PIERROT LUNAIRE, BY ARNOLD SCHOENBERG.

PIERROT LUNAIRE, BY ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

KAYJATTA.

My personal listening experience of Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire is that the music is very poetic, emotional, and dramatic as well. The musical instruments reflect the emotions displayed through the vocal technique.

This piece expands my view of music as an art form because of Schoenberg’s illustration of expressionism in art (painting particularly, but also in poetry and psychoanalysis) in music.

Schoenberg’s personal experience as a painter, and his inspiration by the symbolist poet Albert Giraud and Freudian school of psychology are all reflected in his music, especially in Pierrot Lunaire.

Schoenberg’s music differs from the music of the other periods before in that he totally abolished the tonal system. In Pierrot Lunaire, for example the distinction between consonance and dissonance completely disappeared. Schoenberg , an earlier proponent of Brahms and Mahler, became an “atonal expressionist”, meaning his music was free of tonality based around the home key and that he was an expressionist drawing inspiration largely from painting and poetry.

Schoenberg’s music strove to unify music and the spoken word through the spoken voice. He also attempted to perfect “tone-color-melody” where each note of a melody is played by a different instrument.

CHINA GATES, BY JOHN ADAMS.

CHINA GATES, BY JOHN ADAMS:

Kayjatta.

This is ‘China Gates’ by the celebrated American minimalist composer, John Adams. China Gates is based on the same technique as its much longer cousin Phrygian Gates. It is a very gentle and relaxed tune, with “chiming rippling notes” that have been compared by Adams himself to music by gamelan. In China Gates, rhythm, melody, texture and harmony are all depressed, and “automatism” of time and inanimate objects such as the “steady rainfall” at the time Adams wrote the piece China Gates; were emphasized.

The short piano piece, China Gates was one of John Adams’ short piano pieces. It was composed for a 17 year old pianist, Sarah Cahill. It consists of three parts. The first part varies between A-flat and G-sharp. The third part oscillates between F Lydian and F locrian. The second part rotates among all four A-flat, G-sharp, F Lydian, and F locrian).

Http://www.dramoline.org/tracks/china-gates/player

youssou N'dour - jigeen gni

THE GAMBIA SEVERS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH IRAN:

Kayjatta

The Gambia government has issued a press release announcing cessation of all diplomatic, economic and social relations with Iran. This drastic decision follows an impounding of a large shipment of illegal arms, by Nigerian intellegence, destined for the Gambia's Kanilai Farms, a company owned by President Jammeh.
Iran is currently reeling under a United Nations sanctions (over its covert nuclear activities) which barred the rogue nation from any trading of military weapons.
Recently, Iran has turned its attention to corrupt, unstable African countries such as the Gambia and Nigeria in order to circumvent U.N. sanctions. Members of Iran's Republican Guard are believed to have been providing security for the Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh who appears to be increasingly shielding himself from the Gambian security forces due to lack of trust and loyalty. It could be recalled that the last years of the former president Sir Dawda Jawara witnessed an increasing reliance on foreign troops, first the Senegalese and then the Nigerians, for  internal security. He was inevitably toppled in a bloodless military coup by disgruntled junior army officers led by the current president Jammeh...
This illegal weapons scandal is only one of a series of international scandals that has rocked the Gambia recently. A few months ago, over a billion dollars worth of cocaine was uncovered (by British intellegence agents) in the country purpotedly belonging to a cartel involving Venezuelans and Mexicans, although some Gambian businessmen, police and army officers were reportedly implicated.
Up to now, the Gambia government is ironically mute over its decision to send Iran packing. The best thing however, for the Gambian officials to do right now is to come forward immediately and explain their position. Silence is not a solution...

THE GREATER DOWNTOWN AREA PLAN, KCMO: A REVIEW.

KAYJATTA



PURPOSE AND VISION:

Kansas City has experienced an impressive economic growth, in excess of five billion dollars, since the year 2000. This increase in economic activity is owed largely to both private and public sector activities. During this period of growth, downtown has transformed as a place for employment (Kansas City Star newspaper, J.E. Dawn, H & R Block…), entertainment (Sprint Center, Power & Light district…), and residence (condominium conversions).
The Greater Downtown Area Plan, as the name implies, is an area plan. However, its focus appears to take on a regional dimension, extending to (the development of) the neighborhoods adjacent to the Downtown Core. These adjacent (satellite) neighborhoods may exercise their own spheres of influence as galactic cities or multiple centers of attraction in competition with Downtown.
This effort to develop Downtown alongside its surrounding neighborhoods derives from the concept that the fate of downtown is tied to the fate of its surrounding neighborhoods. In other
words, there is a connection (connectivity) between the health of downtown and the health of its adjacent neighborhoods. This argument, by extension, may have derived from the regional planning concept of Patrick Geddes (and Lewis Mumford) and even remotely from Ebenezer Howard. Yet the impact of the growth machine-the influence of powerful actors such as the wealthy local elites dealing with land as a commodity-may partly explain this broad ambition of the Greater Downtown Area Plan to include adjacent neighborhoods.
The Greater Downtown Area Plan was created by planners, hired by the Civic Council, and paid by the public (tax payers).
The Greater Downtown Area Plan is a retail implementation of the Focus Plan. It attempts to implement the Focus Plan on an area basis, over 18 areas.
The challenges facing downtown today include:
* need for development
* outdated plans, as earlier bemoaned by George Kessler (1917)
* economic distress
* inadequate housing and infrastructure
* pressure on the ecology
These challenges listed above are consistent with Hall’s contention that urban planning is a response to the woes of the industrial city.
Therefore, the Greater Downtown Area Plan hopes to address these challenges by focusing on the needs and hopes of neighborhoods and communities in Downtown and its surroundings; by:
* improving quality of life
* protecting precious natural resources
* protecting and improving economic vitality and competitiveness.



GOALS:

As Hall (2002; pg 19) observed a relationship between housing, transportation, and poverty; the goals that the Greater Downtown Area Plan sets to achieve are partly in response to (Hall’s ) observation, and include the following:
* Walkable downtown through the creation and improvement of pathways for pedestrians and options for transportation.
* Double downtown population through creating density, extending affordable housing to minorities and low-income residents, and attracting and retaining a diverse group of residents, although not necessarily creating ethnic enclaves as
would be observed in Dolores Hayden’s Streetcar Suburbs. Lawrence Veiller’s reforms in New York could be visited as well for ideas.
* Improving employment opportunities in downtown by attracting new businesses and retaining existing ones.
* Safe neighborhoods by repairing and maintenance of streets, sidewalks, and promoting compatible infill that enhance connectedness and does not negatively impact existing neighborhood.
* Sustainability by striking a balance between social, economic and environmental goals.
It is important to note that all the development projects set forth in the Greater Downtown Area Plan: transportation, recreation, industry, housing and others must conform to these goals outlined above.
.

LAND USE PLAN:

The land use plan postulated in the Greater Downtown Area Plan promotes densest growth in the downtown loop, Crown Center District, and Main Street and Grand Avenue (dense transit corridor).
The building heights are recommended to protect key downtown views such as the Liberty Memorial, the Performing Arts Center; and in consideration of the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.
For planning purposes only, the following land uses are designated:
* Downtown Core (DC)-promotes high-intensity office and employment growth within the downtown core through business, communications, educational, entertainment, tourism and to a limited extent, residential.
* Downtown Mixed –use (DMX)-to promote lower intensity commerce, manufacturing, light industry, and residential development.
* Downtown Residential DR)-to promote residential development with small-scale commercial use.
* Industrial (I)-to promote manufacturing, warehousing, and wholesale. This regulation hopes to protect and sustain the industrial district through economic viability. This corresponds with the M1 and M2 zoning categories of the new zoning ordinance.
* Mixed-Used Neighborhoods (MUN)- promotes retail sales and services that serve the immediate neighborhood. It corresponds with the B1 and B2 zoning categories of the new zoning ordinance.
* Residential low (urban)- promotes single-family detached residential development with densities of 4 and 8.7 units per acre. This classification corresponds with the R5, R6, R7, and R10 zoning categories.
* Residential Medium- promotes varieties of residential building types with densities of up to 8.7 units per acre. This land use corresponds with R5, R6, and R7 of the new zoning category.
* Residential Medium-High –promotes single-family town homes, duplexes, and apartments on small lots with densities of up to 17.4 units per acre.


CONCLUSION:

Kansas City is a rapidly evolving city. Therefore its future development must borrow from the four responses identified with regards to the industrial city (Hall, 2002). Maintain downtown as the regional office and employment center, the seat of government, the primary cultural destination, and a center of entertainment, tourism and shopping. Increase density and development within the Downtown loop and the Crown Center and connecting with a dense transit corridor along Main Street and Grand Avenue.
Different types of transportation (pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses, rail, etc…) must be created to connect various communities and neighborhoods with amenities. Limited
residential development must also be encouraged in heavily industrial districts. The ideal of sustainability-a balance between equity, environment, and economic development-must be pursued at all times. Historic buildings and monuments should be preserved whenever possible. Neighborhoods on the edges must be protected from encroachment and incompatible development which destroys their character and uniqueness.
Finally, the street grid must be preserved.

REFERENCES:

1. Cities of Tomorrow; Hall, P. (2002)
2. Suburbia; Hayden, D.
3. FOCUS Plan (KCMO)
4. Downtown Area Plan, KCMO
5. Master Plan, KCMO

THE GAMBIA: NOT YET INDEPENDENCE.

kayjatta.

THE IMPROBABLE NATION:
During the negotiations for independence, the Gambia's viability as an independent nation was very much in doubt due largely to its small size and meager resources. Jammeh's speech last month on February 18, 2010 marking the 45th anniversary of the Gambia's Independence from Britain invokes new doubts about the country's viability as an independent nation. This time the doubts are due to leadership, not resources.
Jammeh's castigation of Britain during his Independence Day speech, flanked by Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and Guinean military leader Saikuba Konate, indicates that the Gambia has not really moved away from colonialism.
Forty five years on, if all we can show for independence is to castigate Britain, then I do not know what independence we are talking about. Forty five years on, if we cannot provide basic freedoms, liberty, and prosperity for our people, then I do not know what independence we are celebrating.
The British political science writer, Patrick Dunleavy argued that when a new regime comes to power, it could blame all its problems on its predecessor regime but that becomes less and less effective the longer the new regime stays in power. Therefore it is futile to use British colonialism as a standard to measure the Gambia's progress. The Gambia's progress must be measured against modern, free and democratic nations.

FIRST REPUBLIC AND THE PPP REGIME:

Dr. Jeghan Senghore argued that at independence Africans had mistaken champions for leaders. Sir Dawda and the PPP's rule from independence in 1965 to 1994 was marred by ineffectiveness, lack of economic and social progress, and self-perpetuation; although widely considered for stability and adherence to human rights. Sir Dawda and the PPP's rule did not give Gambians what they expected at independence. Gambians who returned home from abroad with idealism and patriotism were disappointed. Consequently, this generation of Gambians (Africans)-highly educated and ready to serve- became, as in the words of the Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, a wasted generation.

During thirty years of PPP rule, the Gambia had no television, no good roads, no university, had only a handful of high schools mainly in Banjul and Serekunda, and depended solely on peanut production for export.

The PPP turned out to be a parasitic government with all the trappings of a monarchy. Elections organized and conducted by the Ministry of Local Government and Lands were inherently not free and fair. The PPP with unlimited access to government money and infrastructure, including the government owned Radio Gambia tilted the election results in its absolute favor. In the end, elections under PPP rule were only plebiscitary; and that Jawara and the PPP turned out to be what an Egyptian friend of mine described as "another Britain".

The last five or so years of PPP rule was so tumultous that many including some scholars of international reputaions began to question Sir Dawda's legitimacy.

The financial and corruption scandals that rocked the Gambia Cooperative Union under Momodou Dibba, and the Gambia Agricultural Development Bank under Ousainou Njie (Sir Dawda's brother in-law) among others, and the PPP regime's unwillingness to investigate and punish those involved angered many Gambians. Consequently, Professor C.E. Welch's argument that "if you cut down on transparency, then you cut down on legitimacy" was quite applicable in the Gambia under Jawara and the PPP.

Sir Dawda, perhaps aware of the national anger over these scandals, and mounting economic hardship for large numbers of Gambians announced his intention not to run for office ,at a meeting in Mansakonko, in 1992 only to reverse that decision later.

The purpose of independence; self-reliance, liberty, prosperity, and dignity were largely stifled under Sir Dawda and the PPP. Professor Harris, in early 1994 urged Gambians to wage a second struggle for independence.



THE MILITARY, THE SECOND REPUBLIC AND THE APRC REGIME:



On July 22, 1994; disgruntled junior officers of the Gambia national Army (GNA) led by Lt. Yahya Jammeh toppled the thirty-year regime of Sir Dawda Jawara in a coup that was widely considered bloodless. The coup was welcomed by most Gambians as a start over for true independence, development, and transparency.

Many educated and progressive Gambians abroad offered to return and help move the country forward. Instead of providing liberties and prosperity, the APRC regime and its offshoot, the AFPRC military council, for 15 years, took away all the freedoms and dignity the Gambian people have ever dreamed about. Fifteen years on, the Gambians remain in bondage without a genuine recourse to the electoral process. Under the APRC regime, where electoral officers are removed and detained shortly before elections, elections in the Gambia are truly a sham.

Jammeh, a military-turned-civilian who often clamors for a one-party state destroyed all the democratic institutions and competing powers in both the civil society and the military. Through daily firings, arrests, detentions, disappearances and assassinations, Jammeh has effectively subjugated all the elements of a democratic nation.-the media, the national Assembly, the Judiciary, religious organizations (especially the Supreme islamic Council), civil servants, the Independent Electoral Council (IEC), and the University of the Gambia. The military, the police force, and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) which together constitute Jammeh's major constituency were not spared either. Jammeh systematically disrupts any emerging real or perceived power bases, alliances and factions within the security forces and the civil service by rigorously applying his "electric broom" sending many to prison without trial.

Jammeh continues to rely on the monarchical features of the pre-independence era constitution and widely utilize patronage, inducement and intimidation to secure votes and loyalty.

If Sir Dawda was a "consensus oriented" leader, then Jammeh is a "task oriented" leader. Jammeh often espouse his track record of infrstructural development as the basic argument for his legitimacy, even if Gambians continue to live in shackles and mounting poverty of over 60%.

But what is even more troubling about Jammeh's rule is that despite his cold-blooded murderous tendency, he is also a merciless exploiter of the nation. Jammeh's lucrative business empire has colonized every aspect of the Gambian economy from agriculture to construction and financial services.; and has effectively turned Gambians into plantation workers who toil day in and day out on his numerous farms across the country without pay.

CONCLUSION:

Independence, characterized by freedom, liberty, prosperity and dignity; still remains an illusion in the Gambia. Therefore, Gambians need to come together and wage "...a second struggle for independence".

 

 

BRAHMS: CELLO SONATA NO. 1, E MINOR.

BRAHMS: Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor.

The piece, Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, by Johannes Brahms is very interesting. It consists of three movements, the fourth one, an adagio having been scrapped since. The piece was started in 1862 but wasn’t completed until 1865.

The first movement, defined largely by the low-range melancholic cello notes, opened with a solo cello with a melody and dynamics of fluctuating intensity before hitting an octave twice.

The second movement is a classical dance form; quiet and staccato (disconnected notes) with wistful lyrical melody provided by the cello. The technique of ornamentation is widely used in this section.

The third movement is a highly contrapuntal sonata with very prominent fugal elements inspired by the Baroque era traditions of Bach and to Beethoven.

The syncopated piano accompaniment with its dense texture contrasts the cello’s melancholic melody, thereby building a harmonic tension as the cello approaches its upper register.

The rhythm in the Cello Sonata No. 1, E Minor is extremely simple. The initial tension between cello and piano gave way to falling triplets in the piano to final recapitulation and cadence.

http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.550656

JAMMEH TO BE CROWNED KING:

There is news coming from the Gambia that the president, His Excellency Yahya Jammeh is to be crowned King of the Gambia and a one-party state to be announced shortly.
Jammeh was a junior officer in the army who came to power through a military coup in July 1994. Since then, the Gambia that has been widely considered the bastion of democracy in the continent of Africa for nearly thirty years, is blacklisted by international as well as local human rights organizations for its deplorable human rights record during the past 16 years of Jammeh's military rule.
The coronation of Jammeh as King of the Gambia will be the culmination of a long nightmare of general decline and degeneration of Gambian political and economic life.