The Day the Music Died

new youth generation. Elvis Presley first started off his career with pop music, until he moved on to expand Rock and Roll. He was very inspired by African American music and decided to combine it with his white culture. The public was shocked. In their opinion, no white man should have anything to do with black culture. However, he was not the first to use these inspirations together. Although several people have made music mixing African American and white culture, Elvis had the most success…

9). The intelligentsia (writers, artists, historians, journalists) create a sense of a shared identity or unity through national images such as public symbols, rituals, stories, books, advertisements, movies, and music. For example, the Australian flag is very prominent during the Anzac Day ceremony which commemorates Australians who served in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations (Carter 2006, p. 12). Furthermore, photographs of Australian cities during…

violin were the three stringed wooden Rebec from Spain in the 11th century and the five stringed Vielle from France in the 13th century. Lastly, the three stringed Viola di Braccio from 15th century Italy, which contained f holes as found on modern day violins.…

greatest works of literature. This work was made into a major motion picture when Gary Sinise directed the 1992 MGM film adaptation. Both works of art tell the story of immigrant farmers- George Milton and Lennie Small- who face many challenges to one day hope to acquire their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Many books are turned into films, where different people determine which they prefer. In some cases, some people find the film better than the book. Viewers would…

famous composer of plainchant, Hildegard von Bingen’s musical works were recently rediscovered and brought to light in the late twentieth century, when feminists sought to reclaim the history of music by women. Though she lacked a formal education, she is one of the very few known composers who wrote both the music and words, utilizing her substantial knowledge of theology and devotional chant, acquired throughout a life completely devoted to serving God. Much like her predecessor and teacher…

Handel’s “Messiah” is a beautiful piece of music set to biblical literature. Today most people recognize the “Messiah” due to its presence during the holiday season. It is currently used to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, in the 18th century, it was not performed during the holiday season like it is today in the twenty-first century. The “Messiah,” written in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, is full of scriptural text. Specifically, “Pifa(13), Recitative(14a), Accompagnato(14b),…

Opera means work in Italian and is the name given to a dramatic play set to music where the performers sing their parts accompanied or unaccompanied by music in solos called arias and two or more singers called ensembles. The sixteenth century saw the beginning of operas which started as poems sung by musicians called Camerata (“society”). In 1607 Claudio Monteverdi first used an orchestra to accompany his opera, La favola d’Orfeo, creating the modern opera we know today. (London: Octopus…

dirty work. They changed the tides of the ocean, the time of the sunset, and showed the humans a new way of living life. When all was said and done the humans were still lonely. The humans would hunt the way the gods showed them to, but when the work day was done they had nothing to do. Then came Nikola, son of Harmonia and Theodosios, and his goal was to change the way of the humans. Nikola was the youngest of his siblings, he…

The blues are in essence the story of a musician’s life. All the pain they have felt in their lifetime goes into the beautiful music that they enchantingly produce. James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, is written to tell the pain of Harlem in its lifetime, and the escape route those who live there take. “Sonny’s blues” has a broad focus on grace, escaping, and the black community. “Sonny’s Blues” indirectly focuses on grace. In the short story Grace is the name of the narrator’s…

Celebrating Day of the Dead Day of the dead is a big celebration in all mexico. This famous holiday is celebrating on November two. This day is to pray and to remember the people who passed away. November first is dedicated to babies and little kids who had die, and November two is to remember the adults and old people who had die too. Most mexican families dedicate this day to make an altar conmemorating to the person they loved. The altar, in someway, is a manner to communicate with the soul…