Shine the Movie

Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris Haywood and Alex Rafalowicz. The screenplay was written by Jan Sardi, and Scott Hicks directed the film. The degree to which the film's plot reflects the true story of Helfgott's life is disputed (see below). The film made its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Geoffrey Rush was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1996 for his performance in the lead role.

Plot

As the film opens, a man (Geoffrey Rush) wanders through a heavy rainstorm finding his way into a restaurant. The restaurant's owner tries to determine if he needs help. Despite his manic mode of speech being difficult to understand, she learns that his name is David Helfgott and that he is staying at a local hotel. She returns him to the hotel and despite his attempts to engage her with his musical knowledge and ownership of various musical scores, she leaves.

In a flashback to David's childhood (played by Alex Rafalowicz), he is competing in a local music competition. Helfgott has been taught to play by his father, Peter (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl), a man obsessed with winning who has no tolerance for failure or disobedience. David is noticed by Mr. Rosen, a local pianist who, after an initial conflict with Peter, takes over David's musical instruction.

As a teenager, David (played by Noah Taylor) wins the state musical championship and is invited to study in America. Although plans are made to raise money to send David and his family is initially supportive, Peter eventually forbids David to leave, thinking this will destroy the family. Crushed, David continues to study and befriends local novelist and co-founder of the Communist Party of Australia, Katharine Susannah Prichard (Googie Withers). David's talent grows until he is offered a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, England. David's father again forbids him to go but with the encouragement of Katharine, David leaves and is disowned by his father.

In London, David enters a Concerto competition, choosing to play Rachmaninoff's difficult 3rd Concerto, a piece he had attempted to learn as a young child to make his father proud. As David practises, he increasingly becomes manic in his behaviour. David wins the competition, but suffers a mental breakdown and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he receives electric shock therapy.

David recovers to the point where he is able to return to Australia, but is still rejected by his father. David relapses and is readmitted to a mental institution as a young man. Years later, a volunteer at the institution recognizes David and knows of his musical talent. She takes him home but discovers that he is difficult to control, unintentionally destructive, and needs more care than she can offer. She leaves him at the hotel from earlier in the film. David has difficulty adjusting to life outside the institution, and often wanders away from the hotel. At this point, the film resumes chronologically with David wandering to the nearby restaurant.

The next day David returns to the restaurant, and the patrons are astounded by his ability to play the piano. One of the owners befriends David and looks after him. In return David plays at the restaurant. Through the owner David is introduced to Gillian (Lynn Redgrave). David and Gillian fall in love and marry. With Gillian's help and support, David is able to come to terms with his father's death and to stage a well-received comeback concert presaging his return to professional music.

Beethoven MY FAVOURITE !

Widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven dominates a period of musical history as no one else before or since. Rooted in the Classical traditions of Joseph Haydn and Mozart, his art reaches out to encompass the new spirit of humanism and incipient nationalism expressed in the works of Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller, his elder contemporaries in the world of literature; the stringently redefined moral imperatives of Kant; and the ideals of the French Revolution, with its passionate concern for the freedom and dignity of the individual. He revealed more vividly than any of his predecessors the power of music to convey a philosophy of life without the aid of a spoken text; and in certain of his compositions is to be found the strongest assertion of the human will in all music, if not in all art. Though not himself a Romantic, he became the fountainhead of much that characterized the work of the Romantics who followed him, especially in his ideal of program or illustrative music, which he defined in connection with his Sixth (Pastoral) Symphony as “more an expression of emotion than painting.” In musical form he was a considerable innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto, and quartet; while in the Ninth Symphony he combined the worlds of vocal and instrumental music in a manner never before attempted. His personal life was marked by a heroic struggle against encroaching deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life when he was quite unable to hear. In an age that saw the decline of court and church patronage, he not only maintained himself from the sale and publication of his works but also was the first musician to receive a salary with no duties other than to compose how and when he felt inclined.

Life and work

The early years

Beethoven was the eldest surviving child of Johann and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven. The family was Flemish in origin and can be traced back to Malines. It was Beethoven's grandfather who had first settled in Bonn when he became a singer in the choir of the archbishop-elector of Cologne; he eventually rose to become Kappellmeister. His son Johann was also a singer in the electoral choir; thus, like most 18th-century musicians, Beethoven was born into the profession. Though at first quite prosperous, the Beethoven family became steadily poorer with the death of his grandfather in 1773 and the decline of his father into alcoholism. By age 11 Beethoven had to leave school; at 18 he was the breadwinner of the family.

Ludwig van Beethoven Biography - Biography.com

Ludwig van Beethoven Biography - Biography.com

Sergie Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of the greatest pianists of
 all time and one of the most outstanding melodists amongst composers, was born at Oneg, near Novgorod, on 20 March 1873 (1 April New Style), into a musical family: his grandfather had been a pupil of John Field and his father, too, played the piano. When Sergei was nine, financial difficulties forced the sale of the family estate and they moved to St Petersburg, where he took piano lessons at the Conservatoire. Rachmaninoff’s cousin, the pianist and conductor Alexander Siloti, had studied in Moscow with the strict Nikolai Zverev, and suggested that Rachmaninoff go to Zverev as well, and so in 1885, he made the journey to Moscow, staying with Zverev for three years. In 1888 Rachmaninoff began to study piano with Siloti himself and composition with Sergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky; he also received advice from Tchaikovsky, who was a friend of Siloti and his former teacher.

Even before his graduation as a pianist in 1891, Rachmaninoff had composed what was to become his best-known work, the Prelude in C sharp minor. His graduation as a composer came in 1892: he was awarded a gold medal for his Pushkin opera Aleko. The premiere of his First Symphony, in Moscow in 1897, was a disaster (word was that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was drunk), and Rachmaninoff destroyed the score (fortunately, a set of parts survived, which allowed the reconstruction of the score after Rachmaninoff’s death).  

Rachmaninoff’s early career established a pattern he was to follow throughout his life: an uneasy struggle between performing and composing, with economic pressures usually ensuring that precedence needed to be given to the demands of the platform. He was an international figure as early as 1899, when he conducted a concert of his orchestral works in London, also playing some of his piano music.

Rachmaninoff began his Second Piano Concerto, one of the most frequently performed of all works in the genre, in 1900, completing it the following year, when his Cello Sonata was also composed. The little-heard cantata Spring followed in 1902, the year in which he married his cousin Natalya Satina; their daughter Irina was born in 1903. In 1904 Rachmaninoff took up a conductor’s post at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, stimulating the completion of two further operas, Francesca da Rimini and The Miserly Knight, in 1906. The pressures of conducting life in the Bolshoi persuaded the Rachmaninoffs to spend some time away from the capital, and they moved for a short while to Dresden, where he worked on his Second Symphony; Rachmaninoff himself conducted the premiere, in St Petersburg, in 1908.

The years up to the Russian Revolution were spent in an exhausting whirl of playing and conducting, with the family’s country estate at Ivanovka, in the countryside south-east of Moscow, offering a haven of peace where he could concentrate on composition. The works that emerged during this period include the Third Piano Concerto, the symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead, the choral symphony The Bells, and two a cappella choral works, the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom and the Vespers.

After the October Revolution in 1917 Rachmaninoff determined that he and his family would have to leave the country, and he accepted an invitation to perform in Stockholm. The composer, his wife and their two daughters left in December; he was never to return. They stayed briefly in Stockholm and Copenhagen, sailing to America in November 1918. There, his concertising increased, reducing his time for composition; he also began a career in the studio, producing recordings that eighty-odd years later are still regarded as some of the most valuable interpretations, of his own and others’ music, ever committed to disc.

Rachmaninoff sought to recreate the peace he had found at Ivanovka by building a villa on the shores of Lake Lucerne, far from the insistent pressures of the international concert circuit, and here he wrote the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the Third Symphony which, in 1939, he recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which maintained a long association with his music. His last large-scale masterpiece was the Symphonic Dances, composed in 1940; at the time of his last recital, on 17 February 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee, he was already gravely ill, and he died on 28 March, in Beverley Hills.

Rachmaninoff’s personal reserve was complemented by a deeply generous nature, which is reflected in the disciplined opulence of his music. Although his critical status fell somewhat during the post-War dominance of modernism, the affection in which his music was held by audiences never wavered, and now the critics are realising that the public was right all along: Rachmaninoff’s music often attains greatness – there is individuality in its harmonic richness, orchestral colouration and melodic warmth which will guarantee it a permanent and much-loved place in the repertoire.

Bharatanatyam

Etymology

Bharata Natyam comes from the words Bhava (Expression), Raga (Music), Tala (Rhythm) and Natya (Classic Indian Musical Theatre). Today, it is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by many dancers all over the world. The Encyclopædia Britannica states that Bharata Natyam is Sanskrit for Bharata’s dancing.

Traditional roots

Surviving texts of the golden age of Tamil literature and poetry known during the Sangam Age such as the Tolkappiyam (தொல்கப்பியம்), as well as the later Silappadikaram (சிலப்பதிகரம்), testify to a variety of dance traditions of Koothu which flourished in these times. The latter work is of particular importance, since one of its main characters, the courtesan Madhavi, is a highly accomplished dancer. The Silappadikaram is a mine of information of ancient Tamil culture and society, in which the arts of music and dance were highly developed and played a major role ^. In ancient times it was performed as "dasiattam" by mandir (Hindu temple) Devadasis. Many of the ancient sculptures in Hindu temples are based on Bharata Natyam dance postures karanas. In fact, it is the celestial dancers,aspara's which are depicted in many scriptures dancing the heavenly version of what is known on earth as Bharata Natyam. In the most essential sense, a Hindu deity is a revered royal guest in his temple/abode, to be offered the "sixteen hospitalities" - among which are music and dance, pleasing to the senses. Thus, many Hindu temples traditionally maintained complements of trained musicians and dancers, as did Indian rulers.

In Kali Yuga, the center of most arts in India is Bhakti (devotion) and therefore, Bharata Natyam as a dance form and carnatic music set to it are deeply grounded in Bhakti. Bharata Natyam, it is said, is the embodiment of music in visual form, a ceremony, and an act of devotion. Dance and music are inseparable forms; only with Sangeetam (words or syllables set to raga or melody) can dance be conceptualized. Bharata Natyam has three distinct elements to it: Nritta (rhythmic dance movements), Natya (mime, or dance with a dramatic aspect), and Nritya (combination of Nritta and Natya).

The Tamil country especially Tanjore, has always been the seat and centre of learning and culture. It was the famous Tanjore quartet of Chinnayya, Ponniah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu of the Tanjore Court during the Marathi King Saraboji’s time (1798–1824) which made a rich contribution to music and Bharata Natyam and also completed the process of re-editing the Bharathanatyam programme into its present shape with its various forms like the Alaripu, Jathi-Svaram, Varanam, Sadanam, Padam and Tillana. The descendants of these four brothers formed the original stock of Nattuvanars or dance teachers of Bharata Natyam in Tanjore. Originally, they formed a community by themselves and most of them were Saivite non-Brahmins.

It is believed that Bharata Natyam is mainly a renewal of Cathir, the ancient art of temple dancers.This dance form denotes various 19th and 20th century reconstructions of Cathir, the art of temple dancers from ancient dance forms.

Spiritual symbolism

Bharata Natyam is the manifestation of the ancient idea of the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the material body. Some Bharata Natyam techniques can be traced back to the Kaisiki style. The Natya(I.44) reads, "... I have seen the Kaisiki style during the dance of the blue-throated lord (Shiva). It consists of elaborate gestures ("Mridu Angaharas", movements of limbs), sentiments (Rasas), emotional states (Bhavas). Actions (Kriyas) are its soul. The costume should be charmingly beautiful and love (Sringara) is its foundation. It cannot be adequately portrayed by men. Except for women, none can practise it properly".

Apart from the Kaisiki style, Bharata Natyam imbibed some others. These reflect other yogis spiritual revelations, such as the vision of two sages, Vyagrapada and Pathanjali in Chidambaram. In Hindu mythology the whole universe is the dance of the Supreme Dancer, Nataraja, a name for Lord Shiva, the Hindu ascetic yogi and divine purveyor of destruction of evil. The symbolism of the dance of Shiva (in the form of Nataraja) is represented by the attitude called "Ananda Tandavam". Also known as the cosmic dancer, he is here the embodiment and manifestation of the eternal energy in five activities (panca-kriya): creation, pouring forth, unfolding; maintenance or duration (sthiti); destruction or taking back (smhara); concealing, veiling, hiding the transcendental essence behind the garb of apparations (tirobhava); and favoring, bestowing grace through a manifestation that accepts the devotee (anugraha). Shiva is depicted dancing on the dwarfish body of the demon Apasmara purusa, "forgetfulness, loss of memory" called in Tamil Muyalaka  who represents ignorance, the destruction of which brings enlightenment, true wisdom, and release from the bondage of existences.

Technique

This Bharata Natyam dancer's right hand is in the Katakamukha Hasta, the 3 joined fingers symbolizing the sacred syllable Aum. The left hand's fingers are in Alapadma Hasta, the rotating lotus of spiritual light. The eyes are directed towards the Supreme Lord. The left leg is lifted, symbolizing the swift ascent of the consciousness in one step from the Earth to the Heaven.

Includes

• Abhinaya or Natya - dramatic art of story-telling in Bharata Natyam
• Nritta - pure dance movements, as a medium of visual depiction of rhythms
• Nritya combination of abhinaya and nritta

In the margi form nritta is composed of karanas, while the desi nritta consists mainly of adavus.

Karanas

Karanas are the 108 key transitional movements that punctuate Bharata Natyam and other classical Indian dances. Most of these 108 Karanas have a central, static pose as a base, i.e. the dancer is usually supposed to stop and maintain it for a very brief duration (0.5 sec).

Hastas

See also: List of mudras

A distinctive feature of Bharata Natyam Dance is the use of expressive hand gestures as a way of communication. Hastas refers to the varieties of hand symbols that a dancer can use. Many of these hand gestures are well known. For example, Anjali is often used as a salutation when a person greets another person. The Tamil text Koothanool contains descriptions of over 300 hastas and mudras.

There are two types of Hastas : Asamyukta and Samyukta (single and combined, respectively). Abhinayadarpanam describes 28 Asamyukta Hastas (Pataka, Tripataka, Ardhapataka, Karktarimukha, Mayuryakyo, Ardhachandrashya, Arala, Shukatundako, Mhushtishya, Shikharakhachya,Khapitya, Khatakamukhyo, Suchi, Chandrakala, Padmakosha, Sarpashiras,etc.) and 24 Samyukta Hastas and their usage viniyoga, although Natya Shastra mentions many more, and the usages stated in Abhinavabharati differ considerably from those of Abhinayadarpanam, which is a relatively recent text.

The gestures used in nritta are called nritta hastas, and are described in detail as part of karanas in Natya Shastra. Few Bharata Natyam schools use the full range of these. Many hastas can be used in more than one way, depending on the song accompanying the dance, and what the dancer is trying to convey to the audience.

Adavus

See also: List of Adavus

The basic unit in Bharata Natyam dance composition is the 'Adavu', (derived from 'adu', Telegu for 'beat of the foot'). Adavus are a relatively recent desi component in Bharata Natyam. The dance steps were first categorized into adavus by Tanjore Quartet. The execution of adavus varies greatly from style to style. Most schools recognize 108 principal adavus, while some styles include over 150 adavus. Few professional dancers use more than 60. A combination of adavus is called jathis, which make up the Nritta passages in a Bharata Natyam performance. Unlike the margi Nritta composed of the Karanas, the adavus do not convey any rasa.

Ten main adavus are:

• Tatta Adavu
• Natta Adavu
• Visharu Adavu
• Tatti Metti Adavu
• Teermanam Adavu
• Sarikal Adavu
• Kuditta Metta Adavu
• Sutral (Murka) Adavu
• Jaati Adavu
• Mandi Adavu

Bhedas and eye movements

Bharata Natyam technique includes many other elements, such as elaborate neck and eye movements. While Natya Shastra contains the largest number of the movements, and the most detailed descriptions, Abhinaya Darpanam, for instance, has defined only 9 head movements, 4 neck movement and 8 eye movements (compared with 36 of Natya Shastra) which are used extensively throughout the dance.

Head Movements (Shiro bhedas): Sama, Udhvahita, Adhomukha, Alolita,Dhutam, Kampitam, Paravruttam, Utkshiptam and Parivahitam.

Neck Movements (Griva bhedas): Sundari, Tirashchina, Parivartita, Prakampita

Eye Movements (Drishti bhedas): Sama, Alolita, Sachi, Pralokita, Nimilite, Ullokita, Anuvritta, Avalokita [who looks down]

Items

Thattukuzhi and mannai are baton and plank used to keep rhythm.

A Bharata Natyam performance lasts about two hours,^[10] and includes six or more of the following parts:

• Allarippu - A presentation of the Tala punctuated by simple syllables spoken by the dancer. This really is sort of an invocation to the gods to bless the performance.
• Kautuvam - Ancient temple dance item performed in the beginning of the recital, containing rhythmic syllables sung for jathis.
• Ganapati Vandana - A traditional opening prayer to the Hindu god Ganesh, who removes obstacles. See also Pushpanjali
• Jatiswaram - An abstract dance where the drums set the beat. Here the dancer displays her versatility in elaborate footwork and graceful movements of the body.
• Shabdam - The dancing is accompanied by a poem or song with a devotional or amorous theme.
• Varnam - The center piece of the performance. It is the longest section of the dance punctuated with the most complex and difficult movements. Positions of the hands and body tell a story, usually of love and the longing for the lover.
• Padam - Probably the most lyrical section where the dancer "speaks" of some aspect of love: devotion to the Supreme Being; or of love of mother for child; or the love of lovers separated and reunited.
• Stuti - Hymn in praise of a deity that may contain a feigned mockery, etc. See also Stotra
• Koothu - Item containing a lot of dramatic elements.
• Javali - Javalis are relatively new, pure abhinaya types of compositions of light and pleasing nature. Like Padams the underlying theme of Javalis is Sringara Rasa depicting the Nayaka-Nayaki bhava.
• Thillana - The final section is a pure dance (nritta) when the virtuosity of the music is reflected in the complex footwork and captivating poses of the dancer.

Taylor Alison Swift

          Singer, songwriter, musician. Born Taylor Alison Swift on December 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. Swift spent her early years on her family's Christmas tree farm. Her grandmother had been a professional opera singer, and Swift soon followed in her footsteps. By the age of 10, Swift was singing at a variety of local events, including fairs and contests. She sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Philadelphia 76ers game at the age of 11, and began writing her own songs and learning guitar at 12 years old.

A stellar performance at The Bluebird Café in Nashville helped Swift get a contract with Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Records. She released her first single, "Tim McGraw," in 2006, and the song became a Top 10 hit on the country charts. It also appeared on her self-titled debut album in October of that same year, selling more than 2.5 million copies. More popular singles soon followed, including "Our Song," a No. 1 country music hit. "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Picture to Burn," and "Should've Said No" were also successful tracks. 
In addition to commercial success, Swift received a lot of critical praise for her debut effort. She won the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Female Vocalist in 2007. Swift next released Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in 2007. Her renditions of "Silent Night" and "Santa Baby" were modest hits on the country charts.
In 2008, Swift was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category, and won the Academy of Country Music's "Female Vocalist of the Year" Award, the American Music Awards "Favorite Female Country Artist" award, and the American Music Association's "Horizon" award. Around this same time, Swift released her next album, Fearless (2008), which hit the top of both the country and pop charts and stayed there for 11 weeks. By the end of the year, Swift had become the highest-selling country artist of 2008.  
In 2009, Swift netted several awards for her work on Fearless, including "Video of the Year" and "Female Video of the Year" for "Love Story" at the CMT Music Awards. On September 13, 2009, Swift also won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best Female Video," making her the first country music star to win an MTV Video Music Award. The win stirred controversy when rapper Kanye West leapt to the stage during Swift's speech, took the microphone, and delcared that R&B singer Beyoncé should have won Swift's award. The stunned Swift was unable to make her acceptance speech, and West was removed from the show. When Beyoncé accepted her award for "Best Video of the Year" later in the show, she called Swift to the stage to finish her speech. West later apologized to Swift privately, and made a public apology on The Jay Leno Show.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYa1eI1hpDE

Franz Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn began his career, to use his own phrase, as "a poor devil," lived to enjoy a comfortable competency, and died heavy alike with years and honours.Franz Joseph Haydn was born on the  31^st of May,1732 and passed away/died n he 31^st  May 1809.Haydn was Austrian composer . He was one of the most important , prolific and prominent composers of the classical period/ in the late 18^th century. Haydn has done concertos for violin , horn , trumpet , flute , oboe , baryton ,  harpsichord , organ and f coarse piano . Joseph Haydn was known as ‘The Father of Symphony’ and ‘The Father of String Quartet’ because he has composed 106 symphonies  and an unbelievable 83 string quartets in addition to numerous string and piano trios .His operas, chamber music , oratorios , stage works , vocal music , keyboard music and orchestral music which includes symphonies and concertos . Haydn was also a close friend to Mozart and a teacher of Beethoven. Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Hungarian aristocratic Esterhazy  family . Haydn stopped composing in 1803, after which he prefaced his correspondence with a little musical quotation (from one of his part-songs) bearing the text "Gone is all my strength; I am old and weak." He died in Vienna on May 31, 1809.