Some more museums of britain
Victoria and Albert Museum is a collection of fine and applied arts. It was opened in 1857 and was named after Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. The museum, includes fine and applied art of all countries and periods, and, in particular, collections of sculpture water-colours, miniatures and a large library. Now it chiefly represents European art and art of the Near and Far East. The library is devoted principally to fine and applied arts of all countries.
You are sure to hear about Madame Tusseau 's Museum. It contains hundreds of wax figures which are sculpture portraits of famous personalities — political figures, musicians, sportsmen and even criminals.
Science Museum of London has exhibits of scientific instruments and appliances which review the progress of science and history of inventions.
The London Museum represents the history of the city from its foundation to its present days.
The Art Gallery of Birmingham is unrivalled for its Pre-Raphaelite paintings and its large collection of English water-colour landscapes. It also owns a steadily growing collection of works of the Continental schools from the 13th century. There are regular lectures on art appreciation, and a bookstall provides a wide range of reproductions, booklets and catalogues.
The Liverpool Museums contain valuable collections of natural history and antiquities and are divided into departments of zoology, botany, geology, archeology and ethnology. The Manchester Museum serves as both a municipal and a university museum. In Edinburgh you can visit the famed Royal Scottish Museum, which has collections in art, ethnography, natural history, technology and archeology; and the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, noted for its coin and manuscript collections.
Architecture
The Tower of London
The Tower on the north bank of the Thames is one of the most ancient-buildings of London. It was founded in the llth century by William the Conquerer. But each monarch left some kind of personal mark on it. For many centuries the Tower has been a fortress, a palace, a prison and royal treasury. It is now a museum of arms and armour, — and, as-one of the strongest fortresses in Britain, it has the Crown Jewels. The grey stones of the Tower could tell terrible stories of violence and injustice. Many sad and cruel events took place within the walls of Tower. The ravens whose forefathers used to find food in the Tower, still live here as part of its history. There is a legend that if the ravens disappear, the Tower will fall. That is why the birds arc carefully guarded.
The White Tower was built by William the Conquerer to protect and control the City of London. The Tower itself, is guarded by Yeomen Warders populary called "Beefeaters". Every night at 10 p.m. the Ceremopy of the Keys or locking up the Tower for the night takes place. (см. дальше про церемонию)
St. Paul's Cathedral
It is the work of the famous architect .Sir Christopher Wren.
It is said to be one of the finest pieces of architecture in Europe. Work on Wren's masterpiece began in 1675 after a Norman church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. For 35 years the building of St. Paul's Cathedral went on, and Wren was an old man before it was finished.
From far away you can see the huge dome with a golden ball and cross on the top. The interior of the Cathedral is beautiful. It is full of monuments. The most important is the monument to the Duke of Wellington. After looking around you can climb 263 steps to the Whispering Gallery, which runs round the dome. lt is called so, because if someone whispers close to the wall on one side, it person with his ear close to the wall on the other .side, can hear what is said.
Houses of Parliament.H.of P. isin Parliament Square. Their medieval look is misleading. Many people are surprised to learn that it was built between- 1840-1852 and only one part of it was built in 1097-1099. The Houses of Parliament received the name of the Palace of Westminster. It has two miles of corridors and more than 1000 rooms. When Parliament is sitting, a flag flies from the Victoria Tower and a light shines by night on the Clock Tower. Visitors can watch the work of the Parliament from the Strangers' Gallery. The Houses of P.
contains the universal symbol of London — Big Ben. This is the name of the 13,5 ton bell on which the hours are struck. The great bell got its name in the 19th century after Sir Benjamin Hall, first Commisioner
of works. The bell and the clock are on the Clock Tower.
Art
WILLIAM HOGARTH(1697-1764)
England didn't have its own school of painting up to the 17th century. The Flemish artist Anthony Van Dyck had a great influence on British painting. He is considered to be the father of the English portrait school.
William Hogarth was one of the greatest English artists, pictorial satirist and a man of remarkably individual character and thought. He was the first artist who rejected foreign influence and created English national school of painting. W. Hogarth was born in London, on the 10th of November, 1697 in a family of a school teacher who was bankrupt and imprisoned. So William overcame real hardships before he achieved success.
Unlike his contemporaries he portrayed not only representatives of the upper class but also common people. The famous set of 16 satirical pictures called "Marriage a la Mode" contains the most important and beautifully painted of the Hogarth comedies. In the London National Gallery one can see his "Self-portrait" of which the bright blue eyes shine out from the canvas and give you an idea of the keen and brave look with which W. Hogarth regared the world.
In his paintings Hogarth attacks debauchery, sloth and drunkenness. There is probably no side of English life that has escaped the artist's keen and witty eye. His art was a reflection, an interpretation and a commentary on the social condition of his time. The painter's concern with social themes and his implacable criticism of the ills of the various classes of society make him one of the foremost representatives of realism in art during the first half and middle of the 18th century.
JOHN CONSTABLE (1776-1837)
John Constable was the first English landscape painter to ask no lessons from the Dutch. He was born at East Bergholt in Suffolk where his father owned water-mills and windmills. His father didn't think art was a real profession, and John as a boy worked almost secretly. His love of painting was so strong that a friend persuaded his father to send John to London to study. But he never forgot the valley of the river Stour, the great trees on its banks, the square towers of village churches, the mills with their water wheels, the wooden bridges across the river. "These scenes made me a painter," he used to say afterwords.
The beauty of his native countryside, its luxuriant meadows, its woods and rivers became the subject matter of his painting. He wished not merely to paint "portraits of places" but to give a true and full impression of nature, to paint light, dews, breezes, bloom and freshness.
Constable's picture The Hay Wain, which was exhibited at the Louvre in 1824, had an immediate and lasting effect on French art. His pure and brilliant colour was a revelation to French painting.
It was Constable's habit to make large preparatory sketches for his pictures of special importance. There is a great difference between the sketches and the pictures painted in the studio. The sketches done directly from nature contain a freshness and vigour often lost in the finished paintings, while the pictures worked up in the studio possess a refinement of composition not to be found in the sketches.
In his Flatford Mill on the river Stour, Constable depicted a typically English scene, bringing painting out of door. In the near foreground a horse with a boy on its back is being attached to the towing rope of a barge floating idly on the stream. In the distance is a lock and the buildings of the mill. To the right of the picture stretches a pasture. The time is early summer and the grass has not lost the freshness of spring.
ENGLISH THEATRES
The first theatre appeared in England in 1599. It was "the Globe "closely connected with the name of Shakespeare. It was a round summer theatre with a sign on the main door that read "All the world is a stage". According to the theatrical tradition of that time all the parts were played by men. This theatre was called "The Golden Theatre" by the common people as'it was not only for the rich but for the poor people as well.
The Theatre Royal is one of the oldest London theatres. It was opened on May 7, 1663. King Charles II was the first British king who attended a public theatre and was present at the performance. Since that time the theatre is called Royal and the actors — the King's Company.
The first Covent Garden Theatre was built in 1732. It was more a theatre of drama than of opera. This historic building was burnt down twice but restored successfully. The famous Italian singers Adelina Patti and Caruso and the great Russian Shalyapin sang here many times. Now Covent Garden is one of the few well-known opera houses in Europe. It employs over
600 people both of the Opera company and the Royal ballet. There you get the best of everything — a first rate orchestra, famous conductors, celebrated singers.
In the winter of 1960, the Royal Shakespeare Company, which had previously operated only in Stratford-on-Avon, established a London base at the Aldwich Theatre. The Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. You will find opera, comedy, drama, musical comedy, variety and cinemas. The National Theatre stages modern and classical plays. The performances start at about eight or half past, and finish about eleven. Cinema performances, as a rule, go on for the greater part of the day. Most theatres and music halls have good orchestras, with popular conductors.
There are many theatres for young people. The National Youth Theatre which stages classical and modern plays about youth, was on tour in Russia at the end of the last century. Many famous English actors started their careers in this theatre. Among them Timothy Dalton, the actor who did the part of Rochester in "Jane Eyre" shown on TV in our country.
Concerts of the leading symphony orchestras, numerous folk and pop music groups are held in the Royal Albert Hall (you can see it in the picture). The programmes include new and contemporary works as well as classics. Among them are symphonies and other pieces of music composed by Benjamin Britten, the famous English musician.
MUSIC IN BRITAIN
The English have usually preferred to make their music not as individuals, but as members of a choir or a band. Choral singing in England has always reached a high standard; it is chiefly in its soloists that England lags behind other countries. There are several hundred local musical societies in England; most of them are choral societies, though some are also orchestral.
The leading choral societies have long been accustomed to meet together at festivals, at which choirs and orchestras perform in competition with one another. As many as half a million people may take part in these festivals every year. One more very common form of corporate music-making in England is the brass band.
The audience for good orchestral music in England has increased greatly of late years. The BBC has its own large symphony orchestra. It has its regular appearance at the annual series of Promenade Concerts, held in London. These Promenade Concerts, or "Proms" as they are familiarly called, were begun in 1895 and have had an uninterrupted history ever since.
Although there have been no great jazz artists of British origin, jazz is still quite popular in Britain. Pop music has always been the enthusiasm and the entertainment of the young, but recently it has joined forces with beat and protest songs to express more than romantic yearning: it has become an outlet for discontent, disillusion, for hopes and social protest.
THE BEATLES
In the second half of the XX-th century Great Britain became the world centre of pop music. Such outstanding groups as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple brought undying fame to the music of the British Isles.
The Beatles was one of the most influential pop groups, first performing in 1959 in Liverpool. The names of the four Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — soon became popular all over the world. At first the group performed music that was influenced by American rock'n'roll. However their experimental songs, imaginative lyrics and catchy melodies attracted attention of the youth from many countries. The musicians wrote words and music and their songs were about love, friendship, good and bad times.
The Beatles changed pop music for ever. From their first single "Love Me Do", of a Lennon — McCartney composition in 1962, people recognized something different in their music than the usual pop songs at the time. Their songs seemed more tuneful, more exciting than what most singers were recording at that time. The Beatles were also more attractive than many other performers. Many more people began to listen to pop music than before.
BANK HOLIDAYS
The term "bank holiday"dates back to the 19th century when the Bank Holiday Acts of 1871 and 1875 declared certain days to be bank holidays, that is days on which banks were to be closed. Today their observance is no longer limited to banks only. Post offices, most factories and shops are closed too. There are 8 bank holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, August (or Summer) Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. All public holidays, except New Year's Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are movable, that is they do not fall on the same day each year.
Most of bank holidays are of religious origin, and meant holy days.
Christmas Day,which is the 25th of December, is the most widely celebrated and the most colourful and merry of all bank holidays.
On Christmas Eve everything is rush. Offices close at one o'clock, but the shops stay open late. The last preparations and purchases are made. Christmas trees are decorated, Christmas cards are arranged on shelves and tables, stockings are hung over the end of the bed, a carrot for the reindeer is left on the mantelpiece.
On Christmas Day many people go to churches, open their Christmas presents, eat a Christmas dinner of roast turkey and Christmas pudding. Many people watch the Queen's Christmas broadcast on TV. This day is a traditional family reunion and a special day for children. They wake up early to find the stocking on their bed full of small presents. Other presents, opened when everyone is together, are arranged around the Christmas tree, which is usually decorated with multicolored lights. Christmas meal is really traditional: stuffed turkey, boiled ham, mashed potatoes to be followed by plum pudding, mince pies, tea or coffee and cakes.
People travel from all parts of the country to be at home for Christmas.
Boxing Dayon the 26th of December is the day of visiting friends, of giving Christmas boxes or gifts of money to servants. Many people still give a Christmas gift to paperboys and papergirls. But most people sit in front of TV recovering from Christmas Day.
New Year's Day is on January 1. In England New Year is not as widely observed as Christmas. Some people even ignore it, but others celebrate it in one way or other. The most accepted type of celebration is a New Year party. Traditional parties and dances are held on New Year's Eve. Most people see the old year out and the New Year in with their friends and relations. At midnight on New Year's Eve when Big Ben is chiming everybody join hands and sing Robert Burns's poem "Auld Lang Syne" ("The good old days", "The days of long ago"). The most famous celebration is round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus, where people sing, dance and welcome the New Year.
In Scotland the New Year's Eve is called Hogmanay and it is a very special time for merrymaking and exchange of presents. There and in the North of England people go first-footing.To symbolize good luck the visitor carries a piece of coal and a glass of water.
Good Fridayis the Friday before Easter when the church marks the death of Christ. On this day people eat hotcross-buns — small sweet rolls marked on top with a cross. On Easter people give each other chocolate Easter eggs. Easter Monday is a traditional day for the start of the summer tourist season, as schools close for two weeks.
May Day Bank Holidayis the first Monday after May 1 (May Day). May Day which is not a bank holiday is a celebration of the coming of spring. Different outdoor events are held, and May-queen, the most beautiful girl of the celebration, is selected. In villages throughout Britain children dance and sing round the maypole to celebrate the end of winter and welcome summer.
Spring Bank Holidayfalls on the last Monday in May.
Summer (August) Bank Holidayis held on the last Monday in August. These two bank holidays are great days for excursions. In Britain people generally make a beeline for the coast. Throngs of cars take to the road to get the family to some seaside resort for a bathe or a game on the beach. On these days the beaches are crowded with visitors from inland.* On the last weekend in August there is a big carnival at Netting Hill in West London. People who take part in it dress up in fabulous costumes. Bands play African and Caribean dance music people dance and blow whistles. It is the biggest carnival outside Brasil.
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