Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918. Bernstein's birth name was Louis, but his family always called him Leonard. At the age of 16 he legal changed his name to Leonard. Leonard grew up understanding that being a musician or artist was off limits. Leonard began playing piano at the age of 10. He had to save up his own money to pay for lessons, because his father refused to. Leonard, being a natural at the piano, impressed hi father enough that when his bar mitzvah came his father bought him a baby grand piano. Helen Coates was his life long mentor, she taught him at Boston Latin School. Following graduation, Leonard studied music theory with Arthur Tillman Merritt and counterpoint with Walter Piston at Harvard University. In 1937, Bernstein fell in love when he saw Dmitri Mitropoulus conduct a Boston Symphony concert. After Mitropoulus heard Bernstein play a sonata the next day, Mitropoulus invited him to sit in on his rehearsals. After a week with Mitropoulus, Bernstein was set on making music the center of his life. Leonard studied conducting at Curtis Institute of Mu...
Johannes Brahms was born on Tuesday 7th may 1833, in the city of Hamburg the birthplace also of Mendelssohn. Johann Brahms was himself a musician, and played the double bass for a time at the Karl Schultze Theatre, and later in the Stadttheater orchestra. In 1847 Johannes attended a good Burgerschule (citizens? school), and in 1848 a better, that of one Hoffmann. When he was eight years old his father requested the teachers to be very easy with him because of the time that he must take for his musical studies.
Everybody in this world has the right to happiness. However, I don’t think we should seek our happiness by all means. I don’t agree that people should be selfish in order to get whatever they want. I’m not saying that there aren’t any selfish people in this world, but some people are more selfish than others. So we need to have some balance in what we want and what would make us happy. Also we need to make sure that we don’t burden ourselves for the sake of others’ happiness. Therefore, I’m not convinced that Mr. A and Mrs. B did the right thing; also, I know that sometimes we may give up our right to happiness to please others, and sometimes we have to do whatever it takes to meet our happiness.
Should a neglected, discriminated, and misplaced black man living in the mid 1900s possessing a spectacular, yet unfulfilled talent for baseball be satisfied or miserable? The play Fences, written by August Wilson, answers this question by depicting the challenging journey of the main character, Troy Maxon. Troy, an exceptional baseball player during his youth, cannot break the color barrier and is kept from playing in the big leagues. That being his major life setback, Troy has a pessimistic view on the world. His attitude is unpleasant, but not without justification. Troy has a right to be angry, but to whom he takes out his anger on is questionable. He regularly gets fed up with his sons, Lyons and Cory, for no good reason. Troy disapproves of Lyons’ musical goals and Cory’s football ambitions to the point where the reader can notice Troy’s illogical way of releasing his displeasures. Frank Rich’s 1985 review of Fences in the New York Times argues that Troy’s constant anger is not irrational, but expected. Although Troy’s antagonism in misdirected, Rich is correct when he observes that Troy’s endless anger is warranted because Troy experiences an extremely difficult life, facing racism, jail, and poverty.
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews Have you ever imagined living locked up in an attic for 3 years and 5 months? Have you ever imagined not growing up with your mother's care and love at the time you were 5? Flowers in the Attic is one of the more original series written by V.C. Andrews of the Dollanganger series. It is one of the best books I've read because it's depressing and dark yet heart-touching. In this book report, the setting, plot and the characters of the book will be included. Flowers in the Attic is one tragic yet a hopeful story of four children.
The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.
Louis Bernstein (as he was originally named) was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Ukrainian-Jewi...
Hillary R. Clinton once said that “There cannot be true democracy unless Women’s voices are heard” (conference in Vienna, Austria 1997). That very brilliant quote relates to a very strong woman by the name of Maya Angelou. Angelou is “America’s most visible black female autobiographer and speakers” (scholar Joanne M. Braxton). She is known for her speeches, poems, and books, but what stood out to me the most was her 1993 inauguration speech when Bill Clinton was sworn into the White House. Ironically, in her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” Maya Angelou uses clear rhetoric, prehistoric metaphoric images, and inspirational concepts to alert her audience to treat the world differently.
Musical theatre is a type of theatrical performance combining music, dance, acting and spoken dialogue. Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, ‘West Side Story’ is a classic American musical based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The through-composed score and lyrics are used to portray different characters and their cultures, the rivalry between the Jets and Sharks, and the emotions felt as the story progresses. This essay will be exploring the music and how effective the score is in realising the world and characters of the musical. Furthermore, it will discuss how Bernstein and Sondheim relate characters’ diverse ethnicities to particular musical ideas and motifs.
Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. Leonard's father, Samuel immigrated to America in 1908 at the age of sixteen from the Russian province of Volhynia where he came from a long line of rabbis. (Gradenwitz 1987: 20)
In his essay “Being Green at Ben and Jerry’s,” George F. Will lays out his argument against the environmentalists who hypocritically prevent coal mining and oil drilling in or near foreign soil. Despite the United States having enough oil and coal to be self dependent for years, tree huggers want to save our earth and import instead. However, letting places like Iraq do all of the resource extraction and the United State buying it from them is not much better. These environmentalists then call for a decrease in energy consumption, but no politician in his right mind would go against the Americans who love their big, gas-guzzling cars. Mostly, energy conservatives make policies that help them sleep well at night, rather than anything of actual
George Gershwin, who lived from the years 1898 to 1937, discovered music at the age of six, and at twelve his talent on his brother’s piano which was directly followed up with lessons. Soon he began studying with Charles Hambitzer, who many say had the strongest and most profound influence on Gershwin. Hambitzer introduced him to the music of Debussy and Ravel, the early works of Arnold Schoenberg, and classical piano literature. At the young age of fifteen Gershwin dropped out of high school and worked in pan tin ally as the
In Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King, King intertwines stories to create a satire that pokes fun at Indian culture compared to European culture. The book attempts to also poke fun at Judeo-Cristian beliefs by examining the creation story. King makes fun of the story of Adam and Eve. He pokes fun at western civilization and government. Although the book made me laugh some of the meanings behind kings writing puzzled me and made me question king's motives. The book is truly a puzzle that can be hard to decipher for most. I found the book to be challenging but entertaining and interesting.
In the book “Think and Grow Rich,” the author, Napoleon Hill, provides a set of principles that he calls the key to financial success. The idea at the center of these principles is that one becomes what he or she frequently thinks about, in this case success (i.e. rich). Hill lays out a method he created to translate one’s thoughts into reality, creating an insatiable hunger and drive within an individual to succeed. Using the examples of his son and some of America’s legendary iconic business leaders, of which Hill studied and interviewed, including Edwin C. Barnes, he demonstrates that anything one puts his or her mind to can be produced and conceived.
The Flowers By Alice Walker Written in the 1970's The Flowers is set in the deep south of America and is about Myop, a small 10-year old African American girl who explores the grounds in which she lives. Walker explores how Myop reacts in different situations. She writes from a third person perspective of Myop's exploration. In the first two paragraph Walker clearly emphasises Myop's purity and young innocence.
The short story, “Unlighted Lamps,” by author Sherwood Anderson is about a relationship between a father and his daughter. Their relationship is a stressful one because neither of them talk to each other, nor show their emotions. Throughout the story, you find out why their relationship is the way that it is, and why it is hard for her father to talk to her. The unlighted lamps in the story represent flashbacks of memories wherever light dances across something.