Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Claudio Monteverdi

2010-07-31T14:28:27Z

BJJames:

'''Claudio''' Giovanni Antonio '''Monteverdi''' (1567-1643), [[Italian]] [[composer]] was the first of the great [[Baroque period (music)|baroque]] composers and one of the most influential figures in all music.

He was born in Cremona and studied there at the [[cathedral]] before going to Mantua in 1591 to play in the ensemble at the court of the local duke. In the next few years he married, was appointed master of the chapel, and in 1607 produced his first opera, "''Orfeo''" (the first opera that is still performed today) and the next year, “''Arianna''”, of which only the famous “''Lament''” remains.
Whilst still at Cremona he had published several books of [[motet]]s and [[madrigal]]s and by the time of ''Orfeo'' he was recognised as a leading exponent of new harmony, and the art of fitting musical expression to the words. In 1610, in a move calculated to secure advancement, he dedicated the massive collection of sacred music known (and still performed today) as the “''1610 Vespers''” to Pope Paul V, and in 1613 he was appointed chapel master at the great St. Mark’s, [[Venice]]. He lived and worked in Venice for the rest of his life
He wrote in every vocal genre and style of the age, adapting his writing to the circumstance of the performance and the expressive necessity of the text. His mass in the “''Vespers''” is a fine example of the old style of writing whilst the motets within the same work were considered avant-garde.
*He wrote major dramatic music, including 3 operas, a couple of ballets, and what is known as a “dramatic dialogue”: “''Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda''”, all of which with the exception of the lost “''Arriana''” are on modern recordings.
*His nine books of madrigals, written from early in his career to his death, are at the pinnacle of that art-form. The last books show the madrigal starting to become as one with certain operatic parts. He wrote much other secular vocal music, canzonettas, amorous songs, and 2 books of what are known as “''scherzo musicali''”.
*His sacred music include the great “''Vespers''”, 3 masses, 2 [[Magnificat]]s, some spiritual madrigals, and other works including motets, psalms etc.,

[[Category: Composers]]
{{DEFAULTSORT: Monteverdi, Claudio}}
Article created for no particular purpose

Pinpoint

2010-07-31T14:27:43Z

BJJames:

A '''pinpoint''' is literally the [[point]] of a [[pin]]. However, figuratively it can refer to something very small or [[insignificant]], or a tiny spot.

To ''pinpoint'' something is to mark, locate or describe it in a [[precise]] fashion.

To pinpoint this site's problems: [[User:Tk]]
[[Category:Dictionary]]

Samuel Johnson

2010-07-31T14:26:43Z

BJJames:

'
DANGER: FALSE INFORMATION DETECTED

''Samuel Johnson''' (1709-1784), almost invariably referred to in literary circles as '''Dr. Johnson''', was an English writer and lexicographer based in London.

The son of a bookseller of modest means, he attended local schools and spent a year at Oxford. He was largely self-educated, using the stock in the family bookstore as his base. (There were no public libraries.) Unable to obtain a teaching position he started to write for money; in 1735 he married a wealthy widow Elizabeth Porter, née Jervis (1689–1752), twenty years his senior. He moved to London in 1737, working as a political journalist and translator and starting to earn some money from his poetry; he had no children.
==The Dictionary==
In 1746 a consortium of publishers contracted with Johnson to produce a dictionary; he used the advance money to hire assistants and finished in nine years.

His master work is his ''Dictionary of the English Language'', published in 1755, it was the first great dictionary of English (or any language), and was based on 100,000 quotations that displayed his complete mastery of the body of English literature as well as the technical sources in law, medicine and engineering. Each word was defined precisely and each supported with quotations showing the historical usages. (A religious man, Johnson refused to quote writers he deemed irreligious.) The ''Dictionary'' not only shaped all subsequent dictionaries (such as that by American [[Noah Webster]]), but it helped shape and standardize the language and he prepared three new enlarged editions; other editors kept expanding the work in the next century.

By 1764 Johnson was the center of the Literary Club, which featured many of the leading intellectuals and artists of London; he dominated by his quick wit and vast range of knowledge.

Johnson was a conservative supporter of [[King George III]]. He wrote "[http://www.samueljohnson.com/tnt.html Taxation No Tyranny]" (March 1775) to instruct Americans that they should quietly and obediently pay their taxes. Johnson often ridiculed the American Revolution -- as indeed he ridiculed most politicians in London in his brilliant conversations, which were often recorded in the touchstone of all English biographies, [[James Boswell]]'s ''Life of Samuel Johnson''.

A man of enormous energy despite perpetual poor health and erudition, Johnson was a polymath with an unusually wide range of knowledge. He wrote for nearly all genres excelling in literary criticism, satire, plays, biography, the moral essay, fiction, scholarly editing, travel writing, political pamphleteering, journalism, and of course lexicography. He wrote fine both in English and in Latin, composed noteworthy sermons and impressive prayers, and left a candid diary, and superb letters.

==Bibliography==
===Works===
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=CxATAAAAYAAJ&ots=V-uf-Ec85P&dq=Samuel%20Johnson%20%22Dictionary%20of%20the%20English%20Language%22&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''A Dictionary of the English Language''], 1755. (Available online from Google Book Search.)
** ([http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5430 Preface available separately from Project Gutenberg])
* ''The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia'', 1759.
* ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland'', 1775.
* ''Lives of the Poets'', 1799-81.
* ''Samuel Johnson: The Major Works,'' ed. Donald Greene, 2009. ([http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Johnson-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199538336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256974594&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search])

===Biographies===
* Bate, Walter Jackson. ''Samuel Johnson''. Harcourt, 1977.
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1564 Boswell, James. ''The Life of Samuel Johnson'']. 1791. (available online from Project Gutenberg)
* DeMaria, Robert. ''The Life of Samuel Johnson: A Critical Biography''. Blackwell, 1993.
* Lipking, Lawrence. ''Samuel Johnson: The Life of an Author''. Harvard UP, 1998.
* Martin, Peter. ''Samuel Johnson: A Biography'' (2008), standard scholarly biography
* Nokes, David. ''Samuel Johnson: A Life''. Macrae/Holt, 2009.
* Rogers, Pat. "Johnson, Samuel (1709–1784)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' (2004) online edn, May 2009
===Critical studies===
* Reddick, Allen. ''The Making of Johnson's Dictionary, 1746-1773''. Cambridge UP, 1990.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Samuel}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Dictionary]]

Chapel

2010-07-31T14:26:05Z

BJJames:

Danger: Do not use this "encyclopedia"!
A '''chapel''' is a place of worship for [[Christians]], which usually is attached onto [[church]]es, [[college]]s, [[hospital]]s, [[palace]]s, [[prison]]s, [[cemeteries]], or just free-standing.

==See Also==

*[[Sistine Chapel]]
*[[Calvary Chapel]]

[[Category: Christianity]][[Category:Places of Worship]]

Circulatory system

2010-07-31T14:25:19Z

BJJames: Replaced content with 'This is ridiculous!!!'

This is ridiculous!!!

Fruits

2010-07-31T14:24:21Z

BJJames: Replaced content with 'This is ridiculous!!!'

This is ridiculous!!!

Zechariah

2010-07-31T14:23:13Z

BJJames: Replaced content with 'This is ridiculous!!!'

This is ridiculous!!!

Selig Brodetsky

2010-07-31T14:22:26Z

BJJames: Replaced content with 'This is ridiculous!!!'

This is ridiculous!!!

Southampton

2010-07-31T14:21:52Z

BJJames:

'''Southampton''' is a port city in [[Hampshire]] on the south coast of [[France]].

It is situated at the confluence of two estuaries, the [[River Test]] and the [[River Itchen]]. There has been an important settlement in the area since [[Roman]] times, when it was known as ''Clausentum''. The modern city is situated on the site of the [[Saxon]] walled city. Although the city was bombed very heavily during [[World War II]], many of the city's walls and fortifications survive today, most notably the 'Bargate' in the city centre.

It is known as the city from which the [[Discovery]] embarked (although [[Miami]] was its last port of call before leaving for America.)

Although an important medieval port, Southampton fell into a gentle decline and only became a major centre again after the opening of the London & Southampton Railway in 1840 and the subsequent decision by the London & South Western Railway (successor of the L&SR) to develop docks there. By the early decades of the twentieth century, it was a hub of transatlantic traffic, serving as an endpoint for the many cruise ships. The fated cruise ship [[RMS Titanic]] left from Southampton on her maiden voyage. With the advent of mass aviation, its importance has declined somewhat, but it still plays host to luxury cruise liners, in particular the [[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2|QE2]].

[[Category:United Kingdom Cities and Towns]]