...Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. He was one of four to his polish parents, Anna née Kholodovsky and Fyodor Stravinsky. Igor Stravinsky’s first exposer to music was from his father, who was a bass singer at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His father helped him learn the love of music. His first musical education began at the age of nine with piano lessons, studying music theory, and attempting composition. By fifteen, he had mastered Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor and finished a piano reduction of a string quartet by Glazunov. That same year, Stravinsky rebelled against the Russian Orthodox Church and abandoned it. Even though he excelled in music, his parents still wanted him to become a lawyer. In 1901, Stravinsky enrolls at the University of Saint Petersburg; however he never attends many of his classes during the four years of school. When it came time to take final examinations in 1905, the school was closed for two months because of Bloody Sunday. He then later received a half course diploma in April 1906. In 1902, Stravinsky began receiving private lessons from Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov, the leading Russian composer at that time. That very same year Stravinsky’s father dies from cancer. In 1905 Igor Stravinsky proposes to his first cousin Catherin Nossenko. Even though the Orthodox Church opposes marriage of first cousins, they got married on January 23rd, 1906. The same of his marriage, Stravinsky’s creates...
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...Stravinsky moved with his family to France in 1920,[26] He formed a business and musical relationship with the French piano manufacturing company Pleyel. Pleyel essentially acted as his agent in collecting mechanical royalties for his works and provided him with a monthly income and a studio space at its headquarters in which he could work and entertain friends and business acquaintances.[27] Under the terms of his contract with the company, Stravinsky agreed to arrange (and to some extent re-compose) many of his early works for the Pleyela, Pleyel's brand of player piano.[28] He did so in a way that made full use of all of the piano's eighty-eight notes, without regard for human fingers or hands. The rolls were not recorded, but were instead marked up from a combination of manuscript fragments and handwritten notes by Jacques Larmanjat, musical director of Pleyel's roll department. Among the compositions that were issued on the Pleyela piano rolls are The Rite of Spring, Petrushka, The Firebird and Song of the Nightingale. During the 1920s, Stravinsky recorded Duo-Art rolls for the Aeolian Company in both London and New York, not all of which have survived.[29] Patronage was never far away. In the early 1920s, Leopold Stokowski gave Stravinsky regular support through a pseudonymous 'benefactor'.[30] The composer was also able to attract commissions: most of his work from The Firebird onwards was written for specific occasions and was paid for generously.[citation needed] ...
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...The contemporary ballet Petrouchka, was originally composed in 1910. The ballet tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three puppets are brought to life by The Charlatan during St. Petersburg's 1830 Shrovetide Fair and begin to develop emotions. Petruchka a traditional Russian puppet, made of straw and with a bag of sawdust as his body is in love with the Ballerina. The Ballerina rejects Petrouchka and begins to fall for the Moor. Hurt and angry from the rejection of the Ballerina, Petrouchka challenges the Moor to a duel. Petrouchka attacks the Moor, but quickly realizes he is too small and weak. Consequently, Petrouchka runs away with the Moor chasing him from behind. The Moor, soon after kills Petrouchka with a blow of his scimitar. Petrushkas ghost rises above the puppet theatre as night falls. He shakes his fist at The Charlatan, and then collapses in a second death. The original choreographer Michael Fokine deliberately differs the Moor and Petrouchka’s choreography. The movements of the self satisfied Moor, an extrovert, are large and turned out. While the movement of the pathetic, frightened Petrouchka, an introvert, are small and turned in. Fokine had three geometric visions for the posture and the manner in which the puppets moved. The moor is a square, the Ballerina a circle, and Petrouchka a straight line. Petrouchka is often said to depict the tensions of Russia, pre Russian Revolution. The ballet depicts the bitterness between those...
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...he took a production of "Boris Godunov" to Paris, with renowned singer, Feodor Chaliapin. In 1909, Diaghilev took with him to Paris a season of opera and ballet, and with the greatest dancers of the Maryinsky behind him, he had a great victory. Constant visits helped him form his own company, Ballet Russes, in 1911. This company was not connected to any opera, it was a lone company. Diaghilev directed this company until his death on August 19, 1929. The company never performed in Russia. Diaghilev didn’t have the money to keep his project up in Paris. By the time he finished his first season in Paris, he was doing this during the dancers yearly time off. Diaghilev worked with many composers, artists, and dancers like Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, and Vaslav Nijinsky. It was after the World War I, when Diaghilev was banned from Russia. After his death in 1929, the Ballet Russes disbanded. Four years later, another company got the financial support and leadership to start up the company again. The company used many of the same dancers from the Ballet Russes. Diaghilev...
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...Coco Chanel Fashion designer. Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France. With her trademark suits and little black dresses, Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today. She herself became a much revered style icon known for her simple yet sophisticated outfits paired with great accessories, such as several strands of pearls. As Chanel once said,“luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.” Her early years, however, were anything but glamorous. After her mother’s death, Chanel was put in an orphanage by her father who worked as a peddler. She was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew—a skill that would lead to her life’s work. Her nickname came from another occupation entirely. During her brief career as a singer, Chanel performed in clubs in Vichy and Moulins where she was called “Coco.” Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and Chanel herself said that it was a “shortened version of cocotte, the French word for ‘kept woman,” according to an article in The Atlantic. Around the age of 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan who offered to help her start a millinery business in Paris. She soon left him for one of his even wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel. Both men were instrumental in Chanel’s first fashion venture. Opening her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, Chanel started out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making clothes. Her first...
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...need to see the ballet to immerse yourself in this fairy tale. When you start listening to the music full of orchestral effects and strong emotions, you only need to close your eyes and the world of imagination will give you great possibilities. Nightfall and “creeping” sound draws garden of Kashey, his dark kingdom. Afterwards, Dance of the Firebird starts and we can feel how fantastically beautiful she is. Varying colorful orchestration helps us to draw the picture of this shining bird and her greatness. We hear her fiery wings flapping and see the grace in every movement. She is gorgeous, fantastic and it is impossible to stop looking at this miracle. Listener feels the typical spirit of Russia through this wonderful composition. Stravinsky even uses Russian folk song “Po Sadiky” in the “Round Dance of the Princess”. Musical flavor here reminds me about Russian winter, beauties of nature and singing birds flying from one tree to another. I see the winter sunny day where all the beautiful ladies went outside to “zakryjit horovod”. The atmosphere here is completely different to the Dance of Kashei, which is full of...
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...In 1909, Gabrielle Chanel opened a shop on the ground floor of Étienne Balsan's apartment in Paris—the beginnings of what would later become one of the greatest fashion empires in the world.[2] The Balsan home was a meeting place of the hunting elite of France and the gentlemen brought their fashionable mistresses along, giving Coco the opportunity to sell the women decorated hats. During this time, Coco Chanel struck up a good relationship with Arthur 'Boy' Capel, a member of the Balsan men's group. He saw a businesswoman in Coco and helped her acquire her location at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris by 1910.[2] There was already a couture shop in the building, and so Coco was not allowed in her lease to produce couture dresses.[2] In 1912, Coco Chanel opened her first millinery shop in Paris and in 1913, Chanel introduced women's sportswear at her new boutique in Deauville and Biarritz, France. Chanel's designs tended to be simple rather than opulent in look. She detested the fashions of women who came to these resort towns.[2][5] World War I affected fashion. Coal was scarce and women were doing the factory jobs that men had held prior to the war; they needed warm clothing that would stand up to working conditions. Chanel fossella's designs from this era were affected by the new idea of women's sports. During World War I, Coco opened another larger shop on Rue Cambon in front of the Hôtel Ritz Paris.[2] Here she sold flannel blazers, straight linen skirts, sailor tops, long jersey sweaters...
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...An example of a composer conveying tension and release would be Stravinsky, The Firebird. In this selection the dynamic and pitch is what created the tension and release. The piece starts pianissimo with the French horn then goes on to a string instrument such as a violin and that allows the melody to become crescendo. The release comes when the brass chord pitch goes from loud to soft and back to loud. The ways a composer can create tension and release is unlimited to a creative mind. Some of the ways are by using tempo which determine the mood of the performance. There is also the melody you sense, dynamics that you hear and the rhythm you feel to create tension and release. A composer is able to manipulate the piece starting with...
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...Although I would like to have attended the Saturday evening performance for various reasons, the only difference in casting was the absence of Unity Phelan on Sunday. Since I witnessed the debut of Ashley Hod and Phelan in the same roles a while back, it would have been intriguing to watch the pair now in Agon. Divertimento from 'Le Baiser de la Fée' is on no account top drawer Balanchine; however, it is still an attractive and moving ballet. It should not be surprising that the De Luz-Fairchild performance earlier in the week was more touching. Nevertheless, the ballet on Sunday with Tiler Peck and Anthony Huxley was delightful. Towards its conclusion, an abrupt change in tenor occurs in the piece: it afforded Ms. Peck another opportunity to imprint—through her poignant change in expression—a hauntingly beautiful image in my mind. Partnering issues have always bedeviled Teresa Reichlen due to her height and body type. An understandable caution and reserve, therefore, characterizes her work during pas de deux. By the same token, her amplitude as well as her beauty--in tandem, of course, with her formidable skills as a ballerina--make her stand out from other women on stage. No obtrusive partnering mishaps marred Sunday's Agon. This, along with an imposing performance by Ashly Isaacs in the “Second Pas de Trois" made watching it especially gratifying. A work which NYCB finds convenient to program often, Duo Concertant poses no difficulty for the company’s accomplished female...
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...Igor’s life between 1905 and 1910 changed in interesting ways. He was married to his cousin Yekaterina Gavrilovna on January 23 1906. They had two children named Fyodor and Ludmila, born in 1907 and 1908. Eventually he would have a second son. In 1909, Igor had two orchestral works played: Scherzo fantastique and Feu d’artifice. They were performed at a concert in Saint Petersburg, where Sergei Diaghilev also attended. He was so impressed by Fireworks that he hired Igor for work. Sergei had Igor perform some orchestrations and also compose a full-length ballet called The Firebird. The Firebird debuted on the 25th of June in 1910 and assisted Igor to become an overnight sensation in Paris. These years changed his life for the better. After Igor’s last work was a hit he would continue to orchestrate music. Igor would continue to work for the Ballets Russes: Petrushka and Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). After the Rite of Spring was finished Igor fell ill. He contracted typhoid from eating oysters and had to stay in a Paris nursing home until July 11. At this time though, he drew his attention to completing his first opera, the nightingale. He began the opera in 1908 and would excel during this time. Igor’s life would eventually take a turn towards trouble. He would have a fourth child in 1914, Marie Milena. After she was born Igor’s wife would be found to have tuberculosis and was confined to a hospice in the Alps. Igor and his family stayed nearby where...
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...Analysis of Excerpts of Representative Composers In 1930 Igor Stravinsky wrote the piece Symphony of Psalms, which he intended to be of great contrapuntal development. Three movements comprise the work, each one including some polyphonic writing. Undoubtedly the second movement is the most highly contrapuntal; it is set as a double fugue. Figure 2.8 shows an excerpt that pertains to the exposition of the second movement of Symphony of Psalms, measures 1-19. Although some scholars argue that the formal aspects of this movement are not strictly fugal, the exposition follows the traditional procedure of a fugue. The four subject entries are spaced evenly with the exception of the third one, which appears two measures later. The first answer appears on the dominant key accompanied by the countersubject in measures 6–10 followed by two measures of new material, developed motivically from the last two bars of the subject. In measure 13 the second answer appears on the original key with a variation of the countersubject on flute 1, and new contrapuntal material on the oboe. Finally the third answer is exposed in measure 18,...
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...was conducting, she would put parts of her speech onto a loop. She left the room while an audio clip of the words “sometimes behaves so strangely” was left playing on the loop. After a while, she began to hear sounds as if music was playing. When returning to the room, she found that she’d left this clip playing on the loop and somehow the words began to sound as if there was a melody behind them. Subsequently, when she would listen to the piece again, those words in that phrase again sounded like she was spontaneously bursting into song in the middle of a sentence. Her brain had altered the way it perceived the words “sometimes behaves so strangely.” Lehrer spoke of an unfortunate incident that occurred at an Igor Stravinsky concert in 1913. Stravinsky was an “up-and-coming” composer and created the musical piece “Rite of Spring”. When hearing the word “spring,” one might think of flowers growing, bright sunshine, or a bright and sunny atmosphere. Stravinsky’s music started out light and flowy with a bassoon solo, but slowing the music became more dissonant and unsettling. Eventually, there is a fast-pulsing chord that courses through the entire rest of the piece. It is believed that this...
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...music seemed just to play. There was no intimacy or remembrance by it. When Ravels wrote this piece, it was as if he separated himself from everything around him. Although his music was bland, Ravels stayed true to his form of music. His music put a person in the mind of elevator music that has vague melodies. One can forget that the music is playing in the background after a while. Stravinsky music was unpredictable. It was as if he created a box around him and said, "This is what I am going to play, and you can either like or dislike, because I do not care and will play it." Stravinsky broke away from the romantic period and any other period. He created his own period. The Romantic period had a wide range of emotions of love, war, sadness, hurt, pain, sorrow, vengeances, scorn, betrayal, and a variety of other feelings and expressions. Stravinsky and Ravels music was totally different from all of the romantic period expressions and fell into the categories of his own. Comparing Stravinsky's music "La Sacre du Printemps" to Beyonce Knowles song "Drunken Love" can get a little tricky. Stravinsky music...
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...A modernist influence between Martin Ellerby’s piece for wind band Paris Sketches: Homages for Wind Band exists. There is a need to examine the influence of modernist composers Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Satie, and Berlioz and Ellerby’s piece for wind band. Through careful examination, these distinct modernist compositional techniques will be clearly illustrated. Introduction Martin Ellerby was born in England in 1957. He studied composition with Joseph Horovitz at the Royal College of Music and later privately with Wilfred Josephs. He has written in most forms of music including 5 symphonies, 12 concertos, and a large-scale Requiem for choir and orchestra. Paris Sketches: Homages for Wind Band was commissioned by a consortium of schools put together by Richard Jones for the 1994 Huddersfield Conference. Receiving its first performance by the Cleveland Youth Wind Orchestra, John MacKenzie in Ripon Cathedral on 26, July 1994 was the conductor. Martin Ellerby's Paris Sketches offers four short scenes 1) Saint-Germain-des-Prés recalls a Ravel bell-like sunrise, 2) Pigalle is...
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...Draft chapter from An introduction to game theory by Martin J. Osborne. Version: 2002/7/23. Martin.Osborne@utoronto.ca http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne Copyright © 1995–2002 by Martin J. Osborne. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from Oxford University Press, except that one copy of up to six chapters may be made by any individual for private study. 2 Nash Equilibrium: Theory 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 Strategic games 11 Example: the Prisoner’s Dilemma 12 Example: Bach or Stravinsky? 16 Example: Matching Pennies 17 Example: the Stag Hunt 18 Nash equilibrium 19 Examples of Nash equilibrium 24 Best response functions 33 Dominated actions 43 Equilibrium in a single population: symmetric games and symmetric equilibria 49 Prerequisite: Chapter 1. 2.1 Strategic games is a model of interacting decision-makers. In recognition of the interaction, we refer to the decision-makers as players. Each player has a set of possible actions. The model captures interaction between the players by allowing each player to be affected by the actions of all players, not only her own action. Specifically, each player has preferences about the action profile—the list of all the players’ actions. (See Section 17.4, in the mathematical appendix, for a discussion of profiles.) More precisely, a strategic game...
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