An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. Derived from the Greek: ἐπίγραμμα epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on – inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia.

The Greek tradition of epigrams began as poems inscribed on votive offerings at sanctuaries – including statues of athletes – and on funerary monuments, for example "Go tell it to the Spartans, passersby...". These original epigrams did the same job as a short prose text might have done, but in verse. Epigram became a literary genre in the Hellenistic period, probably developing out of scholarly collections of inscriptional epigrams.

Though modern epigrams are usually thought of as very short, Greek literary epigram was not always as short as later examples, and the divide between "epigram" and "elegy" is sometimes indistinct (they share a characteristic metre, elegiac couplets); all the same, the origin of the genre in inscription exerted a residual pressure to keep things concise. Many of the characteristic types of literary epigram look back to inscriptional contexts, particularly funerary epigram, which in the Hellenistic era becomes a literary exercise. Other types look instead to the new performative context which epigram acquired at this time, even as it made the move from stone to papyrus: the Greek symposium. Many "sympotic" epigrams combine sympotic and funerary elements – they tell their readers (or listeners) to drink and live for today because life is short.

Alexander Day (also known as Marmaduke Davenport, Esq.) was a British sharper known for cons committed in London in September 1722. Originally from St Andrew, Holborn, Day went under the name Marmaduke Davenport, Esq. and hired a carriage and footman to create the impression to shopkeepers in London that he was a respected member of the gentry. Once the shop proprietors had supplied their goods, Day would flee without paying.

In 1723, Day was arrested in connection with a robbery of a mail coach in Clapham. Although he was ruled out as a suspect of this crime, he was indicted on four counts of defrauding and two counts of grand larceny for crimes committed in the September of the previous year. After his trial, Day was found guilty on all counts of defrauding and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Newgate Prison, which included standing twice in the pillory and paying a fine of £200.

Alexander Day originated from the parish of St Andrew, Holborn. He worked as a sharper in London, where he went under the pseudonym Marmaduke Davenport Esq. to suggest that he was a member of the gentry. To further this claim, Day would say that he had a large estate in Durham and was engaged to a wealthy heiress. Day also claimed to have left his own coachman and horses at his country seat and needed to hire a carriage and footman in London. Once he had hired the carriage and footman, he took this entourage around numerous premises in the city, where he would convince shopkeepers that he was about to spend large amounts of money on their expensive goods.

Balázs Szokolay (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbɒlaːʒ ˈsokolɒj]) (born in Budapest, 1961) is a Hungarian pianist.

His international concert career started in 1983, replacing Nikita Magaloff at a concert in Belgrade. Four years later he was appointed a professorship at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Throughout his career he has been awarded 14 competition prizes (Zwickau's Robert Schumann, Leeds', Brussels' Queen Elisabeth, Munich's ARD, Terni's Alessandro Casagrande, Monza's Rina Sala Gallo, etc.).

In 2001 the Hungarian Government awarded him the Liszt Prize.

Miklós Perényi (born 5 January 1948) is a Hungarian cellist. He was born in Budapest into a musical family and studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Musec in Budapest with Ede Banda and Enrico Mainardi. He continued his studies at the Accademia Santa Cecilia, graduating in 1962. In 1963 he won a prize at the Pablo Casals International Violoncello Competition in Budapest.

In 1965 and 1966 he studied with Pablo Casals in Zermatt and Puerto Rico and afterward performed at Marlboro Festival for four consecutive years. In 1974 he became a lecturer and in 1980 a professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, but while teaching continued to perform internationally. He has been a regular guest of the Theatre de la Ville in Paris for solo works and chamber music performances.

Perényi's work is available on recordings under the Hungaroton, Quint, Decca, Metropolitan Video and ECM New Series. Selected recordings include:

Ludwig van Beethoven (ⁱ/ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪt.hoʊvən/; German pronunciation: [ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən] ( listen); baptized 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.

Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven moved to Vienna in his early 20s, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. His hearing began to deteriorate in his late twenties, yet he continued to compose, conduct, and perform, even after becoming completely deaf.

Beethoven was the grandson of a musician of Flemish origin named Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712–73) who moved at the age of twenty to Bonn. Lodewijk (Ludwig is the German cognate of Dutch Lodewijk) was employed as a bass singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become Kapellmeister (music director). Lodewijk had one son, Johann (1740–1792), who worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment, and gave lessons on piano and violin to supplement his income. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, who had been the head chef at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier.