Culture of Great Britain

CONTENTS 1 Artistic and cultural life in Britain. 2 Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren. 3 Westminster Abbey. 4 St. Paul s Cathedral. 5 The Tower of London. 6 Festivals of music and drama. 7 The Bath Festival. 8 The Chichester Theatre Festival. 9 The Welsh Eisteddfod. 10 The Edinburg Festival. 11 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 and Christopher Wren. The style he built in was pure Italian with as few modifications as po... He invented new ways of using traditional English building materials, ... Pauls Cathedral in London and the Sheldonion Theatre in Oxford. The period of the Industrial Revolution had no natural style of its ow...

St. Paul s Cathedral

The Chapel of King s College is the most beautiful building in Cambrid... Many sad and cruel events took place within the walls of the Tower. The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror to protect and cont... Whose Keys demands the sentry. Queen Elizabeths Keys, comes the answer. The keys are finally carried to the Queens House where they are safe f...

The Chichester Theatre Festival

Unlike Glyndebourne where the entire audience wears evening dress, the... But the chief interest of the Chichester Festival is the new theatre i... The latest festival town to join the list is Chichester, which has ear... The repertoire consisted of an old English comedy, a sixteenth- centur... Those at Bath, Cheltenham and Aldeburgh have all become considerable a...

The Welsh Eisteddfod

Next in importance is the great Llangollen International Music Eistedd... There are at least twenty-five other major Eisteddfods from May to Nov... The Edinburgh Festival It is a good thing that the Edinburgh Festival ... The 90,000, of course, does not include the very large numbers of peop... They find in Edinburgh Festival the great orchestras and soloists of t...

The national musical instrument of the Scots

The national musical instrument of the Scots. Carvings of bagpipe players on churches and a few words about them in ... In Scotland the bagpipe is first recorded in the 16th century during t... For long it has been considered a national Scottish instrument. The bagpipe consists of a reed pipe, the chanter, and a windbag, which...

Music and musicians

Music and musicians. Their harmony singing and good humour win them friends everywhere. The Beatles, with their style of singing new and exciting, their wonde... Some of the more recent rock groups are Eurhythmics, Dire Straits, and... S.

Art Galleries

The most famous works among them are Venus and Cupid by Diego Velazque... He was the most traditional artist of his time as well as the most ori... If you stand in Trafalgar Square with your back to Nelsons Column, you... One of the sculptors masterpieces - the Reclining Figure - is at fees ... It has been in this building since 1838 which was built as the Nationa...

The art of acting

By the beginning of the 18th century the most popular type of play was... Designers make the settings as realistic as possible. Modern producers and directors Peter Hall, Peter Brook and others are ... The National Youth Theatre, which stages classical plays mainly by Sha... The theatre-goers warmly received the production of Thomas Stearns Eli...