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The Owl And The Pussy Cat
"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1870 in the American magazine '' Our Young Folks'' and again the following year in Lear's own book ''Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets''. Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear's friend and fellow poet John Addington Symonds and his wife Catherine Symonds. The term " runcible", used for the phrase "runcible spoon", was invented for the poem. It is believed that the cat in the poem was based on Lear's own pet cat, Foss. Synopsis "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" features four anthropomorphic animals – an owl, a cat, a pig, and a turkey – and tells the story of the love between the title characters who sail off to marry in the land "where the Bong-tree grows". Unfinished sequel Portions of an unfinished sequel, "The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-cat", were published first posthumously during 1938. The children are part fowl and part cat, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Lear
Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals, making coloured drawings during his journeys (which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books) and as a minor illustrator of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poems. As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry. Biography Early years Lear was born into a middle-class family at Holloway, London, Holloway, North London, the penultimate of 21 children (and youngest to survive) of Ann Clark Skerrett and Jeremiah Lear, a stockbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprechgesang
(, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice"), more commonly known as speak-singing in English, are expressionist musical vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, is directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing (in which pitches are sung, but the articulation is rapid and loose like speech), whereas is closer to speech itself (because it does not emphasise any particular pitches). is more closely aligned with the long-used musical techniques of recitative or than is . Where the term is employed in this way, it is usually in the context of the late Romantic German operas or "music dramas" that were composed by Richard Wagner and others in the 19th century. Thus, is often merely a German alternative to 'recitative'. The earliest compositional use of the technique was in the first version of Engelbert Humperdinck's 1897 melodrama '' Königskinder'' (in the 1910 version it was replaced by conventional singin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wind In The Willows
''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets into trouble. It also details short stories about them that are disconnected from the main narrative. The novel was based on bedtime stories Grahame told his son Alastair. It has been adapted numerous times for both stage and screen. ''The Wind in the Willows'' received negative reviews upon its initial release, but it has since become a classic of British literature. It was listed at No. 16 in the BBC's survey The Big Read and has been adapted multiple times in different media. Background In 1899, at age 40, Kenneth Grahame married Elspeth Thomson, the daughter of Robert William Thomson. The next year they had their only child, a boy named Alastair (nicknamed "Mouse"). He was born premature, blind in one eye, and plagued by health ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on ''The Frost Report''. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show ''Monty Python's Flying Circus.'' Along with his Python costars Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), ''Monty Python's Life of Brian, Life of Brian'' (1979), and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth cowrote the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'', in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Ente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naxos (company)
Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 17 labels including Naxos Records, Naxos Audiobooks, and Naxos Books (ebooks). There are about an additional 50 labels that are independent of the Naxos Musical Group with a wide range of offerings. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong. Naxos Records Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. The company was known for its budget pricing of discs, with simpler artwork and design than most other labels. In the 1980s, Naxos primarily recorded central and eastern European symphony orchestras, often with lesser-known conductors, as well as upcoming and unknown musicians, to minimize recording costs and maintain its budget prices. In more recent years, Naxos has taken advan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and WGN-TV, WGN television received their call letters. It is the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region, and the List of newspapers in the United States, sixth-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States. In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the ''Chicago Tribune'' became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the then new Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century, under Medill's grandson 'Colonel' Robert R. McCormick, its reputation was that of a crusading newspaper with an outlook that promoted Conservatism in the United States, American conservatism and opposed the New Deal. Its reporting and commenta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award For Best Spoken Word Album For Children
The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality "spoken word" performances aimed at children. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position." The award was first presented to Audrey Hepburn and producers Deborah Raffin and Michael Viner in 1994 for the album '' Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales''. Its last winners were the artists, producers, audio engineers, and audio mixers who contributed to the album ''Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies'' in 2011, when it was announced the award would be combined with the Grammy Award for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Idle
Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and joined Cambridge University Footlights. He has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Tony Awards. Idle reached stardom in the 1970s when he co-created and acted in the Python sketch comedy series '' Flying Circus'' (1969–1974) and the films '' Holy Grail'' (1975), '' Life of Brian'', (1979) and '' The Meaning of Life'' (1983) with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Known for his elaborate wordplay and musical numbers, Idle composed and performed many of the songs featured in Python projects, including " Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". After ''Flying Circus'' ended, Idle created another sketch show '' Rutland Weekend Television'' (1975–1976), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Wood (actor)
David Bernard Wood OBE (born 21 February 1944) is an English actor, author, composer, director, magician and producer. ''The Times'' called him "the National Children's Dramatist". In 1979, he joined Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, and Jan Francis in a reading of ''The Hobbit'' for the BBC Television show ''Jackanory''. Early life Wood was born on 21 February 1944 in Sutton, Surrey. He was educated at Chichester High School for Boys and Worcester College, Oxford. Stage work Along with John Gould, he founded the Whirligig Theatre, a touring children's theatre company. His most famous story, '' The Gingerbread Man'' (1976), has been all across the world since its premiere at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon. Wood, FilmFair, and Central adapted the musical into an animated children's television series. The adaptation, also called '' The Gingerbread Man'', aired on ITV in 1992. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 Queen's Birth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Ruskin
Sheila Ruskin (born 28 March 1946) is an English actress. She played Vipsania in the BBC adaptation of '' I, Claudius'' (1976); Kassia in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Keeper of Traken'' (1981); and Alta One in the ''Blake's 7'' episode "Redemption" (1979). Her other TV credits include: ''MacKenzie'', ''Special Branch'', '' The Pallisers'', '' How Green Was My Valley'', '' The Sweeney'', '' Tales of the Unexpected'', '' The Professionals'', ''Minder'', '' Bergerac'', '' Boon'', ''Taggart'', ''Miss Marple'', '' Parnell and the Englishwoman'', ''Casualty'', ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', '' Strangers and Brothers'', ''The Bill'', ''Dalziel and Pascoe'', ''Holby City'', ''Midsomer Murders'', '' The Intruder'', and '' The Lost Boys''. She was married to the actor David Wood from 1966 until 1970. The couple wrote a musical play, ''The Owl and the Pussycat Went To See'', based on the works of Edward Lear. In 2005 and 2008, she appeared in numerous episodes of the BBC medical soap ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bright Red
''Bright Red'' is the fifth studio album by American avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. in 1994. The album continues the more pop-oriented direction Anderson launched with '' Strange Angels''. Produced by Brian Eno (who also co-wrote several of the songs with Anderson), ''Bright Red'' is divided into two parts: "Bright Red" and "Tightrope". Background Anderson originally planned to forgo electronics for the recording of ''Bright Red'' and instead focus on more organic instrumentation from bass guitars, accordions, violins, Brazilian percussion, and drums. However, Anderson later decided to process these instruments with a computer program and slow them down. Eno advised Anderson to remove some instrumentation from certain songs to keep the production sparse. Anderson likened the final product to some of her music from the early 1980s and said that the songs on ''Bright Red'' were less structured compared to her more recent work. The song "The Puppet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Charles"Women in Electronic Music – 1977" Liner note essay. New World Records. Anderson pursued a variety of performance art projects in New York City during the 1970s, focusing particularly on language, technology, and visual imagery. She achieved unexpected commercial success when her song "O Superman" reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1981. Anderson's debut studio album ''Big Science (Laurie Anderson album), Big Science'' was released in 1982 and has since been followed by a number of studio and live albums. She starred in and directed the 1986 concert film ''Home of the Brave (1986 film), Home of the Brave''. Anderson's creative output has also included theatrical and documentary works, voice acting, art installations, and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
