Jacek Yerka (born 1952) is a Polish artist and painter from Toruń. Yerka studied art for a short time at University, but then learnt from direct study of Northern European masters, the Van Eycks, Dierck Bouts, Robert Campin, Bosch, and surrealists such as Magritte. Yerka said: " I did my first painting of my life a year before going to college, where I began studying graphics. My instructors always tried to get me to paint in the more contemporary abstract style, and move away from my fascination with realism. I saw this as an attempt to stifle my own creative style and steadfastly refused to fall in line. Eventually, my teachers relented. " His paintings are acrylic on canvas and carefully rendered, using images from his childhood, including his grandmother's kitchen. He also includes odd beasts and whimsical landscapes. He comments, "For me, the 1950s were a kind of Golden Age ... If I were, for instance, to paint a computer, it would definitely have a pre-war aesthetic to it." Yerka's work has been exhibited in Poland, Germany, Monaco, France, and the United States. His works are also in Polish art museums. Yerka's work can be seen in Mind Fields, a book in which Harlan Ellison has provided narration for each of Yerka's selected pieces.

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Wojciech Kazimierz "Wojtek" Siudmak (born 10 October 1942 in Wieluń) is a Polish painter, currently living in France. His works are often used as illustrations for science fiction and fantasy literature, including the Polish edition of Frank Herbert's Dune series.

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The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopedies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music[citation needed] - gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature a disjunct chordal theme in the bass - first, a G-major 7th in the bass, and then a B-minor chord, also in the lower register. Then comes the one-note theme in D major. Although the collection of chords at first seems too complex to be harmonious, the melody soon imbues the work with a soothing atmospheric quality. Satie himself used the term "furniture music" to refer to some of his pieces, implying they could be used as mood-setting background music. However, Satie used this term to refer to only some of his later, 20th century compositions, without specific reference to the Gymnopédies as background music. From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music, perhaps due to John Cage's interpretation of them. By the end of 1896 Satie's popularity and financial situation were ebbing. Debussy, whose popularity was rising at the time, helped draw public attention to the work of his friend. Debussy expressed his belief that the 2nd gymnopédie did not lend itself to orchestration. (Orchestrations of this gymnopédie were only realised many decades later, by other composers, and without being frequently performed). Thus, on February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the 3rd and the 1st only, reversing the numbering: First gymnopédie (original piano setting by Satie) → 3rd gymnopédie (orchestration by Debussy) Third gymnopédie (original piano setting by Satie) → 1st gymnopédie (orchestration by Debussy) The score was then published in 1898. Artwork:Leonora Carrington

Tags: Erik Satie gymnopedie no1 orchestrated by claude debussy

The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopedies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music - gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature a disjunct chordal theme in the bass - first, a G-major 7th in the bass, and then a B-minor chord, also in the lower register. Then comes the one-note theme in D major. Although the collection of chords at first seems too complex to be harmonious, the melody soon imbues the work with a soothing atmospheric quality. Satie himself used the term "furniture music" to refer to some of his pieces, implying they could be used as mood-setting background music. However, Satie used this term to refer to only some of his later, 20th century compositions, without specific reference to the Gymnopédies as background music. From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music, perhaps due to John Cage's interpretation of them. By the end of 1896 Satie's popularity and financial situation were ebbing. Debussy, whose popularity was rising at the time, helped draw public attention to the work of his friend. Debussy expressed his belief that the 2nd gymnopédie did not lend itself to orchestration. (Orchestrations of this gymnopédie were only realised many decades later, by other composers, and without being frequently performed). Thus, on February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the 3rd and the 1st only, reversing the numbering: First gymnopédie (original piano setting by Satie) → 3rd gymnopédie (orchestration by Debussy) Third gymnopédie (original piano setting by Satie) → 1st gymnopédie (orchestration by Debussy) The score was then published in 1898. Artwork:Leonora Carrington

Tags: Erik Satie gymnopedie no3 orchestrated by claude debussy

The Biohazard 2 Complete Track album was composed by Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, and Shun Nishigaki for the video game Biohazard 2, known as Resident Evil 2 outside Japan. It contains most of the tracks left out of the incomplete Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack released earlier that year along with ingame sound effects on Disc Two. Resident Evil 2, known in Japan as Biohazard 2, is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998 and the second installment in the Resident Evil series. It was later ported to the PC, Nintendo 64, game.com, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube Resident Evil 2 follows the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. The game's graphics are composed of polygonal character models and items superimposed over pre-rendered graphics, using fixed camera angles. The player must travel through a variety of locations, solving puzzles and fighting numerous mutated creatures, in order to complete the game. The player can arm themselves with a variety of firearms, although ammunition is limited. The game features an improved graphics engine over the previous game, allowing for more zombies to appear on screen.In addition, the player can now determine their character's health based on their animation and body language. A character in the 'caution' stage of injury will cover his stomach with his or her hand, while a character on the verge of death will limp. The game over screens are more gruesome this time, featuring the player's character being devoured by the creature that killed him or her. The main addition to the gameplay is a two-scenario system. As in the original Resident Evil, the game offers two playable characters, each with their own scenario. However, after finishing one character's scenario (referred as the "A" game) and saving the data, a second scenario (the "B" game) is unlocked in which the same series of events are depicted from the other character's perspective. Actions taken by the player during the first scenario affects the player's surroundings during the second scenario. In addition, one character also has access to one area in their B game that they normally would not have access to. There are four scenarios, with two for each character. Similarly to the original game, the player is awarded with unlockable weapons and other bonuses after completing a scenario under certain requirements. A ranking system has been implemented in which the player is graded based not only on the amount of time taken to complete the game, but also on the number of times the game was saved and the number of first-aid sprays used. Several hidden minigames can also be unlocked as well, the "The 4th Survivor", its spoof/harder version "The Tofu Survivor" and in some versions, a minigame called "Extreme Battle". Screenshots:mwrc.pl

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The Biohazard 2 Complete Track album was composed by Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, and Shun Nishigaki for the video game Biohazard 2, known as Resident Evil 2 outside Japan. It contains most of the tracks left out of the incomplete Biohazard 2 Original Soundtrack released earlier that year along with ingame sound effects on Disc Two. Resident Evil 2, known in Japan as Biohazard 2, is a survival horror game by Capcom originally released for the PlayStation in 1998 and the second installment in the Resident Evil series. It was later ported to the PC, Nintendo 64, game.com, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube Resident Evil 2 follows the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor. The game's graphics are composed of polygonal character models and items superimposed over pre-rendered graphics, using fixed camera angles. The player must travel through a variety of locations, solving puzzles and fighting numerous mutated creatures, in order to complete the game. The player can arm themselves with a variety of firearms, although ammunition is limited. The game features an improved graphics engine over the previous game, allowing for more zombies to appear on screen.In addition, the player can now determine their character's health based on their animation and body language. A character in the 'caution' stage of injury will cover his stomach with his or her hand, while a character on the verge of death will limp. The game over screens are more gruesome this time, featuring the player's character being devoured by the creature that killed him or her. The main addition to the gameplay is a two-scenario system. As in the original Resident Evil, the game offers two playable characters, each with their own scenario. However, after finishing one character's scenario (referred as the "A" game) and saving the data, a second scenario (the "B" game) is unlocked in which the same series of events are depicted from the other character's perspective. Actions taken by the player during the first scenario affects the player's surroundings during the second scenario. In addition, one character also has access to one area in their B game that they normally would not have access to. There are four scenarios, with two for each character. Similarly to the original game, the player is awarded with unlockable weapons and other bonuses after completing a scenario under certain requirements. A ranking system has been implemented in which the player is graded based not only on the amount of time taken to complete the game, but also on the number of times the game was saved and the number of first-aid sprays used. Several hidden minigames can also be unlocked as well, the "The 4th Survivor", its spoof/harder version "The Tofu Survivor" and in some versions, a minigame called "Extreme Battle". Screenshots:mwrc.pl

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Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, released in Japan as Biohazard 3: Last Escape is the third survival horror video game in the Resident Evil series. The game was released for the Sony PlayStation, and was subsequently ported to the Sega Dreamcast, PC and Nintendo GameCube. The first half of the game occurs 24 hours prior to Resident Evil 2 and the second half takes place the day after. The storyline expands upon the settings and events of the T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, and concludes with the fate of the city and its infected population. The game takes place two months after the mansion incident in Resident Evil. The player takes control of former S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine in her attempt to escape a ruined and zombie-infested Raccoon City. During her escape, she encounters three surviving members of the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service, Carlos Oliveira, Mikhail Victor and Nicholai Ginovaef. Mikhail sacrifices himself to save Jill from the Nemesis, a bio-organic weapon, and Jill escapes with Carlos. Depending on the player's actions, Nicholai may also die but a file in Resident Evil: Survivor written after the incident by him suggests that letting him live is the canonical ending. Nemesis was the last core title in the series to be released for the PlayStation and it was also the final Resident Evil game to take place in Raccoon City until the release of Resident Evil Outbreak. The city's fate is resolved in the game's finale. The US Government, after hearing of unsuccessful efforts to avert the T-Virus infestation, orders the nuclear destruction of Raccoon City. At this point in the game, the player has exactly fifteen minutes to escape the city before the missile strikes. Soundtrack composed by Masami Ueda and Saori Maeda. Screenshots:mwrc.pl

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The Nutcracker (Russian: Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik) Op. 71, is a fairy tale-ballet in two acts, three scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1891--92. Alexandre Dumas père's adaptation of the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann was set to music by Tchaikovsky (written by Marius Petipa and commissioned by the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky in 1891). In Western countries, this ballet has become perhaps the most popular ballet performed, primarily around Christmas time. The composer made a selection of eight of the more popular numbers from the ballet before the ballet's December 1892 premiere, forming The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a, intended for concert performance. The suite was first performed, under the composer's direction, on 19 March 1892 at an assembly of the St. Petersburg branch of the Musical Society.The suite became instantly popular; the complete ballet did not achieve its great popularity until around the mid-1960s. Among other things, the score of The Nutcracker is noted for its use of the celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known symphonic poem The Voyevoda (premiered 1891).Although well-known in The Nutcracker as the featured solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Act II, it is employed elsewhere in the same act.

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The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is popularly known as the "Moonlight" Sonata. The work was completed in 1801 and rumored to be dedicated to his pupil, 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, with whom Beethoven was, or had been, in love. The name "Moonlight" Sonata derives from an 1832 description of the first movement by music critic Ludwig Rellstab, who compared it to moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. Beethoven included the phrase "Quasi una fantasia" (Italian: Almost a fantasy)in the title partly because the sonata does not follow the traditional sonata pattern where the first movement is in regular sonata form, and where the three or four movements are arranged in a fast-slow-[fast]-fast sequence. The work is possibly the most familiar of all Beethoven's piano sonatas, and is widely performed and recorded. The first movement is frequently played by amateur pianists. Form The sonata has three movements: 1. Adagio sostenuto 2. Allegretto 3. Presto agitato The first movement is written in a kind of truncated sonata form. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation" is played (mostly by the right hand) against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm. The movement is also played pianissimo or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is mezzo-forte or "moderately loud". The movement has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz wrote that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify." The work was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer, who remarked to Czerny, "Surely I've written better things." The second movement is a relatively conventional minuet and trio; a moment of relative calm written in D-flat major. This key signature is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major, that is, the tonic major for the work as a whole. The slightly odd sound of the first eight bars seems to be the result of the minuet starting in the "wrong" key; i.e. the dominant key of A-flat major. The music settles into D-flat only in the second phrase, bars 5-10. The stormy final movement, in sonata form, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata, Opus 27 no. 1 and later on in Opus 101) placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios and strongly accented notes, and an effective performance demands flamboyant and skillful playing. Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing." The musical dynamic that predominates in the third movement is in fact piano. It seems that Beethoven's heavy use of sforzando notes, together with just a few strategically located fortissimo passages, creates the sense of a very powerful sound in spite of the overall dynamic.

Tags: Ludwig van Beethoven Moonlight Sonata Piano No. 14 in C-sharp minor Quasi una fantasia Op. 27

Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. "Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use many novel names for his compositions; for example, "ogive" had been the name of an architectural element until Satie used it as the name for a composition, the Ogives Similarly with "vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on—but "gnossienne" was a word that did not exist before Satie used it to indicate a composition. "Gnossienne" appears to be derived from the word gnosis; Satie was involved in gnostic sects and movements at the time that he began to compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published versions claim that the word derives from Cretan "knossos" or "gnossus" and link the Gnossiennes to Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur myth. The Gnossiennes were composed by Satie in the decade following the composition of the Trois Sarabandes (1887) and the Trois Gymnopédies (1888). Like these Sarabandes and Gymnopédies, the Gnossiennes are often considered dances. It is not certain that this qualification comes from Satie himself—the sarabande and the Gymnopaedia were at least historically known as dances. The musical vocabulary of the Gnossiennes is a continuation of that of the Gymnopédies (a development that had started with the 1886 Ogives → Sarabandes → Gymnopédies → Gnossiennes) later leading to more harmonic experimentation in compositions like the Danses Gothiques. These series of compositions are all at the core of Satie's characteristic 19th century style, and in this sense differ from his early salon compositions (like the 1885 "Waltz" compositions published in 1887), his turn-of-the-century cabaret compositions (like the Je te Veux Waltz), and his post-Schola Cantorum piano solo compositions, starting with the Préludes flasques in 1912. Artwork:Remedios Varo

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Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. "Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use many novel names for his compositions; for example, "ogive" had been the name of an architectural element until Satie used it as the name for a composition, the Ogives Similarly with "vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on—but "gnossienne" was a word that did not exist before Satie used it to indicate a composition. "Gnossienne" appears to be derived from the word gnosis; Satie was involved in gnostic sects and movements at the time that he began to compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published versions claim that the word derives from Cretan "knossos" or "gnossus" and link the Gnossiennes to Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur myth. The Gnossiennes were composed by Satie in the decade following the composition of the Trois Sarabandes (1887) and the Trois Gymnopédies (1888). Like these Sarabandes and Gymnopédies, the Gnossiennes are often considered dances. It is not certain that this qualification comes from Satie himself—the sarabande and the Gymnopaedia were at least historically known as dances. The musical vocabulary of the Gnossiennes is a continuation of that of the Gymnopédies (a development that had started with the 1886 Ogives → Sarabandes → Gymnopédies → Gnossiennes) later leading to more harmonic experimentation in compositions like the Danses Gothiques. These series of compositions are all at the core of Satie's characteristic 19th century style, and in this sense differ from his early salon compositions (like the 1885 "Waltz" compositions published in 1887), his turn-of-the-century cabaret compositions (like the Je te Veux Waltz), and his post-Schola Cantorum piano solo compositions, starting with the Préludes flasques in 1912. Artwork:Remedios Varo

Tags: Erik Satie Gnossienne no

Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. "Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use many novel names for his compositions; for example, "ogive" had been the name of an architectural element until Satie used it as the name for a composition, the Ogives Similarly with "vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on—but "gnossienne" was a word that did not exist before Satie used it to indicate a composition. "Gnossienne" appears to be derived from the word gnosis; Satie was involved in gnostic sects and movements at the time that he began to compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published versions claim that the word derives from Cretan "knossos" or "gnossus" and link the Gnossiennes to Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur myth. The Gnossiennes were composed by Satie in the decade following the composition of the Trois Sarabandes (1887) and the Trois Gymnopédies (1888). Like these Sarabandes and Gymnopédies, the Gnossiennes are often considered dances. It is not certain that this qualification comes from Satie himself—the sarabande and the Gymnopaedia were at least historically known as dances. The musical vocabulary of the Gnossiennes is a continuation of that of the Gymnopédies (a development that had started with the 1886 Ogives → Sarabandes → Gymnopédies → Gnossiennes) later leading to more harmonic experimentation in compositions like the Danses Gothiques. These series of compositions are all at the core of Satie's characteristic 19th century style, and in this sense differ from his early salon compositions (like the 1885 "Waltz" compositions published in 1887), his turn-of-the-century cabaret compositions (like the Je te Veux Waltz), and his post-Schola Cantorum piano solo compositions, starting with the Préludes flasques in 1912. Artwork:Remedios Varo

Tags: Erik Satie Gnossienne no

Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. "Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use many novel names for his compositions; for example, "ogive" had been the name of an architectural element until Satie used it as the name for a composition, the Ogives Similarly with "vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on—but "gnossienne" was a word that did not exist before Satie used it to indicate a composition. "Gnossienne" appears to be derived from the word gnosis; Satie was involved in gnostic sects and movements at the time that he began to compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published versions claim that the word derives from Cretan "knossos" or "gnossus" and link the Gnossiennes to Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur myth. The Gnossiennes were composed by Satie in the decade following the composition of the Trois Sarabandes (1887) and the Trois Gymnopédies (1888). Like these Sarabandes and Gymnopédies, the Gnossiennes are often considered dances. It is not certain that this qualification comes from Satie himself—the sarabande and the Gymnopaedia were at least historically known as dances. The musical vocabulary of the Gnossiennes is a continuation of that of the Gymnopédies (a development that had started with the 1886 Ogives → Sarabandes → Gymnopédies → Gnossiennes) later leading to more harmonic experimentation in compositions like the Danses Gothiques. These series of compositions are all at the core of Satie's characteristic 19th century style, and in this sense differ from his early salon compositions (like the 1885 "Waltz" compositions published in 1887), his turn-of-the-century cabaret compositions (like the Je te Veux Waltz), and his post-Schola Cantorum piano solo compositions, starting with the Préludes flasques in 1912. Artwork:Remedios Varo

Tags: Erik Satie Gnossienne no

Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopedies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music[citation needed] - gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature a disjunct chordal theme in the bass - first, a G-major 7th in the bass, and then a B-minor chord, also in the lower register. Then comes the one-note theme in D major. Although the collection of chords at first seems too complex to be harmonious, the melody soon imbues the work with a soothing atmospheric quality. Satie himself used the term "furniture music" to refer to some of his pieces, implying they could be used as mood-setting background music. However, Satie used this term to refer to only some of his later, 20th century compositions, without specific reference to the Gymnopédies as background music. From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music, perhaps due to John Cage's interpretation of them. Artwork:Remedios Varo

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Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopedies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music[citation needed] - gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature a disjunct chordal theme in the bass - first, a G-major 7th in the bass, and then a B-minor chord, also in the lower register. Then comes the one-note theme in D major. Although the collection of chords at first seems too complex to be harmonious, the melody soon imbues the work with a soothing atmospheric quality. Satie himself used the term "furniture music" to refer to some of his pieces, implying they could be used as mood-setting background music. However, Satie used this term to refer to only some of his later, 20th century compositions, without specific reference to the Gymnopédies as background music. From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music, perhaps due to John Cage's interpretation of them. Artwork:Leonora Carrington

Tags: Erik Satie Gymnopedie no

Alfred Eric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 -- Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. Starting with his first composition in 1884, he signed his name as Erik Satie. Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911. In addition to his body of music, Satie also left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on always publishing his work under his own name, in the late nineteenth century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music and the Theatre of the Absurd. The Gymnopédies, published in Paris starting in 1888, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist, Erik Satie. These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopedies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music[citation needed] - gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars feature a disjunct chordal theme in the bass - first, a G-major 7th in the bass, and then a B-minor chord, also in the lower register. Then comes the one-note theme in D major. Although the collection of chords at first seems too complex to be harmonious, the melody soon imbues the work with a soothing atmospheric quality. Satie himself used the term "furniture music" to refer to some of his pieces, implying they could be used as mood-setting background music. However, Satie used this term to refer to only some of his later, 20th century compositions, without specific reference to the Gymnopédies as background music. From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music, perhaps due to John Cage's interpretation of them. Artwork:Leonora Carrington

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Zdzisław Beksiński (24 February 1929 -- 22 February 2005) was a renowned Polish painter and photographer. A Beksiński painting contained elements of surrealism, the post-apocalyptic and immense attention to detail. Despite the grim overtones, he claimed some of these paintings were misunderstood, as they were rather optimistic, or even humouristic. His exhibitions almost always proved very successful. A prestigious exhibition in Warsaw in 1964 proved to be his first major success, as all his paintings were sold. In the 1980s his works gained on popularity in France and he gained significant popularity in Western Europe, the USA and Japan. He soon became the leading figure in contemporary Polish art. "Artistic Road of Zdzislaw Beksinski" By Wieslaw Banach "...A few sentences are all that is required to present the biography of Zdzislaw Beksinski. He was born on 24th February 1929 in Sanok (now South-Eastern Poland), with which his family had been connected ever since the times of his grandfather Mateusz Beksinski. In 1947, on finishing grammar school in Sanok, Beksinski enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture of the Cracow University of Technology. After graduation in 1952, in compliance with the regulations for the employment of graduates then in force, he lived first in Cracow and later in Rzeszów, and finally, in 1955, returned with his wife to Sanok. He initiated his work as a photographer, and in 1958 presented some excellent work at several exhibitions in Warsaw, Gliwice, and Poznan. However it was his work in drawing and painting, and partly also in sculpture, that brought him his first successes. In 1964 Janusz Bogucki put on an exhibition of his work in the Stara Pomaranczarnia in Warsaw, which turned out to be his first major success, since all the exhibits were sold. The exhibition Bogucki organised in 1972 presented a new trend in Beksinski's work, which years later he would call his 'fantasy period', which continued in his biography until the 1980's. In the summer of 1977, following a decision by the authorities of Sanok to demolish Beksinski's family house, the artist and his wife and son moved to Warsaw... Beksinski's numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad, and also the substantial number of publications by him, including catalogues and albums, and the innumerable interviews with him and films about him have put him into the narrow group of the most talked about and best known Polish artists. He once made the following ironic remark about his own life, 'Writing your own biography is a sign of even greater vainglory than making declarations like the ones I have written at the request of the makers of this catalogue. But whereas occasionally it might seem to me that I know what it is I'm thinking about, and that I'm. thinking what I'm. thinking, which makes me feel right to tell someone else about what I think I've been thinking about; I'm. certain that I don't know anything about my own past except everything, but everything is about as much as nothing. Presumably the most important fact from my life is that when I was ten I got an air-gun for my name-day, and that later I shot at chickens with it, but is this fact of interest to anyone besides myself? Apart from that, presumably I was born, and I shall be doing my best not to die, but I'm. sure I won't manage it.' Beksinski does not participate in what's known as the life of the arts, preferring the seclusion of his studio; he doesn't even attend the vernissages of his own exhibitions. That's why in his case it's not the official biography, which has no sensational events in it, is the most interesting thing, but his artistic life, which is associated with all the changes that have taken place and are taking place in his work all the time."

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The painter Colini was born in 1924, in Kolin Czechoslovakia, now a part of the Czech Republic. During his high school years, after the end of WWI, the Surrealists were at the peak of their influence in Central Europe. As part of his monthly visit to Prague, the young man would view their works in the art galleries. He was so impressed it became his lifelong ambition to become a great painter. As he matured, Colini became fascinated with Italian art of the Renaissance Era, and decided to paint only in Egg Tempera. He began to find ways to improve the Surrealists weaknesses by overlaying a Renaissance flavor. Thus was developed the unique style that is the trademark of Colini today. When the Communists took over Central Europe after WWII, Colini lived in Switzerland and then France from which he was forced to leave for Venezuela because he had no papers. He became a citizen of Venezuela and then immigrated to Canada, where he had his first exhibition in Toronto. He later moved to the United States, living in the New York area for many years, returning to Europe each year to study art, and exhibit in Switzerland and Germany. During this lifelong journey, Colini has been exposed to many cultures and languages, which is why his paintings contain such rich and varied symbolism. He brings to visual art, what Umberto Eco brings to literature. A wealth of knowledge tempered with a penchant for humor and irony. Colini now calls Northeastern Pennsylvania his home, and at this writing, continues to paint and exhibit his fascinating works.

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Colin McRae Rally is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters for the PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance, Xbox, Xbox 360 and N-Gage. In 2007, this game was published for the Macintosh platform by Feral Interactive and developed by Robosoft Technologies. The franchise has been a critical and commercial success and is generally acknowledged as a pioneer of realistic rally sports racing games. However, the car handling in the most recent games is best described as arcade. The series is named after the late World Rally Championship driver Colin McRae, who provided technical advice during development. There have been no official statement yet from Codemasters regarding the future of the series, after Colin McRae's death. While Codemasters had already started very early development on a new game prior to Colin McRae's death, they are first giving the family the time to mourn before a choice is being made about the continuation of the series under the same name. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 This second game features the 1999-spec Ford Focus WRC, the 2000-spec Ford Focus WRC, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI Gr.A, Subaru Impreza WRC2000, Peugeot 206 WRC, Toyota Corolla WRC and Seat Cordoba WRC, among other cars. The countries included are Kenya (gravel and tarmac), Finland (gravel and mud), UK (tarmac, mud and gravel), Sweden (snow and ice), Australia (loose pea gravel), Japan (1 stage in challenge mode), France (Corsica) (tarmac), Greece (rough gravel), and Italy (tarmac). The car featured on the front cover of the game was McRae's Ford Focus WRC 2000 (V3 FMC). Screenshots: gamespot.com ign.com

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Odilon Redon (April 22, 1840 -- July 6, 1916) was a Symbolist painter and printmaker, born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France. Redon started drawing as a young child, and at the age of 10 he was awarded a drawing prize at school. At age 15, he began formal study in drawing but on the insistence of his father he switched to architecture. His failure to pass the entrance exams at Paris' École des Beaux-Arts ended any plans for a career as an architect, although he would later study there under Jean-Léon Gerôme. Back home in his native Bordeaux, he took up sculpture, and Rodolphe Bresdin instructed him in etching and lithography. However, his artistic career was interrupted in 1870 when he joined the army to serve in the Franco-Prussian War. At the end of the war, he moved to Paris, working almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography. It would not be until 1878 that his work gained any recognition with Guardian Spirit of the Waters, and he published his first album of lithographs, titled Dans le Rêve, in 1879. Still, Redon remained relatively unknown until the appearance in 1884 of a cult novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans titled, À rebours (Against Nature). The story featured a decadent aristocrat who collected Redon's drawings. In the 1890s, he began to use pastel and oils, which dominated his works for the rest of his life. In 1899, he exhibited with the Nabis at Durand-Ruel's. In 1903 he was awarded the Legion of Honor.[citation needed] His popularity increased when a catalogue of etchings and lithographs was published by André Mellerio in 1913 and that same year, he was given the largest single representation at the New York Armory Show. In 1923 Mellerio published: Odilon Redon: Peintre Dessinateur et Graveur. In 2005 the Museum of Modern Art launched an exhibition entitled "Beyond The Visible", a comprehensive overview of Redon's work showcasing more than 100 paintings, drawings, prints and books from The Ian Woodner Family Collection. The exhibition ran from October 30, 2005 to January 23, 2006. he mystery and the evocation of the drawings are described by Huysmans in the following passage: "Those were the pictures bearing the signature: Odilon Redon. They held, between their gold-edged frames of unpolished pearwood, undreamed-of images: a Merovingian-type head, resting upon a cup; a bearded man, reminiscent both of a Buddhist priest and a public orator, touching an enormous cannon-ball with his finger; a spider with a human face lodged in the centre of its body. Then there were charcoal sketches which delved even deeper into the terrors of fever-ridden dreams. Here, on an enormous die, a melancholy eyelid winked; over there stretched dry and arid landscapes, calcinated plains, heaving and quaking ground, where volcanos erupted into rebellious clouds, under foul and murky skies; sometimes the subjects seemed to have been taken from the nightmarish dreams of science, and hark back to prehistoric times; monstrous flora bloomed on the rocks; everywhere, in among the erratic blocks and glacial mud, were figures whose simian appearance--heavy jawbone, protruding brows, receding forehead, and flattened skull top--recalled the ancestral head, the head of the first Quaternary Period, the head of man when he was still fructivorous and without speech, the contemporary of the mammoth, of the rhinoceros with septate nostrils, and of the giant bear. These drawings defied classification; unheeding, for the most part, of the limitations of painting, they ushered in a very special type of the fantastic, one born of sickness and delirium." As Huysmans notes, Redon was interested in a distinct perversion of the soul. He describes this more fully in a letter he wrote in 1871: "But the soul must be made monstrous: in the fashion of the comprachicos, if you will! Imagine a man implanting and cultivating warts on his face." Redon also describes his work as ambiguous and undefinable: "My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined." Redon's work represent an exploration of his internal feelings and psyche. He himself wanted to "place the visible at the service of the invisible"; thus, although his work seems filled with strange beings and grotesque dichotomies, his aim was to represent pictorially the ghosts of his own mind. A telling source of Redon's inspiration and the forces behind his works can be found in his journal A Soi-même (To Myself). His process was explained best by himself when he said: "I have often, as an exercise and as a sustenance, painted before an object down to the smallest accidents of its visual appearance; but the day left me sad and with an unsatiated thirst. The next day I let the other source run, that of imagination, through the recollection of the forms and I was then reassured and appeased."

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