Maria Montessori

 Humanities  / Great Thinkers Datebook:  August 31

 

Brief biography of Maria Montessori, Italian educator, physician and humanitarian. Traces her early life and later her influences, leading to the famous Montessori method of teaching she pioneered.

Maria Montessori is renowned for Montessori Method of teaching which emphasizes educating young children through self-expression. Of her method, she believed that,  "… The fundamental principle of scientific pedagogy must be, indeed, the liberty of the pupil – such liberty as shall permit a development of individual, spontaneous manifestation of the child's nature."

 

Early Life of Maria Montessori

Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was the first Italian woman to receive a Doctor of Medicine degree in University of Rome (1894). She was born on August 31, 1870, an only child of an army officer turned civil servant and an educated and well-off mother. As a pupil in a public school, she won awards for good behavior and "women's work," meaning cooking and sewing. Already at a young age, she was outspoken, independent-mined and showed leadership quality. Although she was not necessarily a brilliant student, she was studious and did well in exams.

It was her mother who encouraged young Maria academically and at 12 years old, she attended a technical school that included French, history, geography, mathematics, and science. Although her father was outraged at his daughter's "unfeminine" direction, he did not interfere. She continued and advanced in her studies until she studied at the university of Rome, where in 1896, she received her Doctor of Medicine degree. She became the first Italian woman to study medicine and with honors.  She initially developed her educational method while working with mentally handicapped children. Revolutionizing modern education, the Montessori Method emphasized freedom of expression, supported individual initiative and utilized sensory training.

Dedication to Reforms 

Montessori's dedication to reform can be traced back to her childhood and young adulthood at the time of a newly unified Italy much torn between a national commitment to social progress and parochialism. Maria spent her childhood in an agricultural quiet provincial town, before the family moved to Rome when she was five. Her mother stressed the values of hard work and the importance of helping the less fortunate.

Influence of Montessori on Children with Learning Disability

While practicing medicine, Montessori became increasingly interested in helping children with learning disabilities. Along this line, she was influenced by prominent educators including Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard, who pioneered the use of sensory stimuli with the learning disabled, Edouard Sequin, whose exercises with the use of physical activity to stimulate perception resulted in the students' ability to learn to read and write, and of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who believed in prioritizing the process of learning rather than what is learned.  

In 1907, she acquired directorship of a "Casa dei Bambini" (day care center) and applied her principles to normal children.

The Legacy of Maria Montessori

Critics questioned the method's informal structure. However, Montessori found remarkable success with all levels of students.

She devoted the remainder of her career to spreading her principles. She lectured, organized more centers and established training courses in her methods. Today Montessori schools are popular worldwide. 

Montessori died at the age of 81 years old, 6th of May, 1952, in Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Photo Credit:

Maria Montessori. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain

Resources:

Felder, Deborah. Giant Book of Influential Women. The book company, London (1997)

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers (1994)

Martin, Jean, Ed. Who's Who of Women in the 20^thCentury. London, Bison Group (1995)

 

(c)  August 2009. Updated August 31, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 Great Thinkers / Datebook: August 28

 

 

 

Brief biography of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the greatest German great thinkers: writer, poet, playwright, philosopher.

 

 

 

 Goethe was one of the greatest German writers scientific theorists of all time. He was famous for such works as Faust, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.

Early Life of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born on August 28, 1749 in the German city of Frankfurt, to an influential family. He had a comfortable childhood. Educated at home, he was greatly influenced by his mother, an artistic and sensitive woman who encouraged his love of literature. When he was 16, Goethe went to Leipzig University. Two years later he began an unhappy love affair that inspired his first play, The Lover's Caprice.

The Sorrows of Young Werther

After a period of illness Goethe resumed his studies. He fell in love with a woman who was engaged to someone else. An attempt to express his anguish he wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel that made him famous throughout Europe and influenced the development of modern German literature.

"Sturm und Drung" Movement

Back in Frankfurt, the 24-year-old Goethe joined a group called Sturm und Drung ('Storm and Stress"), which wrote emotionally intense works that were part of the Romantic movement. A few years later Goethe accepted an appointment to the court of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. For the next ten years he wrote little but pursued his scientific and political work.

Goethe in Italy

Goethe might be the greatest poet of Germany, yet he also embraced Europe. He traveled to Italy, long regarded by him as the centre of culture. He returned a changed man and left his post to concentrate on writing. His masterpiece, Faust, which he began years earlier, was completed just before his death. An epic work, it shows Goethe's development, as well as that of European society.

Last Words on Goethe

Goethe admired Byron's Don Juan and especially loved the comic rhyme of the English language in it. His career as a writer and as a thinker spanned the end of Classicism and the beginning of Romanticism. His concerns transcended the individual's emotions, always questing for knowledge and faith in salvation. At the age of 82, Goethe died on March 22, 1832 in Weimar.

 

"Now slants the fiery god toward the west,

Hating away, but seeking in his round

New life afar: I long to join his quest,

On tireless wings uplifted from the ground."

Faust, Part One, Translation by Philip Wayne

 

Works by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Lover's Caprice, 1767

The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774

Clavigo, 1774

Stella, 1775

Iphigenia: A Tragedy, 1787

Egmont, 1787

Torquato Tasso, 1789

Roman Elegies, 1788-1790

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, 1795-1796

Hermann and Dorothea, 1798

Faust, Part One, 1808, Part Two, 1832

Italian Journey, 1816-1817

Wilhelm Meister's Travels, 1821-1829

Poetry and Truth, 1811-1831

 

Image Credit:

Johann W. von Goethe. en.wikipedia.org/Commons. Public Domain

 

Resources:

Cambridge Guide to Literature in English by Ian Ousby (1993)

Larousse Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring (1994)

The A-Z of Great Writers by Tom Payne, Carlton, 1997

 

(c) August 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Leonard Bernstein

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: August 25

 

 

 

Brief biography of Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and author; a consummate musician, one of 20^th century's most celebrated conductors.  Famous for West Side Story, Candide, and Wonderful Town.

 

 

Leonard Bernstein was a renowned conductor, composer and pianist, famous for musical West Side Story, Wonderful Town, and Candide. His most popular stage works are ballets and musicals.

Energetic and versatile, Bernstein was more influential as a conductor than as a composer, as he drew tremendous audiences around the world. He was considered an eclectic composer with his inspired influences coming from many different sources - from his fellow American composers Gershwin and Copland, from Mahler and Stravinsky, exciting idea of concert jazz, and just about anything.  

 

Early Life: Musical Training

Leonard Bernstein was born on 25 August 1918, in Lawrence Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Harvard University with Walter Piston and at Curtis Institute.   

 

The Conductor

In 1944, aged 26, he made his reputation as a conductor as a replacement when Bruno Walter became ill, after which he was associated with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra from 194, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra as musical director from 1958-69, soon achieving an international reputation. He conducted in Vienna and La Scala, Milan, the first American to conduct there.

 

The Composer

Bernstein wrote two of the greatest of all American stage and screen musicals, On the Town, Candide, and West Side Story, which is Shakespeare's classic story Romeo and Juliet transferred to the contemporary New York life.  

 

The Author

In more personal level, Bernstein was also an author (e.g., The Joy of Music), teacher, spellbinding broadcaster on radio and television, simply, a talented communicator. 

 

The Musical Director

From 1958 to 1970, he was musical director of the New York Philharmonic.

 

Maestro Leonard Bernstein was one of the most attractive, entertaining, and creative minds of the 20^th century. He died in New York, 14 October 1990.

 

Bernstein's Works

His works established a more realistic, contemporary themes. His works, which established a more realistic, contemporary themes, include symphonies such as The Age of Anxiety, ballets such as Fancy Free, and scores for musicals, including  Wonderful Town, West Side Story, and Mass in memory of President John F Kennedy. Other works are symphony Jeremiah, the ballet Facsimile, and the musicals Candide and the Chichester Psalms.

 

Symphonies:

Jeremiah (1944)

Symphony No.2, 'The Age of Anxiety' (1949)

Symphony No.3, 'Kaddish'

 

Opera:

Trouble in Tahiti (1951)

 

Ballets:

Fancy Free (1944)

Facsimile (1946)

 

Scores for Musicals:

Wonderful Town (1953)

Candide (1956)

West Side Story (1957, in which he arranged an exciting set of “symphonic dances” from the score, also includes the song 'America')

Chichester Psalms (1965)

Mass (1971) in memory of President John F Kennedy

 

Film Music:

On the Waterfront (1954)

 

 

Image Credit:

Leonard Bernstein. en.Wikipedia.org / By Jack Mitchell, created 1 Dec 1977.  

 

Resources:  

Leonard Bernstein.  Leonard Bernstein Official Website

Leonard Bernstein The Gift of Music 1993 French subtitles. Youtube, uploaded by Hans Hesseling. Accessed January 4, 2024.

The Encyclopedia of Music by Max Wade-Matthews & Wendy Thompson, Hermes House (2002)

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Edited by Stanley Sadie, Macmillan (1994)

The Oxford Companion to Music, Edited by Alison Latham, OUP (2002)

The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Edited by Michael Kennedy, OUP (1994)

  

(c) August 2009. Updated August 25, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

West Side Story (Musical)

Music Drama/Films/Musicals 


West Side Story is a musical with a book written by Arthur Lautents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet.  The story focuses on social problems and  marked a turning point in American musical theatre.

The story is set in the Upper West Side in New York City in the mid-1950s, in an ethnic, blue-collar neighbourhood. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of of different ethnic backgrounds. The members Sharks, from Puerto Rico, are taunted by the Jets, a white gang. The young protagonist, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of Riff, the gang's leader, falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes.

Bernstein's score for the musical includes  "Something's Coming,: "Maria," "America," "Somewhere," "Tonight," "Jet Song," "I Feel Pretty," "A Boy Like That," "One Hand, One Heart," "Gee, Officer Krupke," and "Cool."

Version conducted by Bernstein himself, published on January 5, 2012. Performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The Symphony Hall, Osaka, 1985.

 

 

10 Famous Program Music

Descriptive or Programme Music

A simple description of a program music: it refers to music that portrays specifically what the composer wants to communicate to the listener or audience. It tells stories with the voices of instruments.

1. An American in Paris (1928), by George Gershwin
An American reacts to the atmosphere of Paris, France. It even includes taxi horns. One of his best-known compositions, George Gershwin's An American in Paris is a jazz-influenced symphonic poem he composed in 1928. It is inspired by the time he had spent in Paris in the 1920s, evoking the sights and energy of the the city.

2. Carnival of the Animals (1886), by Camille Saint-Saëns
The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) is a short piece of music, around 25 minutes, known as the "grand zoological fantasy," as the French composer Camille Saint Saens called it. It depicts a parade of animals, portrayed with a wonderful humour. It is a musical suite of 14 movements, written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments. (Refer to February 26 video.)

3. Four Seasons (c. 1725), by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi's most famous Four Seasons includes four concerti representing the four seasons: Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter. This music is his most recorded and performed compositions. It was first played by the talented orphans of the Conservatorio dell' Ospedale della Pietà in 18th-century Venice, for which Vivaldi wrote instrumental music and oratorios.

4. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912), by Frederick Delius
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring is a tone poem, a lovely scene, composed by Delius and first performed in Leipzig on October 23, 1913. The orchestral strings produce an atmosphere of a warm spring day, and a cuckoo still away a lovely mood through the woodwind. The piece opens with a slow three-bar sequence. Its first theme is an exchange of cuckoo calls, first for oboe, then for divided strings. The second theme is scored for first violins, taken from a Norwegian folk song, "In Ola Valley," which was brought to his attention by Percy Grainger, Australian composer and folk-arranger. The clarinet returns with the cuckoo before the piece finishes in a pastoral fashion. The music has such a pastoral beauty and serenity in the air.  (Delius 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring' - Felix Slatkin conducts. YouTube, uploaded by adam28xx. Accessed August 22, 2020)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Literature / Poet Datebook: August 6

English Lyric Poet and Poet Laureate  
 

Life and works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, considered most important poet of the Victorian era. His subjects include Arthurian legends and classic mythology.

   

Alfred Lord Tennyson was an English poet laureate, one of the finest lyric poets in the English language. He wrote the epic Idylls of the King. Many of his poems are famous, including "Charge of the Light Brigade," "Tears, Idle Tears," "In Memoriam," and the farewell "Crossing the Bar." His poetry is lyrical, dramatic, elegiac and epic.  

Early Life of Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1^st Baron Tennyson, was born on August 6, 1809, in idyllic Somersby, Lincolnshire, one of the twelve children of a clergyman George Clayton Tennyson, and his wife, Elizabeth Fytche Tennyson. He was educated by his father, who encouraged his interest in poetry. By age 12, he was writing epic poems and memorising Horace's odes. twelve Before age 15, he was writing verse plays and poetry in the style of Lord Byron.

Tennyson's Earlier Poems

When he was 18, Tennyson entered Cambridge University. That year some of his childhood poetry was published, along with poems by his brothers Frederick and Charles Tennyson Turner, in Poems by Two Brothers. At Cambridge Tennyson continued to write poetry and became close friend with English poet Arthur Henry Hallam.   

The Prolific Poet

Tennyson's second volume of poetry, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical, contained the popular "Mariana". In his next collection are poems now regarded as being among his best, including "The Lady of Shalott" and "The Lotus Eaters." The following year Hallam died of brain hemmorhage, aged 22. Tennyson was deeply depressed, and he published little for ten years but continued to write. 

 

"The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson. Inspired by the 13th-century short prose text Donna di Scalotta, it tells the tragic story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from Camelot. One of the poet's best-known works, its vivid medieval romanticism and enigmatic symbolism inspired many painters, especially the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers, and other artists and authors.  Below video, "The Lady of Shallot" is provided to YouTube by Kontor New Media GmbH, sung by Loreena McKennitt, Canadian singer-songwriter. 

In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord TENNYSON read by Elizabeth Klett | Full Audio Book. Youtube, uploaded by LibriVox. Accessed August 6, 2022.

 

By 24, he reached full creative juices in his Poems. Despite this, he was dogged by financial woes. It was only after Queen Victoria appointed him poet laureate in 1850 did his fortune change. He held the post for 40 years. In 1880, he was also given a lordship.