Jean-François Le Sueur (or Lesueur) (15 February 1760 — 6 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas.
Jean-François Le Sueur was born in a tiny village called Plessiel, near Abbeville. His great-uncle was the painter Eustache Le Sueur. He started his musical training by singing in the choir at the church of Abbeville, then at the cathedral of Amiens. Le Sueur became chorus master at the cathedral of Sées. He went to Paris to study harmony. His teacher was Abbé Nicolas Roze, chorus master at the church Saints-Innocents. Le Sueur got jobs at Dijon (1779), Le Mans (1782), Tours (1783) and then took over Roze’s job at the Saints-Innocents at Paris. In 1786 he was made music director at the famous church Notre-Dame de Paris.
At Notre Dame he started to use orchestras to play the music for some of the special services. The priests did not like this. Le Sueur replied by writing a little book about music for big religious celebrations. It was a bad time in France financially and the church had to make savings, so Le Sueur could not have his orchestra any more, so he resigned from his job.
Le Sueur spent some time in London, 1788–92, then returned to Paris where the revolution was going on. Three of his operas were performed, and he became professor at the École de la Garde Nationale, and then at the Conservatoire which was very new at the time. There he taught basic music theory. He was unable to get any more operas of his performed. He wrote a book saying how music should be taught in France, and criticizing the Conservatoire and its director. Because of that he lost his job at the Conservatoire.
Le Sueur now had no job and so he was very poor. Then, in 1804, Napoleon made him maître de la chapelle at the Tuileries in the place of Giovanni Paisiello. He was then able to have his most famous work performed at the Opéra. It was called "Ossian ou Les bardes". Napoleon liked it very much and gave Le Sueur the cross of the Légion d'honneur. Le Sueur composed the "Triumphal March" for the coronation of Napoleon. In 1813, he was given a position at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, replacing André Grétry.
At the Bourbon Restoration, he was named composer of the royal chapel and conductor of the orchestra of the Opéra. From the beginning of 1818, he taught composition at the Conservatoire. He stayed there many years. His most famous pupils were Hector Berlioz, Ambroise Thomas and Charles Gounod.
He died in Paris.
Anton Reicha
Anton Reicha (born 26 February 1770; died 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born composer who became naturalized French. He was a lifelong friend of Beethoven.
Reicha is now best remembered for the large number of quintets that he wrote for wind instruments, and for his work as a music teacher. Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz were both pupils of Reicha. Reicha wrote several books about music theory and composition.
British Rail Class 01
British Rail's Class 01 diesel locomotives were a short wheelbase 0-4-0 diesel-mechanical design intended for use in areas with tight curves and limited clearance.
British Rail Class 02
The British Rail Class 02 were a class of twenty 0-4-0 diesel-hydraulic shunting locomotives. They were built by the Yorkshire Engine Company in 1960 (first ten, D2850-D2859) and 1961 (D2860-D2869). They were built for use in places of restricted loading gauge and curves such as docks. They had the door to the cab at the rear, with a railed veranda behind the cab. This feature was very unusual on British Rail locomotives. It was used on many Yorkshire Engine Co. designs and was/is quite normal in North American practice.
British Rail Class 03
The British Rail Class 03 locomotive is, together with Class 04, one of BR's most successful smaller 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunters. There are 230 members of the class and it was built by British Railways' Swindon and Doncaster works in 1957-1962. They are numbered D2000-D2199 and D2370-D2399 (later 03004 to 03399). D2370 and D2371 were used as departmental locomotives and originally numbered 91 and 92 respectively.
British Rail Class 04
The British Rail Class 04 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive class was built between 1952 and 1962. It was the basis for the later Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops. The Class 04 locomotives were supplied by the Drewry Car Co., which at the time (and for most of its existence) had no manufacturing capability. Drewry sub-contracted the construction work to two builders. Both of these built other locomotives under the same arrangement. Early locomotives were built by Vulcan Foundry and later examples were built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns.
Tajik people
Tajiks ( "Tājīk") are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group who are mostly found in what is now Tajikistan, including in parts of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and China. Alternative names for the Tajiks are (Eastern) Persian, Dehqan, and Farsiwan. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, some Tajik refugees escaped to live in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. Most Tajiks are Sunni Muslims, but a few in remote mountain areas follow Shia Islam alongside pockets in cities such as Herat and Kabul.
The name "Tajik" being used for this group of people began in the early 20th century by the Russians. Before that, they were called "Sarts". The name "Tajik" refers to the traditionally sedentary people who speak a form of Persian language called "Tajiki" in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and officially called "Dari" in Afghanistan.
It is generally accepted that the origin of the word "Tajik" is Middle Persian "Tāzīk" "Arab" (New Persian: "Tazi"), or an Iranian (Sogdian or Parthian) cognate word. Some Turks of Central Asia adopted a variant of this word, "Täžik", to designate the Persian Muslims in the Oxus basin and Khorasan, who were the Turks' rivals.
Historians believe that the Tajiks may be connected to ancient Aryans who lived in the region for thousands of years. They were the heirs and transmitters of the Central Asian sedentary culture that diffused in prehistoric times from the Iranian plateau into an area extending roughly from the Caspian Sea to the borders of China. The Aryans constituted the core of the ancient population of Khwarezm, Sogdiana and Bactria, which formed part of Transoxania. They were included in the empires of Persia and Alexander the Great, and they mixed with later invaders like the Mauryans, Kushans and Hepthalites. Over the course of time, the language that was used by these ancient people eventually gave way to Farsi, a western dialect now officially spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. In the 13th century, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army settled in many of the popular Persian cities after whiping out the Persian population. These Mongols later adopted the Persian language and the religion of Islam, the Persian-speaking Hazaras claiming partial descent from them. Tajiks usually reject a Mongol or Turkic origin and claim to be descended from the ancient Iranians of Central Asia. However, historically, there has been heavy intermixing between the sedentary Turkic-speaking Central Asians and the Persian-speaking Central Asians
Heart-Shaped Box
"Heart-Shaped Box" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It was written by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It was released on August 23, 1993 as the first single from their third studio album "In Utero".
Cobain's wife Courtney Love thought the song was about her, although it was actually written about children with cancer.
British Rail Class 05
The British Rail Class 05 is a class of 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunters built by Hunslet Engine Company from 1955 to 1961. They were used on the Eastern and Scottish Regions of British Railways. At first they were numbered 11136-11176 and later on were numbered D2550-D2619.
British Rail Class 06