Ethical Obligations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Obligations - Essay Example Rather, humans are able to determine courses of action which will benefit the sum whole of humanity and to perform those behaviors which, in their assessment, create the greatest general good regardless of the personal good created. The tendency of humans to perform these actions is called benevolence. Finally, there exists a third motivating factor, which must be taken into account to form a proper moral theory; this third factor will be called obligation. Obligation is the result of the social nature of humans. Suffice to say, for now, that obligations are the motivations to perform actions which result from explicit promises regarding what behavior one will engage in. Obligations have been a key aspect of many influential moral theories. Several great philosophers have heavily relied on the concept of obligations in their moral theories. Perhaps most notably are the ideas of contracts or covenants in Hobbes' Leviathan and Hume's discussion of promises in Of the Obligation of Promises. Both of these philosophers, as well as many others, have developed theories in such a way so as to incorporate obligations, though they often refer to them by another nomenclature, into them. Hobbes relies heavy on obligations, or covenants as he refers to them. According to Hobbes humans in the state of nature realize that it is in their best interest to each relinquish rights to others so as to establish some social order to escape from the aforementioned state of nature. These relinquishments of rights by an individual to another individual or to the group as a whole are covenants. Hobbes asserts that these covenants are brought about by two principles he claims to be laws of nature: "[t]hat every man, ought to endeavor Peace, as far as he has hope of obtaining it; and when he cannot obtain it, that he may seek, and use, all helps, and advantages of War," and, "[t]hat a man be willing, when others are so too, as far-forth, as for Peace, and defense of himself he shall think it necessary, to lay down this right to all things; and be contented with so much liberty against other men, as he would allow other men against himself." It follows, then, that in so far as one en tering a covenant will foster peace and the person with whom one is entering the covenant is equally willing to relinquish rights the covenant existence of covenants is dictated by the laws of nature. It is from these covenants that Hobbes seems to believe obligation arise. Hobbes has the following to say concerning the obligation created by entering a covenant: "he that is to perform in time to come, being trusted, his performance is called Keeping Of Promise, or Faith; and the failing of performance (if it be voluntary) Violation Of Faith." It is clear that Hobbes believes that entering into these covenants does in fact create an obligation and that one should endeavor to fulfill one's obligations. (Wilson, 2003) Hobbes puts such importance on the concept of obligation that he offers the creation and fulfillment of obligations as the only way to escape from the nearly unbearable state that is his conception of the state of nature. Despite his being on the right track in placing such importance on

Information Technology - questions to answer Essay

Information Technology - questions to answer - Essay Example From the other side, the cost of qualitative education is constantly rising. So people who invested huge money in their education can not afford receiving low salaries. Therefore it becomes impossible to find highly-educated professional human resources at low price. Those who sat that personnel from India or China is highly educated should ask themselves how many college graduates from India or China are working at top positions at U.S. companies. Often talented people from overseas should first work in the U.S. company for few years and overtake some corporate training (or post-graduate education) to become valuable employees. I think that ACME Corporation should use experience of other IT companies which are successful in transferring their facilities to developing countries. For example, managers at U.S.-Dutch professional publishing giant Wolters Kluwer shifted software development and editorial work to India and the Philippines. Therefore they are able to pump out a greater variety of books, journals, and Web-based content more rapidly. Wachovia Corp., the Charlotte-based bank inked a $1.1 billion deal with India's Genpact to outsource finance and accounting jobs and handed over administration of its human-resources programs to Lincolnshire-based Hewitt Associates. It's "what we need to do to become a great customer-relationship company," says Director of Corporate Development Peter J. Sidebottom cited in Engardio (2006). Wachovia aims to reinvest up to 40% of the $600 million to $1 billion it hopes to take out in costs over three years into branches, ATMs, and personnel to boost its core business. Here's what such transformations typically entail: Genpact, Accenture (ACN ), IBM Services, or another big outsourcing specialist dispatches teams to meticulously dissect the workflow of an entire human resources, finance, or info tech department. The team then helps build a new IT platform, redesigns all processes, and administers programs, acting as a virtual subsidiary. The contractor then disperses work among global networks of staff ranging from the U.S. to Asia to Eastern Europe. In recent years, Procter & Gamble (PG ), DuPont (DD ), Cisco Systems (CSCO ), ABN Amro (ABN ), Unilever, Rockwell Collins (COL ), and Marriott (MAR ) were among those that signed such megadeals, worth billions. As Engardio (2006) writes, many executives are discovering offshoring is really about corporate growth, making better use of skilled U.S. staff, and even job creation in the U.S., not just cheap wages abroad. True, the labor savings from global sourcing can still be substantial. But it is peanuts compared to the enormous gains in efficiency, productivity, quality, and revenues that can be achieved by fully leveraging offshore talent. However what the company really has to help it survive in this environment is finance. So ACME Corporation can attract professional talents from India, China and Eastern Europe with the same methods as it attracts American specialists. Good strategy for ACME Corporation is to provide social insurance and credits for mortgage or other purposes to its college-educated English-speaking employees from India or China that will attract talented personnel to the company. As Liu (2006) writes, the US economy emerged after World

Cognitive Human Memory

Cognitive Human Memory Evaluate the influence of modern technology on cognitive theories of human memory Cognitive Science is a branch in the field of psychology that studies the mental processes of the people. These mental processes include attention, perception, memory, recollection and learning. Cognitive psychology is seen as an interrelated field where it intersects with other disciplines such as philosophy, computer science, neuroscience and linguistic. Out of all those mental processes that were mentioned above memory has been of great interest and most researched, for it being a very complex topic. There have been several research conducted in order to find the nature of memory. Memory is the ability of a living organism to store, retain and retrieve information. In cognitive psychology memory is divided into three stores, namely the sensory, short term and long term. The information is processed in all these three stores. This is often referred to as the information processing model. George Miller (1956) had proposed an idea that is fundamental to the information processing model. The concept is ‘chunking and the capacity of the short term memory. Miller stated that short term memory could hold only up to 5-9 chunks of information, where a chunk is a meaningful unit and it could refer to words, digits, people faces etc.,. This concept was considered to be the basic element in the subsequent theories of memory. The other theory of human memory, the multi store model was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). Their theory was very influential within the information-processing model. They also suggested three types of memory stores, namely sensory, sh ort term and long term stores. Sensory store holds temporary information that is acquired from the environment in an unprocessed state. The information that is given attention is processed to the short term store, some of the information is rehearsed in the short term store and passed on to the long term memory. This information is retrieved on active searching. One of the major contributions of the cognitive science to the field of psychology is the information processing model where the metaphor of ‘brain as computer is taken in the literal sense. Cognitive scientists try to study the nature of intelligence from a scientific point of view by creating computer models of the human mind that helps us in explaining the processes that take place during problem solving, remembering, perceiving etc. It is believed that if we observe how does robotics and expert systems accomplish tasks assigned to them, then we are using the Artificial Intelligence to understand the working of the human mind. However the influence of modern technologies on the cognitive theories of human memory is note worthy. It has had positive as well as negative impact. Firstly, let us look at the positive side of using metaphors of mind that are borrowed from the technological advances. The usage of computer metaphor helped in the development of important scientific breakthroughs. It led to the invention of artificial intelligence that helps people in all the fields to make better utilization of the information in order to work smarter rather than working hard. Robotics and other expert systems have also helped humans in making their life much simpler and easier. This can be considered as a major contribution of the cognitive psychology to the modern technology. The other advantage of using computer metaphor to human mind has made the understanding of the mental process involved in memory very simpler. The nature of memory was a very complex and mysterious concept initially, however with the computer analogy better understanding of the human memory has been achieved. The working of the mind is very similar to that of a computer in several ways. Computers receive information, codes it in particular format, which it can understand and when necessary it is retrieved. This is the same activity that a human mind does. They receive information from the environment, process it and store it in mind in a form that they perceive and on later stages they are able to retrieve them effectively. Thus, we ourselves can see that a metaphor of mind borrowed from the advanced technology has made our understanding very efficient and easier. So far we have seen the advantages of using metaphors of mind. However as it was mentioned earlier this concept is not without its drawbacks. Firstly the concept is overly simplistic. By using computer model as an example we do not consider the complexity of the human behavior. Understanding human behavior is a very complicated phenomenon for it involves biological, chemical, or/and psychological reactions within the body/mind before it produces any outcome or behavior. Having many things to be considered, the computer model does not make our understanding in depth, and creates a very easy picture about the mental processes of the human mind. Secondly, we can say that this concept is very hypothetical. Computer model itself is a theory. A theory is drawn out of a hypothesis, which is only assumed to be the truth and necessarily need not be the reality. In this state, trying to explain human mind in terms of computer model may not be totally accurate. Psychology being a scientific stu dy needs to conduct lab research for us to believe in any idea that they propose though the comparison between the human mind and the computer is widely accepted. Finally, I would like to conclude the essay by saying that the usage of computer analogy in the field of cognitive study has made our understanding of the human mind more convenient. For a field that is full of complexities this concept has contributed enormously in a positive way. Every aspect has pros and cons, similarly this concept also has some disadvantages that were mentioned few lines above, and nevertheless, I would personally say that the advantages have overweighed the disadvantages. References: www-psych.stanford.edu/~bigopp/Encoding.PDF http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AITopics/CognitiveScience http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/memory.html http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/memory.htm http://tip.psychology.org/miller.html http://www.cranepsych.com/Psych/Cognitive.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/AITopics/Applications

Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin Awakening Essays

Kate Chopin's The Awakening Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening expresses the difficulty of finding a woman’s place in society. Edna learns of new ideas such as freedom and independence while vacationing in Grand Isle. Faced with a choice to conform to society’s expectations or to obey personal desires for independence, Edna Pontellier realizes that either option will result in dissatisfaction. Thus, Edna’s awakening in Grand Isle leads to her suicide. Edna’s awakening occurs during her family’s vacation in Grand Isle. It is here that she learns to freely express herself and be unreserved in her behavior and speech. Through the Creole women, Edna becomes free from the chains that bind her to societal expectations. Adele initiates Edna’s arousing as does the local flirtatious man, Robert Lebrun. It is at Grand Isle that Edna feels most alive: engaging in idle talk, flirting unabashedly, receiving loving attention from a man, paints, learning to swim, an awareness of independence, and becoming conscious of her sexuality. Through the contrast of her experiences (depression when at home and joy when playing at sea), Edna recognizes an awakening, or a change, within her self. She discovers a part of herself separate from her husband, children, and previous life. This discovery fuels her incendiary rejection of her domestic responsibilities when she returns to her home in New Orleans. This ignites the passiona te fire of her heart, causing her to shake previous responsibilities, open a house independent of her husband to quench her sexual desires, and liberate herself from domestic restraints. Conclusively, Edna’s vivification causes her to feel responsible for only her passions and urges, neglecting remaining responsibilit... ...nt for personal independence. It is only through the futile attempts to investigate which option (convention or passion) is best that Edna realizes there is no appropriate choice to be made. Edna recognizes, through her awakening, the existence of two entirely unlike female models of society. Neither of the models fit her, and thus, she stands in societal purgatory waiting, in vain, for some sort of epiphany as to which model is best for her. She cannot fully connect with either female model, nor can she remove connections that bind her to each. She is unwilling to compromise. Through her stubborn frigidity, Edna chooses a non-choice, to surrender to the author of her awakening: the sea. From the sea, Edna learns of her independence. Into the sea, Edna surrenders society’s undesired requirement of action. The sea becomes both the giver of life and provider of death. Kate Chopin's The Awakening Essay -- Kate Chopin Awakening Essays Kate Chopin's The Awakening Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening expresses the difficulty of finding a woman’s place in society. Edna learns of new ideas such as freedom and independence while vacationing in Grand Isle. Faced with a choice to conform to society’s expectations or to obey personal desires for independence, Edna Pontellier realizes that either option will result in dissatisfaction. Thus, Edna’s awakening in Grand Isle leads to her suicide. Edna’s awakening occurs during her family’s vacation in Grand Isle. It is here that she learns to freely express herself and be unreserved in her behavior and speech. Through the Creole women, Edna becomes free from the chains that bind her to societal expectations. Adele initiates Edna’s arousing as does the local flirtatious man, Robert Lebrun. It is at Grand Isle that Edna feels most alive: engaging in idle talk, flirting unabashedly, receiving loving attention from a man, paints, learning to swim, an awareness of independence, and becoming conscious of her sexuality. Through the contrast of her experiences (depression when at home and joy when playing at sea), Edna recognizes an awakening, or a change, within her self. She discovers a part of herself separate from her husband, children, and previous life. This discovery fuels her incendiary rejection of her domestic responsibilities when she returns to her home in New Orleans. This ignites the passiona te fire of her heart, causing her to shake previous responsibilities, open a house independent of her husband to quench her sexual desires, and liberate herself from domestic restraints. Conclusively, Edna’s vivification causes her to feel responsible for only her passions and urges, neglecting remaining responsibilit... ...nt for personal independence. It is only through the futile attempts to investigate which option (convention or passion) is best that Edna realizes there is no appropriate choice to be made. Edna recognizes, through her awakening, the existence of two entirely unlike female models of society. Neither of the models fit her, and thus, she stands in societal purgatory waiting, in vain, for some sort of epiphany as to which model is best for her. She cannot fully connect with either female model, nor can she remove connections that bind her to each. She is unwilling to compromise. Through her stubborn frigidity, Edna chooses a non-choice, to surrender to the author of her awakening: the sea. From the sea, Edna learns of her independence. Into the sea, Edna surrenders society’s undesired requirement of action. The sea becomes both the giver of life and provider of death.

A judge is a person who is given the task

A judge is a person who is given the task to decide a case. He is the arbiter who is given the authority to evaluate the facts and issues of a case and to thereafter render a decision based on jurisprudence, the law, the Constitution and other acceptable sources.A judge should be impartial, independent, possessed of competence and dignity that is required of a judge. As part of due process, he should posses the cold neutrality of an impartial judge. A judge should always bear in mind, that he is the personification of justice.The people bring the case before the court that he represents, in hopes of obtaining a decision that is reflective of justice and integrity. A judge occupies a position that is above that of an average individual. He should not compromise his morals and should act in a manner that is consistent with his position both in his public and private life.It is very difficult to separate how a judge should act in his public and private lives. By this, it is meant, that even in the private lives of judges, they should live their life in a way that they are good examples to the society. A judge should set aside any biases that he has about the case, further, he should not in any manner allow personal and family relations to affect the manner by which he decides a case.A judge should be objective, making decisions by stating the facts and the law of the case. The decision of a case should have a basis so that the parties would know that their case has been decided through proper analysis and not by the whims and caprices of the judge.Democratic great powers are the manner by which justice is addressed in a given community. In any society, it is important to have a democracy. The people are viewed as the partners of government or of its leaders to achieve good governance. The people in power, like those of government officials should bear in mind that they are there to serve the people and their country and not to fuel their personal ambitions. In a d emocratic country, the people are guaranteed certain freedoms.These pertain to freedom of speech, expression, religion, labor, of voting and the like. These freedoms would allow the people to do their job of ascertaining as to whether or not officials in power are performing their work properly. The government does not have the monopoly of power in a democratic type of government since they know that their people can check them at any time.The government would not be given the chance to impose arbitrary laws and rules that would allow them to rule a country as they please, without thinking about the welfare of its constituents. It is very important for a government to respect the rights of their people by giving them a chance to voice out their opinions as for example, in choosing its leaders through voting. In this way, the people would have a participation in the election of those leaders who would lead their nation.

Baroque Music

Opera was the new musical form of the Baroque period and it was very expressive of the baroque cultural values. By then end of the operatic form was stylized into a recipe, including improbable plots, small motivations for the characters, and magical transformations, which were signs of opera's baroque nature. Oppress united drama, dance, elaborate stage mechanisms, and scenery with music. Johann Sebastian Bach was one artist whose greatest legacy was religious music.His works re distinguished by their inventiveness and complete mastery of major and minor tonality. George Frederic Handel was renowned for his Italian-style operas. He had a brilliant way in which music allows the singers to show their virtuosity. Yes, Opera was the new musical form of the Baroque period; it originated from Italy in the late sixteenth century by a group of Florentine musicians and poets who had ties with the aristocrats. However, let us not forget that if it was not for the four trends that gave he musi c of this time period its distinctive qualities.One in which was the creation of the major and minor tonality which was prefigured by Joaquin des Perez. That was the rise of modern music. The second was the mixing of the genres, which was well known in the literature and the arts made its way into baroque music. In addition, the third thing was the expressiveness in the music in the late 1 sass; it became more magnified and was used in emotions in the text of the music that may not have been eared. And lastly was the age of virtuosos, master musicians, especially singers, who would perform with great technical skill and vivid personal style, and of a growing variety of musical instruments. † That brings us back to Opera; this musical form brings all the mentioned trends together, became the ultimate symbol of the age. Claudio Monteverdi was the first great composer of opera; he composed Refer (1607) about a legendary ancient Greek poet-musician named Orpheus. It incorporated r am, dance elaborate stage mechanisms and painted scenery with music (410).Monteverdi was known for expanding the dramatic appeal by taking each of the five acts and ending them with a powerful chorus. He took the use of aural symbols and music phrases to intensify events. Jean-Baptists Lully was the founder of French opera but he was actually Italian. He would later become a French citizen and serve as Louse's court composer. French opera under Lully's direction would become more dignified and full of choruses and would add ballet and French text. Baroque Music The name Baroque, which is a French word from the Portuguese’s barroco, originally used in architectural design in Europe specifically in Italy having a deformed style as an irregularly shaped pearl. In music, it is known for its inconsistencies that the twentieth century historians later used the term baroque as an identification of the Early Classical Period in music.Instrumental music using piano or clavier (a German word for keyboard), violin, harpsichord and other string instruments ruled the Baroque Era of Western European Art Music between the years 1600 to 1750. Characteristics and Forms Although Temperley argues that â€Å"Baroque music was written largely for monarchs, aristocrats, and authoritarian church leaders† (par 9), the soulful melody and dramatically arrangement of any musical piece created during this era captured the hearts of the religious and nonreligious groups.Furthermore, as Kisser said â€Å"the middle class formed too in this era† (par 1). Generally, baroque music has the counterpoint and contrast as the main ingredients. Its characteristic is designed to be emotional in nature having a more rigid formal design with modern tones and experimental rhythm using the combination of a firm and repeatedly strong bass line with florid treble as composers aimed to communicate with contemporary music in accordance to their affectionate behavior. Musical forms are not stiff to instrumental music alone.Along with suite, fugue, partita, canzona, sinfonia, fantasia, ricercar, toccata, chaccone, sonata, concerto and concerto grasso, which the orchestra is composed mainly of different musical instruments to create a smooth polyphony sound, the use of vocal music with the form of cantata, monody, anthem, passion, masque, chorale prelude, oratorio and opera started to emerge and soon became in-demand. The incorporation of ballet dancing and theatrical arts is also introduced, and the public appreciated it as such. The Era of Baroq ue Music 1600-1630 (Early Baroque)The death of Renaissance period segued into the Early Baroque Music in the year 1600. It started when the Florentine Camerata decided to reinvent the conventional polyphonic sound from complex arrangements to basic accompaniment and simple melodies. As a result, counterpoint musical compositions began rising. The initiative to use chords instead of notes created tonality, and harmony is then expressed. As Baroque genre is starting to emerge, Protestantism also appears elsewhere in Italy. Experimentation in arts and music becomes powerful in reviving Catholicism.Instrumentation and lively orchestral music was one of its products. However, when public grew tired listening over purely musical instruments, another innovation come out. The use of music and text is demonstrated in Orfeo, the first ever opera composed by Claudio Monteverdi with the use of singer actors and music combined. 1630-1680 (Middle or Classic Baroque) Due to the patronage in Baroqu e genre, availability of orchestral instruments increased. Playwright artists gave vast contributions and became popular as well as opera and other theatrical drama, dances such as ballet, and vocal music genre.Most of their themes were excerpted from the rhetorical approach of Greek and Roman in arts and music. Formal teaching of art lessons specifically music started in Middle Baroque to give focus more on music and harmony. Counterpoint compositions turned out to be more systematic and well-arranged. However, the attractiveness of theatrical genre did not give concerto and concerto grasso a hindrance to be accepted. Instead, music in this era is more appreciated by the public. Some of the endless masterpieces created during the Classic Baroque survived until today like George Friedrich Handel’s Hallelujah and Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D.1680-1750 (Late Baroque) The declination of Baroque period began in the year 1680 and ended in the year 1750. Germany in this tim e adopted Italy’s artful tradition that they developed later on putting German touch. Music here was high-priced due to the demand of royal courts and members of the aristocracy. European art-music started to be respected by other neighboring continents like the United States of America. Knowledge and scientific discoveries as well as art and music were given utmost attention where composers and musicians are treated patrons even by the secular and religious members.Before the Baroque period moved to classical era, another significant innovation in music has been made available, and two composition styles were observed. These are called â€Å"the homophonic dominated by vertical considerations and the polyphonic dominated by imitation and contrapuntal considerations†. (Wikipedia par 69) Composers and Musicians of Baroque Era Further studies of Thornburgh and Logan said, â€Å"Baroque musicians were not concerned with expressing their own feelings and emotions, rather they sought to describe with objectivity, feelings and emotions which were distinct from what they actually felt†.(par 21) Here are some of the most admired, influential and well-appreciated composers, playwright artists, and musicians during this era. Italy: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Domenico and Scarlatti France: Corneille, Racine, Moliere, Couperin, Lully, Charpenter, and Rameau Germany: Praetorius, Scheidt, Schutz, Telemann, Pachelbel, Handel and Bach England: Purcell, Donne and Milton R E F E R E N C E S Baroque Music. Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. 11 Nov. 2007 < http://en. wikipedia. or g/wiki/Baroque_music>Bukofzer, Manfred. Music of the Bartoque Era. New York: Norton Company Inc. , 1947 Kisser, Brandon. A Brief History of Music: The Baroque Era Part I. Sept. 2007. Newsvine. Com. 12 Nov. 2007 Temperley, Nicholas. Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana: Baroque Music. 11 Nov. 2007 < http://www. baroqueartists. org/guide. asp> Thornburgh, Elaine and Log an, Jack, Ph. D. Baroque Music Part One. 12 Nov. 2007 Baroque Music According to Craig Wright, â€Å"â€Å"baroque† is the term used to describe the art, architecture, dance and music of the period 1600 to 1750 (Wright, 97). † The sound has been described as â€Å"rough, bold [and] instrumental† (Ibid). Originally, the term â€Å"baroque† was pejorative (Ibid). One of the main traits of baroque art and architecture, that extends itself to the music of the period, is massiveness. Everything in baroque society was larger than life. Grandiose was also a term that was used to define the music of the period.With this grandiosity was also an attention to detail that showed itself in â€Å"vigorous, pulsating rhythms with strong, regular beats and many smaller subdivisions (Ibid). † During the baroque period, there was much development and innovation in the field of music. During this time, three musical forms developed and reached their zenith, the Baroque Opera, Concerto Grosso, and the Cantata. These three forms were be st represented by Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The first form that came to innovation was the Baroque Opera. This was best exemplified by the operas of Claudio Monteverdi.One of his operas was The Coronation of Poppea. In it, you hear the swelling melodies and subtle undertones that define baroque music. Though it is one of Monteverdi’s last compositions, many critics view it as one of his best, sowing the seeds for all future Italian opera. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun notes that â€Å"[t]his is a pinnacle of early baroque style (Smith, 2009). † Craig Wright states that Monteverdi and other composers of early opera used a particular style to convey heightened passions. It was a â€Å"new, more expressive and flexible style of solo singing for the stage called stile rappresentativo (Wright, 107).† This form allowed the singer to move from one mood to another without alerting the viewer to the subtle changes in mood. This was a key component of baroque music, as one of the key aims of baroque is to create emotion in the listener and to give a sense of grandness to the vocal production. Eventually, â€Å"stile rappresentativo would soon be transformed into two different and contrasting types of vocal writing, recitative and aria (Ibid). † The second form of baroque music that emerged during this time period was concerto grosso.According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, concerto grosso was â€Å"characterized by a contrast between a small group of soloists and the full orchestra (Britannica, 2009). It flourished eventually as secular music for the royal court (Ibid). Britannica says that the typical â€Å"instrumentation†¦was that of the trio sonata (Ibid). † It consisted of two violins, a bass string instrument and a harmonizing instrument like a harpsichord. â€Å"Wind instruments were also common (Ibid). † The number of movements for the concerto varied depending on the compose r. Some had three movements, others had four.The fast movements â€Å"often used a ritornello structure, in which a recurrent section, or ritornello, alternates with episodes, or contrasting sections played by soloists (Ibid). † The composer best known for this form was Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi’s greatest concertos are the series known as the Four Seasons. More than 150 recordings have been made of the Four Seasons alone. In his works, you can hear the melodies and subtleties that make up baroque music. The final form of music that was developed during this time was the cantata. The cantata was a form first used by the Italians, and was later adopted by Johann Sebastian Bach.Though Bach never called them cantatas, they were considered such due to their structure. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Bach rejected calling his works cantatas because that connoted secular music, and if there was something that Bach was not, it was secular. When one listens to Bachâ⠂¬â„¢s music, one can hear the massiveness of the sound that is obviously designed for a church and for a multi-voiced orchestra. Under Bach, â€Å"the music of the Baroque reaches its greatest glory (Wright, 127). † He was a great virtuoso on the organ, studying his craft by listening to others and even traveling hundreds of miles just to hear a performance.He was a composer of church music, and later became a court conductor. One of Bach’s greatest known cantatas is a seven-movement work known as Awake, a Voice is Calling. It is a more formalized structure, with movements one, four, and seven being choruses, movements two and five being recitatives and movements three and six aria duets. This piece is a chorale piece, which is a spiritual melody or religious folk song (Ibid). The Baroque period, while a young period in musical history is full of new and innovative developments.The opera, the concerto grasso, and the cantata are all innovative developments in music th at show us how our rich musical history developed and changed over the hundreds of years that we have been maintaining our musical heritage. We need to embrace and encourage our musical growth and musical challenges so we may continue to grow as a culture and as a society. Works Cited â€Å"Cantata. † Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 18 Apr 2009. . â€Å"Concerto Grosso. † Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 18 Apr 2009.. Smith, Tim. â€Å"Opera Vivente tackles timeless ‘Coronation of Poppea'. † Baltimore Sun 09 Mar 2009 Web. 18 Apr 2009. . Wright, Craig. Listening to Music. Second Edition. St. Paul: West Publishing, 1996. Print. Josquin Desprez was a giant of Renaissance music. According to Craig Wright, he was the greatest composer of the Renaissance or any age. He was born on the border between modern France and Belgium and died in the same region.He was attracted to Italy for the same reason many oth er composers were attracted to the region—professional and monetary gain (Wright, 86). He worked consistently as a singer at the cathedral of Milan, the chapel of a cardinal in Rome, the Sistine Chapel of the pope, and in the chapel of the Duke of Ferrara. According to Wright, he â€Å"possessed a temperamental, egotistical spirit typical of many artists of the Renaissance: He composed only when he, not his patron wished; he demanded a salary twice that of composers only slightly less gifted; and he would break into a rage when singers tried to tamper with the notes he had written (86).† One patron threatened to throw him in prison if he did not stop composing for outside clients, yet he was recognized for his genius. He was praised by contemporary humanists of the time, and he was a favorite of Martin Luther, who said in essence, that Josquin mastered the notes; the notes did not master him (Ibid). â€Å"Josquin wrote more than twenty settings of the Ordinary of the Mass and a large number of French chansons (Ibid). † According to Wright, he especially excelled in a form called the motet.A motet is a composition written for a choir, setting a Latin text on a sacred subject. It was intended to be sung in a church or chapel or at home in a private devotion. Most were sung a capella, which literally means â€Å"in the chapel (Ibid). † This means that they were performed by voice alone, without any instrumentals. Instruments other than the organ were not allowed in churches during the Renaissance (Ibid). This clean, a capella sound accounted for the â€Å"often serene quality of the sound of Renaissance sacred music (Ibid).† Wright states that the Renaissance is often called â€Å"the golden age of a capella singing (Ibid). † It is in this setting that Josquin wrote Mille Regretz, a beautiful a capella piece that brings male and female voices together in harmony. The male and female voices play off each other, pulling the listener into the music and the gentle harmonies that are displayed. Josquin’s talent is evident, as the music has clean lines and tones, and the notes are precise and well-toned to blend together flawlessly.The first voices you hear are the male and female voices in harmony, and then it seems as if the female voice takes over, but there is a subtle bass to the tones, then the men dominate the piece while the women play a supporting role. Next the men and women are in harmony together, blending and rising their voices in a slightly mournful tune reminiscent of the Ave Maria. This piece speaks very well to the time period in which it was written.Mille Regretz means â€Å"A Thousand Regrets† in Italian, and it would seem as though this religious piece plays to the penance one would have to pay for their sins. There is a great emphasis placed on the polyphonic nature of the tones, and the multitonalism that results from the blending of the voices; all characteristic of R enaissance religious music. This piece probably represents Josquin at his height, as a power player in the courts and chapels of Italy. Listening to this piece, there is no reason to doubt his standing as one of the premier composers of his day, and this piece attests to it.This has the a capella quality that was desirous in Renaissance music, and there are few voices involved, which means that it was most likely meant for a small chapel and not for a grand cathedral. Josquin accomplished his goal of creating peaceful, religious music that soothes the soul and easily defined the time period in which it was popular. Then there is the quality of imitation involved. Josquin used this technique often. Imitation is a process â€Å"whereby one or more voices duplicate in turn the notes of a melody (Ibid).† You can clearly hear the imitation by the male and female voices as they move through the piece. In Josquin’s imitative writing, all the voices have a chance to equally pr esent the melodic material and all are of equal importance (Ibid). You can also clearly hear the â€Å"point-counterpoint† pattern in the singing that is common when the voices are working together to compliment each other. The sound produced would, on paper, appear to be discordant, but is far from such, as the â€Å"point-counterpoint† creates a harmony that belies what is placed on the paper.The voices work smoothly together to create a cohesive whole, so the piece comes together as a masterwork. Josquin’s work was a sublime effort despite his temperamental soul. Though he may have been tormented by having to achieve perfection, his works show he did just that. We can look at his music and clearly see the liturgical future that music took. He was a pioneer in sacred music, and his contributions must continue to be appreciated for how it speaks to us and our musical future. Works Cited Wright, Craig. Listening to Music. Second Edition. St. Paul: West Publishin g, 1996. Print.