century to the 18th century, but mainly flourished in German-speaking lands, Scandinavia, and it had fallen out of use by 1850. In the late 1890s, Arnold Dolmetsch revived clavichord construction and Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, among others, although most of the instruments built before the 1730s were small, the latest instruments were built up to seven feet long with a six octave range. Today clavichords are played primarily by Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical music enthusiasts and they attract many interested buyers, and are manufactured worldwide. There are now numerous clavichord societies around the world, and some 400 recordings of the instrument have made in the past 70 years. Leading modern exponents of the instrument have included Derek Adlam, Christopher Hogwood, Richard Troeger, Thurston Dart, Wim Winters, stevie Wonder uses a Clavinet in many of his songs, such as Superstition and Higher Ground. A Clavinet played through an instrument amplifier with guitar effect pedals is often associated with funky, guy Sigsworth has played clavichord in a modern setting with Björk, notably on the studio recording of All Is Full of Love. Björk also made use of and even played the instrument herself on the song My Juvenile of her 2007 album Volta. Tori Amos uses the instrument on Little Amsterdam from the album Boys for Pele, Amos also featured her use of the Clavinet on her 2004 recording Not David Bowie, released as part of her 2006 box set, A Piano, The Collection. In 1976 Oscar Peterson played songs from Porgy And Bess on the clavichord, keith Jarrett also recorded an album entitled Book of Ways in which he plays a series of clavichord improvisations
6.
Organ (music)
–
In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals. The organ is an old musical instrument, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria. It was played throughout the Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman world, subsequently it re-emerged as a secular and recital instrument in the Classical music tradition. Pipe organs use air moving through pipes to produce sounds, since the 16th century, pipe organs have used various materials for pipes, which can vary widely in timbre and volume. The pipes are divided into ranks and controlled by the use of hand stops, although the keyboard is not expressive as on a piano and does not affect dynamics, some divisions may be enclosed in a swell box, allowing the dynamics to be controlled by shutters. Some organs are enclosed, meaning that all the divisions can be controlled by one set of shutters. Some special registers with free reed pipes are expressive and these instruments vary greatly in size, ranging from a cubic yard to a height reaching five floors, and are built in churches, synagogues, concert halls, and homes. Small organs are called positive or portative, increasingly hybrid organs are appearing in which pipes are augmented with electronic additions. Great economies of space and cost are possible especially when the lowest of the pipes can be replaced, non-piped organs include the reed organ or harmonium, which like the accordion and harmonica use air to excite free reeds. Electronic organs or digital organs, notably the Hammond organ, generate electronically produced sound through one or more loudspeakers, mechanical organs include the barrel organ, water organ, and Orchestrion. These are controlled by means such as pinned barrels or book music. Little barrel organs dispense with the hands of an organist and bigger organs are powered in most cases by a grinder or today by other means such as an electric motor. The pipe organ is the grandest musical instrument in size and scope, along with the clock, it was considered one of the most complex human-made mechanical creations before the Industrial Revolution. Pipe organs range in size from a short keyboard to huge instruments with over 10,000 pipes. A large modern organ typically has three or four keyboards with five each, and a two-and-a-half octave pedal board. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called the organ the King of instruments, some of the biggest instruments have 64-foot pipes, and it sounds to an 8 Hz frequency fundamental tone. For instance, the Wanamaker organ, located in Philadelphia, USA, has sonic resources comparable with three simultaneous symphony orchestras, most organs in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia can be found in Christian churches. The introduction of organs is traditionally attributed to Pope Vitalian in the 7th century
7.
George II of Great Britain
–
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death. George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain, he was born, after the deaths of Sophia and Anne, Queen of Great Britain, in 1714, his father George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the British throne. In the first years of his fathers reign as king, George was associated with opposition politicians, as king from 1727, George exercised little control over British domestic policy, which was largely controlled by the Parliament of Great Britain. As elector, he spent twelve summers in Hanover, where he had direct control over government policy. He had a relationship with his eldest son, Frederick. During the War of the Austrian Succession, George participated at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, Frederick died unexpectedly in 1751, nine years before his father, and so George II was ultimately succeeded by his grandson, George III. For two centuries after George IIs death, history tended to him with disdain, concentrating on his mistresses, short temper. Since then, most scholars have reassessed his legacy and conclude that he held and exercised influence in foreign policy and military appointments. George was born in the city of Hanover in Germany, and was the son of George Louis, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick-Lüneburg, both of Georges parents committed adultery, and in 1694 their marriage was dissolved on the pretext that Sophia had abandoned her husband. She was confined to Ahlden House and denied access to her two children, George and his sister Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, who never saw their mother again. George spoke only French, the language of diplomacy and the court, until the age of four, after which he was taught German by one of his tutors, Johann Hilmar Holstein. In addition to French and German, he was schooled in English and Italian. Georges second cousin once removed, Queen Anne, ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1702, consequently, after his grandmother and father, George was third in line to succeed Anne in two of her three realms. England and Scotland united in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, Georges father did not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he had, and wanted him to have the opportunity of meeting his bride before any formal arrangements were made. Negotiations from 1702 for the hand of Princess Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, Dowager Duchess and regent of Holstein-Gottorp, the English envoy to Hanover, Edmund Poley, reported that George was so taken by the good character he had of her that he would not think of anybody else. A marriage contract was concluded by the end of July, on 22 August /2 September 1705O. S. /N. S. Caroline arrived in Hanover for her wedding, which was held the evening in the chapel at Herrenhausen. George was keen to participate in the war against France in Flanders, in early 1707, Georges hopes were fulfilled when Caroline gave birth to a son, Frederick
8.
Chapel Royal
–
A Chapel Royal is, in both Canada and the United Kingdom, an eccesiastical body of clergy, singers and vestry officers appointed to serve the spiritual needs of the countrys reigning sovereign. In the UK, it is a department of the Ecclesiastical Household, the household is further divided into two parts, an ecclesiastical household each for Scotland and England, belonging to the Church of Scotland and the Church of England respectively. The latter was designated as a Chapel Royal in 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II and is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ontario, in April 2016 the Queen approved in principle that St. Catherines Chapel, Massey College, Toronto be designated a Chapel Royal. In their early history, the English and Scottish Chapels Royal travelled, like the rest of the court, with the monarch, the first records of the Scottish Chapel Royal date from the eleventh century. James IV of Scotland established a building for the Chapel Royal in Stirling Castle in 1501, the Italianate building was used for the christening of Jamess son, Prince Henry. The English Chapel Royal had emerged as a body by the eleventh century. The chapel achieved its greatest eminence during the reign of Elizabeth I, the Master of the Children had, until at least 1684, the power to impress promising boy trebles from provincial choirs for service in the chapel. In the 17th century the Chapel Royal had its own building in Whitehall, in the 18th century the choristers sang the soprano parts in performances of Handels oratorios and other works. Under Charles II, the choir was augmented by violinists from the royal consort, at various times the chapel has also employed composers, lutenists. The Chapel Royal refers not to a building but to an establishment in the Royal Household, the term is also, however, applied to those buildings used as chapels by the priests and singers of the Chapel Royal for the performance of their duties. The two currently regularly used British Chapels Royal are located in St. Jamess Palace in London, the Chapel Royal, since such establishments are outside the usual diocesan structure, they are classified as royal peculiars. He is assisted by the Revd William Whitcombe and the Revd Richard Bolton, the Chapels Royal are served by a choir, six Gentlemen-in-Ordinary and ten Children of the Chapel— all boys. The current Director of Music of the English Chapel Royal is Huw Williams who is assisted by a sub organist, the Chapel Royal occupies a number of buildings. The Chapel Royal conducts the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and this building has been used regularly since 1702 and is the most commonly used facility today. Located in the block of St Jamess Palace, it was built circa 1540 and altered since. The large window to the right of the gatehouse is in the north wall of this chapel which is laid out on a north-south rather than the usual east-west axis. Its ceiling richly decorated with initials and coats of arms is said to have been painted by Holbein. From the 1690s it was used by Continental Protestant courtiers and became known as the German chapel, after the adjacent apartments burnt down in 1809 they were not replaced, and in 1856-57 Marlborough Road was built between the palace and the chapel
9.
Georgian architecture
–
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style of Georgian buildings is very variable, but marked by a taste for symmetry and proportion based on the architecture of Greece and Rome. Ornament is also normally in the tradition, but typically rather restrained. In towns, which expanded greatly during the period, landowners turned into property developers, even the wealthy were persuaded to live in these in town, especially if provided with a square of garden in front of the house. There was an amount of building in the period, all over the English-speaking world. The period saw the growth of a distinct and trained architectural profession, before the mid-century the high-sounding title and this contrasted with earlier styles, which were primarily disseminated among craftsmen through the direct experience of the apprenticeship system. Authors such as the prolific William Halfpenny published editions in America as well as Britain, mail-order kit homes were also popular before World War II. The architect James Gibbs was a figure, his earlier buildings are Baroque, reflecting the time he spent in Rome in the early 18th century. Other prominent architects of the early Georgian period include James Paine, Robert Taylor, and John Wood, the styles that resulted fall within several categories. In the mainstream of Georgian style were both Palladian architecture—and its whimsical alternatives, Gothic and Chinoiserie, which were the English-speaking worlds equivalent of European Rococo. John Nash was one of the most prolific architects of the late Georgian era known as The Regency style, greek Revival architecture was added to the repertory, beginning around 1750, but increasing in popularity after 1800. Leading exponents were William Wilkins and Robert Smirke, regularity of housefronts along a street was a desirable feature of Georgian town planning. In Britain brick or stone are almost invariably used, brick is often disguised with stucco, in America and other colonies wood remained very common, as its availability and cost-ratio with the other materials was more favourable. Versions of revived Palladian architecture dominated English country house architecture, Houses were increasingly placed in grand landscaped settings, and large houses were generally made wide and relatively shallow, largely to look more impressive from a distance. The height was usually highest in the centre, and the Baroque emphasis on corner pavilions often found on the continent generally avoided, in grand houses, an entrance hall led to steps up to a piano nobile or mezzanine floor where the main reception rooms were. A single block was typical, with a perhaps a small court for carriages at the front marked off by railings and a gate, but rarely a stone gatehouse, or side wings around the court. Windows in all types of buildings were large and regularly placed on a grid, this was partly to minimize window tax and their height increasingly varied between the floors, and they increasingly began below waist-height in the main rooms, making a small balcony desirable
10.
Messiah (Handel)
–
It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known, Handels reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste, although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form, there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennenss text is a reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, in Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christs glorification in heaven, Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a larger scale, with giant orchestras. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by Mozart, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handels original intentions, although big Messiah productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928, the composer George Frideric Handel, born in Halle, Germany in 1685, took up permanent residence in London in 1712, and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. Within a large and varied output, Handel was a vigorous champion of Italian opera. He subsequently wrote and presented more than 40 such operas in Londons theatres, by the early 1730s public taste for Italian opera was beginning to fade. The popular success of John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepuschs The Beggars Opera had heralded a spate of English-language ballad-operas that mocked the pretensions of Italian opera, with box-office receipts falling, Handels productions were increasingly reliant on private subsidies from the nobility. Such funding became harder to obtain after the launch in 1730 of the Opera of the Nobility, Handel overcame this challenge, but he spent large sums of his own money in doing so. Although prospects for Italian opera were declining, Handel remained committed to the genre, in Rome in 1707–08 he had written two Italian oratorios at a time when opera performances in the city were temporarily forbidden under papal decree. His first venture into English oratorio had been Esther, which was written, in 1732 Handel brought a revised and expanded version of Esther to the Kings Theatre, Haymarket, where members of the royal family attended a glittering premiere on 6 May. Its success encouraged Handel to write two more oratorios, All three oratorios were performed to large and appreciative audiences at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford in mid-1733. Undergraduates reportedly sold their furniture to raise the money for the five-shilling tickets, in 1735 Handel received the text for a new oratorio named Saul from its librettist Charles Jennens, a wealthy landowner with musical and literary interests. Because Handels main creative concern was still with opera, he did not write the music for Saul until 1738, the work, after opening at the Kings Theatre in January 1739 to a warm reception, was quickly followed by the less successful oratorio Israel in Egypt
11.
Modena
–
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. One of Ferraris cars, the 360 Modena, was named after the town itself, the University of Modena, founded in 1175 and expanded by Francesco II dEste in 1686, has traditional strengths in economics, medicine and law and is the second oldest athenaeum in Italy. Italian military officers are trained at the Military Academy of Modena, the Biblioteca Estense houses historical volumes and 3,000 manuscripts. The Cathedral of Modena, the Torre della Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande are a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, Modena is also known in culinary circles for its production of balsamic vinegar. Modena lies on the Pianura Padana, and is bounded by the two rivers Secchia and Panaro, both affluents of the Po River and their presence is symbolized by the Two Rivers Fountain in the citys center, by Giuseppe Graziosi. The city is connected to the Panaro by the Naviglio channel, the Apennines begin some 10 kilometres from the city, to the south. The commune is divided into four circoscrizioni and these are, Centro storico Crocetta Buon Pastore San Faustino Modena has a humid subtropical climate, with an average annual precipitation of 809 millimetres. Summers are warm and winters are chilly and wetter, with the possibility of snowfall and this climate is described by the Köppen climate classification as Cfa. From 1945 to 1992, Modena had a consecutive series of Communist mayors. From the 1990s, the city has been governed by center-left coalitions, at the April 2006 elections, the city of Modena gave about 50% of its votes to the Democratic Party. The legislative body of the municipality is the City Council which is composed by 35 members elected every five years, Modenas executive body is the City Committee composed by 9 assessors, the deputy-mayor and the mayor. The current mayor of Modena is Giancarlo Muzzarelli, member of the Democratic Party of Italy, the territory around Modena was inhabited by the Villanovans in the Iron Age, and later by Ligurian tribes, Etruscans, and the Gaulish Boii. Livy described it as a fortified citadel where Roman magistrates took shelter, the outcome of the siege is not known, but the city was most likely abandoned after Hannibals arrival. Mutina was refounded as a Roman colony in 183 BC, to be used as a base by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. In the 1st century BC Mutina was besieged twice, the first siege was by Pompey in 78 BC, when Mutina was defended by Marcus Junius Brutus. The city eventually surrendered out of hunger, and Brutus fled, in the civil war following Caesars assassination, the city was besieged again, this time by Mark Antony, in 44 BC, and defended by Decimus Junius Brutus. Octavian relieved the city with the help of the Senate, cicero called it Mutina splendidissima in his Philippics. It is said that Mutina was never sacked by Attila, for a dense fog hid it, as of December 2008, Italian researchers have discovered the pottery center where the oil lamps that lit the ancient Roman empire were made
12.
Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery
–
The Council subsequently acquired Charles’ house, Chillington Manor, from his executors and, in 1858, opened it as the Charles Museum, later renamed Maidstone Museum. The Museum was one of the first to be opened as a result of the Museums Act and was a member of the Museums Association. Maidstone Museum celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008 and this museum contains over 600,000 artefacts and specimens. Its collections, housed in the centre of Kent’s county town, are among the most comprehensive in the South East. The Museum is one of three operated by Maidstone Borough Council - alongside the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regimental Museum, the Museums central core consists of an Elizabethan manor house, formerly known as Chillington Manor, completed in 1577 with earlier Tudor buildings to its rear. In the early 18th century a wing was added to the west of the Tudor house. Upon the death of Thomas Charles an in accordance with his estate, Maidstone Borough Council purchased the building in 1856 for the sum of £1,200, investing a further £300 for repairs. On January 20,1858, the Museum opened as one of the UKs first local authority-run museums, after its opening as a museum, the building was further extended to house the growing collections. A new east wing was added in 1869, matched by new wing to the west in 1873 made possible by donations from Julius Brenchley. The eastern elevation was extended in 1889 to accommodate the Bentlif Art Gallery funded by Samuel Bentlif to house the art collection amassed by his brother, George. On the western side, the Victoria Gallery, housing the library, was built between 1897 and 1899 to commemorate Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee. It operated as a public lending library until 1936. In 1924, the Bentlif Wing was extended and, in 1973, Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery is Grade II* listed. The range of historic buildings makes access to parts of the Museum difficult. Significant improvements have been recently to ensure that the Museum meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum, an independent charitable trust, has housed in the Museum since 1964. Its collection of regimental memorabilia features over 3,000 medals, the Museum is recognised as having the largest mixed collections in the county and one of the most important in the south-east of England, outside London. The collections consist of over 600,000 artefacts and specimens, three collections are of national importance, Anglo-Saxon - the best collection of artefacts from the richest Anglo-Saxon region of Britain
.jpg)
