In order to fully appreciate the classical style, i.e., the style that was in vogue in Europe from about 1770 until circa 1800, it is necessary to understand sonata form. Sonata form is sometimes called first-movement-sonata -form because it was almost always the form used for first movements of every type of composition. And [...]

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I learned just a few minutes ago that artist, poet, and friend Sid Gomez Hildawa, head of the Visual Arts Department of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and award-winning (Palanca) poet, has succumbed to typhoid and dengue. He actually made it home from the hospital just two days ago and everyone thought he [...]

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On May 1st, 1786, something quite unique and extraordinary was premiered at a private court theater in Vienna. When Mozart had announced to the world that he and his Italian librettist friend, Lorenzo Da Ponte had created something totally new and unique, it was not idle sales hype. “Le Nozze di Figaro” was totally unlike [...]

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The album opens with my favorite in the collection—a soft, soothing lilt of a song sung sweetly by a voice of quiet courage: Halina’t ako’y samahan / Come, join me Mga inang nagbubunga ng bukas / Mothers who bear the fruits of tomorrow Sa mundo ni Inang kapayapaan / In the world of Mother Peace [...]

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The symphony came about as sort of a confluence between the German serenade and the French orchestral suite, with a certain influence from the Italian concerto as well. In the 1760s there arose a stormy passionate style of symphony known by the German term Sturm und Drang. Sturm und Drang means storm and urge, although [...]

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The Copernican revolution was one of the most important steps forward in the advancement of our knowledge of the universe. The notion that the Earth is not the center of the universe, but actually is a planet, like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and therefore, moves through the heavens, was considered to be insane [...]

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                       What are the grounds for believing in Big Bang Cosmology? I have listed below, seven powerful pieces of evidence for the big bang theory. By the way, I am very open to the idea that the big bang is only one of an infinite number of big bangs, with new universes being created [...]

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Waway Linsahay Saway (Christian name: Rodelio), is a byword among contemporary artists and indigenous communities in Mindanao. A teacher at the Talaandig School of Living Traditions in the highlands of Sungko, Lantapan, Bukidnon, Waway lives on his tribe’s music and art. Waway belting out a song in his mountain home Son of Talaandig supreme chieftain [...]

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