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In the 1970-80s Michael Jacksonmade his fantastic career. In addition to live performances he produced a lot of records, CDs andvideo clips. His particular ability to combine extraordinary gracious movements with singingbrought him fame all the world round.Some young musicians combined their vocal and composer masteries with their dramaticskills (so-called “performance”).
The talented singer Diamond Galas (1955) using a very gloomyvampire stage image and lots of technical and light effects created unsurpassed emotionalperformances full of energy and expressions. Joan La Barbara (1947) possessing a wonderfulvocal technique brilliantly experiments with modern compositions written by her husbandMorton Subotnic and chamber music easily passing from charming whispering and thrillingmoans to anxious beast cries. Black composer Anthony Davis (1951) improvises with lmodernism, ,jazz and Indian rhythms.Besides folk and pop music so-called “serious” music is also very famous. The greatesropera house “Metropolitan Opera” is located in New York, but there plenty of other ones.
Nowlive performances of classical music are held in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Franciscoand other cities, many of which are famous for their orchestras and conductors. There are over1500 orchestras throughout the country, many of which can be termed “major” or world-class.The symphony “The Last Alice” (1976) by David Del-Tredichy written on Luis Carol’s “Alicein Wonderland” is successfully played by Chicago symphonic orchestra.School and university ensembles and orchestras play a very important role throughoutthe country to bring up the level of the culture of young people..
There are hundreds of city, stateand nationwide music competitions. In addition, the universities provide cultural offerings inmany areas of the nation, especially in smaller places, which would otherwise find it difficult tosupport a major symphony or concert.In the 20 th century besides George Gershwin and Aaron Copland there appeared thePPnumber of very talented composers: Leonard Bernstein (1919-80) who wrote two ballets, anopera and the music for “West Side Story”, Philip Glass and Stiven Polus whose operas werestaged in New York and Minneapolis (state Minnesota). Some modern composer experimentedwith moderns forms. ' composition “Keys to the City” devoted to the Centenary of the BrooklynBridge is a very complex weave of romantic concert traditions with the city noises and folkloreelements and jazz.One of the very popular genre in the USA “musicals” have truly American origin. Thefirst popular musical was “Oklahoma», performed in the 1940s.
Since “Oklahoma” manymusical plays have appeared on the American stage. Among the most noteworthy musicalsthere were “On your Toes”(1966) with original George Balanchire choreography, “FunnyFace”, “My One and Only” based on Gershwins shows. Very successful musicals were also “My Fair Lady”, the musical version of B. Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” and “West Side Story”,portraying tense and hostile relationships between the Puertoricans and native New Yorkers.The musicals”Cats”, “A Chorus Line» and “Hair” are ones of the longest-running shows onBroadway.Closely related to the development of American music in the early 20 th century was thePPemergence of a new, and distinctively American, art form - modern dance. Americanchoreographers searched for new methods of expression. Merce Cunningham (1919)introduced improvisation and raqndom movement into performances. Alvin Ailey (1931-1989)incorporated African dance elements and black music into his works.
Among the earlyinnovators was Isadora Duncan (1878-1927), who stressed pure, unstructured movement inclassical ballet.The first American ballet troupes were founded in the 1930s, when dancers andchoreographers teamed up with visionary lovers of ballet such as Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996)who invited Russian choreographer George Balanchine (1904-1983) to the United States in1933. The two established the School of American Ballet, which became the New York CityBallet in 1948. Ballet manager and publicity agent Richard Pleasant (1909-1961) foundedAmerica’s second leading ballet organization, American Ballet Theatre, with dancer and patronLucia Chase (1907-1986) in 1940.While Pleasant included Russian classics in his repertoires, G. Balanchine announced thathis American company would mix classical idioms with the new forms.
Since then, theAmerican ballet scene has been a mixture of classical revivals and very original works,choreographed by such talented former dancers as Jerome Robbins, Robert Joffrey , Eliot Feld,Arthur Mitchell, and Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov..New World, New ArchitectureAmerican architects of the later 19 th – 20 th centuries found themselves in a worldPPPPbeing reshaped by science, industry, and speed. The needs of a new American society pressedthem, while steel, reinforced concrete, cast iron and electricity were among the many newtechnical means at their disposal. The 20 th -century architecture often approached engineering,PPexpanding and incorporating modern stylistic elements, and works such as the Brooklyn Bridgeby John and Washington Roebling (1869-83) number among the most impressive of allAmerican achievements.
The 20 th -century architecture often approached engineering, expandingPPand incorporating modern stylistic elements.For many people the symbol of America. is New York Manhattan skyline. The origin ofskyscrapers can be traced back more than a hundred years to the American Midwest and hasbecome the result of a need for more working and living space in places where the cost of landwas very high.
During the end of the 19 th century and beginning of the 20 th the great number ofPPPPhigh, narrow buildings began to rise not only in New York, but also in the center of Chicago andsome other American cities. Each skyscraper was built around a framework of steel beams,which carried the weight of the building. The walls of the early skyscrapers were often made ofstone, but later of glass and metal. They give the images not only of modernity and technicalprogress but also of visual expression to the impact of the United States on the world. Amongthe world’s tallest buildings there are the Chrysler Building (1930) and the Empire StateBuilding (1931).Still today, despite the loss of the World Trade Center towers, no city in theworld has more completed individual free-standing buildings over 500 ft.(152 m.) than NewYork City with its 184 so-called skyscrapers.From the 1930s onwards, skyscrapers also began to appear in Latin America and Asia.Now Hong Kong comes in with the most in the world (186).
From the late 1950s and the early1960s skyscrapers began to appear in Africa, the Middle East and Australia.Immediately after World War 11, the Soviet Union planned eight massive skyscrapersdubbed “Stalin Towers” for Moscow, seven of which were built. The rest of Europe also slowlybegan to permit skyscrapers, starting with Madrid in Spain during the 1950-60s.The Americanization of popular taste and habits was not restricted to music, movies andarchitecture.From supermarkets to hot dogs, from Coca-Cola, Chewing Gum to nylon fiber andblue jeans – all these things which are so common to people of very many countries were born inthe USA .In many areas of life American popular tastes and attitudes have conquered the worldThe first supermarkets appeared in the USA in the 1950s. With their huge variety offoods and other consumer goods supermarkets gave the American shoppers a visible proof of thesuperiority of the American way of organizing a nation’ economic life.
When supermarketsproved a commercial success in the USA, they quickly spread to other countries, first in Europeand then in other parts of the world.The growing popularity of hamburgers, fried chicken and other easily prepared “fastfood” spread American eating habits all over the world. Blue jeans and T-shirts Americanizedthe dress habits of the people on every continent.
The habit of wearing jeans is –along with thecomputers, the copying machine, rock music, polio vaccine and skyscrapers – one of the majorcontributions of the US to the postwar world at large.1. Answer the questions.I.How many periods are there in the USA art and literature and whichfactors are they associated with?2.What are the most famous art galleries and museums in the USA?3.What are your favorite American writers?4.Where is the center of theatrical life in the USA?5. Who are America’s most important playwrights?6.
Where and how was American cinema born?7.Why did Hollywood become a symbol of the American dream?8.Why did Charlie Chaplin continue to be popular?9.What musical traditions has American music assimilated?10.How did jazz emerge? What musicians made a great contribution to thepopularization of jazz?11.When did Rock-‘n-Roll appear on the musical scene?12.What American composers do you know?13.Why so-called sky-scrapers appear in the USA?14.Why did American pop culture become so popular abroad?2.
Render the text in EnglishА) Друг президентов и мафиозиВ 30-e гг. Фрэнк Синатра был так необыкновенно популярен в Америке, чтошкольники писали сочинения на тему «Почему я люблю Синатру» Сам же Синатраобъяснял, почему он любит петь: «Когда я пою, я верю, что я честен». Честность былаважнее тембра, она доходила до сердец людей». В конце сороковых годов, когдасинатромания почти схлынула с Американской эстрады, состоялось второе рождениепевца в кино. В августе 1964 года на экраны вышел фильм «Отсюда до вечности», вкотором Фрэнк с потрясающей силой сыграл трагическую роль американскогосолдата.
Академия киноискусства присудила ему «Оскара» в 1953 году. Американскаяпублика вновь и бесповоротно полюбила Фрэнка Синатру. Он стал первым инепререкаемым эстрадным певцом и плейбоем Америки, конфидентом президента и«крестных отцов» мафии. Менялись времена, менялись вкусы и стили. Не менялсяодин Синатра. Он пережил Бинга Кросби и Элвиса Пресли, пережил «Битлз» и диско,выстоял перед натиском рок-н-ролла. “ All or Nothing at All”-пел Синатра. Все знали иверили – пока поет Синатра, все о’кей, пока поет Синатра, будет мир и стабильность.Б) Элвис ПреслиЕще никто не вызывал столь буйных девичьих восторгов как Элвис, а этопервый индикатор успеха.
Респектабельный Синатра тоже был кумиром, от негопадали в обморок, а от Элвиса визжали и высвобождали все глубинные инстинкты.Концерты Пресли превращались в погромы – таких страстей в Америке еще не было.Впервые Элвис узнал, что это такое, во Флориде, когда несколько девиц вскочили насцену и в клочья разодрали его пиджак. Пока певец спасал гитару, две самыеотчаянные фанатки цеплялись за его ботинки. Еще одна девушка зубами захватилаправую штанину – и материя треснула и разорвалась.
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