Porgy and Bess Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Porgy and Bess - Term Paper Example In this sense, because opera brings together most or all forms of art, it has been said to be a blend of all the arts. Other aids used in the performance of operas are costume design, constructed and painted sets and lighting. Props in the form of arts or objects are also used in many operas GERSHWIN, & WIMMER, (1999). There are two genres of opera are grand opera and comic opera. Grand opera grew out of the seria tradition of the Italian dramatic stage. This seria later evolved to become the Italian dramatic opera of the 18th Century. In grand opera, most of the text is set to music. It is usually a serious, tragic kind of opera. Opera Seria is usually based on a classical subject and is distinguished from the other form of opera by its far-reaching use of aria da capo and the recitative. The other form of opera is comic opera. Comic opera consists of spoken dialogue, a humorous plot and typically has a happy ending. It is a diverting kind of opera or operetta. Opera comique or oper a bouffe are other names for this kind of opera. These two categories are used to differentiate most of the operas written before the 20th Century. Operas written today can be said to be written free style. This is because they are often written in whichever style the composer sees as appropriate. They, however, contain many of the elements of their predecessors. Opera in America has been performed since the 1700s. Opera houses have been in cities such as New Orleans, New York, San Franscisco and Boston since the 1800s. As Broadway evolved in the early 1900s, opera composers started to integrate elements of musical theater into their works, therefore, blurring the lines between opera and Broadway. George Gershwin was born in 1898. He started working with his lyricist brother, Ira, as a songwriter. They composed such songs as "Our Love Is Here ToStay" and â€Å"They Can’t Take That Away From Me.† The Gershwins found their musical home on Broadway. Their best-known work, Porgy and Bess, has continued to be one of the frequently performed opera productions in American. Porgy and Bess is full of elements from spiritual songs, jazz and work songs that are incorporated alongside traditional operatic recitatives and aria. Scott Joplin was a well-known composer of jazz music and ragtime. He also wrote opera.Treemonisha was his maing composition. It incoporates ragtima and jazz influences and also contains several traditional opera elements. Gian Carlo Menotti was one of the most prolific opera composers of the 20th Century who aimed at bringing opera to the different media outlets. His first work written for radio was The Old Maid and the Thief. His Christmas classic, Ahmal and the Night Visitors, was composed for NBC-TV, where it premiered in 1951. Several of his operas, including The Medium, The Consul and The Telephone, have been performed on Broadway. Menoti also created the Spoleto Festival that takes place in Italy and in Charleston, South Carolina every year. Kurt Weill was a German-born immigrant. He was one of the most versatile composers of the 20th century’s. Kurt Weill created unique works which had jazz influences. Many of these works also contained dance elements. While maintaining his own original style in his compositions, Weill experienced great success both in Europe and on Broadway as an opera composer. He is most popularly known for Street Scene which was an adaptation of Elmer Rices's novel about life in New York City. It played in Broadway for

Taiwan-China Conflict and Resolution Research Paper

Taiwan-China Conflict and Resolution - Research Paper Example China was fragment after the fall of Qing dynasty and civil war followed (Myers 1) in 1915. In this condition, the political party that gave birth to Taiwan, the  Guomindang  or GMD was formed and so was the ruling party in China, the Chinese Communist Party  (CCP). These two political parties however begun as allies in Southeast China in their effort to crush the warlords in 1923 that caused the civil war in China. The alliance however was short lived because it collapsed within four years and the two political parties became bitter enemies that precipitated another civil war. GMD’s generals pledge loyalty to its new leader Chiang  Kai ­shek and formed a new Republic of China in Nanjing and later formed a new ROC government in Nanjing in 1927 (Myers 1). Chiang  Kai ­shek had the upper hand over the CCP in 1937 as Chiang  Kai ­shek army drove the Communists into the Northwest region of China. Japan however attacked China in July 1937 to make Chiang  Kai ­ shek ROC a client state of Japan. The attack was thwarted because Taiwan and China again forged an alliance to defeat Japan. This alliance lasted for eight years until Japan was defeated in August 15, 1945. During this time, Chiang  Kai ­shek also allied with the United States which lasted until 1949. China on the other is building up its forces beginning in the Autumn of 1945 when it begun amassing weapons from the Russians in Manchuria. It also initiated land reform in the countryside as a precursor to Maoist strategy of encircling cities by cutting them off from the countryside. The strategy coupled with superior weapons proved to be effective in defeating Chiang  Kai ­shek’s forces and advanced further towards Northern China until finally, CPP soldiers captured Beijing on January 31, 1949. Months later, Mao declared the founding of the new  Chinese  state in October 1, 1949 which is the  People's Republic  of  China (13). Chiang Kai-shek on the other han d retreated to Formosa which is now Taiwan to seek refuge from Mao’s advancing armies (Ford 36) which it still continue to occupy until this day. II. Description of the various conflict management techniques used, the third parties that were active in attempts to resolve the conflict, and the outcomes of these conflict management efforts. Efforts however were made to reconcile Taiwan and China after Mao’s declaration of People's Republic  of  China or PROC as we know it today. On April 27, 1993, China and Taiwan begun negotiating the various Interpretations of Taiwan’s relationship  to  China,  or  the  "one ­China" principle† (Myers 1). The negotiation however was conducted and represented by third party private agencies. Taiwan was represented by Straits Exchange Foundation or SEF while China was represented Association for Relations across the  Taiwan  Strait,  or  ARATS. The negotiation however was short lived and collapse when President Lee Teng ­hui visited the US for a public address at Cornell University (Myers 1). The technique used in the attempt to resolve the conflict was negotiation by third parties composed of private NGOs. The negotiation however did not prosper because no confidence building measure was initiated by both parties. The negotiation finally collapsed when Taiwan’s President Lee Teng ­hui antagonized the Chinese by a visit to the Communist ideological nemesis, the US.