Gustav Holst Suite The Planets

Classical Music Datebook: September 29

"The Planets" by Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst's suite "The Planets" was first performed on Sept 29, 1918,  in Queen's Hall, London. He composed it for voices and orchestra. It is Holst's  best-known music.  One of Holst’s mystical influences was astrology and the zodiac, which was one of his hobbies for the rest of his life. Astrology was the primary influence behind his most famous work, The Planets.

The movements of "The Planets":

• Mars, the Bringer of War: Use of timpani.
• Venus, the Bringer of Peace: Strings.
• Mercury, the Winged Messenger: Strings and bassoon.
• Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity:  The Jupiter theme was adopted as a patriotic hymn tune, considered the most recognizable in the suite.
• Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age: The musical messenger of decline, eventually death.
• Uranus, the Magician.
• Nepture, the Mystic: More strings and winds.

Miguel de Cervantes

 Literature / Writer's Datebook: September 29

 

Brief biography of Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet and playwright, one of the greatest writers in Spanish literature, famous for Don Quixote.

 

 

 

Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes is best-known for his epic satire masterpiece, the ingenious gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha, simply known as Don Quixote.

 

Early Life of Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547, with birth name of Alcalá de Henares. He lived an unsettled life of adventure and hardship. He was born near Madrid, Spain, into an aristocratic but poor family and spent much of his childhood moving from one town to another while his doctor father sought work. Years spent in study with a famous humanist scholar gave him a passion for learning and tolerance.

 

Military Life 

In his early 20s Cervantes became a solder. At 24, he joined the Spanish Armada and fought at the Battle of Lapanto, one of the greatest sea battles in history. His left hand was wounded and never regained its full use. When he was 28, he was captured and enslaved by North African pirates for five years. Eventually, his family was able to raise money for his return home, only to be imprisoned for fraud.

 

Literary Pursuits

Returning to Spain, Cervantes found his family in poverty. He had several temporary jobs and turned to writing as a way of earning money. Among his works in this period were a pastoral novel, poetry and several plays.

 

Don Quixote de la Mancha

During a period of particularly bad luck Cervantes found himself in jail for fraud. It was here that he had the idea for his masterpiece, Don Quixote. Like his hero, Cervantes was much stricken by fate aside from having fought in the battle of Lepanto. Don Quixote is a story of a man who reads numerous books about chivalry, becomes mad, and tries to restore old-fashioned heroism. 

Don Quixote

 

The first volume of Don Quixote was published when he was 58, and it was an immediate success. It follows the adventures of a slightly in same Spanish nobleman and his loyal servant. Quixote sees himself as a knight in shining armour and sets out to right the wrongs of the world. Scholars describe Don Quixote as one of the world's first novels.

Cervantes also wrote poetry and plays, however, they were overshadowed by his contemporaries. He died on April 23, 1616, aged 68.

 

Popular Song adaptation:  'The Impossible Dream'

 

Miguel de Cervantes Books

La Galatea: A Pastoral Romance, 1585

Comedy of Confusion, c.1586

Don Quixote, 1605

Exemplary Novels, 1613

Eight New Plays and Eight New Interludes, 1615

The Exploits of Persiles and Sigismunda, 1617 (published after he died) 

 

Image Credit:

Don Quixote. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain

Miguel de Cervantes. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain 

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002

Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997

 

(c) September 29, 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

T.S. Eliot

Literature /Writer's Datebook: September 26

 

Brief biography and works of T.S. Eliot, American-born British poet, critic and playwright, 1948 Nobel laureate for literature.    

 

T.S. Eliot was one of the most important figures in 20^th century literature. Famous for his poem The Waste Land, he revolutionized the way poetry was written. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948.

 

Early Years of T.S. Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1964) was born in St. Louis, Missouri the youngest of seven children, raised as a Unitarian. He studied at Harvard University where he was recognized as a brilliant student and where he began work on his poem "the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," one of his best-known works. After graduating, he continued his dtudies in Germany, France and at Oxford university.

 

Move to England and Literary Life

At the age of 27, Eliot moved to England for good. He worked in a bank at the same time  began editing literary magazines. He quickly became a member of London's literary scene – after the publication of his first poetry collection, Prufrock, and Other Observations, he was introduced by Bertrand Russell to the members of the Bloomsbury Group. His next two small volumes, Ara vos prec and the more important The Waste Land, were published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at their Hogarth Press. Later, he joined the publishing company Faber and Faber, where he worked for the rest of his life.

 

His Works

Eliot's most famous work, The Waste Land, was written when he was 34. It is a long poem that caught the mood of despair and confusion felt by many people during the years between the two World Wars when everything seemed to be changing and uncertain. The poem is a mix of references to modern life and great literature of the past, written in a style that combines slang but with scholarly language. It remains one of the great works of 20^th-century literature although it is very difficult to understand.      

He wrote literary criticism essays The Sacred Wood, Homage to Dryden and Elizabethan Essays, among others. His plays were religious in nature as he adhered to the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Church of England. 

T.S. Eliot died on January 4, 1964, at the age of 76.

 

Books by T.S. Eliot:

Prufrock, and Other Observations (1917, poetry)

Three Critical Essays (1920, essays)
Ara vos Prec (1920, poetry)

The Sacred Wood (1920, essays)
The Waste Land (1922, poetry)

Homage to Dryden (1924, essays)
Poems, 1909-1925 (1925, poetry)
For Lancelot Andrewes (1928, essays)
Ash Wednesday (1930, poetry)
Thoughts After Lambeth (1931, essays)
The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933, essays)
After Strange Gods (1933, essays)
Elizabethan Essays (1934, essays)

The Rock (1934, religious play)
Murder in the Cathedral (1935, play)

Collected Poems: 1909-1935 (1936, poetry)
Essays Ancient and Modern (1936, essays)
The Dry Salvages (1941, poetry)
Four Quartets (1944, considered one of the greatest philosophical poems in the language.

On Poetry and Poets (1957, essays)

Family Reunion (1930, play)

The Cocktail Party (1950, play)

 

Image Credit:

T.S. Eliot.  Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain.

 

Resources:

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002

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

 

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

The Piano (Film) Soundtrack

Soundtrack / The Piano (Film)

Beautiful music! I'm in awe of the melody. 

Mute pianist, Ada arrives in 19th Century New Zealand, with her daughter and beloved piano, as the reluctant participant in an arranged marriage. Of all her belongings her husband abandons only the piano, selling it to his illiterate neighbour, Baines. Unable to bear its certain destruction, Ada strikes a bargain to earn back her piano despite the unusual conditions attached. A tour de force in filmmaking, The Piano received three Academy Awards including Best Actress (Holly Hunter), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin) and Best Original Screenplay (Director Jane Campion). It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Kietel, Sam Neill,  and then 11-year old Anna Paquin in her first starring role.

The original soundtrack is on the Virgin Records label, of the 1993 Academy Award-winning film The Piano. The original score was composed by Michael Nyman. The main theme is based on a traditional Scottish melody titled "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa."  Despite being called a "soundtrack", this is a partial score re-recording, as Nyman himself also performs the piano on the album, whereas the film version is performed by lead actress Holly Hunter. The music is performed by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nyman with Michael Nyman Band members.







Video Credit:

Music from The Piano (film) - Soundtrack by Michael Nyman.  YouTube, uploaded by liebedian. Accessed  September 24, 2009.

The track listing (20 titles):

1.  To the Edge of the Earth
2.  Big My Secret
3.  A Wild and Distant Shore
4.  The Heart Asks Pleasure First
5.  Here to There
6.  The Promise
7.  A Bed of Ferns
8.  The Fling
9.  The Scent of Love
10. Deep into the Forest
11. The Mood That Passes Through You
12. Lost and Found
13. The Embrace
14. Little Impulse
15. The Sacrifice
16. I Clipped Your Wing
17. The Wounded
18.  All Imperfect Things
19. Dreams of a Journey
20. The Heart Asks Pleasure First/The Promise

Resources:

The Piano (Film). en.wikipedia.org.  Accessed September 24, 2009. 


The Piano (sountrack). en..wikipedia.org.  Accessed September 24, 2009. 




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

H.G. Wells

Literature / Writer's Datebook: September 21

 

 

Brief biography of H.G. Wells, English novelist, educator, and science-fiction writer, regarded as the father of modern science fiction.

 

Herbert George Wells or H.G. Wells, his nom de plume in the literary world, was born in Bromley, in the south of England, on September 21, 1866. His family was not wealthy, father unsuccessful as a tradesman. By winning a scholarship to a science school in London, he sealed a career as a shop assistant. He took first class honours degree in zoology.  His early life is reflected in many of his novels' protagonists, especially in terms of life struggles.

Training and Education

In college his tutor was Thomas Huxley, a scientist and teacher of comparative anatomy, who taught him about the famous Darwin's theory of evolution which states that animals evolve in response to changes in their environment. Darwin's idea fascinated him. H.G. Wells explored the idea in relation to the future of mankind in many of his novels.

Early Career: Bookkeeper, Teacher, and Journalist

Wells became a full-time writer when he was 29 years old, after an accident that damaged his kidneys. Prior, he worked as a bookkeeper, schoolteacher, and journalist.

Literary Career: Novelist and Science Fiction Writer

He wrote over 80 stories and novels. His literary career started with the publication of his novel novel The Time Machine. Some of these were science fiction, and some were novels about political and social ideas. Wells also wrote a popular history book, The Outline of History. His first novel, The Time Machine, is one of his best-loved works. It is about a time traveller who journeys to the future and witnesses the planet Earth die. He describes how, in the future, human beings have evolved into two species, the useless Eloi and the practical Morlocks. In another famous novel, The War of the Worlds, Wells describes how Martians invade the Earth and are only defeated by common human germs.

Family and Marital Life

His first marriage to a cousin Isabel was not a happy one, but her second marriage to Amy Robbins (he called 'Jane') lasted, although he had a liaison with another famous novelist Rebecca West for about ten years which attracted much attention. They had a son, Anthony West.   

Well's Beliefs and Leanings

Wells had great faith in the potential of science and technology to solve the problems of the human race. However, as he grew older, he began to feel that human beings have become too selfish and cruel in their use for technology. H.G. Wells was an advocate of the League of Nations and continued to see himself as an educator.  

H.G. Wells died at the age of 79, 13th of August, 1946.

 

Books by H.G. Wells

The Time Machine 1895

The Island of Dr. Moreau  1896

The Invisible Man  1897

The War of the Worlds  1898

When the Sleeper Awakes  1899

The First Men in the Moon  1901

The War in the Air  1908

The Outline if History  1920

The Shape of Things to Come  1933

The Holy Terror  1939

 

Image Credit:

H.G. Wells. Portrait by George Charles Beresford, 1920. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain

 

Resources:

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

H.G. Wells. en.wikipedia.org

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

 

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

Agatha Christie

Literature / Writer's Datebook: September 15

 

 

Brief biography of Dame Agatha Christie, English crime writer, creator of Belgian sleuth Poirot and elderly lady Miss Marple of St. Mary Mead.

 

 

 

Agatha Christie is considered the most famous of all crime writers. Her books have been translated in about 45 languages and continue to sell millions of copies worldwide. Many of them have been made into successful films and TV adaptations, among them are Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, And Then There Were None.

She is the queen of the 'whodunit' type of crime story in which the reader can puzzle out from train of clues which of the characters in the story is guilty of a murder. Her stories are known for their clever twists of plot.

Life of Agatha Christie in a Nutshell

Dame Agatha Christie was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller on September 15, 1890 in the southern coastal town of Torquay. She was privately educated at home then went on to study music in Paris. During World War I she worked as a nurse for the Red Cross. In 1914 she married Colonel Archibald Christie and had a daughter. The couple divorced in 1928. She then remarried to archaeologist Max Mallowan and accompanied him on many trips to Syria and Iraq. These travels gave her the setting for many of her novels.

Agatha Christie the Crime writer

Initially, she was a poet and author of children's books, until one day, challenged by her sister, in her late 20s. Aged 30, she produced her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced the now famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Subsequent crime novels followed.     

Christie came from an upper-middle-class background, the world she mainly wrote about in her books. Her writing style is simple and her ear for dialogue is brilliant. Her stories usually involve a murder that takes place among ordinary people. Among the two most memorable fictional characters are the impeccably clean and tidy Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, and the quiet but inquisitive elderly, Miss Jane Marple. Detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford also feature in some of her books.

Christie also wrote plays. One of these, The Mousetrap, has been performed continuously at St Martin's Theatre, West Street, London since the 1950s. The play has become the longest running show in the history of British Theatre. In 1954, Agatha Christie won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and in 1971 she was made a Dame. She died on January 12, 1976, aged 85.

Agatha Christie's Legacy

Christie wrote some 80 mystery novels, plays and short stories, and her novels have sold over two billion copies in 45 languages. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Christie's novels remain current as they were when first published. 

Among her plots, including And Then There Were None and Witness for the Prosecution,  contain ground-breaking twists that may have been copied but never duplicated. Murder on the Orient Express was made into a star-studded blockbuster film. For her contribution to British letters, Agatha Christie was named by HM Queen Elizabeth II, a Dame of the British Empire in 1971.

"The big houses have been sold, and the cottages have been changed and converted. And people just come – and all you know about them is what they say of themselves."

Agatha Christie, A Murder is Announced

 

Major Works by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926

Murder at the Vicarage, 1930

Murder on the Orient Express, 1934

Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936

Death on the Nile, 1937

Appointment with Death, 1938

And Then There Were None, 1941

They Do It with Mirrors, 1952

The Mousetrap, 1952

The Mirror Crack'd, 1962

A Caribbean Mystery, 1964

Endless Night, 1967

Curtain, 1975 

 

Image Credit:

Agatha Christie.  Wikimedia Commons / Free media repository. 

 

Resources:

Goring, Rosemary, Ed. Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994

McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002

Ousby, Ian.  The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997

Agatha Christie. en.wikipedia.org 

 

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

The Game theory of Von Neumann, Morgenstern and Nash

The Game Theory of Von Neumann, Morgenstern and Nash

The game theory is a mathematical method of analyzing strategic behaviour of people when placed in competitive situation. The scientists behind it are John Von Neumann, Oskar Morgenstern and John Nash, Jr.

The Game Theory in a Nutshell
According to the game theory, all games have three things in common:

• rules,
• payoffs, and
• strategies.

Games include zero-sum games (when each player benefits at the expense of others), non-zero-sum games, co-operative games (when people can make bargains), and games of complete information.
The game has an equilibrium referred to as the “Nash equilibrium”, coined after the American mathematician, John Nash, Jr. It is a solution concept that maximizes everyone’s benefit.