Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley (born 20 March 1972), commonly known as Alex Kapranos, is an English musician. He is the lead singer of Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. Kapranos was born in Almondsbury, Gloucestershire to an English mother and Greek father.
Death from Above 1979
Death from Above 1979 is a Toronto-based Canadian band with two members. The members were Jesse F. Keeler on bass guitar, synths and backing vocals, and Sebastien Grainger on vocals and drums.
Valentin Berlinsky
Valentin Berlinsky (born Irkutsk, 19 January, 1925; died 15 December, 2008) was a Russian cellist. He played with the world-famous Borodin Quartet from 1945 when it was founded, and was a member until he retired in 2007.
Valentin Berlinsky was born in Irkutsk, Siberia. His father had learned the violin with the famous teacher Leopold Auer. He had formed his own string quartet, the Berlinksy Quartet, who had played in many parts of the Soviet Union. Valentin learned the violin from his father. Soon he was sent to Moscow where he studied the cello and played with the Moscow Youth Orchestra. He played in a student concert together with Mstislav Rostropovich in 1938.
For many years Berlinsky taught the cello at the Gnessin School of Music in Moscow. He did not often perform as soloist. He preferred being a member of a chamber music group.
In 1945 four young players formed a string quartet called the Moscow Conservatoire Quartet. Mstislav Rostropovich was the cellist, Rostislav Dubinsky and Nina Barshai played the violins and Rudolf Barshai played the viola. However, after a couple of weeks Rostropovich found he was too busy, so he suggested that Berlinsky should take his place. The four players that now formed the quartet signed an oath that they would be loyal and stay together as a group. They signed the oath with their own blood. Valentin often showed this piece of paper to people. For 60 years he kept a careful record of all the concerts they played. They called themselves the Borodin Quartet after the composer Alexander Borodin.
The four musicians first met Dmitri Shostakovich in 1946. They became famous for playing his string quartets. Shostakovich was to compose 15 string quartets. The Borodin Quartet were the most famous string quartet in the Soviet Union, but it was difficult for them to get permission to play in other countries until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Valentin Berlinsky retired from the Borodin Quartet in September 2007. His place was taken by his pupil, Vladimir Balshin, but Berlinsky still continued to help the quartet.
He died on 15 December 2008, in Moscow, after a long illness. His daughter Lyudmila is a pianist.
Steve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq (born 16 October 1965) is a disc jockey for BBC radio stations. He is known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat". He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire and grew up in Essex.
Internship
Intern is the job title given to people who work in an organization which has an internship program. It is similar to an apprenticeship, but is the term more commonly used if the work takes place in office environments. The work in an internship is expected to be part of a desired learning experience for the intern. The specific requirements for being an intern vary widely.
Internship positions are posted online similarly to job postings, but focus instead on engaging students in real world projects before they have completed their studies. Internships are usually temporary positions, often lasting between one school term and one year.Interns are sometimes given longer term job opportunities.
The Master
The Master can refer to:
Symphonie Fantastique (Berlioz)
The Symphonie fantastique is a symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is one of the most famous Romantic works for orchestra. The official title of the piece is Episode de la Vie d’un Artiste (An Episode in the Life of the Artist), but it is always called by its subtitle "Symphonie Fantastique" which means "Fantasy Symphony". The “Fantasy” refers to the story that is described by them music. ("Fantasy Symphony" is a better translation than "Fantastic Symphony" because "fantastique" is not like the modern meaning of the English word "fantastic").
The symphony lasts about 45 minutes and is divided into 5 movements. Berlioz himself wrote down the story that the music describes, just as Beethoven had done with his "Sixth Symphony". Berlioz’s work is about a young artist. In the music the young artist is represented by a tune. This tune is often heard during the symphony. That is why it is called an “"idée fixe"”, which means a “fixed idea”, i.e. an idea that keeps coming again and again. An "idée fixe" is what Wagner would have called a leitmotif (a tune which is always used to describe a particular person or thing in a piece of music). The first performance took place at the Paris Conservatoire in December 1830. Berlioz made several changes to the music between 1831 and 1845.
The symphony is played by an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets (1st doubling E-flat clarinet), 4 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, 2 ophicleides (originally one ophicleide and one serpent), 2 pairs of timpani, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, bells in C and G, 2 harps, and strings.
The symphony is an example of programme music because it describes something apart from the music. In this case it describes a story. This is what the composer wrote:
First movement:
"A young artist was deeply in love with a girl who did not love him. He felt so desperately sad that he tried to poison himself with opium. He did not take enough to kill him. It just made him fall into a deep sleep. In this sleep he imagined all sorts of things. His beloved came to him in a dream. She changes into a musical theme (the "idée fixe") which he just cannot forget. He imagines her love and his tender feelings for her."
Second movement:
"He meets her at a ball. Everyone is dancing. He finds his beloved among the crowd."
Third movement:
"In the country he hears two shepherds who call to one another on their pipes. The trees sway gently in the wind. The young artist starts to feel happier. Then he sees his beloved again. He starts to worry that she may not want him any more. The shepherd music starts again, but it is only one of the shepherds playing. The sun sets. Far away a thunderstorm is heard."
The fourth movement:
"He dreams that he has killed his beloved in a fit of anger. He is now being taken to the scaffold where he will have his head chopped off. A march is played as he is taken away. For a moment he thinks of his beloved again, then the axe falls and he is executed."
The fifth movement:
"The artist is at the Witches’ Sabbath. There are lots of ghosts and monsters around who have come to watch him being buried. His beloved is heard, but her tune now sounds horrible. She has come to the Sabbath. She joins the witches and they dance while the funeral music is heard."
The first movement has a slow introduction. The tune heard on the violins is already nearly like the "idée fixe". The "idée fixe" is heard in its full form when the music goes into the fast section. It is played by the violins and solo flute. The rhythm that the lower string instruments play underneath is very agitated. The form of the movement is not much like the traditional sonata form. Berlioz was more interested in the "idée fixe" which keeps haunting the young artist all the way through.
The ball (i.e. a party with dancing) is represented in the music by a lively waltz. The two harps make it sound very graceful. Twice the waltz is interrupted by the "idée fixe".