Beethoven Essays (714 words) - Age Of Enlightenment,

Beethoven BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827) The composer of some of the most influential pieces of music ever written, Ludwig van Beethoven created a bridge between the 18th-century classical period and the new beginnings of Romanticism. His greatest breakthroughs in composition came in his instrumental work, including his symphonies. Unlike his predecessor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for whom writing music seemed to come easily, Beethoven always struggled to perfect his work. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and was baptized on Dec. 17, 1770. (There is no record of his birth date.) His father and grandfather worked as court musicians in Bonn. Ludwig's father, a singer, gave him his early musical training. Although he had only meager academic schooling, he studied piano, violin, and French horn, and before he was 12 years old he became a court organist. Ludwig's first important teacher of composition was Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787 he studied briefly with Mozart, and five years later he left Bonn permanently and went to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn and later with Antonio Salieri. Beethoven's first public appearance in Vienna was on March 29, 1795, as a soloist in one of his piano concerti. Even before he left Bonn, he had developed a reputation for fine improvisatory performances. In Vienna young Beethoven soon had a long list of aristocratic patrons who loved music and were eager to help him. Onset of Deafness In the late 1700s Beethoven began to suffer from early symptoms of deafness. The cause of his disability is still uncertain. By 1802 Beethoven was convinced that the condition not only was permanent, but was getting progressively worse. He spent that summer in the country and wrote what has become known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. In the document, apparently intended for his two brothers, Beethoven expressed his humiliation and despair. For the rest of his life he searched for a cure, but by 1819 his deafness had become total. Afterward, in order to have conversations with his friends, Beethoven had them write down their questions and replied orally. Beethoven never married. Though he had many friends, he seemed to be a lonely man. He continued to appear in public but spent more and more of his time working on his compositions. He lived in various villages near Vienna and took long walks carrying sketchbooks in which he would write down his musical ideas. Scholars who have studied these sketchbooks have discovered the agonizingly long process that the composer went through in order to perfect his melodies, harmonies, and instrumentations. Three Periods of Work Most critics divide Beethoven's work into three general periods, omitting the earliest years of his apprenticeship in Bonn. Although some pieces do not fit exactly into the scheme, these divisions can be used to categorize the composer's work. The first period, from 1794 to about 1800, consists of music whose most salient features are typical of the classical era. The influence of such musicians as Mozart and Haydn is evident in Beethoven's early chamber music, as well as in his first two piano concerti and his first symphony. Beethoven added his own subtleties, including sudden changes of dynamics, but in general the music was well constructed and not far from the sensibilities of the classical period. The second period, from 1801 to 1814, includes much of Beethoven's improvisatory work. His Symphony No. 3, known as the Eroica, and the 'Fourth Piano Concerto' are fine examples of this period. The final period, from 1814 to the end of his life, is characterized by even wider ranges of harmony and counterpoint. The last string quartets contain some of the composer's most vivid new ideas. Beethoven created longer and more complicated forms of music. In his symphonies and string quartets, he often replaced the minuet movement with a livelier scherzo. He also used improvisatory techniques, with surprise rhythmic accents and other unexpected elements. Many critics and listeners regard Beethoven as the finest composer who ever lived. His music was unique and emotional. Never before had instrumental music been brought to such heights. He also made great strides with chamber music for piano, as well as for string quartets, trios, and sonatas. His works include nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, five piano concerti, 17 string quartets, ten sonatas for violin and piano, one opera ('Fidelio'), the 'Mass in C Major', 'Missa Solemnis', and other chamber music. Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827. His funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners. The bicentennial of his birth and the sesquicentennial of his death were celebrated with new performances and recordings of all of the master's works. Music

Understanding Chargebacks

Understanding Chargebacks We are all FFW readers for one reason: to make our writing career profitable. We seek answers to the big picture dilemmas. How much should I charge for my writing services? Where can I get good writing leads? Am I financially ready to scrap my day job? Unfortunately, many small details get lost among the bigger issues. One of those details is chargebacks. Understanding Chargebacks As a serious writer, you can learn about the chargeback process here. A general overview is this: a chargeback is a credit card refund initiated Chargebacks were originally created for consumer protection. For example, if a hacker stole your credit card and bought a million pairs of shoes, you aren’t responsible for the bill. However, this consumer protection has evolved into a form of fraud. Many people want something for free- and they use a chargeback to get it. How Chargebacks Affect Writers As a writer, your business model is different than a traditional merchant. However, if you process credit card payments, you are technically a merchant, and as vulnerable as any other business owner. Nearly all merchant processors, including PayPal, Square and similar companies, assess chargeback fees from $20 to $75 each. So if a client hits you with a chargeback in attempt to get your work for free, youve lost the expected money from the gig, fees were charged, and you sacrificed your writing. Bummer. Tips for Preventing Chargebacks First, try to deter fraudulent transactions from happening. 1) Only work for reputable clients. Do your research before agreeing to the deal. See if anyone has posted a scam report online. Review the clients website. Call the company and do a mini phone interview. Or, if the client has an office, drop 2) Have important conversations via email. To fight a chargeback, you need written documentation. Email is a great way to prove your case. 3) Draft an air-tight contract, sign it and make sure both parties have a copy. Next, provide outstanding customer service to prevent a client from claiming the quality of work wasn’t as expected. 1) Don’t accept more work than you can handle. 2) Promptly acknowledge all emails and phone calls. 3) Adhere to deadlines, or at least keep the client abreast of changes. 4) Provide a detailed invoice with the completed assignment. Fighting Chargebacks Fighting chargebacks to get your money back is quite difficult. That’s why prevention is so important. If you dispute a claim, provide written documentation (like your emails and contract). For example, you can use an email conversation to prove the writing was received on time. Also as a writer, you have one very valuable chargeback tool at your disposal that isn’t available to other business owners. The â€Å"products† you sell have copyright protection. Let’s say you wrote an article for an online magazine. The site owner published it, but never paid you. Technically, you own the copyright for that article until you’re paid. If this happens, you can contact the website’s host company and demand a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown. If the site owner doesn’t pay or remove the violating content, the site can be closed down. Therefore, when you draft your contract, add a line that says copyright transfers to the client upon payment in full. This simple phrase could help prevent the client from filing a chargeback (and will expedite a DMCA takedown, if needed). Implementing chargeback prevention strategies now can prevent you losing a lot of money down the road.

Oceans And Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oceans And Climate Change - Essay Example The paper clearly shows that Ocean Current is a constant movement of ocean water, towards a particular direction, and is generated by forces such as the wind, salinity, temperature etc. The Gulf Stream is a strong, narrow, warm, fast-moving and swift ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico or North of Grand Bahamas Island, where the Florida Current and the Antilles Current meet and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Equatorial Current is the ocean current which is controlled by the winds and flows towards the West near the equator. The Labrador Current can be described as a cold current, flowing south from the Arctic Oceans along the coast of Labrador passing from Newfoundland. It continues flowing south and along the eastern coast of Nova Scotia. The warm water of the tropic region is carried into the colder regions through the Ocean Currents. During this traveling, their heat is escaped into the atmosphere. One such example could be the coast of California. The flow along the coast of California helps the cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean. This is the reason why the beaches along this coast do not have warm water even in the summers. The wind then takes this cool temperature towards the land and as a result, the coast of California has a temperature range of about 50-75 degree Fahrenheit throughout the year. The understanding of these oceans currents and their effects help in determining the possible changes to the global climate and their possible impact on the people.

How could human cloning harm or benefit us Essay

How could human cloning harm or benefit us - Essay Example As there are different types of people living in the world, their perspective for the concept of cloning is also varied and based on different religions, demographics and the social aspects. Body The human cloning is a phrase that is used to describe the artificial ways of cloning human being such as human clones as the identical twins that came into existence as a natural reproductive process. This type of cloning is known as embryo cloning. In scientific field, cloning has three different types. The three types of cloning are termed as therapeutic cloning, reproductive cloning and embryo cloning. The first type of cloning or therapeutic cloning is highly used in the world of cloning that consists of adult cell cloning that is used for further research in the field. The second type of cloning is reproductive cloning that is entirely based on the reproduction of clones with the use of human cells. The various countries of the world have different perspective of accepting or declining the concept of human cloning. There are some countries that are willing to accept the concept of embryonic cloning, although, they are against the reproductive human cloning and involves India, China, England and Singapore. Nevertheless, there are few countries in the world that have directly and strictly prohibit the practicing and research of embryonic cloning and include Australia, Brazil, Germany, France and Mexico. In U.S. albeit the embryonic cloning is not prohibited, however, there are few states that have made it illegal and against the law. Moreover, the financial support from the federal department for the purpose of cloning research is also entirely banned. For that purpose, a bill was also proposed in the United States but was not passed that aimed to restrict the American citizen to travel other countries for the purpose of getting stem cell treatments with the help of embryo cloning. It has been seen that the cost of research of cloning just on animals in quite expen sive, thus makes it double or triple time costlier for the human cloning. It is because of the reason that scientists and researchers are mostly working on animal cloning extensively and various types of cloning studies are conducting on different animals including monkeys and frog cells. In the field of cloning and biotechnology, the researchers of United States and Europe have made the highest contribution when compared with the other countries. According to a cloning research in 2009, the American heart Association has provided the financial support for researching animal cloning, human DNA sequence and cell lines. In 2007, American state of California undertook a voting process where residents voted in favor of embryo cloning and even made the funds for the further research in the field. it is due to those people and most particularly the Californian scientists that the concept of human cloning gain momentum. The idea of opening up the human cloning clinics in Chicago was initia ted by the scientist Richard seed in 1998. He planned to open up almost twenty clinics in the country and other six clinics on the international grounds. Each country and its citizens have their own set of beliefs and reasons as to why the concept of human cloning must be accepted and promoted and why it should be banned and prohibited entirely. The most common reason is related to the ethics that promotes the banning of human cloning because in the beginning, the human cloning

MONEY AND BANKING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MONEY AND BANKING - Essay Example e pursuit of individual advantage stimulates the country by rewarding the ingenuity by using the powers bestowed by nature to enhance efficient distribution of labour (Agur 2008, p. 67-69). The country should specialize of efficient production of goods. The balanced trade ensures high standards of living. The interventions by the government distorting the market incentives may be unambiguously harmful. The tariffs limiting the trade may prevent the benefits exchanges. The trade balance means that losses are as a result of the displacement of people by imports (Agur 2008, p. 67-69). A country should also ensure flexible exchange rates in order to prevent the decline of the currency relative to the trade surplus currency from other countries. Regulating the exchange rates ensures that imports are more expensive to reduce the demand on imports. Also, exports should be at relatively low prices to foreigners so as to increase the demand for exports. The country should also aim at maintain ing the purchasing power parity and balanced trade (Agur 2008, p. 67-69). Part 2 The Foreign exchange markets are involved with the transactions for national currencies. The existent of such markets is influenced by the incorporation of the national currencies to the economy. In the world, the economy uses different currencies hence the need for the foreign exchange markets. Foreign exchange market is an example of exchange normally used in the international currencies decentralized globally. The financial centers around the world act as anchors for trade between different kinds of buyers and sellers. The foreign exchange markets influence relative value for the different currencies. The parties involved in the exchange markets buy another currency using quantity of another currency... From an economic view, trade deficits characterize poor economies. Most of the countries experiencing trade deficits are involved in consistent borrowing from other countries. Borrowing is not among the viable strategies in businesses. Labour unions consider trade deficits as key contributors to unemployment and it that it undermines the future production. The pursuit of individual advantage stimulates the country by rewarding the ingenuity by using the powers bestowed by nature to enhance efficient distribution of labour. The Foreign exchange markets are involved with the transactions for national currencies. The existent of such markets is influenced by the incorporation of the national currencies to the economy. In the world, the economy uses different currencies hence the need for the foreign exchange markets. Foreign exchange market is an example of exchange normally used in the international currencies decentralized globally. The financial centers around the world act as anchors for trade between different kinds of buyers and sellers. The stance of the monetary policies in industrialized countries has been inconsistent in bringing the value of foreign exchange currency back to its average value. This assumes the depreciation of the policies on the exchange currencies. The restriction of intervention in influencing the value of the exchange currency and the policy on intervention was consistent with the macro economy needs, and this led to the increased conflicts between the monetary policy stance and the use of intervention.

Contrasting Edmund Burke And Jean Jacque Rousseau Politics Essay

Contrasting Edmund Burke And Jean Jacque Rousseau Politics Essay Two of the most influential political philosophers of the 18th century were Edmund Burke and Jean-Jacque Rousseau. That is not to say that the two men shared the same philosophical views, however; in fact, it could be argued that they were on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, with Burke on the right and Rousseau to the left. A classic example that showed the differing opinions among the two was the French Revolution. Burke was not in favor of the revolution because he maintained that it would disrupt the traditions of France that hold the country together. Rousseau, on the other hand, was a hero of the revolution because he championed liberty and the idea that the people should be in control on how they should be governed. It is amazing to think that two philosophers, having very different perspectives on politics, can both be influential during the same time period. One of the core aspects of Jean-Jacque Rousseaus philosophy was what man was like in the state of nature. In the Second Discourse, Rousseau explained that people were equal and free going back tens of thousands of years because there was no real societal organization to speak of. Since life was centralized on hunting and gathering food, people were, for the most part, equal in terms of societal stature. People were relatively free because no one had to answer to a higher authority, with the family structure being the only exception. Since people were free and equal, they were innocent and individualistic in nature. There were no outside forces that had a corruptive effect on people and there was no reason for groups of people to band together to form a society. According to Rousseau, the development of reason and private property rights ruined equality and freedom because they lead to the few dominating the many. As populations started to grow, there was a greater need for more socie tal hierarchy due to the complex nature of communities, thus less freedom and more inequality. Even though society today believes that reason is a positive thing, Rousseau insisted that progress brought the worst out in people. Rousseau was not necessarily arguing in favor of going back to the time of early humans per se. He knew that society was a point of no return, so he had to be somewhat practical. What he was arguing was to return to the roots of equality and freedom as much as practically possible. The way to achieve that goal politically, Rousseau argued in the Social Contract for a political system that put most of the power in the hands of the people and not the elites. Rousseau was a contract theorist, which meant that he believed that government should only operate with the consent of the people that it is governing. What set him apart from the other contract theorists was that he coined the term general will. What Rousseau meant was that all men should sacrifice their own individual power in order to give way to what he called the general will. In other words, all men give up some of their freedom in order to what is best for the society as a whole. The thing that is not so clear is the mechanism in finding out what the general will is. For example, is it the compilation of the opinions of individuals or is it something that is even greater than public opinion, such as having to understand human nature? Being that there were conflicting issues that faced Rousseaus politic al philosophy, he kept on falling back on the idea of radical democracy. Since Rousseau was so distrustful of political institutions in general, he felt that people should always have a seat at the table when it came to determining policy. With that being said, it would seem that Rousseau was not in favor of having a republican form of government. Instead, as noted before, he was more in favor of a radical democracy. For this reason, he was a hero of the French Revolution. The revolutionaries read Rousseaus work and were inspired to take action against the monarchy, even though Rousseau was not even alive when the revolution started. Abiding by the slogan of Liberty, equality, and fraternity! during the duration of the revolution, the revolutionaries took the cue from Rousseaus political philosophy. The practicality question enters the conversation again, however, when talking about Rousseaus radical democracy. Is it even possible for a country to function properly with every citizen participating? At what point would moving towards a representative government be too far for Rousseau? It would be interesting to find out the answers of these questions from Rousseau himself because he was more of a practical thinker than some people give him credit for. Rousseaus political philosophy would seem to be paradoxical when you think about it, which is why the interpretation of his work is still being debating to this day. Edmund Burke is widely regarded as the founder of the modern conservative ideology. Although he did not believe in adhering to abstract principles when governing, his body of work clearly showed that he valued tradition and stability above all else. Similar to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, nature played a significant role for Burke when developing his political philosophy. Burke wrote that there are two natures. The first nature refers to: the idea that people love their families and that family provides a certain amount of stability and continuity, and that people are more comfortable with what is familiar to them. Burkes second nature refers to the acquired opinions that people accumulate throughout their lives, such as habits and customs. According to Burke, the second nature is what cements society because it provides the traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. As societies and times change, people should always hold on to the traditions that are passed down becau se they form the foundation of stability. Another plank in Burkes political philosophy is practicality. He did not believe that you can run a society based on abstract philosophy because it is not grounded in reality of the current situation. Rather, he was a pragmatist who looked at issues on their face value and tried to come up with solutions that fitted the time. That is not so say that he did not have any values, however. As noted before, he was a big believer in tradition and stability. Burke just argued that overarching philosophies cannot be applied the same in every circumstance because each circumstance has its own unique qualities. Burke is famous for his criticism of the French Revolution in Reflections on the Revolution in France. He was against the revolution because he believed that it would have destroyed Frances great traditions and that the theory and practicality behind the revolution were not sustainable. Burke did not agree with the revolutionists belief that government is created to protect the natural rights of individuals. Instead, he insisted that government was there as a stabilizing force so that people could live comfortably. Also, Burke believed that culture and tradition are more worthy in being protected than natural rights of individuals because they are much more long-lasting. Another problem that Burke had with the French Revolution was the idea that society can be formed from scratch. Burke asserted that societies cannot simply start over from scratch because he believed that leaders make prudent decisions based on the conditions that are in front of them. Installing a new political regime, in Burkes point of view, is not all that practical. With that being said, Burke was not a contract theorist because contract theory provides that a new society can be created by man. Rather, he saw society as an invisible link that connected generations to each other, carrying with it the established customs and institutions. These lasting institutions should be protected and respected due to the fact that they survived, thus showing their adaptability to changing times. It can certainly be argued that Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke had very different views when it came to their political philosophies. Rousseau was in favor of radical democracy and did not trust societal institutions, while Burke valued tradition and stability above everything else. However, there are commonalities that the two did share. One is that both of them believed that times change, so adhering to rigid ideologies was not the wisest thing to do. Rousseau admitted that early man practices were outdated, so he was not so stubborn to strictly stick to that belief system. He did believe that the themes of equality and freedom that was present during the days of early man were everlasting enough to still be applied to his present day. Burke also acknowledged that the world does not sit still. Even though he strongly believed that tradition and stability had to be protected, he knew that life moves on. The reason why he argued for the respect for traditions and institutions that have endured several generations is due to the fact that they showed their adaptability during changing times. Related to the two mens shared view of not sticking to a rigid ideology, Rousseau and Burke both had nuanced political philosophies; neither of their philosophies were black and white. Rousseaus philosophy was so nuanced that it could be considered contradicting, as noted before. In the Social Contract, he famously said, Man was born free and everywhere he is in chains. But later on in the same work he argued for the general will and that sometimes men must be forced to be free. One could make the case that he was a libertarian, while another could equally claim that he was a totalitarian. Burke was nuanced to a lesser extent than Rousseau, but nuanced nonetheless. He knew that holding on to the past can only go so far, which is why he asserted that while times does go on, it is still important to carry on the traditions and culture that were passed on by previous generations. An interesting thing to note about Burke is that he was in favor of the American Revolution. This goes to show that he was not against all revolutions, again showing his nuanced approach to politics. The reason why he supported the American Revolution is because the colonists were not creating a society from scratch. The colonists, descendants of England, were committed to English ideas and principles. The only difference was that they wanted to a free and independent nation. The French revolutionaries, on the other hand, were hell-bent on creating a whole new political paradigm. As far as my opinion is concerned, I think that both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke contributed significantly to the field of political philosophy. Even though they had different thoughts on how government should operate, both of them had valid points. I agree with Rousseau that people should have a say in the way that they should be governed because history has shown that democracies have been the most peaceful form of government and it seems to be the most fair system (at least so far). But I agree with Burke as far as remembering your societys history and culture because you would not be where you are in life if it wasnt for previous generations. I also concur with Burke that society should not change too quickly, as it might cause instability that might do more harm than good. It turns out that I am quite nuanced with my approach to political philosophy, just as Rousseau and Burke were.

Lao-tzu: The Moderation Of Rule Essay -- essays research papers

Ruling a country effectively is executed through a variety of methods. Lao-Tzu, a follower of Taoism, expresses his belief on the most efficient way to govern. "The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be. The more subsidies you have, the less self-reliant people will be" (25). This quote from Lao-Tzu can be interpreted many different ways. The author discusses what he feels the role of a leader should be, the restrictions and the privileges that should be given to the people. There are various views on this particular passage even among Americans. Lao-Tzu feels that taking action in order to make people feel safer and ensure their well being will actually be detrimental; although I agree with Lao-Tzu's tactics, most Americans hold differentiating views.The more restrictions you place on a people, the less moral the people will be. Americans encounter this on a daily basis. American society was founded upon and is enraptured by rebellion. The early American colonists revolted against the English government. The more laws and restrictions the King would place on them the more they would rebel and fight. When the American people feel oppressed by any law or prohibition set forth by the government the people will challenge it in an effort to change it. America is one of the only countries where its people actually believe they can make a difference and change what they feel is not righ...