Rayok
A rayok ( rus, раёк, p=rɐˈjɵk, "small paradise") was a Russian fairground Raree show, peep show. Performed using a box with pictures viewed through magnifying lenses, these were accompanied by lewd rhymed jokes. ''The Fall of Adam and Eve'' was one of the most popular topics. The term rayok has also come to be applied to rhymed humorous talk shows, without peeping, featuring a kind of rhymed prose. The expression "to talk rayok", говорить райком, thus means to speak in a rhymed, humorous way, to patter. Rayok, in both its peep show and talk show forms, has been an occupation of wandering artists called "rayoshniks". When used as the title for a piece of music, rayok implies a scurrilous entertainment, as in: *''Rayok (Mussorgsky), Rayok'', an extended song by Modest Mussorgsky also known as ''Peep-Show'' *''Anti-formalist Rayok'', a cantata by Dmitri Shostakovich also known as ''Little Paradise'', ''The Gods'' and ''A Learner's Manual'' See also *Petrushka ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhymed Prose
Rhymed prose is a literary form and literary genre, written in Meter (poetry), unmetrical rhymes. This form has been known in many different cultures. In some cases the rhymed prose is a distinctive, well-defined style of writing. In modern literary traditions the boundaries of poetry are very broad (free verse, prose poetry, etc.), and some works may be described both as prose and poetry. Arabic culture and influences In classic Arabic literature, a famous form of rhymed prose is known as ''saj'''. Saj' is considered by many to be the earliest form of artistic speech in Arabic dating to Pre-Islamic Arabia, pre-Islamic times, and some reconstructions make it out to be a predecessor of metered poetic verse in Arabic. Rajaz may have been an intermediary for this process. An elaborate Arabic kind of rhymed prose is ''maqama''. It influenced other cultures of the Muslim world, such as Persian literature, Persian (as exemplified by Saadi (poet), Saadi's ''Gulistan of Sa'di, Gulestan'') ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patter
Patter is a prepared and practiced speech that is designed to produce a desired response from its audience. Examples of occupations with a patter include the auctioneer, salesperson, dance caller, magician, and comedian. The term may have been a colloquial shortening of " Pater Noster", or the Lord's Prayer, and may have referred to the practice of mouthing or mumbling prayers quickly and mechanically. From this, it became a slang word for the secret and equally incomprehensible mutterings of a cant language used by beggars, thieves, fences, etc., and then the fluent plausible talk that a cheap-jack employs to pass off his goods. Many illusionists, e.g., card magicians, use patter both to enhance the show and to distract the attention of the spectators. In some circumstances, the talk becomes a different sense of "patter": to make a series of rapid strokes or pats, as of raindrops. Here, it is a form of onomatopoeia. In hypnotherapy, the hypnotist uses a 'patter' or script t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human civilization: in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment containing ever-lasting bliss and delight. Paradise is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, in contrast to World (theology), this world, or underworlds such as hell. In eschatological contexts, paradise is imagined as an Entering heaven alive, abode of the virtuous dead. In Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, heaven is a paradisiacal belief. In Hinduism and Buddhism, paradise and svarga, heaven are synonymous, with higher levels available to beings who have achieved special attainments of virtue and meditation. In old Egyptian beliefs, the underworld is Aaru, the reed-fields of ide ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raree Show
A raree show, peep show or peep box is an exhibition of pictures or objects (or a combination of both), viewed through a small hole or magnifying glass. In 17th and 18th century Europe, it was a popular form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen. History Peep shows, also known as peep box or raree show ("rarity show") can be traced back to the early modern period (15th century in Europe) and are known in various cultures. According to a 15th century Italian manuscript biography, later published by 18th century historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672 – 1750), the Italian humanist author, artist Leon Battista Alberti (1404 – 1472) created wonderful painted pictures exhibited inside a box with a small aperture. He had two kinds: night scenes with the moon and stars, and day scenes. It is thought these pictures may have been transparent and lit alternately from the front and from behind, with parts painted on the back causing changes in the scene. However, it has also b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of List of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky, Mussorgsky's works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other national themes. Such works include the opera ''Boris Godunov (opera), Boris Godunov'', the orchestral tone poem ''Night on Bald Mountain'' and the piano suite ''Pictures at an Exhibition''. For many years, Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have posthumously come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available. Name The spelling and pronunciation of the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anti-formalist Rayok
''Antiformalist Rayok'' (), also known as ''Learner's Manual'', without opus number, is a satirical cantata for four voices, Choir, chorus, and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich. It is subtitled ''As an aid to students: the struggle of the realistic and formalistic directions in music''. It satirizes the conferences that resulted from the Zhdanov decree of 1948 and the anti-formalism campaign in Soviet arts which followed it. The work includes quotations from Andrei Zhdanov, Andrei Zhdanov's speech at the Conference of the Musicians at the Central Committee of the all-Union Party in Moscow in January 1948. The libretto also incorporates Dmitri Shepilov, Dmitri Shepilov's speech at the Second Congress of Composers in 1957, in which he mispronounces the name of the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (''KorSAkov''). In regard to music, there are references to the traditional Music of Georgia (country), Georgian folk song "Suliko", Joseph Stalin, Joseph Stalin's favourite song, and the pop ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movement (music), movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of the term changed over time, from the simple single-voice Madrigal (music), madrigal of the early 17th century, to the multi-voice "cantata da camera" and the "cantata da chiesa" of the later part of that century, from the more substantial dramatic forms of the 18th century to the usually sacred-texted 19th-century cantata, which was effectively a type of short oratorio. Cantatas for use in the liturgy of church services are called church cantata or sacred cantatas; other cantatas can be indicated as secular cantatas. Several cantatas were, and still are, written for special occasions, such as Christmas cantatas. Christoph Graupner, Georg Philipp Teleman ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostakovich achieved early fame in the Soviet Union, but had a complex relationship with its government. His 1934 opera '' Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk'' was initially a success but later condemned by the Soviet government, putting his career at risk. In 1948, his work was denounced under the Zhdanov Doctrine, with professional consequences lasting several years. Even after his censure was rescinded in 1956, performances of his music were occasionally subject to state interventions, as with his Thirteenth Symphony (1962). Nevertheless, Shostakovich was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1947) and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (from 1962 until his death), as well as chairman of the RSFSR Union of Composers (1960–1968). Over ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petrushka
Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. It was first introduced by traveling Italian performers in the first third of the 19th century during a period of Westernization in Russian culture. While most core characters came from Italy, they were soon transformed by the addition of material from the Russian cultural context.' Petrushkas are traditionally hand puppets. The character is a kind of a jester, a slapstick protagonist distinguished by his red dress, a red '' kolpak'', and often a long nose. Name The name "Petrushka" originally and primarily refers to the specific stock character of the Russian carnival puppetry. However, like Guignol, due to the central role Petrushka played in the puppet theatre, it also has come to refer to the tradition more generally (sometimes referred to as ''balagan'' (балаган) after the carnival booths in which the plays were enacted), or even the gen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |