The polonaise is a Polish dance. It started as a folk dance and then became popular among the Polish nobility. It is in 3/4 time. It follows a distinctive rhythm as illustrated above. Many polonaises are composed in what is called ternary form, or song form, or minuet and trio. These forms all follow an A-B-A pattern. The music of the A sections is similar in both sections, if not exactly identical. The B section is entirely different. It provides contrast in some way to the A sections. In the courts of the aristocracy musicians would often play a polonaise from the gallery while the people danced below in the reception hall.
Polish culture was very popular in Europe in the 1830s and so the polonaise became known in other countries. Composers started to write polonaises for the piano. Pieces called "Polonaise" had already been composed by Bach, Handel, François Couperin and others, but it was Frédéric Chopin who in the 19th century wrote several Polonaises for piano which became famous. Most of them are very difficult to play, especially the famous Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53.
Several Russian composers wrote polonaises to give a Polish atmosphere, e.g. Tchaikovsky in his ballet "The Sleeping Beauty" and in his opera "Eugene Onegin ".
Elector
Elector may refer to:
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Arnold (born Northampton, 21 Oct 1921; died 23 September 2006) was an English composer. He is famous for writing symphonies, concertos and movie music. People disagree about whether he is one of the really great composers, or just a very skilled musician. His music is often very tuneful, sometimes it is sentimental. He could write music very quickly. His famous music for the movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai" was composed in ten days.
In 1938 Malcolm Arnold went to the Royal College of Music to study composition with Gordon Jacob. He started his career as a trumpeter with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, later becoming principal trumpet. By the late 1940s he was concentrating on his composing career.
Arnold was composing at a time when many composers were writing music which was quite atonal which made it hard to understand, but Arnold’s music is tonal and there are many tunes which are easy to remember. He wrote nine symphonies and several concertos for different instruments, even unusual instruments like the harmonica. Some of his best orchestral works are the set of dances: "English Dances ", "Scottish Dances " and "Cornish Dances ". He also wrote 2 operas, 7 ballets and 2 string quartets. His overture "Tam O'Shanter" is very exciting. It tells in music the story in the poem by Robert Burns.
Arnold wrote music for 132 films. The most famous is "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) for which he won an Oscar. He was the first British composer ever to have won this award. This movie includes the famous "Colonel Bogey March". This march had been written many years earlier by Kenneth J. Alford, but Arnold composed a countermelody to it. His original music for the movie includes the famous River Kwai March (this is not the same as the "Colonel Bogey March"). Other movies for which he wrote music include "The Belles of St Trinian's" (1954), "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" (1958) and "Whistle Down the Wind" (1961).
He was made a CBE in 1970 and was knighted in 1993.
Youth orchestras and amateur orchestras enjoy playing his works because they are an exciting mixture of classical, jazz, popular and folk music, and are not too difficult to play.
Arnold’s health was often very poor. At times he fought with alcoholism and depression, and in his later years with dementia. He had moved to Dublin in 1972, but moved back to England in 1984 and settled in Attleborough, Norfolk. His full-time carer Anthony Day helped him a lot during his final years.
Arnold died from a chest infection in September 2006.
Bowser (character)
Bowser is a video game character. He is the evil Koopa that takes over the Mushroom Kingdom. He has spikes on his back, breathes fire, and is bigger than normal koopas. He was ranked #1 in the Top 50 Video Game Villains of all-time list by the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2013".
Bowser's first appearance was in "Super Mario Bros." as a final boss. The first seven castles had Bowsers, but they only look like him. Only the eighth Bowser is really him.
Bowser's kids, called the Koopalings, were bosses in "Super Mario Bros. 3", "Super Mario World", "New Super Mario Bros. Wii", "New Super Mario Bros. 2", and "New Super Mario Bros. U". However, after "Super Mario World," The Koopalings were no longer Bowser's biological kids, since they are now adopted children and Bowser Jr. is now his biological child. In "Super Mario World", Bowser appears in a clown car and throws Mecha Koopas.
When Mario moved to the Nintendo 64 with "Super Mario 64", Bowser was again the main bad guy. In the remake of this game, Super Mario 64 DS, he is fought as a boss three times.
He also appears in the Disney movie "Wreck-It Ralph".
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich ( ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician and songwriter best known as the drummer and co-founder of the American heavy metal band Metallica. He was born in Denmark, but moved to Los Angeles when he was seventeen.
Lars Ulrich is also known for his part in the removal of a music-sharing computer program called Napster, which he felt to be illegally using and sharing the music he and Metallica made.
Lars Ulrich stars as himself in the 2010 movie "Get Him to the Greek" starring Russell Brand. The movie is a spin-off of the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Kim Possible
Kim Possible is a Disney Channel original Emmy Award winner and American cartoon series about a teenage girl, of the same name as the cartoon, who has the task of dealing with worldwide, family, and school problems every day. She also fights crime.
Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Messenger is an instant messenger that is the most-used in the world. It is made by the Windows Live section of Microsoft. It used to be called "MSN Messenger" before MSN was changed into Windows Live. Microsoft announced that they were retiring Windows Live Messenger (except for China) in favor of Skype.
Great Dane
The Great Dane is a large breed of dog. They are about or taller at the shoulder. Great Danes can have coats of a fawn color, black, Harlequin (a combination of black and white spots), blue, brindle, or mantle. The females are usually smaller and weight on an average of . Males are slightly larger, about or more.
They need to be walked daily to maintain good health.
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. They started making music in 1996, the band became very famous with their first album, "Hybrid Theory", which was labeled with the Diamond Award of more than 10 million copies by the RIAA and multi-platinum in several other countries. Their second album, "Meteora", continued the band's popularity, reaching number one at the "Billboard" 200 album chart in 2003. It was promoted with concerts and giving for charities around the world. In 2003, MTV2 called Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video time and the third best band of the new millennium, only beaten by Oasis and Coldplay. "Billboard" ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade (Past 10 Years) chart.