Antonio Lucio Vivaldi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi - Essay Example Venice at that time was the capital of the republic of Venice. The president of the union joined by his father, Giovanni Legrenzi, was maestro di cappella at the Basilica of San Marco and noted early Baroque composer. He was believed to have taught the young Antonio to compose. Scholar Walter Kolneder of Luxemburg figures that the liturgical work Laetatus sum ((RV Anh 31, written in 1691) written when he was just 13, showed influence of Legrenzi style. He began studying priesthood and in 1703, at the age of 25, he was an ordained Venetian priest and was nicknamed "Il Prete Roso" or The Red Priest but he did not practiced his vocation due to a sickness which is his tightening of chest, suspected as asthma. In 1704, he was given dispensation from celebrating the Holy Mass due to his illness and he withdrew from active priesthood in 1706. By December 1703, Vivaldi was appointed maestro de violino at the Ospedale della Pieta, one of Venetian girls' orphanage. At that time, the institution had four branches in Venice giving shelter and education to orphaned, abandoned or children from impoverished families as funded by the Republic. The boys were taught a trade before leaving at age 15 while the girls had musical education and the talented were retained to be members of the Ospedale's orchestra and choir. Ospedale under the ministration of Antonio Vivaldi began to gain appreciation even abroad as Vivaldi wrote most of the cantatas, concerto and sacred music. The position of teacher of viola all'inglese was also added on his duty as maestro de violini by 1704 and although he is already starting to prove his talent at that time, he was retained at the Pieta until 1709 only when the board dismissed him, for many perceived him a difficult man. He worked as a freelance musician for a year until the board recalled him in 1711 realising his potential. From then, Vivaldi was in his most productive years writing music or operas and concertos. His first collection of his works called Raccolta, a trio sonata was published in 1705 with his Opus 1 a collection of 12 sonatas for two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. His Opus 2 is a collection of 12 sonatas for violins and basso continuo and was published in 1709. L'Estro Armonico (Opus 3) his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings was published by Estienne Roger in Amsterdam in 1711. It became a success all over Europe as followed by another success La Stravaganza (Opus 4) in 1714 which is a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings. Musicians sought sought him out in Venice and commissioned works from him including for the Dresden court. Johann Sebastian Bach transcribed five Opus 3 concertos for keyboard and he influenced many German composers. Antonio and his father went to Brescia in 1917. His Stabat Mater (RV 621) was played as part of a religious festival and although the work was apparently done in haste, the forced essentiality of the music revealed musical and emotional depth that made it one of his masterpieces. He also started traveling in 1718 to promote his music and in even during his travels, he retained connection with the Pieta and wrote two concertos each month sending them by post. He also found time to rehearse

FAR Compliance Issues And Contributing Factors Assignment

FAR Compliance Issues And Contributing Factors - Assignment Example The national museum has selected Sunshine Wood Dealer Company to provide a proposal for supply of raw wood and furniture products for the construction of a natural wood products asylum. This request for proposal holds information and directives to enable the interested bidder to prepare and submit a detailed proposal and explains the terms and conditions that qualified bibbers will be expected to agree on in order to undertake the project. The project is in its initial stages and all documentation for commencement are ready. We intend to commence construction process once all the design documents are duly signed by the most preferred proposer. The construction director will be liable for the whole construction task and synchronization of commissioning, inspection, and certification. This project covers the construction of a one-story building haven for natural wood products with partitions for offices and various furniture products. The project documents provided (specifications and design) outline the span of the work. Close to one thousand pieces of raw wood are required for the construction of an ultramodern store that will house the natural wood products. Additionally, two thousand wood carvings of different shapes and styles are required for storage once construction is completed. Consequently, unique furniture products such as tables and chairs are required to color the sanctuary. Due to the scale of the entire project, the qualified company must ensure that its products are of high quality and will serve for a long period before replacement. It is essential to identify that fake product will not be accepted and if a company offers such products, it will face the full force of federal laws. Besides, in case of any loss suffered as a result of the counterfeit product, the source company will meet all the resulting expenses including the legal fees.

GE-Two -Decade Transformation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

GE-Two -Decade Transformation - Case Study Example However, the company has in the past encountered severe challenges before attaining its current global position. In the late 20th century, the company encountered challenges which threatened its operations and stability. This paper will examine GE, discussing strategies employed by the company’s management in the wake of severe challenges. Welch’s Challenge in 1981 In the year 1981, when Welch took over management of GE from Jones, the company experienced numerous of hardships that threatened its existence. In 1981, the US economy suffered serious recession, which meant that banks lent money at unbelievably high interest rates. The high interest rates were especially disadvantageous to companies such as GE that required borrowed capital to sustain its business. In addition, the US dollar was quite strong at the time making GE’s international business operations quite unprofitable and unmanageable. The tough economic times experienced in the US also meant that GE had to lay off some of its employees and reduce hourly positions (O’Boyle, 1999). This put Welch and the company in a tough position, having to balance the company’s operations among the few remaining employees. Moreover, GE faced serious competition, particularly from Japanese companies. Global competitors had significant competitive advantages over GE as their nations of domicile were free of economic crisis like the US. However, despite the immense challenges, Welch was able to take charge of the company rather effectively through the adoption of numerous strategies. Welch first adopted the number one or two, fix, sell or close strategy that required all GE’s business units to be leaders in their respective industries or face closure. This strategy was effective in eliminating unproductive units of GE and strengthening the remaining units, which became leaders in their industries. The closure and sale of unproductive units provided necessary capital for produ ctive units to strengthen their operations. Welch’s strategy was effectual as it freed capital for strategic investments, which enhanced the company’s bottom line performance (Slater, 1998). Welch’s Objectives and Initiatives When Welch became the CEO of GE in 1981, he established the new company objectives to leverage GE’s performance within the company’s diverse business portfolio. In order to do this, Welch required all company employees to become â€Å"better than the best† in their positions and responsibilities (O’Boyle, 1999). In order to ensure the company achieved Welch’s objectives, the CEO initiated a series of strategies between the late 1980s and early 1990s. These initiatives centered on the spectrum of achieving organizational change through restructuring its staffing, layering and size. Through the adoption of the initiatives and strategic change, GE was able to achieve substantial competitive advantage within i ts markets. Welch’s initiatives were able to revitalize the company’s operations, bolster its image, and achieve massive profit margins. Welch streamlined the company’s staffing, especially in the company’s planning unit to ensure GE was lean and agile. The logic behind Welch’s de-staffing initiative centered on the notion that company or unit productivity does not rely on the number of staff in the unit, but rather the value each staff adds to the unit or company. Welch sought to instill the culture of strength in value addition

Value of tuition reimbursement and extra time in adult learning Essay Example for Free

Value of tuition reimbursement and extra time in adult learning Essay Learning is life. We continue to learn as long as we live. In today’s complex world, we often find it necessary to update ourselves, to keep pace with new developments. However learning new skills, organizing knowledge, at times, does not come free. Often, acquiring such specialized knowledge is beyond an individual’s means. To sustain the process of keeping oneself updated with newer skills and knowledge, financial support is called for. As such, it is ‘Important to provide reimbursement and make time in aid of Adult Learning’. â€Å"The illiterate of the year 2000, will not be the individual, who cannot read or write, but the one who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. † (Alvin Toffler). It is said that Education is an investment rather than a cost. In today’s fast changing society, when technology and communication are changing rapidly, wide spread awareness of learning is a necessity. Adult learning was traditionally never very important. Stress was more on school age learning. It is only recently that researchers have turned their attention to learning at the workplace and in everyday settings. (Essays in Rogoff and Lave, 1984; Sternberg Wagner, 1986; Sternberg, Wagner Okagaki, 1993). As learners, the adults articulate the personal goals better, develop motivational skills, and fine tune their knowledge, interests, and acquired skills. Adult learning is based on a learning culture. It involves learning of work related as well as, personal skills which help not only individuals but enterprises and nations to Benefit from. Today learning is a strategic feature of the corporate. In times of reducing profit margins and stiff foreign competition, it is important to have a workforce which is not only professionally thorough in skills, but also ahead of others in the competition. So, employers have a vested interest in making their staff secures with knowledge and skill that will help them succeed at work. â€Å"Learning is no longer a cost, but a benefit that can be quantified† (The Adult Learner at work,p. 306). The adult learner uses transference to use the learnt idea in related jobs. In today’s world where technology is changing fast, by earning a degree in a field related to the job, the employee can perform better. Such learning boosts confidence in the employees and nurtures them to realize their full potential. In an organization, it is the climate of the organization that fosters learning. The staff is encouraged to gain mastery in its field of specialization. The organization must plan out the future allowing learning at every stage. Such organizations believe in empowering the employee. It believes that obsolescence of the staff will ring death knell for the organization. The management supports learning regularly and rewards such personnel accordingly. The commitment of the management makes the employees remain as a loyal workforce. Such values create openness in the organization where individuals can develop, create and contribute ideas fearlessly. It minimizes problems by identifying them at an early stage and arresting the major setbacks. Organizations which encourage its staff in adult learning schemes, foster growth of the personnel, as well as the organization. â€Å"Increasingly, companies will only survive if they meet the needs of the individuals who serve in them; not just the question of payment, important as this may be, but people’s true inner needs† (Harvey Jones, 1987, Making it Happen, p. 249). It becomes important, therefore, that such learnings are supported by reimbursing the tuition fees or course fee of the personnel. The employee is able to convince the employer about the possible advantages of offering tuition reimbursement. The new skills will make the employee more productive. It would also foster leadership in the workplace. Such equipped individuals would enhance the company’s image when working with the client. Globalization today has changed the way, the enterprises manage and perform . The skill, innovation and quality improvement is imperative for productivity, quality, efficiency and competition. Thus training the workforce becomes a critical component of competition. The most successful companies therefore will have to balance the market pressure to adapt to changing skills. It is to cope with the pace of change that the companies or enterprises need to train their staff. The urge to innovate and outperform on the part of the individual and the enterprise tie them in a bond, where each looks after the other’s interest, apart from fulfilling their personal interests. To keep the personnel abreast with the trend, there is a need for constant innovation and training the existing personnel with newer skills. It is always preferred to upgrade the existing personnel with newer skills than bringing in new personnel to meet the need. Existing personnel, being already familiar with the culture of the organization, Can adapt better compared to new personnel, who would have to struggle to familiarize themselves with the organization’s culture. Possibly for this in U. K, ‘Employers invested GBP 10. 6 billion in training in 1993’ (The Learning Age, DFEE, 1998). Human Capital theory as revealed by Harris’s study (2000) undertakes that training is an investment and will occur only when it can justify the cost. This theory holds good only when the company considers its employees as its asset. In such a scenario, specific skills of the employees are more valuable than generic skills. Making time for the employee’s training, needs to be decisively considered before deciding on a training schedule. A number of factors like availability of in house training personnel, speed or number of training days needed, frequency of the skill to be used, difficulty of the task and it’s transference to real life situations need to be considered before an organization decides on a training project. Smaller firms will find it difficult to have in house training due to its higher costs, while bigger firms will find in-house and on-the-job training cost-effective. Large enterprises can afford to have in house training centers which pave way for self-paced and self-directed training. It also aids training before or after work, without compromising on working time. The book ‘Tuition Assistance Usage and First Term Military Retention’ by Richard Buddin, Kanika Kapur, Rand reports of a program, where Department of Defense Supported the employees (on active duty), who enrolled in a college course. It reimbursed up to 75% of their college fees, up to a maximum of $3500 for an Individual in a year. The program was started having considered the benefits of having More educated personnel, who would perform better and would exhibit potential for greater advancement. The program was successful when more than sixty percent of the employees found the recruitment beneficial because of educational opportunities. Thus relevancy and value of tuition reimbursement and making time available for adult learning is synonymous with competitive performance and has become a critical component in today’s changing scenario of globalization. So learning is Life. As we learn we grow. References Thomas. Pourchot, M. Cecil Smith (1998). Adult Learning and Development: Perspectives from Educational Psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Robert Burns (2nd Edition).The Adult Learner at Work: The challenges of lifelong education in the new millennium. Richard Buddin, Kanika Kapur, Rand (2002) Tuition Assistance Usage and First –Term Military Retention . AdultLearning. Directgov-Education and learning. Retrieved on August 30, 2007, from http://www. directgov. uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/Adultlearninggrant/index. htm Arizona Department of Health Services,(Fall 1991)Principles of Adult learning by Stephen Lieb . Retrieved on August 30, 2007, from http://. hcc. hawaii. edu/intranet/committees/FacDevcom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2. htm

Seeking Pleasure And Agression Is Part Of Human Instinct :: essays research papers

Seeking Pleasure and Agression Is Part of Human Instinct Name: Mohamed Fakhry A.Wahab   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Based on Freud concepts of pleasure and aggression, discuses Hay Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of Animals   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is said to be that seeking pleasure and aggression are a part of our human Instinct. We seek pleasure to shorten the time of our unhappiness. We live in a constant struggle to be always happy, and we use all the ways that take us to happiness. Aggression, on the otherhand, is a part of our human nature, which can be hidden deep down in our subconcousnes and explodes in certain situations, or it can be on the surface of our behavior and inconstant use. Sources of happiness may differ from one person to another, but the one source of our human gratification that we all agree upon, is the happiness derived from sexual pleasure. Our souls strive for sexual pleasure to be elevated from one degree of human happiness to another. Freud said that â€Å"what we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the ... satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon.† (25). At the sametime, we explore those human instincts in the presence of civilization which set some rules and regulation that are surpassingly acting as guidelines for the survival of humanity. Hay Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of animals, are two different human experiences that discover our two core human instincts, pleasure and aggression. In Hay, we will find that his journey with his own instincts is different from our own human instincts, but it is the same when it comes to the roll of civilization with dealing with them. On the otherhand, The Island of Animals tends to dig in our human aggression, and shows how humanity uses civilization as a curtain to hide behind it. Freud concept of pleasure and happiness is related to Hay in only one way. It is not in the kind of happiness itself , whether if is sexual or spiritual, but it is similar in the procedure and the definitions of happiness or pleasure. In other words, pleasure to Freud is basically in sexual terms, â€Å" Sexual gratification is the prototype of all forms of individual happiness...†. On the otherhand, Hay Ibn Yaqzan's happiness or his pleasure is found in totally different kind of human instinct, which is the substitute gratification for sexual pleasure, because religion and science are included in Freud's lists for intellectual replacements for the lost sexual happiness.

Asexual and Sexual Reproduction in Soft Corals :: Reproduce Nature Wildlife Essays

Asexual and Sexual Reproduction in Soft Corals The battle between sexual and asexual reproduction is a competition that has been ongoing for millions of years. Somewhere along the way due to its higher level of genetic variation, sexual reproduction was able to overcome the two fold advantage of asexual reproduction, and now dominates reproduction in organisms. However, some types of organisms such as worms and corals have acquired the ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually. The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in asexual and sexual reproduction both from a biological and an evolutionary standpoint and to explain why evolution has made it possible for soft corals to reproduce both sexually and asexually. Introduction: Soft corals are very widespread among the Great Barrier Reef and other Indo-Pacific coral reefs. On the Great Barrier Reef they may cover up to 37% of the reef area (Bastidas, et. al, 2001). Even though soft corals are abundant on the Great Barrier Reef they have been overshadowed by the study of hard corals. Very little research has been conducted on them, yet they are just as fascinating as their hard coral neighbors. The main purpose of this paper is to explain why evolution has made it possible for soft corals to reproduce both sexually and asexually. To do this I will first introduce soft corals, then explain the types of reproduction soft corals are capable of, and finally explain why evolution has made it possible for soft corals to reproduce both sexually and asexually, using numerous studies to support my claims. Most of the information on this topic was very species specific, but this paper will explain the reproductive evolution of soft corals in a broade r array that will pertain to the scientific order Alcyonacea, or all types of soft corals. What are soft corals? Soft corals are grouped in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, and order Alcyonacea. Their distinguishing characteristic is that their polyps always bear eight tentacles which are on both edges fringed by rows of pinnules (Fabricius and De’ath, 2002). The common name â€Å"soft coral† comes from the fact that they have no massive external skeleton as compared to the more commonly studied hard corals.

Notes on a scandle by Zoe Heller †How is the theme of obsession presented in the book? Essay

Notes on a scandal, written in the first person by Barbara Covette, a close friend and colleague of Sheba’s, is a story about Sheba Hart, a pottery teacher at St Georges school, who allows herself to become engaged in an affair with one of her fifteen year old pupils, Steven Connolly, who is one of her few pupils with an interest in her subject and not just disrupting lessons. This story is very much about obsession, and not that only of Sheba and her lover. In fact a very large proportion of the novel is devoted to showing Barbara’s loneliness and obsession with Sheba. It is done in an almost subtle way so that Barbara as the narrator is not aware how clearly she is obsessed, yet we as the audience can see it. With this the plot becomes almost as much about Barbara as it is about Sheba. From very early on in the novel we can see that Barbara has an obsession with Sheba, and that the obsession is likely to get bigger. This can be seen from the very beginning. The very fact that Barbara notes the exact clothes that Sheba is wearing and comments on them shows she has been paying a great amount of attention to Sheba from the very beginning. On the first page of chapter one Barbara says that Sheba is a fey person, she makes a point of saying this, which indicates possibly jealousy of Sheba. As we go on into chapter one Barbara’s jealousy is becoming more and more apparent, as everybody else is fussing about Sheba, Barbara chooses to stay out of the way, most likely due to her envy of Sheba. Barbara looks in on everybody fussing abut Sheba almost as a fly on the wall would, noting to herself who talks to Sheba and exactly what she does. She does not try herself in the beginning to socialise with her, but yet still seems very interested in her. This shows the beginning of obsession. When in chapter one Elaine reached out to touch Sheba’s ears, Barbara remarks in her text about not shaving her armpits, and refers to Elaine as â€Å"Reaching out like a monkey†. This shows us that Barbara is irritated by anybody else fussing over Sheba, so she instantly insults them as if to make herself feel batter and more worthy of Sheba’s attention than them. At the beginning of chapter two Barbara says that she must maintain maximum accuracy, so therefore starts to put together a time line of Sheba’s year. This itself seems obsessive. She buys gold stars to stick on at important events. It appears to us that Barbara’s life at this stage is revolving around Sheba. On page 32 Barbara writes: â€Å"Throughout the first half of the winter term, I had been building up my confidence to tackle Sheba on the matter of class discipline.† This indicates that Barbara is nervous about talking to Sheba for some reason; however we are almost certain by this stage in the novel that if it had been another one of the teachers at St George, Barbara would not have had a problem with it. Also on page 32 is the realisation on Barbara’s part that Sheba had befriended Sue Hodge. Barbara was very envious of this friendship and begins to take a lot of interest in this friendship. Barbara continuously slags off Sue Hodge and calls her, â€Å"The most awful prig.† This suggests an element of obsession is here, as if Barbara was not interested in Sheba then she would not care who she was â€Å"chumming up with.† At the beginning of chapter three, it is made very clear that Barbara was jealous of Sheba’s friendship with Sue. She writes: â€Å"The irony of my having agonized over Sheba’s friendship of fatty Hodge.† She used the word agonized which is quite a strong word, so Barbara was obviously deeply affected by this. She then goes on to say: â€Å"If Sheba had made a wiser choice of girlfriend, if she had have chosen me from the start- it is possible that she might have avoided the Connolly imbroglio.† We can see here that Barbara desperately wants Sheba as a friend, in an obsessive nature. In the beginning of chapter five, Barbara says that if it makes Sheba happy it makes her happy. This very clearly indicates that Barbara is obsessed with Sheba. On page 83, Barbara contradicts herself, she say that she does not argue with the necessity for age bars, but then goes on to defend Sheba’s actions. She seems to think that there is one rule for one person and another for Sheba. When Barbara is invited to Sheba’s house for dinner she panics very much about the way she is dressed, particularly about the heals thinking she may be too tarty. She is acting more like she is going on a date then to a friend’s house for dinner. This shows us that Barbara is very keen to impress Sheba, and doesn’t want her to think anything bad of her at all. The first sentence of chapter ten says: â€Å"By summer my connection with Sheba was well established.† The way she says this is almost like a spy trying to infiltrate the government and not as you would expect somebody to say about their friend, this seems odd and almost stalker like. In chapter thirteen Barbara decides to stay away from Sheba, and see how long Sheba can stick it. However it turns out to be Barbara who is the one who can’t stick it, she becomes rather depressed and confused. Here Barbara is acting more the way a lover would after a break up than a friend. In Barbara’s lunch date with Bangs in chapter thirteen when Barbara realises someone else is interested in Sheba, she instantly tells him about her and Connolly’s relationship. Barbara may have done this as she doesn’t want anyone to come between her and Sheba’s friendship, and she feels threatened by others in Sheba’s life. Towards the end of the book Barbara takes great joy in destroying the model of Sheba and Connolly, she begins by destroying the boy though; this shows that Barbara is trying to get rid of everything from Sheba’s life that is not centred on her. All of these things suggest that Barbara is slowly becoming more and more obsessed with Sheba throughout the novel, and that she wants to take everything that is not centred around her away. She may even have been satisfied that Sheba has lost her family and now must depend on Barbara as she is her only remaining friend.