Joseph Haydn wrote lots of string quartets. He made this combination popular. Mozart and Beethoven also wrote some very great string quartets. The last ones that Beethoven wrote were very difficult to play and to understand, but composers of the 19th century like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms were inspired by them. In the twentieth century some of the best string quartets were written by Bartók and Shostakovich.
It is great fun to play chamber music because each player is an individual. It is like having a conversation in music. There is no conductor, so each musician has to listen carefully to the others and learn to play together as a small team. The musicians can also hear their own playing better than they can in an orchestra. Some living composers have written a lot of music for young players who are not very advanced. Some of Mozart’s earlier string quartets are not too difficult and make an excellent introduction to chamber music playing.
Stefano Mei
Stefano Mei (born 3 February 1963 in La Spezia) was an Italian long distance runner in several international athletics (also called "track and field") events.
Mei won the silver medal in the 5,000 metre race, and the gold medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1986 European Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany. Mei also won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1990 European Championships in Athletics, in Split, Yugoslavia (now Croatia). He competed in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.
Museum in Bielsko-Biała
The Bielsko-Biała Museum has its main location in the historical Bielsko Castle, Poland. Since the 1970s there are three local branches: the Julian Fałat Museum, the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry and the Weaver's House Museum.
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Piast family, the rulers of the Cieszyn Duchy in Poland, the castle was used as one of their residences for over two centuries. In 1752 the Bielsko state became a duchy owned by the Sulkowski family. The castle was their property until 1945. After World War II the castle was taken over by the Polish State. Since 1983 its only owner has been the Bielsko-Biała Museum.
In the west wing of the building the hunting room and armoury are located. The next two rooms display three centuries of art history from the 15th to the 17th century. Neighbouring with these rooms are a rococo concert hall and a Biedermeier room. The castle's east wing contains a gallery of the 19th and 20th century painting and graphic art. Next rooms located in the north wing display an exhibition of the history of the city and castle, as well as craftsman traditions of old Bielsko and Biała. The east wing of the castle is occupied by art gallery (the 19th century paintings displayed here include works of art representing realism and academism, Młoda Polska (Young Poland) paintings, works of artists connected with Bielsko-Biała during the twenty years of independence after World War I and during the modern times)
The museum shows traditions of wool industry in Bielsko-Biała, by means of collecting machines, equipment and documents. The exhibits are stored in four rooms and show the look of old textile factory A separate room displays machines for making hats and the history of Bielsko-Biała fire brigade. There is also a little printing office and a room where all the historical household equipments, radio sets, typewriters etc., are being stored.
Reconstruction of the weaver’s house and workshop owned by a guild master. It shows live and work in 19th and 20th centuries. There are two main rooms – workshop on the left and living room on the right, with a kitchen and a bedroom.
The weaver’s house is an original example of the old wooden house. It tries to show craftsman’s work.
The museum of Julian Fałat in Bystra Śląska is housed in a historical villa of the artist, called “Fałatówka” and its visitors can see the art and some biographical documents of the artist. This is the house where the artists lived after he stoped being a headmaster of the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition presents oil paintings and watercolours: self-portraits, portraits of his family and friends, landscapes from his travels and hunting scenes.
Circumcision
Circumcision is an operation in which the foreskin is removed. In common speech, someone who has been circumcised is described as "cut" while someone who is not is described as "uncut". For example, one teenaged boy might ask another teenaged boy, "Are you cut?" While this is slang English, it is not considered profanity.
Circumcision may be done by a doctor using a surgical tool, such as scissors, a plastic tool called a plastibell device, or it may be done with a laser. If the doctor uses a laser there is almost no bleeding.
Circumcision may be a religious ritual, a custom in certain tribes or countries, or a medical practice.
Reasons for performing a circumcision:
People disagree about whether circumcision is a good for health and sexual pleasure. People who think circumcision is a good idea may point to health reasons. Circumcision reduces sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and HPV, prevents certain kinds of cancer, and gets rid of infections and unpleasant smells under the foreskin. If circumcision is done soon after birth, it makes it less common for baby boys to get urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can cause permanent damage to the kidneys. Many people think a penis looks better if it is circumcised. A study done in the United States found that the women prefer a circumcised penis, to look at and in sexual activity, especially if they are going to put their mouth on the penis. In countries where most boys are circumcised as babies, parents sometimes think that uncircumcised boys will be teased. Some boys are mean to a boy if his penis looks different. Bullying was a bigger problem in the past when boys had to take showers together at school after gym class or before swimming. People opposed to routine circumcision are called "intactivists".
The University of the Western Cape in South Africa lists these benefits of medical male circumcision (MMC):
Some myths about medical male circumcision:
One study, conducted in 2015, determined that the foreskin does not provide a sexual response or serve a sexual function in men. Instead, it is the and frenular (the area "under" the frenulum) areas which provide sexual response due to the high concentration of genital corpuscles. Out of a large sample of Kenyan men in a controlled trial, 74.8% of men reported higher penile sensitivity two years after circumcision, while only 7.1% reported lower penile sensitivity two years after circumcision. It was deduced that even a retracted foreskin would tend to reduce the stimulus to the corona and frenular areas, particularly on the outward stroke of intercourse. The study determined that “any sexual effect of circumcision must depend solely on the exposure of the glans and not on the absence of the prepuce.” The study concluded that male circumcision has no adverse effect on parameters relevant to sexual function, sensation, sensitivity, satisfaction, or pleasure.
The area of the outer and inner foreskin combined spans a wide range: 7–100 cm2 and 18–68 cm2 respectively. In discussing vestigial structures, Charles Darwin stated, “An organ, when rendered useless, may well be variable, for its variations cannot be checked by natural selection.” The variability in foreskin size is consistent with the foreskin being a vestigial structure.