The Virtuous Beings Essay Example for Free

The Virtuous Beings Essay Modern society glorifies people for much pettier accomplishments when compared to that of the ancient times. During the twenty-first century, a convicted felon may come back after serving a prison sentence and present himself as a figure of perfection. Less than five years ago, a football player, named Michael Vick was arrested and convicted of illegal actions involving the maltreatment of domesticated animals. Shortly after serving his sentence, he was once again beloved by his fans and rewarded with a phenomenal contract which would be worth wild in any corresponding lifetime. Looking at these examples, it’s easy to see how corrupted society is today. In the ancient world, their society was very more virtuous. Because of the different virtues of the time, it took a great deal more to become a public idol to the people. Virtuous figures from the ancient world are Gilgamesh, Abraham, Moses, and Odysseus. Gilgamesh, a seemingly corrupt leader, later embarks on a humbling journey which helps him to discover the true meaning of life; Moses, an honest and patient man, has his true values highlighted as God chooses him to lead his people out of captivity; Abraham, an apparent commonplace man, is presented as a bold individual who is not afraid to prove his allegiance to God; and Odysseus is a prime example of a hero in the ancient world who has his own ups and downs during a dangerous and eventful journey back home to the people he has always loved. When connecting Ma 2 a figure like Gilgamesh to the likes of a movie actor of modern society, it is impossible to ignore the contrast in inherent virtues of the people of the time. As Gilgamesh begins, Gilgamesh is actually quite the opposite of virtuous – he is a lust-driven, oppressive ruler who exercises harsh and immoral will upon his people. However, Gilgamesh’s progression towards becoming a virtuous individual is evident almost immediately as he becomes a companion of his ex-adversary, Enkidu. In fact, Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on to complete several tasks together; tasks that neither of them would have accomplished without one another. Similarly, Gilgamesh again proves his drastic change in character as he rejects Ishtar, a longing prostitute. Although Ishtar promises Gilgamesh a life of pleasure and riches, he responds by asking Ishtar â€Å"†¦how would it go for me? † (Gilgamesh, 24). Gilgamesh is reminding Ishtar that her past lovers had found her â€Å"like a brazier which smoulders in the cold, a backlight which keeps out neither squall of wind nor storm† (Gilgamesh, 24), emphasizing that Ishtar’s previous husbands had all received poor treatment from her. This signifies how much Gilgamesh’s character has changed. If he held the same ethics as before, he would have accepted Ishtar’s offer without hesitation. However, he is becoming a much more virtuous individual with greater concerns than mere self-gratification. Soon, Gilgamesh has even built a nice city for his people, abandoning his glory, wealth, and power to become a better individual. He is no longer self-indulged, and the death of his close friend Enkidu has truly humbled him. On a quest to find the secret to immortality, Gilgamesh realizes that what he should actually be seeking is to become a better king to his people and a more virtuous individual in general. Gilgamesh uses his new wisdom to create a legacy for himself, serving as a prime example that the ancient times required much more from an individual to be certified as virtuous. Ma 3 Similarly, the Bible presents a series of examples which emphasize the difference in modern virtues from the virtues of the ancient world. Specifically, in the book of Genesis, God tells Abraham to â€Å"take his only son, and offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains† (Genesis 22. 2:3). Proving his undeniable allegiance to God, Abraham leads his only son to the mountain and builds an altar for sacrifice. Right before Abraham was going to strike his son, an angel of the Lord interrupted, telling him not to lay his hands on his son, and then added â€Å"because you have done this, I will indeed bless you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Genesis 22. 16). Because of Abraham’s blatant devotion to the Lord, he is rewarded with a blessing and a promise to make his offspring â€Å"as numerous of the stars of heaven† (Genesis 22. 17). Abraham’s display of loyalty is significant as anyone who would do this in the modern world would certainly be deemed insane rather than allegiant, further emphasizing the difference in virtues today to that of the ancient world. Another example in the Bible may be seen as Moses is chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of virtue. The fact that God chose Moses, an unassuming and ordinary figure of the time, proves that the leaders of the ancient times were not famous, good looking, or wealthy like the leaders of today. In fact, Moses is even described as having a speech impediment. Despite his uncertainty, Moses put everything aside and did what God told him to do and fulfilled his calling to lead the Israelites out of captivity. After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, a close-knit community was formed, and the people and God would agree on a covenant. This covenant was very closely followed and viewed as a necessity to live a virtuous life. Although Christians still live the same covenant with God today, it is much less closely followed than it was during the ancient times. Ma 4 Finally, The Odyssey is another telling example which helps to differentiate the virtues of the ancient times to today. In The Odyssey, Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, has been trying to find his way home for twenty years. Ever since the beginning of his trip, Odysseus is introduced as a strong and authoritative figure. However, his journey is filled with temptation, and Odysseus does give in at times. This may be seen when Odysseus chooses to sleep with Circe, despite his yearning to return home to his wife Penelope. This is the complete opposite of a virtuous deed, and it does not go unnoticed. Calypso, a nymph who falls in love with Odysseus, takes note of the disparity among the gods. She is fairly irritated by the fact that male gods may sleep with mortal lovers, while the affairs of the female gods are considered unacceptable, as Calypso describes by saying, â€Å"you hate it when we choose to lie with men† (Odyssey, 281). This emphasizes the double standard among the gods – even in the ancient times, outsiders could see how wrong it was to have a love affair; Calypso is helping to point out the prevalent awareness of equality of the time. Although Odysseus is looked upon as a heroic figure, his immoral actions are highlighted and criticized. In modern society, many public figures would instead have their abrasive actions swept under the rug. After reflecting upon the examples of the ancient world, it becomes clear that there is a wide division between ancient and modern views of what to expect from a human being. In the modern world, simply being wealthy or famous would allow a person to share in the immunity of a God in the ancient world. Today, greed plays a large part in the outcome of everything. Unlike in Gilgamesh, mortality does not change people for the better; instead, people become more self-centered. As a result, today’s society has become just as savage as students read about in books Ma 5 about prehistoric times. Modern life may be compared to a popularity contest, whereas in the ancient world, individuals were required to make names for themselves. It’s no wonder why the people we read about such as Gilgamesh and Moses are viewed as fables or myths; nowadays, only a handful of people may be classified as anything close to their status. In the modern world, these people are praised and worshiped because there are no others quite like them. It should be made a point to try to work toward having a community full of people like Gandhi and Gilgamesh instead of having a society which only looks up to them. This way, society would be able to present a more accurate depiction of a community which aspires to be virtuous.

Aesthetics In Piano Music From Romanticsm To Modernism Music Essay

Aesthetics In Piano Music From Romanticsm To Modernism Music Essay Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty (Aesthetics, 2010, Online). It is also a study of relationship between human and reality in an aesthetical investigation. Arts is the main object of investigation particularly, where its essence of beauty, ugly, sublime and other aesthetical aspects are examined. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory which is also called the judgements of sentiment and taste (Aesthetics, 2010, Online). The study of aesthetics is very diverse. It can be a speculative approach to philosophical ideas; it can also be drawn on current research methods through other related disciplines such as psychological analysis, anthropological and sociological methods, linguistics and culture learning methods, description of experience and so on. The perception of beauty is very subjective as it is basically based on our personal feeling and own experience. Different people have different feelings towards an aesthetical object thus often arguments are speculative and changed along with time and experience. Therefore, aesthetics is an independent discipline where the essence of beauty and its significance are examined. In this essay, the aesthetic of piano music in both Romanticism and Modernism will be discussed. As we know, these two neighbouring periods showed a tremendous different contrast in social development and movements, hence music as well had been morphed into a new aspect. Moreover, the style of piano playing was also changed due to the aesthetical values of composers and pianists were also affected. 1. Piano Music in Romanticism 1.1 Romantic Characteristics The term romantic derived from the medieval romance which has several meanings. A romance was a poem or tale about heroic events or persons, or it could also connote something distant, legendary, and fantastic. Basically, it suggested something imaginary, far away from reality. In the nineteenth century, the term was applied to literature, music, and art. The term contrasted with classic poetry, which was objectively beautiful. Thus, romantic poetry, which was not bound by rules and limits, focused more on the individuality of expression (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Instrumental music was regarded as an ideal art in Romanticism as it started to grow more importance compared to vocal music. It is because of the genre was free from words, images, characterised costumes, props and others. However, composers imagination often led them to explore new sounds although they still kept their works in a Classical framework. Besides, many romantics composers were also writers or had friends who were writers, such as Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and others. They always linked the intrumental pieces to literary works so as to draw out the inner meanings of the text through the music. At times, the use of literatures and descriptive titles were also added after the work was created (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Hence, distinctions were made between types of instrumental music absolute music and programmatic music, which later indirectly led to arguments between these two camps. Romantic views of music have been influential. Composers created music to express their own ideas and feelings rather than to suit the tastes of their patrons or audiences (Burkholder, 2010a, Online). Originality was hence importance for composers and tradition was balanced with their own individuality and creativity. 1.2 The Aesthetic of Romanticism Musical Expression and Emotion In the Romanticism, music had reached the peak of emotionalism which was shaped by the lyrical melodies, daring harmonies, colourful instrumentation, and the strong contrast of form. Musical expression and emotion had been such a powerful force to influence the composers. The most crucial figure in the nineteenth century culture would be Richard Wagner. He was also one of the most influential musicians of all times. He brought German Romantic opera to a new height, created the music drama, as well as his rich chromatic idiom influenced later composers (A History of European Music, 2010, Online). Not only in composing great music, Wagner also wrote a number of essays regarding music and aesthetics, causing huge arguments among scholars at that time including the famous German philosopher and music critic Eduard Hanslick. In a series of essays, Wagner argued that music should serve dramatic expression. He felt that Beethoven had exhausted instrumental music because in his opinion the Ninth Symphony showed the path to the future with its union of music and words. He saw himself as the true successor to Beethoven. He therefore created Gesmatkunstwerk (total or collective artwork) as he felt that poetry, scenic design, staging, action, and music should work together. In other words, the words or texts related the events and situations, while the orchestra conveyed the inner drama (Burkholder, 2010b, Online). Although Wagner and his contemporaries such as Liszt saw the legacy of Beethoven pointing toward new genres and musical approaches, Johannes Brahms on the other hand matured himself as a composer in the Classical repertory. He combined Classicism with Romantic sensibility. He composed in Classical traditions but he also added new elements in order to appeal to contemporary audiences. Overall, he has been viewed as conservative, but he was a trailblazer. He was among the first to draw upon both the music of the past and present, a process or method that has been repeated by numerous composers of the twentieth century (Burkholder, 2010b, Online). In the mid Romanticism, the term New German School was coined as Wagner, Liszt, and Berlioz were leaders. Although Liszt and Berlioz were not Germans, Beethoven was their model. However, the term helped polarized the division between supporters of Liszt and Wagner, and supporters of Brahms and Hanslick. Among the composers who sided with Wagner and Liszt are Bruckner, Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Gustav Mahler. These two camps debated the topics of music and its aesthetics, especially in musical meaning and expression, absolute and program music, tradition and innovation, Classical genres and forms as well as the new ones, and the list goes on. 1.3 Wagner versus Hanslick Expression was the growing importance as a source of aesthetic value. It pays no heed to the claims of formal convention. Music was viewed as a medium of expression and it has the power to influence listeners mind. The use of poetic titles was a manifestation of Romanticism, which signifying musics expressive powers. For instance the post-Beethoven composers especially Liszt, employed poetry to give a clearer expression so as to elevate the art to a powerful metaphysical status. Whatever its subject matter, the status of poetic or programme music was hotly debated in late nineteenth century music criticism and it naturally invoked the related concept of absolute music. In 1854, Eduard Hanslick wrote his own reflections on the nature of the beautiful in music (Vom Musikalisch-Schà ¶nen). In his book, he argues about music and feelings and disagrees with the exaggerated philosophical and cultural pretensions of the writings by Wagner and Liszt. Hanslicks convincing arguments quickly brought his book to attention. This indirectly overshadowed Hanslick as the leading critical antagonist of Richard Wagner and the New German School in general. Hanslick opposed their claims that programmatic instrumental music and the symphonically through-composed declaimed music drama represented the way of the musical future (Grey, 2010, Online). In other words, he is a typical classical formalist. Hanslick was the protagonist of Brahms. They both advocated for the continuity of classical tradition and opposed the radical dissolution of melodic and formal convention celebrated by the progressives of the day as a means of achieving greater expressive truth or the articulation of an ideal or conceptual content (Grey, 2010, Online). Hanslick writes: Music is not contingent upon, or in need of, any subject introduced from without, but it consists of sounds artistically combined. The ingenious coordination of intrinsically pleasing sounds, their consonance and contrast, their flight and reapproach, their increasing and diminishing strength this it is, which in free and unimpeded forms, presents itself to our Mental Vision. What is it then that music expresses? The answer is musical ideas. Now, a musical idea, reproduced in its entirety, is not only an object of intrinsic beauty, but also an end in itself and not a means for representing feelings and thoughts. The essence of music is sound in motion (1986, p.64). Hanslick thinks that the expression or representation of distinct feelings cannot be considered the content of music or the basis of its aesthetic value. He describes the content of music as tonally moving forms. He articulated that instrumental music is not a representational medium, and that representational impulses are likely to distract both composer and listener from musics true nature as beautiful (and freely or abstractly expressive) form (Grey, 2010, Online). The Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwek, however, provoked Hanslicks never ending opposition. He never agreed the composers exaggerated self-promotion and the dramatic and poetic expression. Hanslick thinks that music is purely autonomous while Wagner (who is also an anti-Semitic) portrays the postulate of autonomous musical beauty as a kind of ideological conspiracy to promote the ideals of a Judaized musical culture (Grey, 2010, Online). For Wagner, the content of music is not only sound but also the connotation of emotion that blended together. He thinks that the study of the aesthetics of music as autonomous restrains the beauty of music. 1.4 Programmatic Piano Music Piano music in the Romantic period was still expanding the formal structure from the Classical. However, the expansion of form (those elements related to form, key, instrumentation, harmony, and the like) within a typical composition made the pieces more passionate and expressive. So, it became easier to identify an artist based on the work. Piano music basically struggled to increase emotional expression and power to describe these deeper truths, while preserving or even extending the formal structures from the classical period. But are the composers aims in the romantic period just to focus in expressing their music? What kind of aesthetic value instilled in the listeners mind at that time? The most successful piano music composers in the romantic period certainly were Chopin and Liszt. They not only sought to fuse the large structure harmonic planning with chromatic innovations, but also brought the piano music to a virtuosic level. They also analogized piano music to poetry and its rhapsodic and narrative structures, while creating a more systematic basis for the composing and performing of concert music (Romantic Music, 2010, Online). In other words, they continued using previous practices such as the sonata form but extended them with increasing focus on impressive melodies, emotional harmonies, and themes. The use of literary inspiration was paramount to the composers. For instance, Chopin famous four ballades were inspired by Adam Mickiewiczs poems; while Liszts Sonettos were inspired by Francesco Petrarcas (Petratch) poems. Liszt also transcribed a huge number of songs from Schubert particularly where the texts came from Goethe, as well as transcribed from operas. Besides poetry and literature, composers also composed piano music through their experience and travel. Liszts Annà ©es de pà ¨lerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) is a good example when he travelled to Swiss, Italy, and France he wrote the music. This shows his complete mature musical style which ranges from virtuosic fireworks to sincerely moving emotional statements where he gained from his experience of life and travel. Another example will be the piano cycles, Kinderszenen of Robert Schumann which came from the composers reminiscences of childhood. Obviously, audience at that time were fully influenced by the powerful emotion through the aids of text, poetry and literature. They no longer restricted themselves in the frame of stereotyped abstract titles like Sonata in C Major, Rondo in A minor, Prelude and Fugue and so on, but they had more variety of direct programmatic titles such as Romance, La Campanella, Wanderer Fantasy and the like. The music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas and let the audience experience the unique emotions. Generally, composers had more freedom in form and design so that a more intense personal expression of emotion in which fantasy, imagination and a quest for adventure play an important part (Romantic Music, 2010, Online). 1.5 Piano Playing Style in Romanticism Moreover, the piano performing style in the romantic period was virtuosic and phenomenal. Virtuoso concerts became immensely popular. This phenomenon was actually pioneered by Niccolo Paganini, the famous violin virtuoso, and it was then developed by Liszt on piano. Carl Czerny claimed Liszt was a natural player who played according to feeling, and reviews of his concerts especially praise the brilliance, strength and precision in his playing (Liszt, 2010, online). One of the most detailed descriptions of his playing from this time comes from the winter of 1831/1832, during which he was earning a living primarily as a teacher in Paris. Among his pupils was Valerie Boissier, whose mother Caroline kept a careful diary of the lessons. From her we learn that: M. Liszts playing contains abandonment, a liberated feeling, but even when it becomes impetuous and energetic in his fortissimo, it is still without harshness and dryness. [] [He] draws from the piano tones that are purer, mellower and stronger than anyone has been able to do; his touch has an indescribable charm. [] He is the enemy of affected, stilted, contorted expressions. Most of all, he wants truth in musical sentiment, and so he makes a psychological study of his emotions to convey them as they are. Thus, a strong expression is often followed by a sense of fatigue and dejection, a kind of coldness, because this is the way nature works. (Liszt, 2010, online). From the quotation above, the piano playing style of Liszt is full of emotion. As we know it was the performance practice that every pianist would play the piano with beautiful tone colour, especially what the Chopin had called the Bel Canto playing in shaping lyrical melodies. Moreover Liszts facial expression and gestures at the piano would reflect what he played (Liszt, 2010, online). Also noted that the extravagant liberties he took created a dramatic feeling. Hence, pianists started to take tempo rubato for granted with their ancillary body movements so as to communicate with the audience more musically and successfully. Generally, the aesthetics of piano music in Romanticism were multi-facets. Performers not only swayed their body to make an intimate relationship with music, but also from their movements they conveyed emotional intentions to the audience. They made the piano sings with touching tone colour as well as their virtuosic playing and stage presence made vivid impressions to the ectasied audiences. However, these beautiful piano playing styles were then fully rejected in the Modernism by Prokofiev, Schoenberg, and Cage. These will be discussed in the later chapters. 2. Piano Music in Modernism 2.1 Modern Characteristics Modern music must be understood in terms of their own frame of reference and what artists (whether composers or performers) are trying to do. It was dissonant, controversial and shocking as compared to the prevailing Romantic period. Composers tried to achieve disorder rather than order. The art of creating sometimes replaces the importance of the object created. During that time, the Establishment considered modernism scandalous and an offense to good taste, common sense, and the conventions of polite society. It was also considered rebellious and threatening to the establishment order. However, when the arts of the modernists began to achieve world-wide attention and became more common, acceptance eventually followed. Museums were founded to exhibit modernist works, symphony hall started to promote more modern music, and middle-class society became collectors as modernist paintings rose in commercial value. These indirectly made a new establishment for modernism in art, music, literature, and architecture. In the era of modernism, lots of movements were created such as expressionism, serialism, cubism, dadaism, surrealism, and others. All of these separate movements within modernism combined to produce some distinct characteristics. Modernity has no respect for the past, even its own past. Therefore, it not only entails a ruthless break with any or all preceding historical conditions, but it is characterized by a never-ending process of internal ruptures and fragmentations within itself (Harvey, 1990, pg. 12). The image of creative destruction is very important to understanding modernity. How could new art, music, literature, and architecture be created without destroying much that had gone before? Artist Pablo Picasso and composer Arnold Schoenberg adopt through their individual works that the modernist must destroy in order to create, and the only way to be truly creative is through a process of destruction that is liable in the end to be itself destructive of those creations. (Harvey, 1990, pg. 19). It is important to note that the modernism that emerged around the first World War was a reaction to the new conditions of production (the machine, the factory, urbanization), circulation (systems of transport and communication), and consumption (rise of mass markets, advertising, mass fashion), as it was a pioneer in the production of such changes. These influenced the trend of music such as Darius Milhauds Machine Agricoles (1919) and Sergei Prokofievs The Factory form Pas deacier (1927) demonstrate the influence of the machine age. Undeniably, modernism was also an urban phenomenon that emerged with explosive urban growth. Modernism was an art of cities which confirmed how important the urban experience was in shaping the cultural modernist movement (Harvey, 1990, pg. 25). Machines, new transport and communication systems, skyscrapers, and bridges were all influences from which aesthetic modernism drew much of its stimulus. Finally, modernism in the arts, music, literature, and architecture could not represent the world in a single language. It is so diverse that understanding had to be constructed through the exploration of multiple perspectives. 2.2 The Aesthetic of Modernism Music and Atonality In the twentieth century, concert halls became museums for musical artworks created over the last two centuries. Living composers at that time found themselves competing with music of the past. Composers sought to continue tradition while offering something new. They needed to make decision about what to preserve and what to change. Hence, individuality took over conventionality causing that some composers abandoned tonality while others redefined it. Moreover, their composition turned to more national styles. Composers in the early twentieth century faced the challenge of creating works worthy of performance alongside the classics of the past. The music they created had to be of high quality in the tradition of serious art music. The music also had to have lasting value that rewarded performers and listeners through multiple hearings and study. Thus, these gave rise to young composers wanted a more radical break from the past. They reassessed inherited conventions and did not aim to please their listeners on first hearing so as to challenge perceptions and capacities (Burkholder, 2010c, Online). The major movement in Modernism came from serialism. Serialism is the process of giving a mathematical order to the way one composes music. The techniques used in these kinds of pieces have been termed such as twelve-tone, dodecaphonic, matrixes, tone rows, and others. The serialistic style of composition, most notably employed by Arnold Schoenberg, Alan Berg and Anton Webern, became so influential that these composers are often referred to as the Second Viennese School (1903-1925). This band of composers and their students believed in the idea that the use of mathematical representations could restore order to the composition of music without having to rely on the techniques of the past. 2.3 Schoenberg and Atonality in Piano Music Schoenberg wrote Six Little Piano Pieces Op. 19 in 1911. This is an example of Schoenberg short refining works, but also represents his early free atonal piano masterpiece. The entire work, a total of six little pieces, each creation embodies its own characteristics. Schoenberg abandoned the traditional tonal harmony and took equal importance of every single notes. He showed a new way of musical organization in 20th century piano music. The sounds created were not ever heard before, but many times were not well received by audiences. However, he was championed for what he had invented and his influence spread. The emancipation of the dissonance was Schoenbergs concept of freeing dissonance from its need to resolve to a consonance. This indirectly creates a distinctive musical language of Schoenberg which reflects the composers deep inner spiritual meaning that is the aesthetics of expressionism. Schoenbergs new music not only breaks the stereotyped tonality which had ruled the music for more than thousand years, but also after breaking, he re-established atonal music to a new order the twelve-tone system. Hence the new aesthetics value in Modernism was created. There is no more tonal centre in his music which providing the core. There is also no functional relationship between notes to notes, chords to chords. Tonal harmony is avoided absolutely at it best. Thus as compared to the piano music in Romanticism, the melody in Schoenbergs music is no more impressive and not as beautiful as before, the melody cannot be even easily sung in the mind. Hence, the aesthetics towards Schoenbergs atonal music is ambiguous; it can be beautiful, sublime, or even the other sides. There are no more clear boundaries in appreciating the music. In Schoenbergs early tonal period (before 1908), the composer was greatly influenced by Brahms and Wagner especially in the late works of German Romantic music. They were full of flavour, and the chromaticism which Wagner had developed had reached the limit. Hence in order to express the music more meaningfully, Schoenberg had to destroy all the tonality systems and began to explore new expressive musical style. He was inspired by the Marxism and Expressionism movements at his time and the atonal works were then created. For instance, the performance of his famous melodrama Pierrot lunaire Op. 21 (1912) shows the work as despair, fear, tension, pain and other pathological mental status, while the emotional musical language is also exaggerated, distorted, and weird. In the first decade of 20th Century, Schoenberg successfully established a new concept of musical arts, and thus set another standard for the aesthetic values which are subject to a strong challenge at that time. The aesthetic concepts were changed partly because of the tremendous changes in social thinking. From a social point of view, the extreme fear, agitation, depression, and twisted soul were embodied in Schoenbergs atonal music. These actually were influenced by the serious economic crisis in Europe at that time, social conflicts, and disasters caused by the World War I. From the cultural point of view, the performance of this non-rational atonal music reflected the artists humanistic ideas where serious imbalance of sense and sensibility occurred in the Europe at that time. These let Schoenberg to open the door of his inner creative power. Where tonality had reached its extreme limit, his creation of atonality frees the spirit and essence of expressionism, which contains a pr ofound social content and psychological motivation in that anxious time. The Six Little Piano Pieces although are small and insignificant, it definitely reflects the creative thinking of Schoenberg the new Expressionist aesthetics. Hence in order to understand Schoenbergs atonal music, one should escape and avoid from any musical representation, but from the spiritual essence to feel him, learn from him. 2.4 New Piano Playing Style in Modernism Prokofiev In the composition arena, Schoenberg particularly had made the emancipation of dissonnance. However, besides the changes in compositional techniques, how is the piano playing technique like in Modernism? Do pianists still equip the traditional technique or playing way to interpret the more radical modern piano music? Or perhaps any new playing way formed? As the Romantic pianisism were striving for making incredible beautiful singing line on the piano, Prokofiev however developed new kind of piano playing style which is more percussive and ear sore on the first heard. This new type of piano playing not only expressive but also it carries some sorts of hidden messages the elements of irony and mockery. Hence, Prokofiev again wrote new aesthetics elements on piano playing in the Modernism. Debussy wanted to suggest a piano without hammers. Prokofiev, Bartok, Stravinsky and Hindemith had the opposite view. Nonsense, they said in effect. The piano is a percussive instrument, and theres no use trying to disguise the fact. So lets face up to it and treat the piano as a percussive instrument. (Schonberg, 1964, p.389-90) From this quotation, Prokofiev together with his contemporaries were trying to argue that the piano could not be a singing instrument with superbly legato, as it is the nature of piano to have hammer effects which cause the piano to be percussive. Certainly, they all were bored with the beautiful, heavily wet sustained sounds from the piano pedal effect that went far beyond anything Chopin had dreamed of. They looked for another kind of new sound for which the piano can produce. So, they had to accept the fact that piano is a percussive instrument, the tones produced cannot be cheated or covered by the sustaining pedal. Harold Schonberg, a music critic of the New York Times, said about the playing of Prokofiev in a recital: Young Serge Prokofieff, the pianist of steel, came raging out of Russia, playing his own music and startling the West with his vigor, his exuberance, his wild rhythm, his disdain for the trappings of romanticism. The anti-romanticism age was under way [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] Prokofieff at the piano attacked the music with a controlled fury, blasting out savage and complicated rhythms, giving or asking no mercy. He went about it almost without pedal, and with a percussive, metallic-sounding tone. (Schonberg, 1964, p. 390) Noted that the anti-romanticism is also a key of Prokofievs piano playing style. Remember, in his time, the early 20th century piano performance practice, pianists especially like Alfred Cortot, Paderewski, Rachmaninoff, and others play expressively with great liberty. They took tempo rubato for granted and more aware of bel canto playing on the piano. This performance tradition was actually passed down from the time of Chopin and Liszt. The famous Russian pedagogue, Heinrich Neuhaus, who is the teacher of great pianist Sviatoslav Richter, said about Prokofievs piano playing: Energy, confidence, indomitable will, steel rhythm, powerful tone (sometimes even hard to bear in a small room), a peculiar epic quality that scrupulously avoided any suggestion of over-refinement or intimacy, yet with a remarkable ability to convey true lyricism, poetry, sadness, reflection, an extraordinary human warmth, and feeling for natureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Shlifstein,1968, p.233) Although the views are subjective, these quotations give us clearer views of Prokofievs piano playing. Basically, Prokofievs tone on the piano was somewhat dry, but he still played with amazing assurance and freedom. Beneath his fingers the piano does not sing or vibrate. Hence, this evoked contradictory on the piano playing style should the pianists tone be deliberately violent or ugly, or should he strive for musical beauty? Definitely, Prokofiev had made a revolution on the aesthetics of piano playing to the violently, ugly playing style on the piano. This playing style is obvious in his later piano sonatas, especially in the three War Sonatas. The Pianists Responsibilities No matter how the aesthetics of piano music changed, the relationships among composer, pianist, and listener are always inter-related. Pianist, as a medium between the creator and the beneficiary, carries an important role in a performance. For me, regardless of playing the pieces from which period or time to the hardly understandable extreme contemporary piano music, a piano performance is not just a musical performance, it contains rich and valuable aesthetics thinking. From the aesthetic view of Hanslick, he states that music only contains its sound movement and its musical form and structure. If that case, they should be the only essence of piano music without incorporating the personal feeling and emotion into it. However personally, as a pianist, I am more in favour to have music can express emotion and meaning other than just mere sound so as to communicate with the audience as well as to convey the composers messages and intentions. A piano music score is just a carrier of written material, it does not make sense from a hearing point of view. However, if the score is being played by the pianist, it can express meaningful significance. So in a piano performance where the music is accepted and played, it creates a social consciousness relationship with its audience. It thus gives impact to the audience whether auditory, visually or emotionally. At the end, the pianist translates all the static musical symbols on the scores and liberates them into reality so as to make it into life. The aesthetic of piano playing is always based on the individuality of performers as well as the commonality of playing facts. The provisions of piano playing is not absolutely clear, we can never play the music authentically. Hence it is the tendency that every pianists will show their understanding of the music based on their own aesthetical point of views. Together with their unique personality, different pianists play the same stories with different resonance. Their own unique playing style are irreplaceable and cannot be represented by other pianists because their characters of playing were accumulated continuously from the past creative performances. Their innovations always grow with their experience of playing. The commonality of piano playing however restricts and limits performers playing style. It is the style of composers, and the style of playing of that period, that merged into a common playing style. Pianists still have to follow the conventions. Hence pianists individuality cannot exceed the basic style restriction or the commonality of a work in other words. For instance, each performers show different characters of playing on Beethovens Piano Sonata with their own treatment, but they still restrict themselves in a framework of typical Beethoven style, which is the general spirit and characteristics of Beethoven. In short, before playing the music with our own individuality and feeling, we must first respect to the composers

Morality and The Holy Bible :: Holy Bible Essays

Morality and the Bible    Both the legal and salvation philosophies of the Old and New Testaments reflect those of the cultures around them, due to much copying and borrowing of laws and ideas. Furthermore, all societies around the world have similar moral and legal codes -- which is certainly not an accident.    Interestingly enough, the moral codes of the world's religions bear a striking resemblance to each other, with only minor variations. Religions as different as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism all have proscriptions against killing, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. This is not an accident, for reasons we shall explore below.    Christians may then object that that there is something unique about the Bible that makes it a superior moral code. Unfortunately for Christians, there is actually very little law in the Bible -- either Old Testament or New -- that is original. Consider the Torah of the ancient Jews. The laws of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Hammurapi, Eshnunna, Hittites, Mishnah, and Israelites all bear a striking resemblance to each other, due to widespread copying of laws. Shared social norms produced identical laws against sorcery, kidnapping, sale of an abducted person, false witness, business dishonesty, bribing judges, property right violations, shutting off irrigation canals used by others, etc. The complete list of identical laws and customs is quite extensive.    Nor is the New Testament's approach to the law unique. Most Christians can probably think of nothing more unique than the Apostle Paul's approach to the law, but any student of ancient Greece knows otherwise. Many of the themes that fill Paul's writings were lifted from his Greco-Roman background. During New Testament times, the Greco-Roman world was filled with Mystery Cults, sporting such names as Eluesinian Mysteries, the Orphic Mysteries, the Attis-Adonis Mysteries, the Isis-Osiris Mysteries, Mithraism, and many others. A common feature of these secret cults was a belief in a heroic redeemer, a heavenly being who would visit earth in human form, battle evil, die a sacrificial death, rise from the dead and ascend to heaven, offering salvation from death to all who follow him.    Another influence on the New Testament was Greek philosophy. In particular, Greek dualism taught that the world was sharply divided into opposites: good and evil, body and soul, man and woman, hot and cold, life and death, etc. Now, the Greeks from Plato on had taught that the body is evil, but the soul is pure.

Ishi, The Last of His Tribe by Theodora Kroeber Essay -- Theodora Kro

Ishi, the Last of His Tribe by Theodora Kroeber Chapter 1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book begins when it's main character Ishi is just thirteen years of age. He is one of the remaining Yahi Indians in the world. The people in his tribe now living are Ishi, grandfather and grandmother, Tushi, Timawi, his mother and his father. They have been hiding from the Saldu, white men as the Yahi called them. This chapter had much to do with the Harvest Season. We know this season as autumn. They had to hunt and forage for many items to survive through the winter. We are taken to Ishi's secret place where he goes to think. This place is known as Black Rock. They Yahi have spent most of their lives hiding from the white men or Saldu, as the Yahi call them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The winter the Yahi go through is not that tough because they are so well prepared for it. They listen to grandfather tell the story of creation time after time. Ishi loves to hear this and he listens to how his father was killed by the Saldu. The rest of this section explains how Ishi is growing up and becoming a man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spring is beginning and the Yahi are busy at work. Ishi is now becoming a wasani or a real man. He learns to fish and he learns how to hunt dear with the help of Timawi. The biggest challenge of this is to leave no trail of the killing for the Saldu to trace back to the tribe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The summer season is very successful and the Yahi are thriving in their environment as much as possible. Timawi and Ishi want to attack the Saldu but are held back by Elder Uncle. Chapter 2 Chapter two begins with Ishi going on a trek to become a man. On this trek, he will visit many of the religious sites including, where he was born, where his father was killed and where his father was buried. He returns from the trek and is declared a real man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the main conflicts in the story is from the refusing of Tushi to make a sweat grass bracelet for Timawi. This is almost like a wedding ring for the Yahi. Timawi is upset but he tries his hardest not to show it. Ishi and Tushi go somewhere to discuss the whole situation and when they do, Ishi notices that a Saldu is aiming to lasso Tushi. Ishi whips out the bow and arrow and skillfully shoots the Saldu in the hand. He tells the others about the incident and they all know that they must move for they will be coming to kill them all off shortly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  They must go... ...to perspective for him. He finally got to understand that he was the last one left. If he did not share anything and everything he knew about his tribe, they would perish forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ishi has a flashback of Tushi. He realizes how much he misses her and it reminds him of the good times he used to have with her. He realizes he is lonelier than he has ever been. Ishi is soon given his quiver and knife back from an anonymous source. He does not know who it is but believes it to be the work of Jupka or Kaltsuna.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ishi later gives the two people he has become closet with the chance to take the Purification Prayer. They both take place in the ceremony and they realize what a privilege it is to have this. They are given the opportunity to go fishing like the Yahi and they went to the sacred ground where the last of the Yahi lived they last days of their lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ishi soon passed away. He was given the proper burial that a yahi deserves. He was buried with all the things he would be needing in the Land of the Living. It was a tough time for the Doctor and his son. They said prayers for a man who changed their lives and everyone's who would be following, present and future.

Lord of the Flies :: essays research papers

The Lord of the Flies is about a mini-society of boys formed by chance. Their isolation from adults forced reality upon them and so they had to think for themselves and work together. As a commentary of today's society it does well to explain some of today's issues like violence, laws, pride, greed, fear, religious power and the conflict between living in a civilised society or savagery. It is all about the choice the boys made when life became real. In the beginning their lives were controlled and protected by their parents, teachers and police officers. Jack cannot kill the pig even though he can eat meat because of the "enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh." (p 41). Roger cannot hit the boys with the stones even though he could if he wanted to because he has been conditioned by the society he used to live in. This is the type of society the children live in. Everything is a game until the beast. The beast signals the end of the games and start of reality. Lives are at stake in perspective of the boys and survival must occur in any form. Our society is much like this as today's society is also about survival and what choices we make to survive. The mini-society started off peaceful. The purpose was to set a signal fire and live off fruit until help came. The conflict came when the fire and hunting could not be committed to at the same time. As the fire was a 24 hour task and hunting needed the whole party, the party started to take sides. Ralph's fire would be the sensible thing to do to get rescued however hunting would lift the standard of living for all the boys and would also be a luxury, recreational event. The fire was hard work and immediate results were none even though long-term results would be better. The hunting side wins eventually. In Australia today we are spending beyond our ability to afford this spending. This means we have a great influx of goods and services but as a community we are cheating ourselves as this leads to a current account deficit and the cost of living in this deficit must be paid plus the deficit. In this book's case, the deficit was their morals and the interest was paid in life.

Marketing and Powdered Energy Drinks Essay

I. Introduction Kings Food (Pvt. ) Ltd, the company behind LimoPani, saw the huge market of flavoured powdered energy drinks with only few major players like Tang and Energile. In order to come out with a unique product in this market, they conducted a market research. In Pakistan’s generally hot weather, lemon juice is traditionally consumed in water to provide refreshment from the sweltering heat of the sun. You will often find â€Å"thailay walas† near bus stops or populated places selling these drinks, locally termed as â€Å"sikanjbeen† or â€Å"nibopani†. Thus, King’s Food gave birth to LimoPani as a direct competitor of Tang and Energile in powdered energy drinks market. II. Competition & Market Structure The major competitors of LimoPani are Energile and Tang. The market structure of powdered energy drinks is as follows: III. Product Product Classification LimoPani is a shopping good which transitions into a convenience good. We have classified it thus, because: ? This good initially requires comparison with other like products in the market, e. g. Tang, Energile. ?It is not very low priced. Three Levels of Product. With LimoPani we are concerned with the core benefit offered and the actual product attributes. Core Benefit LimoPani’s core benefit can be phrased as: â€Å"LimoPani is an easy-to-make instant drink which will refresh you in the Pakistani weather be it hot or cold† Actual Product ?Quality Quality has a direct impact on the product’s performance. LimoPani has been surveyed and claimed to be â€Å"great tasting† and â€Å"very refreshing†. LimoPani is considered to be a product of very high quality. ?Features LimoPani does not have any extraordinary features since it is just a beverage and an edible item which is consumed over and over again.? Branding LimoPani as a brand name has been highly successful. This is because the target market responded well to the word â€Å"LimoPani† which is lemonade in Urdu. By using a brand name which is understood all over Pakistan, the marketer brilliantly enlarged the target market, since the description of the product is in the product name itself. ?Packaging Product packaging is nicely done. It is distributed displayed well with sachets, leading to â€Å"impulse buying†. LimoPani’s packaging contains sachets of 25g, the glass jars of 250g and 500g and tin cans of 1000g and 2500g. LimoPani’s packaging can be rated higher than its competitors, on a scale of attractiveness since the colours used (lime green and yellow) are attention grabbing. IV. Price The pricing strategy followed by SunSip is â€Å"competition-based†. LimoPani’s marketers are pricing their product on the basis of similar products’ prices, especially those of Tang. The pricing comparison is shown below: LimoPaniTangEnergile SizePriceSizePriceSizePrice 250 gRs. 55250 gRs. 50100 gRs. 15 500 gRs. 105500 gRs. 110350 gRs. 70 1000 gRs. 1901000 gRs. 190 2500 gRs. 4851500 gRs. 245 V. Place The sales distribution of LimoPani is great. No matter which place you go throughout Pakistan – any neighborhood or locality of whatever class, you will find LimoPani at the shops. In Karachi, for example, you can get LimoPani from elite supermarkets markets like Ebco at the Forum, Agha’s and Naheed to small shops and convenience stores located on the roadside and near residential localities. VI. Promotion LimoPani is being mass advertised, especially in prime time at the most watched channels of Pakistan in the first 2 years of its launch. Now, as it has become a well established brand in Pakistan, it is being moderately advertised. At the time of its huge campaign launch, it heavily targeted both electronic (TV and radio) and outdoor media. The launch TVC â€Å"Caveman† was implying on the old trusted form of lemon mixed with water, establishing LimoPani as a brand composed of natural ingredients. The follow-up TVC based on the â€Å"Family† was an effort to establish that LimoPani is meant for all age groups. Currently LimoPani’s advertising pattern can be classified as a â€Å"Flighting Pattern† VI. Positioning LimoPani has positioned itself remarkably well in the minds of the massive consumer base by created an image of a very high quality Pakistani product. LimoPani is the modern style of drinking the same traditional lemon juice during hot times, yet, its advertisements show that it is a product used by the entire family, young and old. It is not surprising then that, according to a research, many old housewives and women have actually shifted from making home made lemon juice and water to using LimoPani!! In innumerable retail stores, you will find LimoPani side by side with Tang and Energile, indicating that it is now considered a premium brand in the powdered energy drink market. It is being positioned as not just an individual consumption drink but also one that can be presented to guests. Mothers give LimoPani to their kids as an energy drink; housewives present it as a drink to guests; young teenagers drink it like Coca-cola. LimoPani has successfully been recognized as a drink for all times.

We All Have Experienced an Embarrassing Moment in Our Life

Some of the embarrassing moments in our lives are worth recalling while others are so disgusting that no one would wish to recall or even be associated with them. That day will forever remain in my mind. I can recall with nostalgia an incident, which took place five years ago. Back at home, my parents would reward my brother and me for the good grades we scored in the term papers. On this one occasion, my mum rewarded me with two hundred dollars for the good grades in the end year papers. In order have fun; I decided to invite my best friends to a hotel for lunch.On arrival at the hotel, I told my friends to order as much as they wished to take. One after another, they placed their orders and immediately the waiters swung into action and started serving us. The food was very delicious just as the services. We all took to eating, talking and laughing at the jokes we made back at school. On finishing the food, the bill was placed on the table. I hurriedly reached my pocket to get the m oney but to my utter disbelief, the two hundred dollars were missing. After a thorough check in all my pockets, it dawned on me that I had left my dollars in my bedroom.I had been filled with joy and excitement when my mother gave me that I did not remember to put it in my purse. On waking up in the morning, I was late and so I prepared myself in a hurry leaving the money on the table inside my room. I thought of borrowing money from my comrades but none of them could offer any help. They did not carry any money, as we would be picked by the school bus from home in the morning and only come back in the evening with the same. I approached the waiter and narrated my ordeal but she was fuming with rage.She ordered me to explain to the director. The hotel director was a kind and understanding man. He listened to my rather unfortunate ordeal and allowed me to rush home and get the money but had to leave my school identity card with him just in case I did not to come back. I hurriedly wen t to the nearest telephone booth, called my younger brother, and requested him to deliver the money at the hotel. Ever since that day, I ceased to going to that hotel. I have this fear that some of the waiters might recall my countenance.It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. Since the events of that day, my friends have always made jokes regarding that fateful day and would all laugh at it. The other day when I was going to the cinema I met with an old good friend of mine who was there when all that happened while on summer vacation. We reminisced for quite sometime and he offered to buy me a drink. We hurriedly entered the hotel nearby only to find other two childhood friends. It was a fantastic but strange twist of events as we further talked about the good old times.Food and drinks were served and we started eating, as we talked oblivious of who had served us. When we had spent some good time inside there, we rise up to go when the bill was placed on the table. The wait er was anxiously waiting for the money. My friend got the money and it was only while he was paying that we realized it was in this same hotel and the same waiter who had held us at ransom. She also was recalling but this time she managed to smile at us. We looked at each other and all we could do was to laugh it was just fabulous. It is amazing how sometimes life can be.