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source: GreshamCollege 2011年12月6日
A series of free public lectures on the Mathematics behind Sport, marking the approach to the 2012 London Olympics. For further information about this on-going series of free public lectures, please visit the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lectures are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
1 1:01:55 Maths and Sport: How Fast Can Usain Bolt Run?
How can Usain Bolt improve his world 100 metres sprint record significantly without improving his speed? How fast should he be able to run? We will also examine the mechanics of sprinting and the effects of wind assistance, timing accuracy, and altitude on sprint times and look at the status of the long-standing women's sprint world records set by the late Florence Griffiths Joyner ('Flo-Jo') in 1988. 2 1:02:28 Maths and Sport: Strength and Power
Top athletes seem to get bigger and bigger. How does size affect performance? Why do some sports have weight categories while others don't? What types of lever are employed in sports events like gymnastics and wrestling and how much force does a karate blow need to exert to break a brick? These are some of the questions that we will answer by using simple maths.
3 1:02:11 Maths and Sport: Records, Medals and Drug Taking
We examine the striking patterns between world record performances in different sports and ask what events an ambitious nation should target as the 'easiest' in which to win Olympic medals. How does Olympic success correlate with a nation's GNP? How does the location of the Olympics affect the chance of record breaking? And how can simple statistics help us understand the likelihood of winning streaks and the chance that an innocent athlete will fail a drugs test?
4 1:08:20 Mathematics and Sport: Let's Twist Again
Throwing things, and jumping up and down or along, lies at the root of many Olympic events. In the gymnasium, the velodrome, and the diving pool we also see the key role of rotation in dramatic displays of strength and speed. What light does simple maths shed on these movements and the stress they place on equipment and the human body? Why do high jumpers use the Fosbury flop and long jumpers cycle in the air? How high can rugby players jump in the line out? These are a few of the questions that maths can help us answer.
5 1:00:38 Mathematics and Sport: On the Waterfront
What can maths tells us about the best way to rig a rowing eight? Does a cox help or hinder a racing boat? How does the speed of a kayak or a canoe depend on the number of paddlers? And what if you fall in -- can maths tell us anything about the best way to swim? 6 1:11:33 Mathematics and Sport: Final Score
Why are there so many different scoring systems in operation in sport? We look at how structuring matches into a series of sets affects the relative roles of luck and skill in determining the winner of the contest. Did table tennis make a significant change to the game when it changed its scoring system? We also look at events like the decathlon where points are awarded for performances in different disciplines to see what sort of decathlete is most likely to win given the present points system. 7 55:22 Can You Do Mathematics In A Crowd?
We all find ourselves in crowds every so often. Whilst human behaviour in general can be very hard to predict, it is possible, to a certain extent, to predict the behaviour of large numbers of people in a crowd. In this lecture I will explain the mathematics behind herding and flocking and will use this to shed some insight into how crowds of people behave. I will then show how this is helpful for the designers of sports stadia, the police, the home office and even retail stores.
source: GreshamCollege 2011年9月22日 Empire has been the defining world experience of the modern era. Already in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European powers put their stamp on the Americas. After the decline of the old pre-industrial empires in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, new empires arose, as Europe raced ahead of the rest of the world in terms of economic and military power. In 1800, Europe and its colonies and ex-colonies covered just over half the land surface of the world; by 1914 this proportion had increased to nearly 85 per cent. By the Second World War, the only major inhabited areas of the world that had never been under European rule were China, Ethiopia, Japan, Mongolia, Persia, Siam, and Tibet. Yet within little more than thirty years, these great global empires had almost all collapsed, and by the end of the twentieth century, all that was left were a few isolated and fragmentary colonial possessions. This series of six lectures examines the rise and fall of the great European empires in a transnational and comparative framework, taking in not only the British and French experience but also that of other major and minor European colonial powers such as Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Russia and Spain. The lectures conclude with a discussion of the impact of empire and imperialism in the twenty-first century. For access to all of Gresham College's 1,000 online archive of free public lectures, please visit the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk The transcript and downloadable versions of the lectures are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
1 1:01:20 Empire In The Pre-Industrial World
The first lecture in the series looks at the initial expansion of Europe, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. It explores the great empires established by the British, Dutch, French, Ottomans, Portuguese, Russians and Spanish, and looks at their origins, their growth, and their mutual rivalries. It examines how these empires were ruled, the role of slavery in their establishment and administration, and their impact on the peoples they colonized. To a degree these were 'mercantilist empires', extending European patterns of control to overseas territories and confining them to a particular, limited role as recipients of European manufactures and providers of raw materials on which to base it. Trade restrictions imposed by the colonizing powers were increasingly resented by emerging colonial elites. Most of the pre-industrial European empires collapsed with startling suddenness in the half-century from the mid-1770s to the mid-1820s, and the lecture concludes with a discussion of why this happened, and what remained afterwards. 2 56:48 Formal and Informal Empire in the 19th Century
From the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the 1880s, British industrial might and British command of the oceans underpinned the 'imperialism of free trade', in which economic interests of various kinds were paramount. In the industrial era, the major non-European empires, notably the Chinese, Japanese and Mughal states, failed to keep pace with this expansion of European influence, and the lecture discusses the reasons for this failure. New European empires emerged following the collapse of the old, and gradually European states found themselves intentionally or otherwise involved in converting economic and trading interests into imperial administration. Existing centres of European settlement and economic penetration, from Canada and South Africa to India and Algeria, generated a further impetus towards imperial expansion, driven by settlers' interests in trade, labour exploitation or security. 3 58:53 The Scramble for Africa
In the early 1880s, informal imperial expansion gave way to formal imperial acquisitions. Between this point and the outbreak of the First World War, more colonial territory was acquired by European states than in the previous three-quarters of a century. New states entered the business of imperialism, notably Belgium, Germany and Italy. So fierce was the competition that in 1884 an international congress was held in Berlin to establish demarcation lines between the new colonial possessions. The 'Scramble for Africa' extended in fact to other parts of the globe and brought in new possessions in Asia, North Africa and the Pacific. Many explanations have been advanced for this sudden expansion of empire, ranging from changes in the European economy to the rise of European nationalism, from the need perceived by some European statesmen to provide an outlet for popular discontent at home to the exploitation of colonial issues by Bismarck for diplomatic purposes. This lecture analyses the process of partition and assesses the best way to explain it. 4 55:47 Empire: From Conquest to Control
From the 1880s through to the First World War, European empires slowly imposed their control on the territories that in many cases existed merely on paper. This lecture asks how and why European powers embarked on this trajectory.
Often, occupation became effective through a long series of colonial wars and conflicts. Sometimes, as in the case of the German war against the Herero in South-west Africa in 1905-06, imperial violence reached genocidal proportions. In others, as in the British wars with the Maori in New Zealand, or the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1896, the colonizing power was unable to impose full control or was even repulsed by military defeat.
Different varieties of colony emerged, ranging from those where European settlement overwhelmed indigenous societies, as in Australia, to those where a small number of European traders, missionaries and administrators attempted to rule a vastly greater number of indigenous inhabitants, as in India or the colonies of West Africa.
5 1:00:28 The History of Empire: Exploitation And Resistance
This lecture looks at the impact of empire on the colonizers and the colonized.
In Europe, ideologies of imperialism emerged, increasingly mingled with racism. These had a material effect on the attitudes of political elites that helped push Europe towards war in 1914.
Critics of imperialism argued that colonies were crucial mainly to ensure the continued existence of capitalist economies. Economic exploitation was indeed a key part of imperial rule, as settlers grabbed land to farm, merchants, traders and planters sought profits in commodities such as rubber and coffee, and state administrators tried to minimize the costs of running the colonies by turning them into profitable enterprises. In many cases, notoriously the Belgian Congo, this led to horrific acts of cruelty against indigenous people conscripted as labourers.
At the same time, economic imperatives led to attempts to develop the colonies, to provide a transport infrastructure, and to train and educate indigenous elites to meet modern economic needs. This sowed the seeds of later movements of national resistance and liberation.
European empires, re-divided after the defeat of Germany in 1918, continued to expand after the First World War, reaching their greatest extent in the early 1940s. The imperial ambitions of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany created new empires that turned out to be very short-lived. With the emergence of the Cold War came a bipolar world dominated by two anti-colonial powers, the USA and USSR. Nationalism in the colonies grew apace, spurred by the loss of imperial legitimacy through the genocidal rule of Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe. Other European powers now began to feel that empire was unjustifiable following an immensely costly war that ended with human rights being enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Japanese rule over many European colonies in the Pacific severed ties with the imperial power and destroyed the legitimacy of empire. Once one major colony, such as India, gained independence, the momentum for others to follow became unstoppable. The lecture concludes by examining the legacy of empire in a post-colonial world. Have we escaped its influence or is it still with us?
source: GreshamCollege 2012年4月26日
A series of lectures given at a day-long conference, discussing modern art's engagement with theology. Full details about the conference (and the series of lectures leading up to it) can be found on the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
1 58:40 The Desublimation Of Modern Art: A Theological Task - Professor Ben Quash
Professor Ben Quash questions the place of 'the sublime', as defined by Immanuel Kant, in contemporary Christian art.
2 51:04 Modern Art: The Art Of Modern Life? - Professor George Pattison
Professor George Pattison examines a number of works in light of Baudelaire's definitive description of "the painter of modern life'', and considers the potential implications of such a definition on modern theological art.
3 54:19 A Sense Of The Sacred: Art and Architecture - Professor Frances Spalding
By exploring the architecture, stained glass windows and art installations of a variety of religious buildings, Frances Spalding shows the numerous ways in which ideas of 'the sacred' have been realised. Buildings covered include Lincoln Cathedral, Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral and Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut.
4 1:02:09 Marching to an Antique Drum? - Contemporary Christian Art - Roger Wagner
Artist Roger Wagner offers an overview of his own career and perspectives on the pressures faced by a modern Christian artist. He details the influence of artists such as Giorgio de Chirico and TS Eliot on his work, as well as his resistance to what Robert Hughes has called "institutional modernism".
5 52:24 Is There A God-Shaped Hole In Contemporary Art? - Jonathan Koestlé-Cate
Is there, as Allan Doig suggests, "a God-shaped hole in the middle of modern art"? Should contemporary church commissions meet criteria of accessibility, aesthetic quality and clear Christian symbolism? Should non-believers be commissioned to produce Christian art? Dr Jonathan Koestlé-Cate offers some answers to these questions.
6 44:22 Thinking Theologically About Modern Art - Discussion
At the end of the conference, 'Thinking Theologically About Modern Art', the speakers review issues raised by the proceeding talks.
1 55:17 Culture and Resistance: Indigenous Responses to a Globalised World - Michael Walling
This lecture looks at the place occupied by indigenous cultures in today's globalised world.
At a time when the world is confronted with economic insecurity, ecological instability and endemic cultural dilution, Michael Walling points towards alternative approaches to living which embody the struggle for physical and cultural survival in the face of environmental insecurity, corporate aggression and the criminalization of indigenous lifestyles and social protests.
The lecture explores some of the ways in which indigenous artists are drawing off their rich cultural inheritances to confront and resist the global concerns facing us today.
Many composers have been influenced by birdsong. Mozart treasured the songs of his pet starling, even giving the bird a ceremonial funeral. David Matthews, one of Britain's leading composers, has always been interested in the incorporation of the natural world into his music, recently even including birdsong in some recent compositions. This lecture offers an opportunity for reflection on the relations between music and the natural world and how a composer can be brought closer to one through the other and vice versa.
We can think of world-leading Australians in sport (Don Bradman), media ownership (Rupert Murdoch) and film (Nicole Kidman). In music, some great performers come to mind, especially female singers (Nellie Melba, Joan Sutherland). But how many people can even name an Australian composer? In his Gresham Lecture, Malcolm Gillies probes this elusive category of greatness. Percy Grainger (1882-1961), the composer of Country Gardens, is often mentioned as a contender. But, despite his birth, was he really Australian, was he primarily a composer, and what was so great about him, anyway?
4 59:19 Nga Reo o te Whenua (Voices of the Land): Traditional Maori Instruments and Music - Richard Nunns
In his solo presentation of traditional instruments (taonga puoro), Richard Nunns introduces his audience to the ancient sound world of the Mäori of Aotearoa New Zealand. For each presentation he chooses from among fifty different instruments - mainly percussion or flutes and trumpets. Made from materials such as wood, bone, stone and shell, many of the instruments are carved in exquisite detail.
The voices of the traditional instruments had rarely been heard since the early nineteenth century. Nunns's musicality and facility in playing the instruments are underpinned by his extensive scholarship and research. In a report of a recent workshop, Tewe Eru (Tuwharetoa) said "It's sad that so much of this traditional knowledge has been lost to us, so I'm here to learn. Richard is an encyclopaedia and I can't get enough of it!"
This presentation is interwoven with stories about the instruments and their functions within the rituals and ceremonies of a traditional community.
5 58:19 Berlioz's Requiem: The Grande Messe des Morts and the Absence of God - David Cairns
David Cairns delivers this lecture on Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts Op. 5 (Requiem), ahead of the City of London Festival performance of the piece by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir Colin Davis, which took place at St. Paul's Cathedral.
6 50:03 Resetting the Human Compass: The Use and Value of the Arts - Sir Andrew Motion
How might the arts help 'reset' the direction of the human compass in our difficult times? Is an instrumentalist approach to the arts and culture ever a good thing? Knighted for his services to literature and Poet Laureate from 1999 -- 2009, Sir Andrew Motion proposes answers to these questions, with reference to his own education as well as poems by Alice Oswald, Seamus Heaney and William Wordsworth. 7 44:55 The Lost World of 1962 - Dominic Sandbrook
In this lecture, Dominic Sandbrook, the acclaimed historian of Sixties Britain, marks the 50th anniversary of the City of London Festival by looking back at Britain in 1962. Fifty years on, the Britain of Harold Macmillan, Acker Bilk, Jimmy Greaves and James Hanratty feels like a vanished world. But was life back then really so different? 8 36:13 Human Livelihoods Depend on Wild Flowers: Kew's Millennium Seed Bank explained - Dr Robert Probin
In this talk Dr Robin Probert explains why human livelihoods depend so much on wild plant diversity. He outlines the current threats to wild plants across the globe and how Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership works to conserve plants and make seeds available for habitat repair, re-introduction and research. Current work in the UK that aims to restore wildflower meadows and other threatened habitats is also highlighted. 9 48:40 Trading Places and Travelling: Musical Legacies of the Hanseatic League - Dr Geoffrey Webber
The cities of Northern Europe developed their trading links with our own City of London. An important by product of their economic success was the flowering of culture in all these cities and their attraction of talent from other places. 10 53:44 The Plane Forest: Does the City have the right trees? - Hugh Johnson OBE
The City of London actively seeks to make the most of its green spaces and plant trees wherever possible. But does it plant the right sort of trees? What are the right sort of trees? 11 49:43 Poetry Of War: A lecture and reading by Gillian Clarke
Poet Gillian Clarke has responded through her writing to many of the world's wars and troubles -- for this special event she will read from her own work and that of war poets such as Wilfred Owen. 12 59:22 London-Derry Connections: The early years, 1613-1640 - Dr Ian Archer
How did the City of London come to be involved in the Irish plantation? How well did the City discharge its obligations as colonial entrepreneurs on behalf of the English crown? Why did Charles I seek to confiscate the City's holdings in the 1630s?
In this lecture Dr Ian Archer, a historian of early modern London, explores the early years of the Londonderry plantation, showing the reluctance with which the Londoners took it on, but suggesting that they made the best of a difficult job. It brings out the challenges of colonial development and shows how the project soured relations between the City and the Stuart crown, the confiscation proving to be a major element in the breakdown of the regime in the 1640s. 13 47:03 The Tree of Life - Dr Richard Chartres
Illuminating one of the City of London Festival's main themes, the Bishop of London will explore trees as spiritual, mystical and religious symbols of faith and life. 14 58:03 Stravinsky, Britten and the Lure of the Classical Past - Professor Jonathan Cross
Professor Cross examines the themes of metamorphosis and other classical myths in music. 15 53:04 Treaty-Making and International Relations - Professor Jack Spence OBE
Professor Spence will explore the impact of the Treaty of Utrecht - 300 years after its creation - and other major treaties, and of the role of diplomacy. 16 47:33 Faith in Women - Reverend Lucy Winkett This talk examines the changing role of women and girls in the music and ministry of the Anglican Church: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Walk into any church or cathedral today and you might hear women singing, preaching, praying publicly. In a society where the relevance of the church is constantly questioned, has this change made any difference and does it matter? 17 42:53 Britain's Relations with Korea: A Personal View - Sir Thomas Harris KBE CMG
Sir Thomas Harris speaks frankly about the trials and triumphs of his time as British Ambassador to South Korea, painting a vivid picture of his service, the relationship between the nations and of the South Korean life too: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Sir Thomas Harris has a long and distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service, but nothing tested his skills more than the years he spent as British Ambassador to South Korea. In this lecture he reflects upon Britain's relations with Korea and gives a personal, but very learned, view of this key partner. 18 57:31 The Science of Singing - Professor David Howard Applying modern scientific analysis to the human voice has opened exciting new avenues of teaching, expression and healthcare: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Singing affects us all in some way, but what is the science behind it? Discover the science that explains how singers can gain a wide pitch range, greater volume and sing in different styles. 19 40:11 The History of the Bowler Hat - Timothy Long
At times the Bowler hat has been ubiquitous, but how did the invention of two milliner brothers come to be so closely associated with British identity?: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
An icon long associated with the City of London, the unmistakable bowler hat was an essential part of every City worker's uniform. By the 1950s, businessmen wouldn't be seen in the Square Mile without one. Timothy Long, Curator of Fashion & Decorative Arts at the Museum of London, explores the history of this fascinating hat.
20 [private video] 21 58:49 Sir Christopher Wren and the Rebuilding of the City Churches - Dr Anthony Geraghty How did Sir Christopher Wren rebuild the City Churches?: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
In this lecture, Anthony Geraghty will reveal how Sir Christopher Wren went about rebuilding over fifty churches in the decades after the Great Fire. He will describe the several factors - economic, political, religious, aesthetic - that shaped the appearance of these much-loved buildings. 22 55:59 Replanning London after the Second World War - Peter Larkham How do you rebuild one of the world's largest cities? You need a cunning plan: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
London was, during the Second World War, the largest and most obvious target, and the most badly-bombed city in the country. Ideas about rebuilding began very early, even during the Blitz itself. The number, scale and variety of plans was large, ranging from the “informal” – produced by individuals, and probably more for promoting themselves than as serious contributions, and a range of organisations – to the “formal”, produced by Borough Councils and other authorities, by their own staff or eminent consultants. Central Government was also involved, in urging some authorities to make plans, in recommending consultants, and in commissioning large-scale plans.
The hierarchy of official plans (for the City, County and Greater London) were the culmination of ideas about city structure, function and design, as well as approaches to planning, that had been developing before the war. They were hugely influential elsewhere in Britain and, through various forms of promotion, elsewhere in the world. This talk will explore the range of plans, what was proposed, and the gap between proposals and what was eventually – often years or decades later – actually built. 23 54:28 The Benefits of Singing in a Choir - Professor Paul Welch
The benefits of singing in a choir are many and various. In particular, there are positive physical outcomes and mental health benefits.
These are related to improved cardiovascular fitness (including lung function), as well as improved mood and general alertness, often allied to a feeling of being spiritually uplifted. Because singing involves many different areas of the brain acting in concert, there are often associated cognitive benefits, such as improvements in children’s reading ability that are linked to increased auditory discrimination that supports phonological development.
There are also social and psychosocial benefits, as singing in a collective can improve participants’ sense of belonging and of being socially included by engendering a positive sense of community. Benefits are available across the lifespan and are indicated pre-birth in the final months of foetal life. At the other end of the lifespan, singing can bring a stronger and more positive sense of identity in a context where there is often a sense of loss of control due to the challenges of aging. There are also musical and cultural benefits as participants gain skills, knowledge and understanding of the nature and place of music in their lives and the lives of others. 24 39:24 The History of Street Performance - Dr Paul Simpson
A discussion of the history of busking and street music in the City of London: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Drawing on a range of historic sources – including selections from Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor and Charles Babbage's Passages in the Life of a Philosopher – particular focus will be given to the way in which various residents of the City responded to the ‘street music problem’ of Victorian London. This is by far the most heavily documented period in the history of busking and street music in the City. The street music ‘problem’ emerged in light of the growing middle and literary classes and the disruption the presence such street musicians caused to the quiet tenor of their home-working lives.
The debates that occurred here – which involved notable figures such as Charles Dickens, Charles Leech, and Charles Babbage – resulted in the development of the Street Music Act of 1864 and paved the way for much of the subsequent legislative control of street musicians in the City. The debates about street performances in London in this period shed light on the present-day situation of busking and street music in the City. 25 44:36 Singapore at 50: Oil and Water, Inextricably Mixed - Lord Oxburgh
What lessons should the world learn about resource management from one of the most densely populated cities in the world: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Modern civilization depends on both energy and water. The world is facing crises in the availability of both. Water is needed to produce energy and energy is needed to process and move water. Different countries address their challenges in different ways and with different degrees of urgency – Singapore shows how a small and densely populated island can successfully balance the needs of people and environment
Globally the energy challenge is to meet the needs of a growing world population while burning less fossil fuel. The water challenge is to meet the needs of agriculture, industry and people, while leaving sufficient for the other kinds of life on earth. Lord Oxburgh, previously Chairman of the British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and Chairman of Shell UK, is a recipient of Singapore's Honorary Citizen Award.
source: GreshamCollege 2012年8月16日
A conference to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Claude Debussy (1862-1918): an international symposium centred on the links between Claude Debussy and the literary and visual arts. The event focuses on the works of Debussy, his texts and the ideas behind them. The full conference is available on the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lectures are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
1 9:47 Introduction to the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas'
Paul Archbold, Richard Langham Smith and Helen Abbott introduce the conference on 'Debussy: Text and Ideas'. 2 35:30 Debussy and the Independent Art Bookshop - Denis Herlin In July 1893, a score for voice and piano of Debussy's La Damoiselle élue was published, with a decorative cover illustrated by Maurice Denis. The publisher of this editorial masterpiece was not, however, part of the music publishing world. It was published, in fact, by the composer and occultist Edmond Bailly, who owned a small bookshop at 11 rue de la Chaussée d'Antin in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Between 1890 and 1895, Bailly published all the authors of the Symbolist generation, including Henry de Régnier, André Gide, Pierre Louÿs, Paul Claudel, and even Oscar Wilde in the form of the French version of Salomé. The bookshop was also a place of exchange and Debussy frequented the place regularly. Poets, illustrators and musicians met there towards the end of each afternoon to discuss art. Such a convergence the arts in the unique environment that was the Librairie de l'Art indépendant could not help but permeate and deeply enrich Debussy's work. In August 1893, the composer began to write Pelléas et Mélisande. It seems, therefore, that the atmosphere of the Librairie de l'Art indépendant had a significant impact on the birth of Debussy's major masterpiece. 3 29:42 Resonances of Baudelaire in Debussy's Piano Music - Roy Howat
Roy Howat considers two Debussy piano pieces, "Les sons et les parfums" of 1910 and "Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon" of 1917, whose titles come from within Baudelaire poems Debussy set in 1889 ('Le balcon' and 'Harmonie du soir'). Like 'Clair de lune' and 'La fille aux cheveux de lin' (two piano pieces that directly share their title with one of his earlier songs), they are musically quite independent of the associated songs, yet invite exploration of whatever subtler relationships they may bear to these particularly structured poems of Baudelaire's, sometimes via other Debussy works. 4 22:45 Reflections on the New Edition of Debussy's 'Pelléas et Mélisande' - Professor David Grayson
Critical editing must of necessity concern itself with facts, many thousands of them, but the edition that is its object must be based on an understanding of the work itself, an understanding that may evolve during the editorial process. In this lecture, Professor David Grayson discusses some of the insights gained from preparing a critical edition of Pelléas. 5 23:00 Maeterlinck's Golaud: Between Shakespearean 'Sadism' and Emersonian Disquiet - François de Médicis
As title roles of both Maurice Maeterlinck's play and Claude Debussy's opera, Pelléas and Mélisande tend to monopolize the spotlight in most commentary. Nonetheless, major studies have demonstrated the centrality of Golaud and the unusual dramatic function of the violence he deploys, which Professor de Medicis explores in this lecture. 6 33:38 'Secrets and Lies' or the Truth about Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande - Katherine Bergeron
Katherine Bergeron focuses her attention on the last act of Pelléas. The narrative incongruities that surface in the unbroken final scene become the basis for a broader exploration of the question of truth (la vérité) that the opera itself raises. 7 25:42 Debussy, Banville and the Problem with Fixed-Form Poems - Dr David Evans
The influence of French poet Théodore de Banville (1823-1891) on Debussy is generally thought to have been limited to the early years of the composer's development. Yet by composing his Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans (1908) and Trois Ballades de François Villon (1910), after setting a further two of Charles d'Orléans' Rondels in the Trois Chansons de France (1904), Debussy was quite clearly following in the footsteps of his early poetic hero. Dr David Evans offers an analysis of Debussy's Villon and Orléans settings read in relation to Banville's Trente-six Ballades à la manière de François Villon (1873) and Rondels à la manière de Charles d'Orléans (1875). For Debussy, Dr Evans suggests, these songs' inventive use of fixed form poems allowed him to explore the aesthetic tension between past and future, tradition and innovation, novelty and cliché, inviting us to reflect on where, precisely, 'genuine' music is to be heard in the early years of the twentieth century. 8 22:19 Verlaine's poetry performed through Debussy's musical sounds: 'Spleen' in Text and Song
Dr Mylène Dubiau-Feuillerac argues that Debussy was attracted to Paul Verlaine's poems because of their innovative character and the writer's attempt at "dislocating the poetry" in a more sonorous way than the text might represent. The last melody of the Ariettes oubliées (1903), 'Spleen', is an example of this essential intertwining of idea and structure of text with musical composition. 9 28:31 The Literary and Musical Genesis of Debussy's Fêtes Galantes, série 2 - Professor Marie Rolf
Three manuscript sources for the second series of Debussy's Fêtes Galantes are known today. Two of them, each containing music for all three songs, are housed in the Département de la musique at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. A third manuscript, of an early version of "Colloque sentimental," is preserved in the Frederick R. Koch Collection at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Close study of these documents raises the possibility that Debussy was not originally planning a group of Verlaine's Fêtes Galantes at all, as he lists a poem entitled "Crépuscule du soir" on one of the manuscripts.
Professor Rolf suggests some conceivable poetic sources for Debussy's projected setting of "Crépuscule du soir" and then demonstrates why the composer might have aborted his initial concept. This study posits a chronology for the three songs that ultimately comprise Fêtes Galantes, série 2, based on both extrinsic and intrinsic musical evidence, and takes into account the early setting of "Colloque sentimental" as well. The compositional genesis of this collection reflects the process of Debussy's sublimation of his former Wagnerian tendencies and the emergence of a new compositional direction, one that parallels the dawn of a new poetic movement. 10 40:25 Claude Debussy Concert - Sophie Bevan (soprano) and Sebastian Wybrew (piano)
A recital of the songs of Claude Debussy, by Alumni of the Royal College of Music: Sophie Bevan (soprano) and Sebastian Wybrew (piano). Pieces performed, with the poets used for the text by Debussy, include the following:
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842--1898)
Apparition
Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
Soupir
Placet futile
Éventail
Paul Verlaine (1844--1896)
Fêtes galantes I
En sourdine
Fantoches
Clair de lune
Mandoline
Paul Bourget (1852--1935)
Deux romances
Romance
Les Cloches
Charles Baudelaire (1821--1867) from Cinq Poèmes de Ch. Baudelaire
Le Jet d'eau
Harmonie du soir 11 27:18 Text, Gesture and Performance in Debussy's 'Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé'
Debussy's "Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé" (1913) are among the relatively infrequent instances of musical settings of Mallarmé's poetry. Following Jankélévitch on Debussy and a host of critics on Mallarmé, Professor Joseph Acquisto argues that these poems and songs comment on communicating the ineffable. 12 29:37 Singing Debussy's setting of 'Le Jet d'eau' by Baudelaire - Professor Helen Abbott
According to some scholars, Baudelaire's 'Le Jet d'eau' may originally have been written in conjunction with the chansonnier Pierre Dupont as a form of popular song. Whilst no record of any music by Dupont for this poem survives, this lecture sets out to examine what textual features of the poem seem to make it particularly 'settable' to music. It explores what happens when Baudelaire's poetry is sounded out as music through song performance, especially in the 1889 setting by Debussy, but also engaging with the two other nineteenth-century settings of this poem by Maurice Rollinat and Gustave Charpentier. 13 22:20 'Time-full' Interiors: Debussy, Fête galante and the Salon of Marguerite de Saint-Marceaux
The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed a resurgence of French interest in the Rococo period, especially in its decorative art and ornamental furnishings. Eighteenth-century fêtes galantes paintings held a special fascination; these artworks depicted such refined pursuits of elegant high society as gallant conversation and masquerade in intimate parkland settings. Claude Debussy's L'Isle joyeuse for piano (1903--4) is representative of this vogue, being inspired by Antoine Watteau's archetypal fête galante painting of 1718--19, L'Embarquement pour Cythère. Its avant-première was given in the salon of Marguerite de Saint-Marceaux on Friday 13 January 1905. Emma Adlard argues that these are all expressions of a 'private', eternal present, thereby challenging a conventional understanding of modernism as largely 'public' and progressive. 14 51:59 Le Diable dans le beffroi (1902-1912?): The reconstruction of Debussy's 'other' Poe opera
In August 1903, Debussy wrote a scenario in one act and two tableaux based on Poe's 'tale of mystery and imagination', The Devil in the Belfry (1839). He planned this as a double bill with The Fall of the House of Usher (also from 1839), selling the rights to their joint premieres to the New York Met in 1908.
This joint paper by Robert Orledge and Stephen Wyatt discusses the problems involved in producing a fast-moving, clear and dramatically viable professional libretto from what is, in effect, a discarded text, as well as those involved in setting this to music from the sketches Debussy left (but which included a complete Prelude to the first tableau from a 'spot the composer' competition in the journal Musica from January 1905). 15 36:00 Debussy and the Acte en vers - Professor Richard Langham Smith
Until recently Debussy's heritage has been skewed by our lack of knowledge of his youthful compositions. The revelation of Diane au bois is an important step forward in rebalancing our knowledge of his mature work with his youthful preoccupations. However, like many of Debussy's works, its genre is too readily defined as a 'cantata'. Examination of the sources and context of Banville's 'comédie' reveals the work as potentially dramatic, an 'acte en vers' which in turn inspired a tribute in a similar form by Stéphane Mallarmé.
This lecture examines some musical aspects of Diane au bois and the ways in which its dramatic form was developed in subsequent works, particularly the two operas Rodrigue et Chimène and Pelléas. It also adds some observations to the discussion of its relationship to Debussy's Faune and to the wider context of Debussy's Hellenistic interests, too often overshadowed by the umbrella terms 'Impressionism' and 'Symbolism'. 16 30:00 Debussy's Wave: Debussy, Hokusai and La Mer - Dr Mary Breatnach
The first edition of La Mer (published by Durand in 1905) had on its cover a picture of a wave. The image refers unmistakeably to Hokusai's 'The Wave' and constitutes an act of homage paid by a composer to an artist whose work he revered. Rather than using Hokusai's work to illustrate his own, Debussy chose to present an interpretation that, in significant ways, enabled him to reach over and transcend traditional boundaries. Dr Breatnach suggests that his purpose in using this image was, at least in part, to prepare his audience for an unprecedented aural experience. 17 30:10 Debussy, the 'Song Triptych', and fin-de-siècle Visual Culture - Dr David Code
Debussy composed eight sets of three songs between 1891 and 1913. Containing almost all the mélodies of these years, the series tracks his development from post-Wagnerian maturity to 'late' style. While we have several fine readings of individual songs, the distinctive 'triptych' form of the Debussyan 'song cycle' has received little analytical attention.
In this lecture, Dr Code takes a fresh look at the various kinds of textual and musical unity on view in this distinctly Debussyan form. He begins with a contextual glance into visual culture of the time, which saw a striking revival of interest in painted and printed triptychs. Then, in testing how such 'painterly' orientation can qualify our sense of multi-part literary and musical form, he outlines an allegorical reading of Debussy's whole series of song triptychs as an evolving response to the pressures of modernist music historiography. 18 31:08 Debussy and Movement in Space: Listening to the Music of Arabesques and Passing Breezes
Manuela Toscano argues that Debussy's 'songe musical' is inspired by the music of winds, breezes, swirls, wavering and floating in arabesques. This celebration of movement as élan vital shapes a constellation of aesthetic values which are expressed both in his music and in some of his writings.
19 [private video]
source: Лекториум 2013年7月16日 Планируется, что основная часть материала будет понятна САМЫМ МАЛЕНЬКИМ, начиная с 1-го или 2-го курса, но должна быть новой и интересной и для взрослых, включая аспирантов. Спецкурс будет посвящен комбинаторной задаче покрытия областей в кристаллографических решетках --- ну, например, шахматной доски любой формы и любого размера --- костяшками домино или другими подобными фигурами. Будет рассказан полный ответ на задачу о существовании такого покрытия, и для нескольких важнейших примеров доказаны формулы о количестве таких покрытий. Несмотря на элементарность самих задач, их решение послужит поводом увидеть в действии огромное количество разделов алгебры (начиная с линейной алгебры, комбинаторной теории групп, базисов Гребнера,...) и топологии. В действительности, эта тема теснейшим образом связана с важнейшими моделями статистической физики и имеет нетривиальные взаимодействия со многими другими разделами математики, в частности с теорией вероятности или теорией сложности вычислений, о чем также будет упомянуто. Про многомерные и неэвклидовы обобщения известно довольно мало, так что простор для самостоятельной исследовательской работы и компьютерных экспериментов здесь огромен.Информация о курсе. Подписывайтесь на канал: https://www.lektorium.tv/ZJA Следите за новостями: https://vk.com/openlektorium https://www.facebook.com/openlektorium
source: Лекториум 2013年6月16日 Это первая часть годового курса о вычислениях.Курс дает ответы на такие вопросы: Что такое алгоритм? Что такое эффективный алгоритм? Что такое доказательство? Как доказать, что нет алгоритма, который решит данную задачу? Как доказать, что что-то нельзя доказать? Как понять, что нет эффективного алгоритма для данной задачи? Что такое сложность объекта? Из курса можно узнать, что такое вычислимые функции, арифметическая иерархия, колмогоровская сложность, классы P, NP, PSPACE и пр., полиномиальная иерархия, схемная сложность, сложность с ограничением по памяти и многие другие интересные вещи.страница курса на сайте Computer Science Center Подписывайтесь на канал: https://www.lektorium.tv/ZJA Следите за новостями: https://vk.com/openlektorium https://www.facebook.com/openlektorium
source: Лекториум 2013年6月16日 Курс ставит перед собой следующие цели: Познакомить слушателей с принципами построения систем хранения данных. Показать распространенные проблемы и варианты их решения. Дать навыки оценки готовых реализаций и работы с ними. страница курса на сайте Computer Science Center Подписывайтесь на канал: https://www.lektorium.tv/ZJA Следите за новостями: https://vk.com/openlektorium https://www.facebook.com/openlektorium
source: Лекториум 2013年7月16日 Курс знакомит со сложностью вероятностных вычислений и теоретическими основами криптографии. Мы изучим вероятностные классы сложности и основные приемы, которые используются для анализа и построения вероятностных алгоритмов, узнаем, что такое интерактивные протоколы, игры Артура и Мерлина, докажем знаменитую теорему Шамира IP=PSPACE, обсудим классы задач подсчета, поговорим о вероятностно проверяемых доказательства и PCP-теореме. В криптографической части курса мы поговорим об односторонних функциях, генераторах псевдослучайных чисел, протоколах с открытым и публичным ключом, привязке к биту и о доказательствах с нулевым разглашением. Формально курс является продолжением курса Основы вычислимости и теории сложности, но на лекции приглашаются все желающие. Рекомендуется иметь представление о следующих понятиях: машины Тьюринга (детерминированные и недетерминированные), классы P, NP, PSPACE, NP-полнота, полиномиальная иерархия, булевы схемы. Все определения будут напоминаться по просьбе слушателей. Литература: S. Arora, B. Barak, Computational Complexity: A modern approach. Ch. Papadimitriou, Computational Complexity. O. Goldreich, Foundations of cryptography. Н.К. Верещагин, Конспект лекций по теоретико-сложностным проблемам криптографии. Подписывайтесь на канал: https://www.lektorium.tv/ZJA Следите за новостями: https://vk.com/openlektorium https://www.facebook.com/openlektorium
