Beethoven Essays (2869 words) - Classical Music, Music,

Beethoven Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770 to Johann van Beethoven and his wife, Maria Magdalena. He took his first music lessons from his father, who was tenor in the choir of the archbishop-elector of Cologne. His father was an unstable, yet ambitious man whose excessive drinking, rough temper and anxiety surprisingly did not diminish Beethoven's love for music. He studied and performed with great success, despite becoming the breadwinner of his household by the time he was 18 years old. His father's increasingly serious alcohol problem and the earlier death of his grandfather in 1773 sent his family into deepening poverty. At first, Beethoven made little impact on the musical society, despite his father's hopes. When he turned 11, he left school and became an assistant organist to Christian Gottlob Neefe at the court of Bonn, learning from him and other musicians. In 1783 he became the continuo player for the Bonn opera and accompanied their rehearsals on keyboard. In 1787, he was sent to Vienna to take further lessons from Mozart. Two months later, however, he was called back to Bonn by the death of his mother. He started to play the viola in the Opera Orchestra in 1789, while also teaching in composing. He met Haydn in 1790, who agreed to teach him in Vienna, and Beethoven then moved to Vienna permanently. He received financial support from Prince Karl Lichnowsky, to whom he dedicated his Piano Sonata in C minor, better known as The Path?tique . He performed publicly in Vienna in 1795 for the first time, and published his Op. 1 and Op. 2 piano sonatas. His works are traditionally divided into three periods. The first is called the Viennese Classical, the second is the Heroic, and the third is Late Beethoven. In the first period, his individuality and style gradually developed, as he used many methods from Haydn, including the use of silence. He composed mainly for the piano during this period. These works include Symphony no. 1 in C (1800), his first six string quartets, and the Path?tique (1799). His Moonlight Sonata in C# minor (1801) is known as the first of Heroic Beethoven. Beethoven learned that he would become deaf in 1802 and suffered sever depression. His composing skills were not affected by his deafness, but his ability to teach and perform was inhibited. It is said that he became deaf from his habit of pouring cold water over his head while composing, to refresh himself, and then not drying his massive amounts of hair afterwards. He wrote his only opera, Fidelio in 1805. The main theme of the opera revolves around fidelity, which reflects his personal desire to marry. Other works in the Heroic period include the Kreuzer Sonata (1803), symphonies 3 ? 7, the Violin Concerto in D major (1806), the Razumovsky Quartets (1806), the Emperor Concerto (1809) and the Archduke Trio, Op. 97 (1811). After 1813, during his Late period, Beethoven composed inwardly. He was totally deaf, as this is sometimes known as the "silent period." Some say that Beethoven was composing music for a different age. His life became more chaotic and he composed less and less. In his works, he used more miniaturization and expansion. The music began to become "odd" as he began to experiment with the number of movements, contrast in volume and dynamics, harmonic predictability, sonata movements and trills in his works. Beethoven became increasingly argumentative as he was further tormented by his deafness. Goethe described his attitude as aggressive, and perhaps understandable, but not easy to live with. He gave his last performance in 1814, on the piano, but continued to be a respected composer in Viennese society. Some of his late achievements include the Diabelli Variations (1820-1823), the last piano sonatas and six string quartets, the Mass in D major, Missa Solemnis (1823), the Choral Symphony, no. 9 (1824), in which he set Schiller's "Ode to Joy" in the final movement. At Beethoven's death in 1827, Franz Grillparzer best described him during his funeral address when he said: "despite all these absurdities, there was something so touching and ennobling about him that one could not help admiring him and feeling drawn to him." Berlioz Louis Hector Berlioz was born

How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others How much of your day do you spend obsessively comparing yourself to your friends or colleagues? Your best friend from college makes more money than you do, even though she’s been at her job for less time. Your cubicle mate always gets complimented by your boss, even though you know she spends half her workday on Facebook. If you’re a frequent player of the comparison game, you know it always leads to you  feeling terrible about yourself. Yes, everyone on LinkedIn is doing better on the ladder than you are. And yes, everyone on Instagram is living their best life. But did you know that without the whole story, you really have no basis for comparison? Here’s how you can make sure to not fall into the trap of needless comparison. The next time you play the â€Å"here’s why he’s better† game, simply remember these tips, take a deep breath, and work on improving yourself rather than holding yourself against impossible standards.1. Realize that c omparisons don’t tell the whole story.Are you comparing what you know to be your worst against what you judge to be someone else’s best? Are you comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle? Your early career to their glory days? Your entry-level salary to their 40-year career? Remember that comparisons require metrics, which are hard to come by even when you aren’t trying to compare apples to oranges or seeds to trees.2. Understand that you’re wasting precious time.Every hour you spend comparing yourself to someone else is an hour you’re not spending doing better, learning more, acquiring new skills, and moving forward. Comparing yourself to someone else shifts your mindset away from where it needs to be- on you- by putting it somewhere else much less productive. Focus on yourself and what you must do to be where you need to be, and cut out the rest of the noise.3. Know that social media is not your friend.The next time you fall down a n Insta-hole of perfectly posed pictures, turn off your device (or at least shut down your app) and force yourself to spend at least one hour without logging back on. If you spend that hour working on a self-improvement project, that’s all the better. Work on building the kind of life you can be proud of. Focus on the present, not on how many â€Å"likes† you got on your last post. Do something for yourself or someone else that will actually matter.4. Turn that frown upside down.Address whatever negative feelings are lurking in the back of your brain and try to turn them into positives. Use your jealousy and insecurity to spur you to grow faster and more. In fact, instead of viewing the person who’s making you feel less-than as competition, you can think of him or her as a muse or an inspiration to do better. You might even reach out to that person in a mentorship or brain-picking capacity!5. Keep your dignity.You have nothing to gain in comparison situations, b ut everything to lose- not just your time and energy, but your drive, your passion, your pride, and your dignity. You’re only in control of one life- your own. Do what you can to make it the best it can be, and don’t become bitter and jealous while forgetting to make something of yourself in the meantime.

International management behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International management behaviour - Essay Example ets and dimensions of cross cultural presence in organizations, ways to manage cultural diversity as well as the resultant implications on organizational competitiveness. Finally, the article by using a combination of tools, approaches and methods guides the reader to analyze and implement the aspects learned in managing the diverse climate of their organizations in an effective and efficient manner. Organizations, today, are increasingly becoming multi cultural given the large presence of culturally diverse workforce. In the light of this fact it has become essential and inevitable for the leaders and managers to understand the various implications of such diversity and adapt to the rapidly changing workplace scenario by adopting policies and measures to suit the requirements that such situations demand. This article presents opportunities for the managers to learn and understand the concept and successfully cope with the pressures and challenges that circumstances arising out of the presence of such factors, demand. Managing a culturally diverse workplace is rapidly emerging as a new challenge for the management which is evident from the vast amount of studies carried out by various authors and researchers to analyze and understand this emerging trend. Some of the key concepts, theories and approaches included in this article are discussed below. In order to understand the actual essence of the concept of managing cultural diversity it is essential to study the diverse theories put forward by various authors which attempt to define the word diversity. Thomas (1991) believes that workplace diversity has a deeper meaning which transcends beyond race and gender and tends to engulfs within its gamut several other elements such as lifestyle, tenure, sexual preferences, etc among others. Cultural diversity is commonly found in almost all organizations and it is essential to understand and learn to manage such diversity in order to manage the organizations in the