Classical music of 20th and 21st Personal Statement

Classical music of 20th and 21st - Personal Statement Example This "Classical music of 20th and 21st" outlines the development of classical music in this period of time and composers who influenced it the most. Arnold Schoenberg is a 20th century avant-garde composer that would go on to influence John Cage. His contributions to contemporary composition and music are well regarded. In terms of the questions of tonality and consonance, Schoenberg has a number of periods that must be considered. In his early compositional periods, he was more aligned with tonality, albeit in an experimental context. As he moved on to his later periods after 1908, he gradually adopted a more avant-garde style that embraced consonance (Kamien 2008). One such example of compositions in this later period is ‘Pierrot Lunaire.’ Similar to Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives began his compositional journey producing works with traditional tonal qualities. His work in such early compositions as ‘Variations on America’ demonstrates this tonal concern. In Ives’ middle and later periods he gradually adopted a more experimental style based on atonality and experimentation. His work in ‘Symphony 2’ demonstrated a shift in this direction that would later be more fully realized in his mature work. As his work further developed in ‘The Unanswered Question’ and ‘Three Places in New England’ he adopts a nearly entirely atonal sound. These works build towards what traditional classical music would realize in a melodic climax, but rather than delivering this, Schoenberg returns to atonal dissonance. Igor Stravinsky Russian composer Igor Stravinsky explored tonality in a variety of his compositions. Among the composers examined, he is perhaps the most renowned for the fantastical nature of the reaction to his famed composition ‘The Rite of Spring’. The composition, written for a 1913 ballet was such an avant-garde experience that the crowd rioted. The composition itself, while exploring traditional tonality in segments, is largely an atonal work. Some of Stravinsky’s other famed compositions demonstrate a similar concern with these challenging elements of sound. For instance, his work on ‘Histoire du soldat’ demonstrated similar concerns with consonance. Stravinsky’s late period work would explore 18th century classical styles, yet reinterpret them with his characteristic experimental elements, meshing both tonality and consonance. Sergei Prokofiev Similar to Stravinsky, Prokofiev was a Russian composer who developed a number of works for the ballet. To a great degree his works reflected a similar concern

Obama's Full 2013 State of the Union Address Essay

Obama's Full 2013 State of the Union Address - Essay Example Minimum wages were raised to $ 9 as a social security measure. Gun control laws will be strengthened. War on terror will be ended in soon and America will take only a supporting role in future in Afghanistan. Obama seems to be particular about the development of manufacturing sector as a measure to boost America’s economic progress. In his opinion, manufacturing sector is the key in reducing unemployment and directing the country towards prosperity. Obama seems to believe in the economic principle of produce more and develop rapidly. In my opinion, Obama has used this opportunity to give more emphasize to the actions taken in the past to boost America’s progress. He had not said much about his future plans. Some of his claims in the speech were slightly exaggerated. For example, he proudly announced that minimum wages were raised to $ 9 per hour. However, he had forgotten that this slight increase in minimum wages is nothing considering huge expenditure an average family faces daily. Moreover, he announced that the oil production has increased a lot in the recent past. However, still America is the second largest importer of oil resources from external countries. China like countries has already implemented big efforts to exploit renewable energy sources such as solar energy. However, Obama is still reluctant in spending much on developing renewable energy sources. It should be noted that China is the number one exploiter of solar energy at present and their progress is causing big concerns to America. Ho wever, Obama has not said anything about the challenges from China and India like Asian countries. Even though Obama talked about war on terror and withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, he said not much about America’s foreign policies on Middle East issues. Even though plenty of people expected a

Describe how you would teach rounding with mixed decimals to the Essay

Describe how you would teach rounding with mixed decimals to the nearest tenth - Essay Example I will require briefly revisiting rounding up of whole numbers and placing values. Teaching how to round up decimals will be easy if the students are well conversant with the two concepts. Students should know what they are to do and where they are required to apply the round up by first knowing about the place value of tenths. First, rounding up is done right off the decimal point. After that, students should know that the number that is to be rounded is the one that is to the left of the decimal points. It is of importance to take the students through various place values that come after the decimal point such as tenth, hundredth, thousandth and so forth. Rounding decimal numbers take a similar route to that of whole numbers (Wingard, 2005). Round up 3.174 to the nearest tenth. The student is required to identify the number whose place value is tenths. The number is 1. The next step is to look at the number right after 1 which is in the place value of hundredths (Wingard, 2005). The number is 5. If the digit at the hundredth place value is below five, then the value of the tenth to not change. If the digit at the hundredth place value is five or above five, one is added to the number at the tenth place value. In our case, five is in the hundredth place value hence we add one to 1. Therefore, we will have 3.2 as our answer. I will further provide my students with worksheets that have the concept well illustrated for references. In addition, I will give two sums on the same topic that will be solved in five minutes, and I will go round checking to ensure that none of my students is left behind. When students are learning the concept of rounding mixed decimals to the nearest tenth, they often develop some errors. Such include rounding a whole number instead of the number after the decimal point (Wingard, 2005). In addition, some students