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Trotting Triple Crown | Table of Content | Short description, Winners, References, External links |
Trapeze (band) | Short description | Trapeze were an English rock band from Cannock, Staffordshire. Formed in 1969, the band originally featured former The Montanas members John Jones (trumpet, vocals) and Terry Rowley (keyboards), and former Finders Keepers members Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals, piano), Mel Galley (guitar, vocals) and Dave Holland (drums). Jones and Rowley left the band following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1970, with the lineup of Hughes, Galley and Holland continuing as a trio. After the release of Medusa later in 1970 and You Are the Music... We're Just the Band in 1972, Hughes left Trapeze in 1973 to join Deep Purple.
Galley and Holland resurfaced with Trapeze a year later, adding second guitarist Rob Kendrick and bassist Pete Wright to the band. Hot Wire was released in late 1974 and a second self-titled album followed in 1975, after which the classic trio briefly reunited for a tour in 1976 when Hughes returned following Deep Purple's breakup. After Hughes left again, Trapeze returned in 1978 with new frontman Peter Goalby, who performed on the band's final album Hold On. Several more lineup changes occurred in the following years, including Holland joining Judas Priest in 1979, before the band broke up in 1982 as Galley joined Whitesnake.
In 1991, Hughes, Galley and Holland reunited Trapeze for a string of tour dates the following year, adding Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes for the shows. The tour resulted in a live album, Welcome to the Real World: Live at the Borderline, which was released in 1998. The trio revived Trapeze again in 1994 with second guitarist Craig Erickson, completing a brief tour early in the year before permanently disbanding.
Following the band's breakup, both Galley and Holland remained relatively inactive, while Hughes continued with his solo career and collaborations with various artists. Galley died of oesophageal cancer on 1 July 2008, and Holland died of lung cancer on 16 January 2018, leaving Hughes the sole surviving member of the classic line-up. |
Trapeze (band) | History | History |
Trapeze (band) | 1969–1973: Formation and early releases | 1969–1973: Formation and early releases
Trapeze formed in March 1969, with the original lineup featuring former The Montanas members John Jones (trumpet, vocals) and Terry Rowley (keyboards, guitar, flute), along with former Finders Keepers members Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals, piano) Mel Galley (guitar, vocals) and Dave Holland (drums). One of the band's early performances was filmed for an appearance on the BBC2 show Colour Me Pop, recorded on 5 July 1969 at Club Lafayette in Wolverhampton, at which they performed the song "Send Me No More Letters". Local promoter Tony Perry described the show as "one of the most outstanding nights at the [venue]", praising the band's performance as "fantastic". Later in the year, Trapeze signed as the first act on Threshold Records, a record label founded by The Moody Blues and distributed in the United States by London Records and elsewhere by Decca Records. The band reportedly declined an offer to join Apple Records, the label founded by The Beatles, as they believed that they would have more creative freedom with Threshold.
thumb|right|The Moody Blues bassist John Lodge produced the first two albums by Trapeze, 1970's Trapeze and Medusa.
Working with The Moody Blues bassist John Lodge as producer, Trapeze recorded their self-titled debut album at London's Morgan Studios and Decca Studios. Despite Jones being the band's official lead singer, Hughes performed all vocals on the release. Hughes has revealed that he was asked to sing on the album by the group's management, who deemed him to be the better of the two vocalists.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Before the end of the year, the Rowley composition "Send Me No More Letters" was released as the band's first single, backed with "Another Day" (written by Galley, Hughes and Jones). Trapeze was released in May 1970. The album was generally well received by critics – Billboard magazine described it as featuring "a strong rock personality" and dubbed it "a candidate for big chart action", while journalist Nigel Williamson hailed it as "a classic period example of English prog, mixing pastoral whimsy, swirling psychedelia, rock guitars and pop harmonies". It also received significant airplay on BBC Radio 1 from DJs such as Bob Harris and Pete Drummond, and was played in full by the station. Trapeze was promoted on a string of shows in the UK between January and July.
In August 1970, Jones and Rowley left Trapeze, returning to The Montanas. Rather than replacing the departed members, Hughes, Galley and Holland continued as a power trio, adopting a style more akin to hard rock and funk rock. On 13 November 1970, the band released their second album Medusa in the UK, which was issued in the US in March 1971. Produced again by Lodge, the album has since been highlighted by multiple critics as the band's best release, as well as one of the decade's most underrated hard rock albums. Writing in the booklet for a 1994 reissue of the album, author John Tracy claimed that Medusa was "greeted with instant, and seemingly universal, acclaim". Ultimate Classic Rock writer Eduardo Rivadavia credited the album for contributing to the early development of the heavy metal genre in 1970. "Black Cloud", written by Galley with brother Tom, was issued in the US as the only single from the album backed with "Your Love Is Alright", written by the three band members.
Trapeze toured extensively in promotion of Medusa, primarily in the US, including a stint in December 1970 supporting The Moody Blues and numerous headline tours throughout 1971, before releasing their third album You Are the Music... We're Just the Band on 1 December 1972. The album was primarily written by Hughes (three tracks were written by the Galley brothers), produced by Neil Slaven, and featured a number of guest contributors including Rod Argent on piano and B. J. Cole on steel guitar. The album marked an increase in softer, more melodic songs since Medusa, which were praised as highlights of the collection by multiple reviewers. Billboard dubbed the album a "fine set", while Tracy described it as "a masterpiece". You Are the Music... We're Just the Band was the first Trapeze album to chart, peaking at number 9 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under chart, which acts as an extension to the Billboard 200. The band toured throughout late 1972 and early 1973 in promotion of the album, including dates in the US and the UK. Prior to a show at the Village East in December 1972, the band's equipment was stolen and they were forced to play using "hastily rented equipment". |
Trapeze (band) | 1973–1976: Hughes's departure and return | 1973–1976: Hughes's departure and return
thumb|left|Glenn Hughes left the band in 1973 to join Deep Purple, although briefly returned for a tour in 1976.
In April 1973, Deep Purple members Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice attended a Trapeze show at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California, with a view to asking Hughes to replace bassist Roger Glover in the band. When approached at another show the following month, Hughes declined the invitation in favour of remaining with Trapeze, claiming that he was "in a very, very different frame of mind as a musician" at the time and dubbing Deep Purple "too basic rock for me". However, due to the high-profile status of the group at the time, combined with the prospect of working with former Free frontman Paul Rodgers, who had been approached to replace vocalist Ian Gillan, Hughes reconsidered and agreed to join the band as bassist and second vocalist. The lineup change was officially announced in the music magazine Melody Maker on 14 July 1973. Rodgers ultimately passed on the opportunity to join, focusing instead on the formation of Bad Company. David Coverdale was brought in as Gillan's replacement later, after contacting the group in response to the Melody Maker article, which mentioned that they were still looking for a new singer. Hughes has since described the choice to leave Trapeze as a "horrible" one to make, dubbing the band his "family" and claiming in multiple interviews that to some extent he regrets leaving.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
After a brief hiatus, Trapeze returned in 1974 with Galley on lead vocals, adding second guitarist Rob Kendrick and bassist Pete Wright to their lineup. In July it was announced that the band had signed with Warner Bros. Records, with a new album slated for release later in the year. Threshold issued the band's first compilation album The Final Swing in October, which featured tracks from their first three albums as well as the previously unreleased "Good Love" and "Dats It". The album was the band's first to chart, entering the US Billboard 200 at number 184 and peaking at number 172. December saw the release of the band's fourth studio album Hot Wire, which peaked at number 146 on the Billboard 200, number 153 on the Cash Box albums chart, and number 161 on the Record World albums chart in early 1975. Former keyboardist Terry Rowley was also featured as a guest contributor on the album, performing synthesizers, organ, electric piano and backing vocals. Rowley remained in the touring lineup of the band for the Hot Wire cycle and featured on the album Live at the Boat Club 1975, although again not credited as a group member.
Later in 1975, Trapeze released a second self-titled album, on which Hughes returned to perform vocals on two tracks. Billboard praised Trapeze as an example of "tight, cooking, soul-tinged hard rock", although AllMusic's Dave Thompson criticised it as "a dour little disc, desperately missing the funk infusions of Glenn Hughes and, for the most part, overshadowed even by its disappointing predecessor". Galley and Holland briefly took a break from Trapeze in November to complete a British concert tour with Justin Hayward and John Lodge, in promotion of their collaboration album Blue Jays, released earlier in the year. The following year, after Deep Purple broke up, Hughes temporarily reunited the classic trio of Trapeze for The Appreciation Tour, which was scheduled to visit the US in August and the UK in September. After a short run of US dates, Hughes left again due to off-stage problems caused by drug abuse, particularly cocaine. Speaking about the brief reunion in 2007, Galley recalled that Hughes "wasn't in a good state of mind at the time", suggesting that "if we could have carried the electricity of those shows on, we could have known no bounds". Similarly, the band's manager Tony Perry has recalled that Hughes "[had] major problems at the time and was very difficult to deal with", adding that he and the other members of the band had discussed the possibility of firing and replacing him during the tour. During their reunion, the trio also recorded a number of new songs, including "L.A. Cut Off" and "Space High", both of which were later released on Hughes's debut solo album Play Me Out in 1977. |
Trapeze (band) | 1978–1982: Later years and disbandment | 1978–1982: Later years and disbandment
After Hughes left the band for a second time, Trapeze returned in 1978 with new frontman Peter Goalby and Wright returning on bass. Signing a deal with newly formed label Aura Records, the band released their final studio album Hold On in late 1979, produced by Jimmy Miller. The album, initially released in Germany in 1978 under the title Running with a different track listing, was hailed by Sounds magazine's Graham Neale as the culmination of the band's "obvious regenerated enthusiasm" following recent challenges, while Galley presented it as an evolution in the band's sound and style of songwriting. The album received a positive review from Billboard magazine, which described it as "a noticeably strong ... LP that takes its strength from the tight vocal harmonies and solid original material", suggesting that "Several of the songs included here could become AOR staples". AllMusic's Steve Huey hailed Hold On as "quite possibly [Trapeze]'s best" album, while his colleague Joe Viglione praised it for its songwriting and production qualities.
thumb|right|Trapeze broke up in 1982, when Mel Galley – by then, the only remaining original member – joined Whitesnake.
In August 1979, Holland left Trapeze to join heavy metal band Judas Priest. He was replaced later by Steve Bray as the band continued to tour in support of Hold On, including dates with Humble Pie and a stint supporting Scottish band Nazareth alongside Swiss group Krokus. The band released their first live album Live in Texas: Dead Armadillos in 1981, which was recorded on the resulting tour in May 1981. By the time the album was released, Goalby had left Trapeze to join Uriah Heep. Mervyn Spence (bass, lead vocals) and Richard Bailey (keyboards) joined the band later in the year, and in 1982 Bray was replaced by Kex Gorin. Trapeze officially came to an end in late 1982, when Galley joined a new lineup of Whitesnake in time for the Saints & Sinners Tour, which commenced in October. The final lineup of Trapeze had begun recording material for a potential new album before Galley left, with the material later adapted for Whitesnake and Phenomena, a project started by Tom Galley. |
Trapeze (band) | 1991–1994: Reunions and live releases | 1991–1994: Reunions and live releases
Hughes, Galley and Holland revived Trapeze in 1991 for a concert tour featuring keyboardist Geoff Downes. On 20 March 1992 they supported Fish at Hammersmith Apollo. In May 1992, the band recorded the live album Welcome to the Real World: Live at the Borderline, which was released in 1998. Another live album, Live: Way Back to the Bone, was released the same year, featuring recordings from earlier in the band's career. The trio reunited again in 1993, recording a number of demos for a planned future release. On 9 February 1994, the band performed at the Irving Plaza in New York City as part of a concert dedicated to vocalist Ray Gillen, who had died on 1 December 1993. This was followed later in the year by a short string of shows in the US and the UK, which Hughes described as a "wonderful run" and a "great experience". The trio were joined for the shows by second guitarist Craig Erickson. Live at the Boat Club 1975 was released in 2006, before Galley died on 1 July 2008, ending any future chance of the band returning again. Nearly a decade later, Holland died on 16 January 2018, which now leaves Hughes the sole surviving member of the trio. |
Trapeze (band) | Band members | Band members
Mel Galley – guitar, vocals (1969–1982, 1991–1992, 1993–1994) (d. 2008)
Dave Holland – drums, percussion (1969–1979, 1991–1992, 1993–1994) (d. 2018)
Glenn Hughes – bass, vocals, piano (1969–1973, 1976, 1991–1992, 1993–1994)
Terry Rowley – synthesizers, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar (1969–1970, 1974–1976)
John Jones – trumpet, vocals (1969–1970)
Pete Wright – bass, backing vocals (1974–1976, 1976–1981)
Rob Kendrick – guitar, backing vocals (1974–1976)
Peter Goalby – guitar, vocals (1978–1981)
Steve Bray – drums (1980–1982)
Mervyn Spence – bass, vocals (1981–1982)
Richard Bailey – keyboards (1981–1982)
Kex Gorin – drums (1982)
Geoff Downes – keyboards (1991–1992)
Craig Erickson – guitar (1994) |
Trapeze (band) | Discography | Discography
Studio albums
Trapeze (1970)
Medusa (1970)
You Are the Music...We're Just the Band (1972)
Hot Wire (1974)
Trapeze (1975)
Hold On (1979) / Running (1978, Germany)
Live albums
Live in Texas: Dead Armadillos (1981)
Welcome to the Real World: Live at the Borderline (1993)
Live: Way Back to the Bone (1998)
Live at the Boat Club 1975 (2006)
Live In Houston 1972 (2021) – RSD release vinyl only 2lp
Live In Houston 1972 (2021) Also available as an mp3 download
Compilations
The Final Swing (1974)
Way Back to the Bone (1986)
High Flyers: The Best of Trapeze (1996)
On the Highwire (2003)
Singles
"Send Me No More Letters" (1969)
"Black Cloud" (1970)
"Coast to Coast" (1972)
"On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1975)
"Don't Ask Me How I Know" (1979)
"Running Away" (1980) |
Trapeze (band) | References | References |
Trapeze (band) | External links | External links
Trapeze history on the Glenn Hughes official website
Category:1969 establishments in England
Category:1994 disestablishments in England
Category:English hard rock musical groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1969
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1982
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1991
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1992
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1993
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1994
Category:Warner Records artists |
Trapeze (band) | Table of Content | Short description, History, 1969–1973: Formation and early releases, 1973–1976: Hughes's departure and return, 1978–1982: Later years and disbandment, 1991–1994: Reunions and live releases, Band members, Discography, References, External links |
Acting President of the United States | short description | An acting president of the United States is a person who lawfully exercises the powers and duties of the president of the United States despite not holding the office in their own right. There is an established presidential line of succession in which officials of the United States federal government may be called upon to be acting president if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office (by impeachment by the House of Representatives and subsequent conviction by the Senate) during their four-year term of office; or if a president-elect has not been chosen before Inauguration Day or has failed to qualify by that date.
Presidential succession is referred to multiple times in the U.S. Constitution: Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, the Twentieth Amendment, and the Twenty-fifth Amendment. The vice president is the only officeholder explicitly named in the Constitution as a presidential successor. The Article II succession clause authorizes Congress to designate which federal officeholders would accede to the presidency if the vice president were unable to do so, a situation which has never occurred. The current Presidential Succession Act was adopted in 1947 and last revised in 2006. The order of succession is as follows: the vice president, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate, and then the eligible heads of the federal executive departments who form the president's Cabinet in the order of creation of the department, beginning with the secretary of state.
The vice president immediately assumes the presidency in the event of the death, resignation, or removal of the president from office. Similarly, if a president-elect were to die during the transition period or decline to serve, the vice president-elect would become president on Inauguration Day. A vice president may also serve as acting president if the president becomes incapacitated. If both the presidency and vice presidency were to become vacant, the statutory successor would act as president but would not formally assume the office. To date, three vice presidents have briefly served as acting president without assuming the office of President. |
Acting President of the United States | Constitutional provisions | Constitutional provisions |
Acting President of the United States | Eligibility | Eligibility
The qualifications for acting president are the same as those for the office of president. Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution prescribes three eligibility requirements for the presidency. At the time of taking office, one must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least thirty-five years old, and a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years. |
Acting President of the United States | Succession | Succession
Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 makes the vice president first in the line of succession. It also empowers Congress to provide by law who would act as president in the case where neither the president nor the vice president were able to serve.
Two constitutional amendments elaborate on the subject of presidential succession and fill gaps exposed over time in the original provision:
Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment declares that if the president-elect dies before their term begins, the vice president-elect becomes president on Inauguration Day and serves for the full term to which the president-elect was elected, and also that, if on Inauguration Day, a president has not been chosen or the president-elect does not qualify for the presidency, the vice president-elect acts as president until a president is chosen or the president-elect qualifies. It also authorizes Congress to provide for instances in which neither a president-elect nor a vice president-elect have qualified. Acting on this authority, Congress incorporated "failure to qualify" as a possible condition for presidential succession into the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
Sections 3 and 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment provide for situations in which the president is temporarily or indefinitely unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office.
The former section enables the president to voluntarily transfer their powers and duties (but not the office itself) to the vice president (who becomes acting president), by notifying the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives. The vice president remains acting president until such a time that the president is able to discharge their powers and duties again.
The latter section provides a mechanism to remove the president's powers and duties without their consent. It is invoked when the vice president and a majority of the 15 Cabinet secretaries write to the Senate president pro tempore and the House speaker to notify them that the president is unable to discharge their powers and duties. The vice president then immediately assumes the role of acting president. Should the president declare that they are still capable of discharging their powers and duties, the vice president and Cabinet secretaries can write a second letter to Congress, reaffirming their position. If this letter is received within four days, then the matter is debated and voted on by Congress (with any attempt to permanently install the vice president as acting president requiring a two-thirds majority of each house). If no such letter is received within the time limit or the vote does not pass in Congress within 21 days, then the president reassumes his powers and duties. |
Acting President of the United States | History | History |
Acting President of the United States | Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment | Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment
thumb|alt=An illustration:Tyler stands on his porch in Virginia, approached by a man with an envelope. Caption reads "Tyler receiving the news of Harrison's death."|1888 illustration of John Tyler receiving notification of William Henry Harrison's death
On April 4, 1841, only one month after his inauguration, William Henry Harrison died and was the first U.S. president to die in office. Afterward, a constitutional crisis ensued over the Constitution's ambiguous presidential succession provision (Article II, Section 1, Clause 6).
Shortly after Harrison's death, his Cabinet met and decided that John Tyler, Harrison's vice president, would assume the responsibilities of the presidency under the title "Vice-President acting President". Instead of accepting this proposed title, however, Tyler asserted that the Constitution gave him full and unqualified powers of the presidency and had himself sworn in as president; this set a critical precedent for the orderly transfer of power following a president's death. Nonetheless, several members of Congress, such as representative and former president John Quincy Adams, felt that Tyler should be a caretaker under the title of "acting president", or remain vice president in name. Senator Henry Clay saw Tyler as the "vice-president" and his presidency as a mere "regency".
Throughout, Tyler remained resolute in his claim to the title of president and in his determination to exercise the full powers of the presidency. The Senate and House confirmed Tyler as president via resolution. The precedent he set in 1841 was followed subsequently on seven occasions when an incumbent president died prior to the presidential succession being enshrined in the Constitution through section 1 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.
Though the precedent regarding presidential succession due to the president's death was set, questions concerning presidential "inability" remained unanswered, such as what constituted an inability, who determined the existence of an inability, and whether a vice president becomes president for the rest of the presidential term in the case of an inability or if they are merely "acting as president". Due to this lack of clarity, later vice presidents were hesitant to assert any role in cases of presidential inability.
On two occasions, in particular, the operations of the executive branch were hampered due to the fact that there was no constitutional basis for declaring that the president was unable to function:
For 79 days in 1881, between the shooting of President James A. Garfield in July and his death in September. Congressional leaders urged Vice President Chester A. Arthur to step up and exercise presidential authority while the president was disabled, but he declined, fearful of being labeled a usurper. Aware that he was in a delicate position and that his every action was placed under scrutiny, he remained secluded in his New York City home for most of the summer.
October 1919 – March 1921, when President Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke. Nearly blind and partially paralyzed, he spent the final 17 months of his presidency sequestered in the White House. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, the cabinet, and the nation were kept in the dark concerning the severity of the president's illness for several months by First Lady Edith Wilson, the president's personal physician, and his secretary. Marshall was pointedly afraid to ask about Wilson's health, or to preside over cabinet meetings, fearful that he would be accused of "longing for his place." |
Acting President of the United States | Since the Twenty-fifth Amendment | Since the Twenty-fifth Amendment
Proposed by the 89th Congress and subsequently ratified by the states in 1967, the Twenty-fifth Amendment, as noted above, established formal procedures for addressing instances of presidential disability and succession. As of , the powers of the president have only been transferred in accordance with Section3, covering the voluntary transfer of powers and duties. Section4, covering the involuntary transfer of powers and duties, has not been invoked since the amendment came into force. Three vice presidents have served as acting president on four occasions, each one while the president underwent a medical procedure under general anesthesia.https://19thnews.org/2021/11/kamala-harris-acting-president/
+ Vice presidents who served as acting president Acting president Date Start/end times President Event George H. W. Bush July 13, 1985 11:28 am7:22 pm EDT Ronald Reagan Colon cancer surgery Dick Cheney June 29, 2002 7:09 am9:24 am EDT George W. Bush Colonoscopy July 21, 2007 7:16 am9:21 am EDT Kamala Harris November 19, 2021 10:10 am11:35 am EST Joe Biden Colonoscopy |
Acting President of the United States | References | References
Category:United States presidential succession
Category:Vice presidency of the United States
Category:Presidency of the United States
Category:Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution |
Acting President of the United States | Table of Content | short description, Constitutional provisions, Eligibility, Succession, History, Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment, Since the Twenty-fifth Amendment, References |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Short description | The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works, Though not as popular as the Peer Gynt suites, this book says. and is among the most popular of the genre. Grieg, who was only 24 years old at the time of the composition, had taken inspiration from Robert Schumann's piano concerto (Op.54), also in A minor. |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Structure | Structure
The concerto is in three movements:
Performance time of the whole concerto is usually about 30 minutes. |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Instrumentation | Instrumentation
Grieg scored the concerto for solo piano, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A and B), 2 bassoons, 4 horns in E and E, 2 trumpets in C and B, 3 trombones, timpani and strings (violins, violas, cellos and double basses). An earlier version called for only two horns and a tuba instead of a third trombone.Oelmann, Klaus Henning (1993): Edvard Grieg – Versuch einer Orientierung. Egelsbach Köln New York: Verlag Hänsel-Hohenhausen, p. 246. |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | History and influences | History and influences
The work is among Grieg's earliest important works, written by the 24-year-old composer in 1868 in Søllerød, Denmark, during one of his visits there to benefit from the climate.
The concerto is often compared to the Piano Concerto of Robert Schumann: it is in the same key; the opening descending flourish on the piano is similar; the overall style is considered to be closer to Schumann than any other single composer. Incidentally, both composers wrote only one concerto for piano. Grieg had heard Schumann's concerto played by Clara Schumann in Leipzig in 1858, and was greatly influenced by Schumann's style generally, having been taught the piano by Schumann's friend Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel.
Grieg's concerto provides evidence of his interest in Norwegian folk music; the opening flourish is based on the motif of a falling minor second followed by a falling major third, which is typical of the folk music of Grieg's native country. This specific motif occurs in other works by Grieg, including the String Quartet No. 1. In the last movement of the concerto, similarities to the halling (a Norwegian folk dance) and imitations of the Hardanger fiddle (the Norwegian folk fiddle) have been detected.
The work was premiered by Edmund Neupert on 3 April 1869, in Copenhagen, with Holger Simon Paulli conducting. Some sources say that Grieg himself, an excellent pianist, was the intended soloist, but he was unable to attend the premiere owing to commitments with an orchestra in Christiania (now Oslo). Among those who did attend the premiere were the Danish composer Niels Gade and the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein, who provided his piano for the occasion.Grieg and the Danish Connection Neupert was also the dedicatee of the second edition of the concerto (Rikard Nordraak was the original dedicatee), and James Huneker said that he composed the first movement cadenza.
The Norwegian premiere in Christiania followed on August 7, 1869, and the piece was later heard in Germany in 1872 and England in 1874. At Grieg's visit to Franz Liszt in Rome in 1870, Liszt played the notes a prima vista (by sight) before an audience of musicians and gave very good comments on Grieg's work which would later influence him. The work was first published in Leipzig in 1872, but only after Johan Svendsen intervened on Grieg's behalf.
The concerto is the first piano concerto ever recorded—by pianist Wilhelm Backhaus in 1909.BACKHAUS, WILHELM (1884–1969) at naxos.com Due to the technology of the time, it was heavily abridged and ran only six minutes.
Grieg revised the work at least seven times, usually in subtle ways, but the revisions amounted to over 300 differences from the original orchestration. In one of these revisions, he undid Liszt's suggestion to give the second theme of the first movement (as well as the first theme of the second) to the trumpet rather than to the cello. The final version of the concerto was completed only a few weeks before Grieg's death, and it is this version that has achieved worldwide popularity. The original 1868 version has been recorded, by Love Derwinger, with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Junichi Hirokami.
Grieg worked on a transcription of the concerto for two solo pianos, which was completed by Károly Thern. The premiere recording of this version was by the British piano duo Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow.
On April 2, 1951, the Russian-born American pianist Simon Barere collapsed while playing the first few bars of the concerto, in a performance with conductor Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York. He died backstage shortly afterwards. It was to have been Barere's first performance of the work. |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Second concerto | Second concerto
In 1882 and 1883, Grieg worked on a second piano concerto in B minor, but it was never completed. The sketches for the concerto have been recorded by the pianist Einar Steen-Nøkleberg. In 1997, the Oslo Grieg Society held its Third International Competition for Composers on the theme: of "re-imagine" Grieg's second concerto. One of the contestants, the Belgian composer Laurent Beeckmans, elaborated a full piano concerto from the sketches, which was first performed in London on 3 May 2003.
Another elaboration on Grieg's sketches was completed by the Norwegian composer Helge Evju and was recorded by the Naxos label. Among the other contestants the Romanian Șerban Nichifor (Concerto GRIEGoriano), the Russian Vladimir Belyayev (Second Piano Concerto), the Scottish Callum Kenmuir (Rhapsody on themes by Grieg), the American Daniel Powers (Concerto Reliquary), the German Klaus Miehling (Concert Fantasy in B minor), the New Zealander Alison Edgar (Fantasia in B minor), the Australian David Morgan (Norwegian Fantasy). The 1st prize went to the Italian Alberto Colla (Piano Concerto No. 1). |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | In popular culture | In popular culture
The enduring popularity of Grieg's Piano Concerto has ensured its use in a wide variety of contexts.
The first movement's coda features in the film Intermezzo (1939) starring Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman.
The Concerto was featured in the film The Seventh Veil (1945) as the piece played by the young concert pianist (Ann Todd; the uncredited pianist was Eileen Joyce).
It was famously parodied in Franz Reizenstein's Concerto Popolare of 1959 (written for Gerard Hoffnung's music festival).
The opening theme of the first movement was used by Jimmy Wisner, recording under the name "Kokomo", in the song "Asia Minor", a top-ten pop hit in the U.S. in 1961. The title of the song was also based on the key of the concerto, A minor.
Excerpts from the first movement are incorporated into the number "Rosemary", in the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961).
Jethro Tull have played a short excerpt of the second movement live as part of their Thick as a Brick tour of 1972.
The comedian Bill Bailey is a skilled musician, and has used Grieg's piano concerto for comic effect; in the TV series Black Books it is played by his character Manny Bianco, and it is cited as an example in his solo mock-scholarly sketch on cockney music.
The introductory motif opens "Make the Most of Your Music", in the 1987 revised version of Follies.
Cuban bandleader Alfredo Valdés repeatedly references the first movement of the concerto in Canto a La Vueltabajera.
The strategy video game Civilization V also uses the second movement in its soundtrack.
The second movement's theme features in the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018). |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Morecambe and Wise | Morecambe and Wise
The concerto was used in a sketch by the British comedians Morecambe and Wise. Originally written by Dick Hills and Sid Green and performed as a two-hander in the ITV series Two of a Kind in 1963, the sketch was subsequently amended and used again in the Christmas edition of The Morecambe & Wise Show, the duo's BBC series, in 1971. The sketch features Eric Morecambe as the piano soloist; while Ernie Wise was the conductor in the original sketch, the amended version features André Previn, then the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Morecambe claims he is playing "all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order". He was playing a simplified version of the correct music but in a completely inappropriate style.
The sketch was recorded, in an arrangement by Sid Green, in 1964 for the EMI Comedy Classics album series. |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | References | References |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | External links | External links
Grieg
Category:Concertos by Edvard Grieg
Category:Piano compositions by Edvard Grieg
Category:1868 compositions
Category:Compositions in A minor |
Piano Concerto (Grieg) | Table of Content | Short description, Structure, Instrumentation, History and influences, Second concerto, In popular culture, Morecambe and Wise, References, External links |
Jim Dunnigan | Short description | James F. Dunnigan (born August 8, 1943) is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City. |
Jim Dunnigan | Career | Career
Dunnigan was born in Rockland County, New York. After high school, he volunteered for the military instead of waiting to be drafted. From 1961 to 1964, he worked as a repair technician for the Sergeant ballistic missile; his service included a tour in Korea. Afterwards, he attended Pace University studying accounting, then transferred to Columbia University, graduating with a degree in history in 1970.
In college he became involved in wargaming. He designed Jutland, which Avalon Hill published in 1967, following it up with 1914 the next year, and PanzerBlitz in 1970, which eventually sold more than 300,000 copies. Meanwhile, Dunnigan had founded his own company, initially known as Poultron Press, and which was soon renamed to Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI). Dunnigan created SPI to save the magazine Strategy & Tactics, which at that time was published by Chris Wagner. Dunnigan had been contributing material to the magazine since its second issue in February 1967, and when Wagner was having financial challenges with the magazine he sold the rights to Dunningan for $1. Dunnigan took over a windowless basement in the Lower East Side of New York City where he published his first issue, Strategy & Tactics #18 in September 1969; every issue included a new wargame beginning with that issue. Dunnigan also designed the game Sniper! (1973). Dunnigan later designed Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game (1980), which was the first published licensed role-playing game. In 1980, Dunnigan was forced to leave SPI as the financial situation at the company was deteriorating. He left SPI to write more books, begin modeling financial markets, and pursue other projects.
Between 1966 and 1992, he designed over 100 wargames and other conflict simulations, ranging from 1969's Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker about the student takeover at Columbia (which he witnessed as a bystanderAccording to Dunnigan he was a student at Columbia University that season and, although he has not participated in the action, several of his friends did. Some of these worked in the school newspaper and asked Dunnigan to make a game for the first anniversary of The Spectator. Quoted in ), to the gigantic War in Europe, to the online Hundred Years War with his long-time partners Albert Nofi and Daniel Masterson, which has been running since 1992.
In 1979, he wrote The Complete Wargames Handbook (first edition), and in 1980 How to Make War.
Dunnigan contributed to Three-Sixty Pacific's Victory at Sea but, he claimed, was not allowed to finish the computer wargame's design, although it was advertised as "James F. Dunnigan's Victory at Sea".
With his partners from the Hundred Years War, Daniel Masterson and Albert Nofi, Dunnigan founded the online military news site StrategyPage in 1999, of which he is the editor-in-chief. Podcasts of his commentaries on history, military affairs, and the contemporary world are regularly posted on StrategyPage.Com and as at Instapundit.com
Dunnigan regularly lectures at military and academic institutions, such as the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group, in Newport, Rhode Island. |
Jim Dunnigan | Awards/recognition | Awards/recognition
At Origins in 1976, Dunnigan was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame. In 1999 Pyramid magazine named him as one of the millennium's most influential persons "at least in the realm of adventure gaming". He was honored as a "famous game designer" by being featured on the king of diamonds in Flying Buffalo's 2008 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck. |
Jim Dunnigan | Books | Books
The Complete Wargames Handbook, first edition, 1979
The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design and Find Them, Revised edition, William Morrow, 1992. . (online version)
Wargames Handbook: How to Play and Design Commercial and Professional Wargames, Third edition, 2000. .
How To Make War: A Comprehensive Guide To Modern Warfare, first edition, 1983
How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare for the Post-Cold War Era, 3rd edition, William Morrow, 1993. .
How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the Twenty-first Century, 4th edition, HarperCollins, 2003.
Digital Soldiers, St. Martin's, 1996. .
Dirty Little Secrets of the 20th Century: Myths, Misinformation, and Unknown Truths About the 20th Century, William Morrow, 1999. .
The Perfect Soldier. Citadel, 2004. . |
Jim Dunnigan | Co-author | Co-author
As editor and co-author
The Russian Front: Germany's War in the East, 1941-45 (also published as The Russian Campaign), Arms and Armour, 1978. .
With William Martel
How to Stop a War: The Lessons of Two Hundred Years of War and Peace, Doubleday, 1987. .
With Austin Bay
From Shield to Storm: High-Tech Weapons, Military Strategy and Coalition Warfare in the Persian Gulf, William Morrow, 1991. .
A Quick & Dirty Guide to War: Briefings on Present and Potential Wars, 4th edition, Paladin, 2008. .
With Albert Nofi
Shooting Blanks: War Making That Doesn't Work, 1991. .
Medieval Life and the Hundred Years War (200,000 word online book, 1994)
Dirty Little Secrets of World War II: Military Information No One Told You About the Greatest, Most Terrible War in History, William Morrow, 1994. .
Victory at Sea: World War II in the Pacific, William Morrow, 1995. .
The Pacific War Encyclopedia, Facts on File, 1998. .
Dirty Little Secrets: American Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know, St. Martins Press, 1999. .
Victory and Deceit: Deception and Trickery at War, 2nd edition, Writers Club, 2001. .
Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know, St. Martins Griffin, 2001. .
With Daniel Masterson
The Way of the Warrior: Business Tactics and Techniques from History's Twelve Greatest Generals, St. Martin's Griffin, 1998. .
With Raymond M. Macedonia
Getting It Right: American Military Reforms After Vietnam to the Gulf War and Beyond, 2nd edition, Writers Club, 2001. . |
Jim Dunnigan | Other works | Other works
(contributor) Wargame Design: The History, Production, and Use of Conflict Simulations, Simulations Publications, 1977. .
Foreword to H.G. Wells's Floor Games (Skirmisher, 2006) |
Jim Dunnigan | Games | Games
Jutland (1967)
1914 (1968)
1918 (1969)
Anzio Beachhead (1969)
Barbarossa (1969)
Crete (1969)
Deployment (1969)
Flying Fortress (1969)
Italy (1969)
Korea (1969)
Leipzig (1969)
Normandy (1969)
Tannenberg (1969)
Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker (1969)
Bastogne (1970)
Chicago, Chicago! (1970)
PanzerBlitz (1970)
Grenadier (1971)
Kursk (1971)
Lost Battles (1971)
Origins of World War II (1971)
Strategy I (1971)
USN (1971)
The Next President (1971)
American Revolution (1972)
Breakout and Pursuit (1972)
Combat Command (1972)
Flying Circus (1972)
France '40 (1972)
Franco-Prussian War (1972)
Moscow Campaign (1972)
Origins of World War I (1972)
Outdoor Survival (1972)
Red Star/White Star (1972)
Turning Point (1972)
Wilderness Campaign (1972)
Year of the Rat (1972)
Ardennes Offensive (1973)
Battles of Bull Run (1973)
CA (1973)
Desert War (1973)
El Alamein (1973)
Foxbat & Phantom (1973)
Kampfpanzer (1973)
NATO (1973)
Napoleon at Waterloo (1973)
Panzer Armee Afrika (1973)
Scrimmage (1973)
Sinai (1973)
Sniper! (1973)
Solomons Campaign (1973)
Spitfire (1973)
World War Two (1973)
American Civil War (1974)
Combined Arms (1974)
Frigate (1974)
Operation Olympic (1974)
Patrol (1974)
Tank (1974)
The East is Red (1974)
War in the East (1974)
Wolfpack (1974)
Battle for Germany (1975)
Global War (1975)
Invasion America (1975)
Mech War '77 (1975)
Oil War (1975)
Panzer '44 (1975)
Sixth Fleet (1975)
The Fast Carriers (1975)
War in the Pacific (1975)
World War 3 (1975)
World War I (1975)
Wurzburg (1975)
FireFight (1976)
Panzergruppe Guderian (1976)
Plot to Assassinate Hitler (1976)
Minuteman: The Second American Revolution (1976)
Revolt in the East (1976)
Russian Civil War (1976)
Strike Force (1976)
War in Europe (1976)
War in the West (1976)
Fulda Gap (1977)
Agincourt (1978)
Brusilov (1978)
Canadian Civil War (1978)
The Next War (1978)
Bulge (1979)
Berlin '85 (1980)
Dallas (1980)
Demons (1980)
Drive on Metz (1980)
Empires of the Middle Ages (1980)
Fifth Corps (1980)
NATO Division Commander (1980)
TimeTripper (1980)
Wreck of the Pandora (1980)
Light Infantry Division (1985)
Tactical Combat Model (1985)
Men-At-Arms (1990)
Hundred Years War (1992)
Victory at Sea (1992) |
Jim Dunnigan | Notes | Notes |
Jim Dunnigan | References | References |
Jim Dunnigan | External links | External links
James F. Dunnigan homepage
StrategyPage
Category:1943 births
Category:American company founders
Category:American military writers
Category:Board game designers
Category:Columbia University School of General Studies alumni
Category:Living people
Category:United States Army soldiers
Category:Wargame designers |
Jim Dunnigan | Table of Content | Short description, Career, Awards/recognition, Books, Co-author, Other works, Games, Notes, References, External links |
Treasure (company) | Short description | is a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo known for its action, platform, and shoot 'em up games. The company was founded in 1992 by former Konami employees seeking to explore original game concepts and free themselves from Konami's reliance on sequels. Their first game, Gunstar Heroes (1993) on the Sega Genesis, was a critical success and established a creative and action-oriented design style that would continue to characterize their output. Treasure's philosophy in game development has always been to make games they enjoy, not necessarily those that have the greatest commercial viability.
Treasure grew a cult following for their action games developed during the 1990s, and though initially exclusive to Sega platforms, they expanded to other platforms in 1997. The company earned recognition from critics, being called one of the best Japanese indie studios and 2D game developers. The company's output decreased in the 2010s, with their most recent release being Gaist Crusher God in 2014. |
Treasure (company) | History | History |
Treasure (company) | Origins and 16-bit era | Origins and 16-bit era
Treasure founder and president Masato Maegawa dreamed of working in the video game industry when he was young and began learning computer programming in junior high school. He studied programming in college and was hired by developer and publisher Konami after graduating. At Konami, Maegawa and associates that would later establish Treasure worked on a variety of games including arcade titles The Simpsons (1991) and Bucky O'Hare (1992), and Super NES games Super Castlevania IV (1991), Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992), and Axelay (1992). In 1991, Maegawa and several other Konami employees began planning an original game that would become Gunstar Heroes (1993), (Abridged translation ) but their concept was rejected by Konami. Maegawa and his team were growing frustrated with Konami's growing reliance on sequels to established franchises such as their Castlevania and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. The team felt consumers wanted original games, and so they left Konami in 1992 to establish Treasure and continue development on Gunstar Heroes.
thumb|right|In their first years, Treasure developed games for the Sega Genesis.
Treasure was founded on June 19, 1992; the company name came from wanting to be a "treasure" to the industry. Around the time of founding, the company had just over ten people. Even though most of the staff made games for the Super NES at Konami, they wanted to develop Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis because the system's Motorola 68000 microprocessor was necessary for the visuals and gameplay they were striving for. Treasure approached Sega for a publishing contract. At first, they were not granted approval because they lacked a track record, but Sega instead contracted them to develop McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (1993). Several months into development, they were granted approval to work on Gunstar Heroes. Treasure staff was split into two teams to work on both games in parallel. They had a staff of around 18 people at the time, most being ex-Konami programmers. The staff felt they had more freedom working under Sega than Konami.
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure was completed first, but Treasure decided to finish and release Gunstar Heroes first because they wanted their debut to be an original game. North American magazine GameFan were enthralled with the game and secured the first English language interview with Treasure that year. McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure was released next, initiating a trend for Treasure of developing games based on licensed properties. As a small studio, Treasure required the revenue from licensed games to develop original projects. Treasure continued to develop games for the Genesis for the remainder of the 16-bit era because of the system's smooth sprite movement, and grew a following among Sega fans. After Gunstar Heroes, Treasure was divided into four teams to develop (in order of release): platformer Dynamite Headdy (1994), fighting game Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen (1994), run and gun Alien Soldier (1995), and action-adventure Light Crusader (1995). The variety among these games illustrated unevenness and unpredictability in Treasure's output that would become characteristic of them. |
Treasure (company) | 32-bit era | 32-bit era
In 1994, Sega introduced the Sega Saturn technology to Treasure. Treasure were impressed with the system's ability to handle a large number of sprites. They also knew their fan base consisted entirely of Sega gamers, so as the 32-bit era began, they moved development to the Saturn. Even though the Saturn was capable of 3D graphics, they continued to develop 2D games because they had built up 2D sprite know-how. Competition from 3D games did not concern them. First on Saturn was Guardian Heroes (1996), a beat 'em up that combines elements from fighting games and RPGs. Treasure worked on their next two releases concurrently, side-scrolling platformers Mischief Makers (1997) and Silhouette Mirage (1997). Mischief Makers was released on the Nintendo 64 and published by Enix, Treasure's first game published by a company other than Sega and released on non-Sega hardware. Treasure chose to develop for the Nintendo 64 because they were interested in the hardware's capabilities. Enix had heard of Treasure's reputation for action games and requested to publish for them in the past, but it was not until Treasure was developing for a non-Sega platform that they sought Enix's cooperation. Mischief Makers was followed by Silhouette Mirage, which was initially released on the Saturn then ported to the PlayStation in 1998.
thumb|Treasure's headquarters in Nakano, Tokyo from the late 1990s to early 2010s (photo taken in 2019)
In 1998, Treasure released their first arcade game, the shoot 'em up Radiant Silvergun. Treasure had been hesitant to develop an arcade game for years because of concerns with their commercial viability, but the staff felt Radiant Silvergun had potential and they were eager to develop it. The game was ported to the Saturn later that year. Enix published Treasure's next game for the PlayStation, fighting game Rakugaki Showtime (1999), but had to pull it from shelves shortly after release because of a lawsuit filed against them. This was followed by the multidirectional shooter Bangai-O (1999) which received a limited release on the Nintendo 64, but was later modified and re-released for the Dreamcast. By 1999, most of the founding Treasure staff were still with the company. |
Treasure (company) | 2000s | 2000s
Treasure began the 2000s with some early troubles. Gun Beat, a racing game they were developing for Sega's NAOMI arcade platform, was canceled with little explanation. Also, Silpheed: The Lost Planet (2000) and Stretch Panic (2001) for the PlayStation 2 both weren't received very well. Despite these hiccups, Treasure did find success with Sin and Punishment (2000), a rail shooter co-developed with Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 and later released on the iQue in China. The game was not released in western territories but grew a cult following among import gamers. While Sin and Punishment was still in development, Treasure started development on a spiritual sequel to Radiant Silvergun titled Ikaruga (2001). The arcade shooter was co-developed with G.rev, and ported to the Dreamcast and saw a worldwide release on the GameCube.
Treasure next embarked on a series of licensed projects. Two of these were based on the Tiny Toon Adventures franchise, Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Bad Dream (2002) for the Game Boy Advance and the unreleased Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe for the PlayStation 2. Other licensed games during this period included Game Boy Advance games Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! (2003) and Astro Boy: Omega Factor (2003), as well as GameCube games Wario World (2003) and Dragon Drive: D-Masters Shot (2003). Astro Boy: Omega Factor was co-developed with Hitmaker and was critically praised for returning to Treasure's classic side-scrolling action style that had been missing from their recent output. Their next game was Gradius V (2004) which like Ikaruga before it, was co-developed with G.rev. The companies worked under contract for Konami, and the game helped cement Treasure's return to critical successes following a slew of mediocre licensed games.
Treasure developed sequels on the Game Boy Advance for their earlier successes, Advance Guardian Heroes (2004) and Gunstar Super Heroes (2005). Treasure followed this with a series of licensed Bleach games for the Nintendo DS. Maegawa explained that his company experiences challenges in developing games based on licensed properties like Bleach, saying that the staff wants to be original but cannot detract too far from the source material and risk disappointing fans. By 2009, the company had 20-30 employees. |
Treasure (company) | 2010s | 2010s
The number of employees at Treasure had dropped to 16 by 2011. In a 2011 interview, Maegawa explained that Treasure now uses middleware to develop games, no longer using custom programming to push the hardware to their maximum levels. The company was also putting an increased focus on rereleasing their back catalog as downloadable games on the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live. Treasure has not released any new games since 2014 apart from re-releases of games like Ikaruga. |
Treasure (company) | 2020s | 2020s
On June 19, 2022, its 30th anniversary, Treasure announced it was working on a "highly requested" game. They had less than 10 staff by 2022. |
Treasure (company) | Staff and design philosophy | Staff and design philosophy
Treasure does not have a rigid hierarchy. Maegawa explained that Treasure operates differently from other companies by not assigning lead designers. While a project leader may create a project plan, most of the game design is done collaboratively between the programmers and artists. Most permanent employees and part-time contractors drift in and out of projects as required. Some individuals have been important figures in Treasure's history:
Masato Maegawa – Founder, company president, and lead producer on all games. He was programmer for some of the company's Genesis games.
Hideyuki Suganami – Programmer on Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Mischief Makers, and Sin and Punishment. Suganami has left the company but worked as a freelancer on Gunstar Super Heroes and Sin and Punishment: Star Successor.
Hiroshi Iuchi – Director for Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, and Gradius V
Mitsuru Yaida – Programmer for the Bangai-O games
Koichi Kimura - Director and Artist for Dynamite Headdy, McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, Stretch Panic, and Wario World
Tetsuhiko Kikuchi – Frequent artist and character designer. Led development of Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen, Guardian Heroes, Rakugaki Showtime and Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe.
Norio Hanzawa – Frequent composer
Yasushi Suzuki – Artist for Radiant Silvergun, Sin and Punishment, and Ikaruga
Treasure places emphasis on creating original games in the action, platform, and shooter genres. They do not have a preference on gaming platforms or 2D vs. 3D gameplay, preferring to choose the most suitable depending on the game they are designing. The company has never viewed sales as much of a concern. They would prefer making the games they want to make, and not what will more likely sell well. Maegawa has preferred to always keep the company small to keep an "independent-minded" mentality, and help the developers' personalities shine through their games.
They expressed disinterest in sequels early in their history, but became more open to it later. They pride themselves in creating original ideas and avoiding imitating other works or being associated with games already on the market. They have made games based on licensed properties to generate revenue to pursue original projects. Explaining the Treasure design philosophy, Maegawa said it "simply, to create the games we want to make" and "creating the things we love in the way we like." The company has generally employed around 20 to 30 people at any given time. |
Treasure (company) | Reputation | Reputation
Treasure was one of the most celebrated developers of the 16-bit era and grew a cult following during the period. USgamer called them "one of Japan's pioneering indie developers" and explained the "sense of integrity" in their 1990s work that was not seen in other games of the era. Maximum: The Video Game Magazine called them "one of the most respected programming houses in the world" in 1996. Gamers' Republic agreed in 1998, writing: "Any action or platform gamer worth his salt recognizes Treasure as one of the finest development houses in the world." In 2005, 1UP.com called Treasure "one of Japan's most famous independent development houses [...] releasing some of the most finely crafted, creative, and offbeat action games the world has ever seen." Treasure did not have any large commercial successes, which influenced Retro Gamer to describe their output as "critically acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful." Because of the loyal fan base but low sales, prices of Treasure games such as Rakugaki Showtime and Radiant Silvergun have climbed on the secondary market.
The company established a signature style early on that became consistent across their work. Their first game, Gunstar Heroes, established what 1UP.com called Treasure's key themes: "creativity, weirdness, and a tendency toward completely absurd levels of action." Wireframe called their style "fast, aggressive [...] featuring bold graphics and surreal dashes of humour." Retro Gamer wrote that they have "consistently excellent art direction" and are renowned for their "action-packed" and "explosive" gameplay. They explained that Treasure is "at the very cutting edge of artistic freedom, forging its own very particular path and creating a softography guided by nothing other than the whims of the creators." The company is known for taking risks within established genres, borrowing conventional ideas and adding their own creative touches to create something new and innovative. They became recognized for their prowess in 2D game design, with Gamers' Republic calling their output "the finest 2D platform games on the planet." Treasure is also known for technological innovation; several of their games pushed the hardware to their limits. |
Treasure (company) | Games developed | Games developed
Year Title Original platform(s) Co-developer1993Gunstar HeroesSega Genesis, Game GearM2 (GG)McDonald's Treasure Land AdventureSega Genesis1994Dynamite HeaddySega Genesis, Game Gear, Master SystemMinato Giken (GG / MS)Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō TōitsusenSega Genesis1995Alien SoldierLight Crusader1996Guardian HeroesSega Saturn1997Mischief MakersNintendo 64Silhouette MirageSega Saturn, PlayStation1998Radiant SilvergunArcade, Sega Saturn1999Rakugaki ShowtimePlayStationBangai-ONintendo 64, Dreamcast2000Sin and PunishmentNintendo 64, iQue PlayerNintendoSilpheed: The Lost PlanetPlayStation 2Game Arts2001Stretch Panic (Freak Out)IkarugaArcade, Dreamcast, GameCubeG.rev2002Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Bad DreamGame Boy Advance2003Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!Wario WorldGameCubeDragon Drive: D-Masters ShotAstro Boy: Omega FactorGame Boy AdvanceHitmaker2004Gradius VPlayStation 2G.revAdvance Guardian HeroesGame Boy Advance2005Gunstar Super Heroes2006Bleach: The Blade of FateNintendo DSSega Ages 2500 Vol. 25: Gunstar Heroes Treasure BoxPlayStation 2M22007Bleach: Dark SoulsNintendo DS2008Bangai-O SpiritsBleach: Versus CrusadeWii2009Sin & Punishment: Star SuccessorNintendo SPD2011Bangai-O HD: Missile FuryXbox 3602013Gaist CrusherNintendo 3DS2014Gaist Crusher God |
Treasure (company) | Cancelled games | Cancelled games
Gun Beat (Arcade, cancelled 2000)
Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe (GameCube & PlayStation 2, cancelled 2002) |
Treasure (company) | Notes | Notes |
Treasure (company) | References | References |
Treasure (company) | External links | External links
Category:Video game companies established in 1992
Category:Video game companies of Japan
Category:Amusement companies of Japan
Category:Konami
Category:Video game development companies
Category:Software companies based in Tokyo
Category:Japanese companies established in 1992 |
Treasure (company) | Table of Content | Short description, History, Origins and 16-bit era, 32-bit era, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, Staff and design philosophy, Reputation, Games developed, Cancelled games, Notes, References, External links |
Polka-mazurka | no footnotes | The polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurka example written by the Strauss family was in the year 1854 by Johann Strauss II, entitled La Viennoise op. 144.The polka-mazurka was not credited to the Strauss family alone, as many Viennese composers in the 1850s era also wrote many examples. This variant of the polka was seen as cross-cultural, as many of its influences can be seen in the French-polka with its feminine and deliberate steps as well as the exciting schnell-polka, where Eduard Strauss composed many famous pieces of this type. |
Polka-mazurka | Polka-mazurka music | Polka-mazurka music
Its tempo of 3 beats to the bar ( time) meant that it was similar in rhythm to the waltz, but the emphasis of the polka-mazurka was on the first beat of the bar as opposed to the waltz which places its beats on the last two as epitomised by the Viennese waltz with its heavily accentuated final two beats to the bar.
The polka-mazurka does possess a similar structure to the polka, with a main theme quickly proceeding to its subsidiary theme which is usually brash and loudly played. The 'trio' section is free-style and need not associate with the main theme nor of the same key signature. The Strauss family, Josef Strauss in particular, attempted in most of his famous polka-mazurkas to blend in sensitivity and romanticism, as can be heard in his pieces Sympathie op. 73, and Frauenherz op. 166, which were inspired by his concern for social issues faced by women in that era. |
Polka-mazurka | See also | See also
Polska -beat Nordic folk dance
Polonaise - slow dance of Polish origin, in time |
Polka-mazurka | References | References
https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/dances/polka/
http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.sm1882.03213/default.html
Category:Polka genres
Category:Mazurka
Category:Austrian styles of music |
Polka-mazurka | Table of Content | no footnotes, Polka-mazurka music, See also, References |
Mazurka | Short description | thumb|right|300px|Mazur rhythm.Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice, p.28. .
The Mazurka (Polish: mazurek) is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the second or third beat".Randel, D. M., Ed., The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1986 The Mazurka, alongside the polka dance, became popular at the ballrooms and salons of Europe in the 19th century, particularly through the notable works by Frédéric Chopin. The mazurka (in Polish mazur, the same word as the mazur) and mazurek (rural dance based on the mazur) are often confused in Western literature as the same musical form. |
Mazurka | History | History
The folk origins of the Mazurk are three Polish folk dances which are:
mazur, most characteristic due to its inconsistent rhythmic accents,
slow and melancholic kujawiak,
fast oberek.
The mazurka is always found to have either a triplet, trill, dotted eighth note (quaver) pair, or an ordinary eighth note pair before two quarter notes (crotchets). In the 19th century, the form became popular in many ballrooms in different parts of Europe.
"Mazurka" is a Polish word, it means a Masovian woman or girl. It is a feminine form of the word "Mazur", which — until the nineteenth century — denoted an inhabitant of Poland's Mazovia region (Masovians, formerly plural: Mazurzy). The similar word "Mazurek" is a diminutive and masculine form of "Mazur". In relation to dance, all these words (mazur, mazurek, mazurka) mean "a Mazovian dance". Apart from the ethnic name, the word mazurek refers to various terms in Polish, e.g. a cake, a bird and a popular surname.
Mazurek is also a rural dance identified by some as the oberek. It is said oberek is a danced variation of the sung mazurek, the latter also having more prominent accents on second and third beats and less fluent of a rhythmical flow, which is so characteristical of oberek.
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Several classical composers have written mazurkas, with the best known being the 59 composed by Frédéric Chopin for solo piano. In 1825, Maria Szymanowska wrote the largest collection of piano mazurkas published before Chopin. Henryk Wieniawski also wrote two for violin with piano (the popular "Obertas", Op. 19), Julian Cochran composed a collection of five mazurkas for solo piano and orchestra, and in the 1920s, Karol Szymanowski wrote a set of twenty for piano and finished his composing career with a final pair in 1934. Alexander Scriabin, who was at first conscious of being Chopin's follower, wrote 24 mazurkas.
Chopin first started composing mazurkas in 1824, reaching full maturity by 1830, the year of the November Uprising, a rebellion in Congress Poland against Russia. Chopin continued composing them until 1849, the year of his death. The stylistic and musical characteristics of his mazurkas differ from the traditional variety because Chopin in effect created a more complex type of mazurka, using classical techniques, including counterpoint and fugue.Charles Rosen, The Romantic Generation (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995) By including more chromaticism and harmony in the mazurkas, he made them more technically interesting than the traditional dances. Chopin also tried to compose his mazurkas in such a way that they could not be used for dancing, so as to distance them from the original form.
However, while Chopin changed some aspects of the original mazurka, he maintained others. His mazurkas, like the traditional dances, contain a great deal of repetition: repetition of certain measures or groups of measures; of entire sections; and of an initial theme.Jeffrey Kallberg, The problem of repetition and return in Chopin's mazurkas, Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 1988. The rhythm of his mazurkas also remains very similar to that of earlier mazurkas. However, Chopin also incorporated the rhythmic elements of the two other Polish forms mentioned above, the kujawiak and oberek; his mazurkas usually feature rhythms from more than one of these three forms (mazurek, kujawiak, and oberek). This use of rhythm suggests that Chopin tried to create a genre that had ties to the original form, but was still something new and different.
The mazurka began as a dance for either four or eight couples. Eventually, Michel Fokine created a female solo mazurka dance dominated by flying grandes jetés, alternating second and third arabesque positions, and split-leg climactic postures. |
Mazurka | Outside Poland | Outside Poland
The form was common as a popular dance in Europe and the United States in the mid to late nineteenth century. |
Mazurka | Cape Verde Islands | Cape Verde Islands
In Cape Verde the mazurka is also revered as an important cultural phenomenon played with acoustic bands led by a violinist and accompanied by guitarists.
It also takes a variation of the mazurka dance form and is found mostly in the north of the archipelago, mainly in São Nicolau, Santo Antão. In the south it finds popularity in the island of Brava. |
Mazurka | Czechia | Czechia
Czech composers Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and Bohuslav Martinů all wrote mazurkas to at least some extent. For Smetana and Martinů, these are single pieces (respectively, a Mazurka-Cappricio for piano and a Mazurka-Nocturne for a mixed string/wind quartet), whereas Dvořák composed a set of six mazurkas for piano, and a mazurka for violin and orchestra. |
Mazurka | France | France
In France, Impressionistic composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel both wrote mazurkas; Debussy's is a stand-alone piece, and Ravel's is part of a suite of an early work, La Parade. Jacques Offenbach included a mazurka in his ballet Gaîté Parisienne; Léo Delibes composed one which appears several times in the first act of his ballet Coppélia. The mazurka appears frequently in French traditional folk music. In the French Antilles, the mazurka has become an important style of dance and music.
A creolised version of the mazurka is mazouk which—beginning around 1979 in Paris—morphed into the globally popular dance style “zouk” developed in France and popularised by Paris's Island-creole supergroup Kassav'; mazouk had been introduced to the French Caribbean in the late 1800s. In the 21st century in Brazil and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, zouk (and its progenitor band Kassav') remains very popular. In popular 20th century folk dancing in France, the Polish/classical-piano (see Chopin) mazurka evolved into mazouk, a dance at a more gentle pace (without the traditional 'hop' step on the 3rd beat), fostering more-intimate dancing and associating mazouk with a "seduction" dance (see also tango from Argentina). This "sexy" style of mazurka has also been imported to “balfolk" dancing in Belgium and the Netherlands, hence the name "Belgian Mazurka" or "Flemish Mazurka". Perhaps the most enduring style of intimate dancing music of this origin moved zouk from the 1980s–2000s into its wildly popular (especially in Brazil and Africa) slow-dancing variant called zouk love, which remains a staple of French-Caribbean dance venues in Paris and elsewhere. |
Mazurka | Ireland | Ireland
Mazurkas constitute a distinctive part of the traditional dance music of County Donegal, Ireland. As a couple's dance, it is no longer popular. The Polish dance entered Ireland in the 1840s, but is not widely played outside of Donegal.Cooper, P. (1995). Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player. Mel Bay Publications, Inc.: Pacific, p. 76-80 Unlike the Polish mazurek, which may have an accent on the second or third beat of a bar, the Irish mazurka (masúrca in the Irish language) is consistently accented on the second beat, giving it a unique feel.Vallely, F. (1999). The Companion to Traditional Irish Music. New York University Press: New York, p. 231 Musician Caoimhín Mac Aoidh has written a book on the subject, From Mazovia to Meenbanad: The Donegal Mazurkas, in which the history of the musical and dance form is related. Mac Aoidh tracked down 32 different mazurkas as played in Ireland. |
Mazurka | Italy | Italy
Mazurkas are part of Italian popular music including the Liscio style. Typical of Italian mazurkas are groups of triplets, strong dotted rhythms, and phrase endings of two accented quarter notes and a rest, unlike a waltz. |
Mazurka | Brazil | Brazil
In Brazil, the composer Ernesto Nazareth wrote a Chopinesque mazurka called "Mercedes" in 1917. Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote a mazurka for classical guitar in a similar musical style to Polish mazurkas. |
Mazurka | Cuba | Cuba
In Cuba, composer Ernesto Lecuona wrote a piece titled Mazurka en Glisado for the piano, one of various commissions throughout his life. |
Mazurka | Nicaragua | Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, Carlos Mejía Godoy y los de Palacaguina and Los Soñadores de Saraguasca made a compilation of mazurkas from popular folk music, which are performed with a violin de talalate, an indigenous instrument from Nicaragua. |
Mazurka | Curaçao | Curaçao
In Curaçao the mazurka was popular as dance music in the nineteenth century, as well as in the first half of the twentieth century. Several Curaçao-born composers, such as Jan Gerard Palm, Joseph Sickman Corsen, Jacobo Palm, Rudolph Palm and Wim Statius Muller, have written mazurkas. |
Mazurka | Mexico | Mexico
In Mexico, composers Ricardo Castro and Manuel M Ponce wrote mazurkas for the piano in a Chopin fashion, eventually mixing elements of Mexican folk dances. |
Mazurka | Philippines | Philippines
In the Philippines, the mazurka is a popular form of traditional dance. The Mazurka Boholana is one well-known Filipino mazurka. |
Mazurka | Portugal | Portugal
In Portugal the mazurka became one of the most popular traditional European dances through the first years of the annual Andanças, a traditional dances festival held nearby Castelo de Vide. |
Mazurka | Russia | Russia
In Russia, many composers wrote mazurkas for solo piano: Scriabin (26), Balakirev (7), Tchaikovsky (6). Borodin wrote two in his Petite Suite for piano; Mikhail Glinka also wrote two, although one is a simplified version of Chopin's Mazurka No. 13. Tchaikovsky also included mazurkas in his scores for Swan Lake, Eugene Onegin, and Sleeping Beauty. Rachmaninoff's Morceaux de salon Op. 10 includes a Mazurka in D-flat major as its 7th piece. Prokofiev wrote a Mazurka for orchestra in his ballet Cinderella, which is also included in his Cinderella Suite No. 1.https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/31719/Cinderella-Suite-No-1-from-the-ballet--Sergei-Prokofiev/
The mazurka was a common dance at the balls of the Russian Empire and it is depicted in many Russian novels and films. In addition to its mention in Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina as well as in a protracted episode in War and Peace, the dance is prominently featured in Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons. Arkady reserves the mazurka for Madame Odintsov with whom he is falling in love. During Russian balls, it was danced elegantly and famously by the Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, the second-to-last tsarina of the Russian empire before its collapse in 1918. |
Mazurka | Sweden | Sweden
In Swedish folk music, the quaver or eight-note polska has a similar rhythm to the mazurka, and the two dances have a common origin. The international version of the mazurka was also introduced under that name during the nineteenth century. |
Mazurka | United States | United States
The mazurka survives in some old-time fiddle tunes, and also in early Cajun music, though it has largely fallen out of Cajun music now. In the Southern United States it was sometimes known as a "mazuka". Polish Mazurka was danced in upstate New York in the 1950s and 1960s (similarly to the krakowiak, millennium of Christianity) in Polish community centers or social clubs, which can be found throughout the US. The polka remains the best known dance of the Nation of Poland and its people and is regularly danced at weddings, dance halls and public events (e.g., summers outdoors, barn dances) in US.Racino, Julie Ann. (2014). Reflections on community integration in rural communities in upstate New York. Rome, NY: Community and Policy Studies. |
Mazurka | California | California
In addition to being part of the repertoire of Irish traditional music sessions, the mazurka has been played by a wide variety of cultural groups in California. The mazurka first came to Alta California during the Spanish period and danced among Californios. Later, the renowned guitarist Manuel Y. Ferrer, who was born in Baja California to Spanish parents and learned guitar from a Franciscan friar in Santa Barbara but made his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, arranged mazurkas for the guitar. During the early 20th century, the mazurka became part of the repertoire of Italian American musicians in San Francisco playing in the ballo liscio style. Pianist Sid LeProtti, an important Oakland-born early jazz musician on the west coast, stated that before jazz took off, he and other musicians in Barbary Coast clubs played mazurkas in addition to waltzes, two-steps, marches, polkas, and schottisches. One mazurka, played on harmonica, was collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell for the WPA California Folk Music Project in 1939 in Tuolumne County. |
Mazurka | See also | See also
Mazur (dance)
Bourrée
Fandango
Ländler
Mazurkas (Chopin)
Polish music
Polonaise (dance)
Polska (dance)
Waltz
Pols |
Mazurka | Notes | Notes |
Mazurka | Bibliography | Bibliography
Downes, Stephen. "Mazurka" Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 17 November 2009.
Kallberg, Jeffrey. "The problem of repetition and return in Chopin's mazurkas." Chopin Styles, ed. Jim Samson. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Kallberg, Jeffrey. "Chopin's Last Style." Journal of the American Musicological Society 38.2 (1985): 264–315.
Michałowski, Kornel, and Jim Samson. "Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek" Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 17 November 2009. (esp. section 6, "Formative Influences")
Milewski, Barbara. "Chopin's Mazurkas and the Myth of the Folk." 19th-Century Music 23.2 (1999): 113–35.
Rosen, Charles. The Romantic Generation. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Winokur, Roselyn M. "Chopin and the Mazurka". Diss. Sarah Lawrence College, 1974. |
Mazurka | External links | External links
history, description, costumes, music, sources
Mazurka within traditional dances of the County of Nice (France)
The Russian Mazurka
The Mazurka Project
*
'Vincent Campbell's Mazurka' as played by Vincent Campbell in Co. Donegal
Category:Dance forms in classical music
Category:Irish dances
Category:Music of Ireland
Category:Polish dances
Category:Triple time dances
Category:Culture of Masovian Voivodeship |
Mazurka | Table of Content | Short description, History, Outside Poland, Cape Verde Islands, Czechia, France, Ireland, Italy, Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, Curaçao, Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, United States, California, See also, Notes, Bibliography, External links |
Fierce Creatures | short description | Fierce Creatures is a 1997 farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, Fierce Creatures is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. Fierce Creatures was written by John Cleese and directed by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi. The film was dedicated to Gerald Durrell and Peter Cook. Some scenes were filmed at Jersey Zoo, a zoological park founded by Durrell. |
Fierce Creatures | Plot | Plot
Willa Weston arrives in Atlanta to take a high-ranking position in a company recently acquired by Octopus Inc.'s owner, Rod McCain. When he informs her he has already sold the company, she then agrees to run another recent acquisition, Marwood Zoo. She is to create a business model that can be used for multiple zoos in the future. Rod McCain's son Vincent, who is attracted to Willa, announces that he will join her at the zoo. The zoo's newly appointed director is a retired Hong Kong Police Force officer and former Octopus Television employee, Rollo Lee. To meet Octopus's revenue target of 20% from all assets, he institutes a "fierce creatures" theme. Believing dangerous and violent animals will attract more visitors, all animals not meeting those requirements must go.
All the animal keepers, including spider-handler Bugsy, try to change Rollo's mind. One such attempt involves getting him to kill some of the cutest animals himself, but Rollo sees through their prank and fakes the animals' extermination. He keeps the animals in his bedroom which later causes Willa and Vincent to believe he is having an orgy with female staff. Rollo discovers that several staff members are faking animal attack injuries. He fires several warning shots at those responsible and Reggie rushes in, believing that one of them is shot. Rollo then finds a visitor who has had a genuine accident but, not believing it is real, tastes her blood whilst loudly proclaiming that it is fake. Willa and Vincent, upon seeing this fiasco, demote Rollo to middle management. Vince even threatens to fire him if he does not cease his apparent activities with the female staff.
Vince covers both the zoo and animals alike with advertisements after garnering sponsors, dresses the staff in ridiculous outfits, and installs an artificial panda in one of the enclosures. His continued attempts to seduce Willa fail, while she comes to enjoy working at the zoo after connecting with a silverback gorilla. Willa finds herself attracted to Rollo after becoming fascinated by his apparent ability to attract multiple women. When he tries to discuss Vince's marketing plan, she suggests dinner, but she postpones when she remembers Rod is coming from Atlanta to discuss the running of the zoo.
Worried that the visit might be part of a plan to close the zoo, Rollo and the zookeepers bug Rod's hotel room to find out. Although the plan goes awry, they discover he wants to sell it to Japanese investors who'll turn it into a golf course. Also, he plans to have himself cryogenically frozen whenever he gets ill so Vince would never inherit anything. Discovering Vince has stolen sponsorship money he raised, Willa warns him to return it, or she will tell Rod. As Rollo attempts to work out how the theft can be traced, he and Willa finally kiss, just as Vince arrives to return the money. A confrontation then ensues as Willa, Rollo, Bugsy, and several others attempt to stop Vince from running off with the money.
Rod arrives just as Vince, who is holding a gun, is being subdued and announces the police are on their way to arrest him for stealing. Vince tries and fails to shoot his father, but then Bugsy takes the pistol and accidentally shoots Rod between the eyes. In the panic that follows, a plan emerges to fool Neville, Rod's business associate, and the arriving police. The keepers work together to dress Vince up as Rod, as he can imitate his father's accent fairly well. When they arrive, Vince (as Rod) tells them that he has rewritten the will, specifying that the zoo will become a trust for the caretakers while Vince will inherit everything else, and he asks all of them to be witnesses.
After signing the new will, Vince locks himself in a caretaker hut where they fake Rod's suicide. Although Neville becomes suspicious, he is left dumbstruck when he finds his boss's dead body in the hut. Now free, the zookeepers destroy the evidence of McCain's ownership. Vince becomes the new CEO of Octopus, while Willa and Rollo happily begin a new life together while continuing to run the zoo. |
Fierce Creatures | Cast | Cast
John Cleese as Rollo Lee (née Leach), the twin brother of Archie Leach, Cleese's character from A Fish Called Wanda.
Jamie Lee Curtis as Willa Weston
Kevin Kline as Rod McCain/Vince McCain
Michael Palin as Adrian 'Bugsy' Malone
Robert Lindsay as Sydney Lotterby
Ronnie Corbett as Reggie Sea Lions
Carey Lowell as Cub Felines
Bille Brown as Neville
Derek Griffiths as Gerry Ungulates
Maria Aitken as Di Harding
Cynthia Cleese as Pip Small Mammals
Richard Ridings as Hugh Primates
Gareth Hunt as Inspector Masefield
Tom Georgeson as Sealion Spectator
John Bardon as Sealion Spectator
Jack Davenport as Student Zoo Keeper |
Fierce Creatures | Production | Production
The movie was based on a sketch written by Palin and Terry Jones in 1967 for Comedy Playhouse about a zoo that is taken over by a man who just wants to stock it with dangerous animals. Cleese began writing the script in 1992 and shooting began on 15 May 1995. The first director was Robert Young who had previously made commercials with Cleese. The film was completed in August 1995 and previewed in November of that year. Palin recorded in his diary:
No shortage of laughter, and it was good and consistent too, right through the first 50 minutes of the movie. Then it began to sag as the plot became more convoluted and just about everything to do with Kevin’s Vince McCain character failed — especially exposing himself to the tiger. But there were good moments, well received, right up to the end.Palin p 390
Preview audiences expressed dissatisfaction with the ending, and in February 1996 the decision was made to reshoot the ending and some other sequences. These additional scenes could not be shot until August 1996 because of the availability of the cast, in particular Palin who was making Full Circle with Michael Palin. Corbett later recalled:
Filming Fierce Creatures was a struggle from the start. There is always a sort of gloom and a feeling of unease on a film set when the words are not quite right, and, in this case, there were too many good people in the film with not enough for them to do. It was difficult for the director Robert Young because everyone was coming up with new ideas all the time and trying to give him guidance... When it was first edited they realised that it was just not right at all.
Cleese and Johnstone worked on a new ending with William Goldman. The delay meant that director Robert Young was busy on pre-production for Jane Eyre, so Cleese hired Fred Schepisi, with whom he had been discussing making a version of Don Quixote. The reshoots took five weeks and cost $7 million. Schepisi claims he tried to get the producers to take out the opening 15 minutes, which was done for a test screening, but then some of this footage was put back in, which Schepisi thought killed the movie."Interview with Fred Schepisi", Signis, 22 December 1998 . signis.net. Retrieved 20 November 2012
Lindsay wrote in his memoirs: "Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, who are both fantastic people, had tough American lawyers and agents around them throughout the shoot and were able to dictate changes to their benefit and to our detriment." Corbett recalled that Schepisi "was full of confidence and imagination, but even then it didn’t really turn out right — which confirmed my theory that there is a limit to the amount of tweaking you can do on these occasions."
In November, Palin wrote: "Word is that the Monday screening and ‘focus group’ out on Long Island didn’t go well. Only 58% returned the good to very good. Fred [Schepisi] then edited out ten minutes that weren’t working and scores went up by 15% on the Wednesday screening. So, after all these years of time, energy, money and hard graft, FC looks likely to be a 90-minute quickie, its shape and content decided eventually by 20 people in Long Island. JC’s ‘message’ scenes — all his indignation at the system, his invective against the modem management style — have virtually disappeared."Palin p 422-423 When Palin saw the film in December he wrote "It’s a short film now — 93 minutes — stripped of all pretensions, and generally honed to comedy scenes that deliver good farce and well-hit one-liners. It’s a solid, aggressive piece of work. Kevin and Jamie attack; John defends well; and I’m quite sidelined, stuck amongst the keepers. The keepers collective in Fierce Creatures fulfils the same sort of role as Ken Pile in Wanda."Palin p 427 |
Fierce Creatures | Reception | Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 53% based on 32 reviews with an average rating of 5.58/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Fierce Creatures reunites A Fish Called Wanda'''s talented ensemble for a comedy that, while not without its moments, suffers from diminishing returns". Roger Ebert awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, and compared it unfavourably to A Fish Called Wanda, stating: "It lacks the hair-trigger timing, the headlong rush into comic illogic, that made Wanda so special."
The film grossed $9 million in the United States and Canada, £4 million ($7 million) in the United Kingdom and $24 million in the rest of the world, for a worldwide total of $40 million. Cleese has since stated that following up A Fish Called Wanda with a second film had been a mistake. When asked in 2008 by his friend, director and restaurant critic Michael Winner what he would do differently if he could live his life again, Cleese responded: "I wouldn't have married Alyce Faye Eichelberger and I wouldn't have made Fierce Creatures''."
According to Palin, Kline told him "the problem was that John is at his best when creating awful people (Fawlty, Otto, etc.) and least convincing when trying to write warm, friendly, decent ones (his own character as Archie in Wanda an exception). I think he’s right. John is happiest when he’s on the attack. And funniest too."Palin p 472 |
Fierce Creatures | References | References |
Fierce Creatures | Notes | Notes |
Fierce Creatures | External links | External links
Official website
Category:1997 films
Category:1997 comedy films
Category:British comedy films
Category:Films directed by Fred Schepisi
Category:Films directed by Robert Young
Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios
Category:Films with screenplays by John Cleese
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
Category:Films set in zoos
Category:1990s English-language films
Category:1990s British films |
Fierce Creatures | Table of Content | short description, Plot, Cast, Production, Reception, References, Notes, External links |
Polonaise | short description | thumb|Typical rhythm of a PolonaiseBlatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice, p.28. .
The polonaise (, ; , ) is a dance originating in Poland, and one of the five Polish national dances in time. The original Polish-language name of the dance is chodzony (), denoting a walking dance. It is one of the finest dances representing Poland's cultural dance tradition. The polonaise dance influenced European ballrooms, folk music and European classical music.
The polonaise has a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances share a common origin. Polska dance was introduced to Sweden during the period of the Vasa dynasty and the Polish–Swedish union.
The polonaise is a very popular dance uninterruptedly danced in Poland till today. It is the opening dance in all major official balls and events, at New Year's balls, on national days as well as various less official parties. The polonaise is always the first dance at a studniówka ("student ball"), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom that occurs approximately 100 days before exams, hence its name "studniówka" or literally in Polish "the ball of the hundred days".
In 2023, the dance was included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists being recognized as "a form of joint celebration", which "commemorates important moments in family and community life and symbolizes cooperation, reconciliation and equality." |
Polonaise | Influence of Polonaise in music | Influence of Polonaise in music
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The notation alla polacca ( means "polonaise") on a musical score indicates that the piece should be played with the rhythm and character of a polonaise. For example, the third movement of Beethoven's Triple Concerto op. 56, marked "Rondo alla polacca," the last movement in Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 2 is marked "Alla Polacca", his Horn Concertino likewise ends with a polka movement, and the finale of Chopin's Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" both feature this notation. In his book Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style, Leonard G. Ratner cites the fourth movement from Beethoven's Serenade in D major, Op. 8, marked "Allegretto alla Polacca," as a representative example of the polonaise dance topic (Ratner 1980, pp. 12–13).
Frédéric Chopin's polonaises are generally the best known of all polonaises in classical music. But there was a long tradition of polonaise in European music at least 100 years before Chopin. Händel wrote a famous one, and Wilhelm Fiedemann Bach wrote a number of beautiful ones in major minor pairs.Other composers who wrote polonaises or pieces in polonaise rhythm include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Danzi, Bernhard Henrik Crusell, Karol Kurpiński, Józef Elsner, Maria Agata Szymanowska, Henryk Wieniawski, Franz Schubert, Carl Maria von Weber, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johann Kaspar Mertz, Moritz Moszkowski, Modest Mussorgsky, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Scriabin.
Another more recent prolific polonaise composer was the American Edward Alexander MacDowell.
John Philip Sousa wrote the Presidential Polonaise, intended to keep visitors moving briskly through the White House receiving line. Sousa wrote it in 1886 after a suggestion from President Chester A. Arthur.Sousa: Marching Along, p.85 Integrity Press, 1994
Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, an adaption of Alexander Pushkin's novel in poetry verse, includes a famous polonaise. |
Polonaise | National dance | National dance
The polonaise is a Polish dance and is one of the five historic national dances of Poland.Polish Folk Music and Chopin's Muzurkas The others are the Mazur (Mazurka), Kujawiak, Krakowiak and Oberek. Polonaise originated as a peasant dance known under various names – chodzony ("pacer"), chmielowy ("hops"), pieszy ("walker") or wielki ("great"), recorded as early as the 15th century. In later centuries, it gained popularity among the urban population and the nobles.<ref>Roderyk Lange. Tradycyjny taniec ludowy w Polsce i jego przeobrażenia w czasie i przestrzeni. PUNO. 1978. p. 40.</ref>Selma Jeanne Cohen. International encyclopedia of dance: a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. Oxford University Press. 1998. p. 223. By the late 16th century, the folk versions of polonaise (accompanied by singing) were commonly danced by the lower Polish nobility, but the dance was not known under its current name until the 17th century. With time, it also became a favorite dance of the Polish aristocratic class and acquired an instrumental form.
Outside Poland
Polonaise in French courts
The polonaise was first introduced in the 17th century in French courts, although the form originated in Poland and was very popular throughout Europe. This dance in 3/4 metre was designed to entertain the French royal court. The term polonaise was used over the term polonez at the start of the 18th century.
Princess Anna Maria of Saxony
Princess Anna Maria of Saxony collected sheet music for polonaises throughout her life time, collecting over 350. Her collection was focused on the finest examples of instrumentation.
Maluku
The polones (from either the Dutch polonez, or possibly the Portuguese polonesa'') is a common feature of wedding receptions in Maluku. A loosely-defined group dance, it typically resembles a country dance or cèilidh, or in some cases a line dance. |
Polonaise | Gallery | Gallery |
Polonaise | See also | See also
Waltz
Mazurka
Varsovienne
Kujawiak
Krakowiak
Redowa
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements in Eastern Europe |
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