新编英语教程 4 Unit 10 背景知识.doc

Unit 10 From Composer to Interpreter to Listener I. Background Information Jean Baptiste Lully (1632 -- 1687), French court and operatic composer who from 1662 completely controlled court music and whose style of writing was widely imitated throughout Europe. But he had his frailties – he was known to shrewd and unscrupulous, a man of insatiable ambition, his rise from violinist in Louis XIV’s court band was meteoric and was accomplished by brazen and merciless intrigue. Richard Wagner (1813 -- 1883), leading German composer of the late 19th century who was not simply a composer but a musical dramatist whose stage work have a far-reaching significance. He created his dramas single-handedly – plot, characters, text as well as the music. He had a fascinating personality, manifest genius and artistic integrity. But he was not free from human frailties. He lived wildly. In spite of his princely salary, he had to flee from Vienna to avoid imprisonment for debt because he had the inveterate habits of borrowing and living on others. He had powerful enemies, largely because of his generally unscrupulous behavior, which was largely due to his blind artistic self-centeredness. II. Further Development: I. Role-play What a Pity! Sample role card: Janet/Paul: You are a college student. You’re very interested in classical music and Beethoven is your favourite composer. You got two tickets for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, performed by the Pujiang Symphony Orchestra, yesterday, and invited Rosy / Bill to the concert. You gave her / him the ticket the day before, and arranged to meet in the foyer. You waited for half an hour but she / he didn’t turn up. The concert was most enjoyable. Today Rosy / Bill comes to see you to apologize. You accept her / his apology and tell her / him something about the wonderful performance. Rosy / Bill: You are a friend of Janet’s / Paul’s. You are keen on classical music and you especially like Beethoven. The day before yesterday Janet / Paul gave