Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as poets by others. A poet may simply be a writer of poetry, or may perform their art to an audience.

The work of a poet is essentially one of communication, either expressing ideas in a literal sense, such as writing about a specific event or place, or metaphorically. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and time periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed through the course of literary history, resulting in a history of poets as diverse as the literature they have produced.

History

In Ancient Rome, professional poets were generally sponsored by patrons, wealthy supporters including nobility and military officials. For instance, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, friend to Caesar Augustus, was an important patron for the Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil.

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often written by composers for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are scored for string (violin, viola, cello and double bass), brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30–100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their instrument. A small number of symphonies also contain vocal parts (e.g., Beethoven's Ninth Symphony).

Origins

The word symphony is derived from Greek συμφωνία (symphonia), meaning "agreement or concord of sound", "concert of vocal or instrumental music", from σύμφωνος (symphōnos), "harmonious". The word referred to an astonishing variety of different things, before ultimately settling on its current meaning designating a musical form.

Symphony (El Khoury)

Bechara El Khoury's Symphony, subtitled The Ruins of Beirut, was composed in 1985. It was the third of a series of works inspired in the ongoing Lebanese Civil War, being preceded by tone poem Lebanon in flames and a Requiem. It is composed of four movements, marked Drammatico, Misterioso, Poetico and Tragique.

It was recorded for Naxos Records in 2002 by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, conducted by Vladimir Sirenko.

References

Review at Gramophone, February 2003.

Hybrid (Welsh band)

Hybrid are a British electronic music group based in Swansea, comprising Mike Truman and Chris Healings, with the addition of Charlotte James completing their 2010 lineup. They are primarily known as a progressive breaks act, although they overlap considerably with progressive house and trance. However, the band are now taking a more structured approach to song writing, with the addition of Charlotte James contributing to the writing process. The duo are considered pioneers of the electronic genre, and have produced four studio albums, all garnering critical acclaim. They are known for their cinematic approach to their production, specifically with the use of orchestral sounds, which is particularly notable on their debut album Wide Angle when they collaborated with the Russian Federal Orchestra. Also over their seventeen-year career, they have produced over 100 remixes for over 40 artists.

History

1999: Wide Angle

Hybrid released their first album, Wide Angle, in 1999 – a combination of progressive house and nu skool breaks with vocals and symphonic textures. They hired the Russian Federal Orchestra for the string sections. Julee Cruise supplied many of the vocals for Wide Angle. The album was produced and written by the duo along with the third original band member, Lee Mullin. The music's cinematic feel and scope have led to comparisons with Massive Attack and Underworld. Hybrid also supported Moby during a live tour in 2000.

The Diplomats

The Diplomats (popularly known as Dipset), are an American hip hop group founded in 1997 by Cam'ron and Jim Jones, in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew up together in Harlem. In 1999, fellow Harlem-based rapper Juelz Santana was added to the group.

In the year 2001, following Cam'ron's signing, the group secured a recording contract with Def Jam and Brooklyn-bred rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. They subsequently began recording their debut album, Diplomatic Immunity, and released it under the aforementioned labels in March 2003. Following tensions and controversy between Cam'ron and Jay-Z, the group severed ties with the labels and signed to indie record label Koch Records. The group released their second album Diplomatic Immunity 2, in November 2004 under Koch. After a hiatus because of artistic differences, in 2010 the original members began recording music together again and announced a reunion album. In February 2011, it was announced they had signed with Interscope Records. However in May 2013, Freekey Zekey revealed they were no longer signed to Interscope. Freekey Zekey stated, "I don't know. [Juelz Santana] had...I guess...had personal problems that was negating him from hittin' the studio hard. I don't know what they are or what they was, but his mind was with it. 'Cause every time we talked to him or spoke to him, he [was excited]. But whatever was lurkin' in his personal life or whatever the case may be, would basically stop him from getting into that studio."