"A Child of Our Time" was an oratorio which used negro spirituals. He combined these with his own style of music. It is about something that really happened in 1938. A 17-year-old Jewish Polish boy killed a Nazi diplomat because the Nazis had taken away his parents. The Nazis were angry and killed lots of Jews in return. It was something which helped to lead to the World War II. Tippett’s music is about the cruelty that humans show towards one another.
Tippett’s operas include "A Midsummer Marriage" (started 1946, first performed 1955), "King Priam" (1958-61), "The Knot Garden" (1966-69) and "The Ice Break" (1973-76) and "New Year" (1989). He wrote several choral works. His orchestral works include 4 symphonies, a "Fantasia concertante on a Theme of Corelli" for strings (1953), a "Piano Concerto" (1953-55) and a "Concerto for violin, viola and cello" (1979). His chamber music includes piano sonatas and string quartets.
Tippett published many of his writings. "Moving into Aquarius" consists of talks given on the BBC. In his autobiography "Those Twentieth Century Blues" he discusses many of his problems, including his homosexuality, which in his earlier years he could not talk about because it was illegal at that time.
Claw
A claw is a sharp object. It is found at the end of a toe or finger in many mammals, birds, and some reptiles. The word "claw" is also used in reference to an invertebrate. For example, the chelae of crabs and lobsters are often called claws or pincers.
A claw is made of hard protein called keratin. They are used by some meat eating mammals such as cats to catch and hold prey, but they may also be used for other things such as digging, climbing trees, and so on, in those and other species.
Similar appendages that are flat and do not come to a sharp point are called nails instead.
The correct name for an arthropod's 'claw' is chela (plural "chelae"). Legs that have a chela are called chelipeds. Chelae are also called pincers.
In tetrapods, claws are made of keratin and have two layers. The unguis is the outside hard layer, which has keratin fibers arranged perpendicular to the direction of growth and in layers at an angle. The subunguis is the soft, flaky layer, and the grain is parallel to the direction of growth. The claw grows outward from the nail matrix at the base of the unguis and the subunguis grows thicker while traveling across the nail bed. The unguis grows outward faster than the subunguis to make a curve and the thinner sides of the claw wear away faster than their thicker middle, making a more or less sharp point. Tetrapods use their claws in many ways, such as grasping or killing prey, digging, climbing, and hanging.
A talon is the claw of a bird of prey, which it uses to hunt. The talons are very important, and if they did not have them, those birds would not be able to catch their food.
A nail is similar to a claw but it is flatter and has a curved edge instead of a point. A nail that is big enough to hold weight is called a 'hoof'.
Every so often, the growth of claws stops and restarts, just like the growth of hair. In hair, this causes the hair to fall out and it is replaced by a new one. In claws, this results in an old layer, and it breaks off. This takes several months for human thumbnails. Cats are often seen working old layers off on wood or on boards made for the purpose. Ungulates' hooves trim themselves when they walk on the ground. Domesticated equids (horses, donkeys and mules) usually need regular trimming by a farrier.
Many predatory mammals have claws that can hide inside the animal's paw, especially animals such as the cat.
A primate's nail only has the unguis; the subunguis has disappeared. Similar to the tail, the claw in apes is not needed. However, in some primates, the subunguis has redeveloped to make a claw-like structure. These certain animals do not have actual claws; instead the unguis appears normal along with a thick growth of subunguis. Some lemurs have a toilet-claw.
Max and Moritz
Max and Moritz (German: Max und Moritz) are two naughty little boys in a story by Wilhelm Busch. The stories were written in 1865 and are still extremely popular in Germany.
Wilhelm Busch was an artist as well as a writer. He wrote a lot of stories in rhyme and made drawings to go with them. "Max and Moritz" are stories like these. The two boys get up to lots of naughty pranks. There are seven stories (seven pranks). In the final prank they are caught and come to a sad end. In the 19th century writers had to show that bad behaviour would be punished in the end. The seven stories are stories with a moral.
In the first story the boys tie pieces of bread onto pieces of string and put it down where an old woman, Widow Bolte, keeps her hens. The hens each try to swallow a piece of bread, which sticks in their throats and they end up hanging in the tree and die.
In the second story Widow Bolte, who is still crying, decides she might as well roast the hens. The boys take fishing rods, climb onto the roof and pull the frying chickens up with their rods. Widow Bolte finds the chickens gone, thinks her little dog has eaten them, and gives the poor dog a beating.
In the third story they take a saw and make a hole in the tiny wooden bridge outside the tailor’s house. They shout at the tailor, calling him names. He is furious and comes running out, the bridge breaks and he falls into the stream. Two flying geese save him. He has a terrible tummy ache but his wife puts a hot iron on his tummy and he feels better.
In the fourth story the boys put gunpowder in the pipe of the schoolmaster while he is in church. When he lights his pipe there is an explosion.
In the fifth story the boys collect beetles and put them under the mattress in their uncle’s bed. In the middle of the night, when the uncle is asleep, the beetles creep up on him. He wakes up and fights with them until he has killed them all.
In the sixth story the boys try to steal some pretzels (German rolls) from the bakery, but they fall into the tub of dough. The baker comes in and finds them. He bakes them in the oven, but when they are taken out they eat their way through the dough and escape.
In the seventh story the boys cut a hole in the farmer’s sacks. When the miller picks one of these sacks up he realizes the grain is spilling. He sees the boys, puts them in the sack and takes them to the mill, where the miller grinds them into corn and feeds them to his ducks.
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from following a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol or food. Abstinence can be due to personal preferences, religious practices of practical considerations.
In medicine abstinence also refers to discontinuation of an addictive drug. This may lead to intense craving for the drug or withdrawal syndromes. Abstinence from smoking is also recommended for those intending to undergo surgery.
Abstinence may be a temporary or short term goal meant for short durations of time. This includes refraining from compulsive eating or from compulsive drinking. The time and the measure is voluntary and is thus meant to enhance life. This is different from psychological mechanism of repression where the abstinence is not willingly adopted.
In India, Buddhists, Jains, and some Hindus abstain from eating meat on the grounds both of health and of reverence for all sentient forms of life. Total abstinence from feeding on the flesh of cows is a hallmark of Hinduism.
Fasting, abstinence from food or drink or both for health, ritualistic, religious, or ethical purposes. The abstention may be complete or partial, lengthy, of short duration, or intermittent.
For Jewish people the principal day of fast is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.