Курсова робота з іноземної мови
Culture of Great Britain
CONTENTS
Artistic and cultural life in Britain.
Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren.
Westminster Abbey.
St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The Tower of London.
Festivals of music and drama.
The Bath Festival.
The Chichester Theatre Festival.
The Welsh Eisteddfod.
The Edinburg Festival.
The national musical instrument of the Scots.
12 Music and musicians.
13 Art Galleries.
14 The art of acting.
15 British Drama Theatre today.
CULTURE of GREAT BRITAIN
Artistic and Cultural Life in Britain
Artistic and cultural life in Britain is rather rich. It passed several main stages in its development.
The Saxon King Alfred encouraged the arts and culture. The chief debt owed to him by English literature is for his translations of and commentaries on Latin works. Art, culture and literature flowered during the Elizabethan age, during the reign of Elizabeth I; it was the period of English domination of the oceans.
It was at this time that William Shakespeare lived.
The empire, which was very powerful under Queen Victoria, saw another cultural and artistic hey-day as a result of industrialisation and the expansion of international trade.
But German air raids caused much damage in the First World War and then during the Second World War. The madness of the wars briefly interrupted the development of culture.
Immigrants who have arrived from all parts of the Commonwealth since 1945 have not only created a mixture of nations, but have also brought their cultures and habits with them. Monuments and traces of past greatness are everywhere. There are buildings of all styles and periods. A great number of museums and galleries display precious and interesting finds from all parts of the world and from all stage in the development of nature, man and art. London is one of the leading world centres for music, drama, opera and dance. Festivals held in towns and cities throughout the country attract much interest. Many British playwrights, composers, sculptors, painters, writers, actors, singers and dancers are known all over the world.
Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren
Inigo Jones was the first man to bring the Italian Renaissance style to Great Britain. He had studied in Italy for some years, and in 1615 became Surveyor-General of the works.
The style he built in was pure Italian with as few modifications as possible. His buildings were very un-English in character, with regularly spaced columns along the front.
His two most revolutionary designs were the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Queen's House at Greenwich. The plan of the latter, completely symmetrical, with its strict classical details and the principal rooms on the first