Bone: Sacrum
Sacrum, pelvic surface
Image of pelvis. Sacrum is in center.
Latin	os sacrum
Gray's	subject #24 106
MeSH	Sacrum

In vertebrate anatomy the sacrum (plural: sacrums or sacra) is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx (tailbone). It consists of usually five initially unfused vertebrae which begin to fuse between ages 16–18 and are usually completely fused into a single bone by age 34.

It is curved upon itself and placed obliquely (that is, tilted forward). It is kyphotic — that is, concave facing forwards. The base projects forward as the sacral promontory internally, and articulates with the last lumbar vertebra to form the prominent sacrovertebral angle. The central part is curved outward towards the posterior, allowing greater room for the pelvic cavity. The two lateral projections of the sacrum are called ala (wings), and articulate with the ilium at the L-shaped sacroiliac joints.

Etymology[link]

The name is derived from the Latin (os) sacrum, (sacer, sacra, sacrum, "sacred"), a translation of the Greek hieron (osteon), meaning sacred or strong bone.^[1] Since the sacrum is the seat of the organs of procreation, animal sacra were offered in sacrifices. In Slavic languages and in German this bone is called the 'cross bone',^[2] in Dutch 'holy bone' (Heiligbeen).

Parts[link]

• The pelvic surface of the sacrum is concave from above downward, and slightly so from side to side.
• The dorsal surface of the sacrum is convex and narrower than the pelvic.
• The lateral surface of the sacrum is broad above, but narrowed into a thin edge below.
• The base of the sacrum, which is broad and expanded, is directed upward and forward.
• The apex (apex oss. sacri) is directed downward, and presents an oval facet for articulation with the coccyx.
• The vertebral canal (canalis sacralis; sacral canal) runs throughout the greater part of the bone; above, it is triangular in form; below, its posterior wall is incomplete, from the non-development of the laminae and spinous processes. It lodges the sacral nerves, and its walls are perforated by the anterior and posterior sacral foramina through which these nerves pass out.

Articulations[link]

The sacrum articulates with four bones:

• the last lumbar vertebra above
• the coccyx (tailbone) below
• the illium portion of the hip bone on either side

Rotation of the sacrum forward a few degrees vis-à-vis the ilia is sometimes called "nutation" (L. "nodding"), and the reverse motion "counter-nutation."^[3]

It is called the sacrum when referred to all of the parts combined, but sacral vertebrae when referred individually.

Sexual dimorphism[link]

The sacrum is noticeably sexually dimorphic (differently-shaped in males and females).

In the female the sacrum is shorter and wider than in the male; the lower half forms a greater angle with the upper; the upper half is nearly straight, the lower half presenting the greatest amount of curvature. The bone is also directed more obliquely backward; this increases the size of the pelvic cavity and renders the sacrovertebral angle more prominent.

In the male the curvature is more evenly distributed over the whole length of the bone, and is altogether larger than in the female.

Variations[link]

In some cases the sacrum will consist of six pieces [1] or be reduced in number to four [2]. The bodies of the first and second vertebrae may fail to unite.

Sometimes the uppermost transverse tubercles are not joined to the rest of the ala on one or both sides, or the sacral canal may be open throughout a considerable part of its length, in consequence of the imperfect development of the laminae and spinous processes.

The sacrum also varies considerably with respect to its degree of curvature.

Additional images[link]

• 

  Vertebral column.

• 
• 

  Pelvis

• 

  Sacrum, dorsal surface.

• 

  Lateral surfaces of sacrum and coccyx.

• 

  Base of sacrum.

• 

  Median sagittal section of the sacrum.

• 

  Vertebral column.

• 

  Left Levator ani from within.

• 

  The posterior divisions of the sacral nerves.

• 

  Median sagittal section of male pelvis.

• 

  Median sagittal section of female pelvis.

See also[link]

• Bone terminology
• Terms for anatomical location
• Pelvimetry
• Rump (croup)
• Coccyx (tailbone)
• Ileum bone
• Lumbarization

References[link]

External links[link]

• SUNY Labs 43:os-0401 - "The Female Pelvis: Articulated bones of pelvis"
• SUNY Labs 43:st-0401 - "The Female Pelvis: Bones"
• sacrum at eMedicine Dictionary

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.

Katarzyna Wilk (born 3 January 1982 in Lubin, Poland) is a Polish contemporary R&B singer, more commonly known as Kasia Wilk.

In 2008 she began her solo career with the hit single "Pierwszy raz" which reached position 51 on the Polish National Top 50 music chart.^[1] Previously she was a vocalist for KTO TO, Dreamland, and Groovestreet. She has also collaborated with Mezo. In 2004 she received an award at the Polish National Song Festival in memory of Anna Jantar.

Albums[link]

• Unisono (My Music, 2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

This article about a Polish singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Giovanni Croce (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni ˈkroːtʃe]) (also Ioanne a Cruce Clodiensis, Zuanne Chiozotto) (1557 – 15 May 1609) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, of the Venetian School. He was particularly prominent as a madrigalist, one of the few among the Venetians other than Monteverdi.

Life[link]

He was born in Chioggia, a fishing town on the Adriatic coast south of Venice, the same town as Gioseffo Zarlino, and he came to Venice early, becoming a member of the boy's choir at St. Mark's under Zarlino's direction by the time he was eight years old. Zarlino evidently found him in a cathedral choir in Chioggia, and recruited him for St. Mark's.^[1] Croce may have been a parish priest at the church of Santa Maria Formosa, and he took holy orders in 1585; during this period he also served as a singer at St. Mark's. He evidently maintained some connection, probably as a director of music, with Santa Maria Formosa alongside his duties at St. Mark's.

After the death of Zarlino, he became assistant maestro di cappella; this was during the tenure of Baldassare Donato. When Donato died in 1603 Croce took over the principal job as maestro di cappella but the singing standards of the famous St. Mark's cathedral declined under his direction, most likely due more to his declining health than his lack of musicianship. He died in 1609; the position of maestro di cappella went to Giulio Cesare Martinengo until 1613, at which time Monteverdi took the job.

Music and influence[link]

Croce wrote less music in the grand polychoral style than Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, although he left a grand mass for four choirs, composed for Ferdinand of Austria (the future Emperor Ferdinand II) and several triple-choir Psalm settings (only one of which has survived), and as a result his music has not maintained the same fame to the present day; however he was renowned as a composer at the time, and was a large influence on music both in Italy and abroad. As a composer of sacred music he was mostly conservative, writing cori spezzati in the manner of Adrian Willaert, and parody masses more like the music composed by the members of the contemporary Roman School. However, later in his career he wrote some music in a forward-looking concertato style, which attempted to combine the innovations of Viadana with the grand Venetian polychoral manner. This posthumous collection, the Sacre Cantilene Concertate of 1610, is for 3, 5 or 6 solo voices, continuo and a 4-voice Ripieno which can be multiplied ad lib (presumably in different parts of the church). Most of Croce's sacred music is for double-choir: this includes three masses, two books of motets, and sets of music for Terce, Lauds and Vespers. Although most of his sacred music was written for the professional singers of St Mark's (including several pieces written for their participation in a freelance company of musicians under Croce's direction, who performed for the Scuole Grande of Venice) much of his music is technically simple: for that reason much of it, especially the secular music, has remained popular with amateurs. One collection, the motets for 4 voices of 1597, is clearly designed for less ambitious church choirs.

Croce is also credited with the first published continuo parts, many of his double-choir collections being issued either with a 'Basso per sonare nell'organo' or a 'Partidura' (or Spartidura) which indicated both choirs.

Stylistically, Croce was more influenced by Andrea Gabrieli than his nephew Giovanni, even though they were exact contemporaries; Croce preferred the emotional coolness, the Palestrina clarity and the generally lighter character of Andrea's music. Croce was particularly important in the development of the canzonetta and the madrigal comedy, and wrote a large quantity of easily singable, popular, and often hilarious music. Some of his collections are satirical, for example setting to music ridiculous scenes at Venetian carnivals (Mascarate piacevoli et ridicolose per il carnevale, 1590), some of which are in dialect.

Croce was one of the first composers to use the term capriccio, as a title for one of the canzonettas in his collection Triaca musicale (musical cure for animal bites) of 1595. Both this and the Mascarate piacevoli collections were intended to be sung in costumes and masks at Venetian carnivals.

His canzonettas and madrigals were influential in the Netherlands and in England, where they were reprinted in the second book of Musica transalpina (1597), one of the collections which inaugurated the mania for madrigal composition there. Croce's music remained popular in England and Thomas Morley specifically singled him out as a master composer; indeed Croce may have been the biggest single influence on Morley. John Dowland visited him in Italy as well.

Media[link]

	Cantate Domino
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References and further reading[link]

• Articles "Giovanni Croce, Canzonetta" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
• Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN 0-393-09530-4
• The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, ed. Don Randel. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-674-61525-5
• Denis Arnold, Giovanni Gabrieli and the Music of the Venetian High Renaissance. London, Oxford University Press, 1979. ISBN 0-19-315232-0
• A complete edition of the sacred music of Croce, the Croce Quatercentenary Edition, is appearing in 14 volumes. Edited by Richard Charteris, Martin Morell and Michael Procter, the Edition is published by Edition Michael Procter (Weingarten, Baden). Details are at www.Croce-Edition.com and at www.Edition-MP.com. Volume I includes a new biography by Martin Morell.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Free scores by Giovanni Croce in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Giovanni Croce in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Giovanni Croce at the International Music Score Library Project
• Description of Croce's masquerade music, by DonnaMae Gustafson (Ph.D., 1992, on Giovanni Croce)