He was born in Mons in the province of Hainaut in the Low Countries which is mostly what is today the south part of the Netherlands and Belgium. We know very little about his childhood. There is a story that, when he was a choirboy, he was abducted three times by another church who wanted him to sing in their choir because he had a beautiful voice. There is no proof that this story is true. At the age of twelve he left his country and went to Mantua, Sicily, and later to Milan in Italy and then to Naples where he worked until the early 1550s. Next he moved to Rome, where he worked for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had a large household there. In 1553, he became "maestro di cappella" of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome. This was an excellent job for a man who was only 21 years old. However, he only stayed there a year. Later, in 1555, Palestrina took that job. Lassus left Rome to go home to the Low Countries to see his parents who were ill, but by the time he got home they were both dead.
We are not sure what he did between then and 1554. He may have gone to France and England. In 1555 he returned to the Low Countries and had some of his first works published in Antwerp. In 1556 he joined the court of Duke Albert V of Bavaria who was very keen on music and was trying to make music in his country as good as the music in Italy. Lassus was one of several Netherlanders to work there, and by far the most famous. He seems to have been happy in Munich and he stayed there. In 1558 he married the daughter of a maid of honour of the Duchess; they had two sons who both became composers. By 1563 Lassus had been made "maestro di cappella". He stayed there for the rest of his life, although several other kings and aristocrats offered him jobs in other places. He had many honours, including being knighted by the Pope.
In 1590 his health started to be bad. In 1594 his employer decided it was costing him too much to employ Lassus, so he wrote a letter to him to say that he was dismissed (that he no longer had a job). Lassus never saw the letter, because that very same day he died.
Lassus composed a lot of church music. He had to compose masses for the morning and evening services. Many of these are parody masses, which means they were based on tunes from other compositions. Others were influenced by composers from Venice.
He wrote many motets which were probably sung at services as well. In some of these motets he shows a sense of humour. For example, one of his motets makes fun about bad singers: the music stops and starts and stutters. It was a kind of musical joke. Sometimes he had to write music for special occasions. He had visited Italy several times and learned the Italian way of writing polyphonic music.
Lassus also wrote many songs in French (chansons) as well as German (Lieder). He also wrote madrigals. He even wrote drinking songs.
He never wrote anything that was strictly instrumental music.
Mons
Mons is a town in Belgium and the capital of the Province of Hainaut. It is the fourth largest city of the Walloon part of Belgium where French is spoken. The town's name takes its roots from the Latin word "mons" which means "mountain". In 2015, the city becomes the European Capital of Culture for the calendar year.
In 2007, 91,196 people lived there.
It is at 50° 27 North, 03° 56 East.
Hainaut (province)
Hainaut (; ; German: "Hennegau") is a province of the Walloon Region, one of the three regions of Belgium. Its capital is the city of Mons.
It is the westernmost province of the Walloon Region.
To the south of the province of Hainaut lies the French Nord department, while within Belgium it borders (clockwise from the North) on the Flemish provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and the Wallonian provinces of Walloon Brabant and Namur.
The province has an area of with a population of and a density of inhabitants per km²; it is the province of the Walloon Region with the highest population.
The province of Hainaut is divided into seven arrondissements ("arrondissementen" in Dutch) with 69 municipalities.
The altitude of the province is between , in Celles, and , in L'Escaillère.
The province of Hainaut is divided into seven "arrondissements" (Ath, Charleroi, Mons, Mouscron, Soignies, Thuin and Tournai) and a total of 69 municipalities.
Population on 1 January of each year.
Kannur
Kannur is a city in the Kerala state of India.
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between (1570–1070 BC). During the New Kingdom Egypt was richer and more powerful than in all other periods of its history. It includes the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties.
Egypt expanded far south into Nubia and held wide territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria and Egyptian territory reached its maximum extent.
The Eighteenth Dynasty was ruled by some of Egypt's most famous Pharaohs including Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Queen Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egypt's external trade and sent a commercial expedition to the land of Punt. Thutmose III ("the Napoleon of Egypt") expanded Egypt's army and created the largest empire Egypt had ever seen.
Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten in honor of the Aten. He started a religion based on one god, Aten. This is seen as history's first instance of monotheism. Sigmund Freud in his book "Moses and Monotheism" said it was the ultimate origin of Jewish monotheism.
Ramesses II ("the Great") of the 19th Dynasty tried to get back territories in the Levant that had been held by the 18th Dynasty. In the Battle of Kadesh he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II. He was caught in the first recorded military ambush, but won the battle.
Moral Code of the Builder of Communism
The Moral Code of the Builder of Communism was a set of twelve rules. It was made in the Soviet Union by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Every member of the Party was supposed to follow these rules. So was every member of the "Komsomol" (a Communist group for young people ages 14-28).
The Moral Code was written at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU in 1961. It was part of the third CPSU Program, which was a plan for how to make the entire Soviet Union communist as part of the new Party Programme.
Some popular Soviet cliches are written in the Code. In fact, the Code was written to include special phrases, either invented by Soviet thinkers, or borrowed. (For example, the famous quote "'One for all, and all for one" ("каждый за всех, все за одного") was taken from "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas, père.)
The Moral Code of the Builder of Communism (as reported on Wikisource), with simple English explanations below, is:
1. Devotion to the cause of Communism, love of the socialist Motherland and of the socialist countries.
2. Conscientious labor for the good of society: he who does not work, neither shall he eat.
3. Concern on the part of everyone for the preservation and growth of public property.
4. High sense of public duty; intolerance of actions harmful to the public interest.
5. Collectivism and comradely mutual assistance: one for all and all for one.
6. Humane relations and mutual respect between individuals: man is to man a friend, a comrade, and a brother.
7. Honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, unpretentiousness and modesty in social and private life.
8. Mutual respect in the family, concern for the upbringing of children.
9. Irreconcilability towards injustice, parasitism, dishonesty, careerism, and profiteering.
10. Friendship and brotherhood among all peoples of the USSR, intolerance of national and racial hatred.
11. Intolerance towards the enemies of communism, peace, and freedom of nations.
12. Fraternal solidarity with the working people of all countries, and with all peoples.