A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music which has a story attached to it or describes something such as poem or a painting or any idea which is not music. A symphonic poem is a kind of programme music (music for instruments which has an idea outside music).
Symphonic poems were mostly written in the 19th century at the time known as the Romantic period. They are normally in one movement lasting perhaps between 10 and 20 minutes. Some of the longest ones, such as "Ein Heldenleben" by Richard Strauss are much longer, like a symphony with four movements which run into one another.
The idea can be seen in Beethoven’s overtures which tell the story of the opera or play which is about to be performed. Composers such as Felix Mendelssohn then started to write overtures which told a story but were not attached to any opera. "Fingal's Cave" (1832) describes the sea lapping against the rocks of a cave in the Scottish Hebrides.
Franz Liszt was the composer who made the symphonic poem an important musical form. He wrote twelve works which he called "Symphonische Dichtung" ("Symphonic poem") because the music developed in the same way as in a symphony. One example is "Mazeppa" (1851) which describes the poem by Victor Hugo about a wild horse that carries a man tied to him until he is rescued by the Ukrainians and made into their chief.
Other composers who wrote symphonic poems include Sergei Rachmaninoff, Modest Mussorgsky, Camille Saint-Saëns, Claude Debussy, Jean Sibelius, Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and César Franck.
The opening of Richard Strauss’s tone poem "Also sprach Zarathustra" (1895-1896) has become particularly famous in recent years through its use in the movie "".
Melody
A melody in music is a group of notes of various pitches (how high or low a note sounds) which are played one after another. Together they make a tune in the same way that a group of words make a sentence. Some people like to sing melodies. Melodies have rhythm (the length of the notes).
In music, 'melody' contrasts with 'harmony'. Harmony means notes which are played at the same time, like chords. Composers often think of a melody and then add harmony to it.
Some music has more than one melody happening at the same time. When this happens throughout the whole piece, it is called polyphonic music. Rounds and fugues are types of polyphonic music. If the other melody only happens sometimes, then the second melody is called a "countermelody".
The adjective of melody is "melodic". There is also the adjective "melodious" which means: 'a sweet-sounding melody'.
Music that does not have an obvious melody may be hard to understand (unless it is focused on rhythm, such as a drum solo).
Many melodies are easy to sing, while others are difficult to sing. Still other melodies are impossible to sing. Those melodies can still be played on musical instruments.
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, investor and co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. He was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pixar Animation Studios until it was bought by The Walt Disney Company. He was the largest shareholder at Disney and a member of Disney's Board of Directors.
He was seen as a leading figure in both the computer and entertainment industries. In August 2011, Jobs resigned, and was appointed Chairman of Apple. He served in that position until he died, at the age of 56, on October 5, 2011 from complications of pancreatic cancer.
Steven Paul Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, California, U.S. Steve Jobs' mother, Joanne Schieble was Swiss-American; his father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali was Syrian. Jobs was adopted by Armenian parents at birth. His birth parents wanted Steve to be adopted by college graduates, that was not the case. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs who promised Steve would go to college. Jobs went to Reed College for a semester and then dropped out. He spent 18 more months dropping in on more creative classes. He also took part in ballet as a child.
Steve was a Silicon Valley businessman most famous for his work with the company Apple Computer Inc, starting with the release of the Apple I in 1976.
Together with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Jobs helped make the idea of the personal computer popular in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, still at Apple, Jobs was one of the first to see the potential of using a mouse to control things on a computer screen.
In 1985, after differences of opinion about what the company should focus on, Apple's Board of Directors fired Jobs from his position with the company. He then started NeXT, a computer platform development company which dealt with higher education and business markets.
In 1986, Jobs bought a computer animation studio from film director George Lucas called Pixar. Jobs sold Pixar to Disney in 2006, and gained a seat on the Disney board of directors. Pixar went on to make numerous hugely successful films, such as "Toy Story" (1995), "Monsters, Inc." (2001) and "Cars" (2006). Jobs made more money with Pixar than he did while he was with Apple in the 1970s and 80s.
Apple's 1997 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded where he worked as the Chief Executive Officer, and was paid $1m (£600,000) per year. He concentrated on making the company profitable again and cancelled a few unprofitable projects, and was a guiding force behind the creation of the iPod, released in 2001; the iPhone, released in 2007; and the iPad, released in 2010.
Due to increasing health problems, Jobs retired as CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011, and suggested Tim Cook as his successor. However, Jobs continued as the chairman of the Apple Inc.'s Board of Directors.
Jobs had health problems for the last few years and had a liver transplant. When he died of respiratory arrest caused by pancreatic cancer in 2011 in Palo Alto, California, he was worth $8.3 billion (£5.1 billion).
Jobs has four children. His two daughters, Erin Siena Jobs and Eve Jobs, and a son, Reed Paul Jobs, with his wife, Laurene Powell; and a daughter Lisa Brennan Jobs while in a previous relationship with Chrisann Brennan.
He was a Democrat and a supporter of Barack Obama, even though, as the owner of a multinational corporation, he took many views of business-friendly Republicans. Jobs also once said that he voted for Ronald Reagan
Steve Jobs has been played by American actor Ashton Kutcher in the 2013 movie "Jobs" and by German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender in the 2015 movie "Steve Jobs."
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace, also called the Papal Palace or the Palace of the Vatican, is the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City.
The palace is a complex of buildings, with the Papal Apartment, the Catholic Church's government offices, a handful of chapels, the Vatican Museum and the Vatican library. In all there are over 1,000 rooms with the most famous including the Sistine Chapel and its renowned ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo (restored between 1980-1990) and Raphael's Rooms.
The other papal residences are at the Lateran Palace and the Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.
Before 1871, the Quirinal Palace was the Pope's official residence. After the final overthrow of the Papal States in 1870, the King of Italy confiscated that palace in 1871, making it the king's official residence; after the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, it became the President of the Italian Republic's residence.
G-string
A G-string or thong is a narrow piece of cloth or leather, or plastic that passes between the buttocks. It is attached to a band around the hips. It can be worn as a swimwear or underwear by both men and women. The difference between a G-string and a thong is that a G-string has less material between the legs. This makes it look like a string. Variants of the thong or G-string include the "V-string" and the "T-string".