Towards a taxonomy of musical inspiration

This article summarises the rather sparse literature on inspiration as an part of the composition process and suggests that part of the problem is that there is a lack of a specific vocabulary and a suitable taxonomy for exploring aspects of the nature and working of inspiration in music. In order to help develop a means of achieving a meaningful discourse in this somewhat neglected area of the musical creative process the article proposes a taxonomy and vocabulary building upon the three stages of musical composition found in the work of Theodor Adorno: Einfall,; Die Arbeit ; Werden. Einfall is expanded into a classification Einfall – ‘Validation’, and through examination of the opening motif of Rihm’s 4th string quartet in various sketch forms a network of sub-categories is established – Validation through Content, through Context, and through Detail. Similarly Die Arbeit is expanded into Die Arbeit – ‘Conceptualisation’ with sub categories of ‘Essence’ and ‘Purposefulness’. Finally Werden is expanded into Werden - ‘Mindfulness’ and the article closes by exploring the idea that these three elements appear to be cyclic through the composition process

Interpreting Compositional Process in Wolfgang Rihm’s Chiffre Cycle

In Rihm's output the Chiffre works occupy a pivotal position. Despite some prefiguring in certain earlier works, such as the last movement of the fourth quartet, these are works which, as he has said, embody a conscious search for a musical language, a means of expression ('Die Stücke … sind Versuche, eine Musiksprache zu finden').1 The purpose of this article is to try to define key elements of the compositional process which Rihm developed through the Chiffre works

Star square and circle: aspects of compositional process in Peter Maxwell Davies's Ave Maris Stella

Davies’s Ave Maris Stella has been seen a key work since its first performance in 1975. It is, perhaps, Davies’s most written-about work and much of the knowledge about it is derived from David Roberts’s seminal article for the magazine Contact in 1978, which he later expanded into a section of his thesis, presented in 1985, on Davies’s compositional techniques. Roberts was the first to systematically unpick the compositional workings consequent upon Davies’s use of magic squares although in fact it was Paul Griffiths’s book on the composer published in 1982 which made the analytical detail more widely available

"Is this a dagger I see before me?': the power of agency in the discussion and delivery of subject knowledge

1. Identifying the power of agency and seeing its influence for good and ill across the range of what goes on in education. When you start to look, it is everywhere. 2. Identifying the complexity of agency as multiple agents, some well-hidden, operate together or in conflict to influence education and teacher behaviour. 3. The fixedness, or not, of subject knowledge over time. Is the nature of subject knowledge changing or is it just the context? (We decided it was both and the perception of subject knowledge.

Characterization of the Catalytically Active Mn(II)-loaded \u3cem\u3eargE\u3c/em\u3e-encoded \u3cem\u3eN\u3c/em\u3e-acetyl-L-ornithine Deacetylase from \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e

The catalytically competent Mn(II)-loaded form of the argE-encoded N-acetyl-l-ornithine deacetylase from Escherichia coli (ArgE) was characterized by kinetic, thermodynamic, and spectroscopic methods. Maximum N-acetyl-l-ornithine (NAO) hydrolytic activity was observed in the presence of one Mn(II) ion with k cat and K m values of 550 s−1 and 0.8 mM, respectively, providing a catalytic efficiency (k cat/K m) of 6.9 × 105 M−1 s−1. The ArgE dissociation constant (K d) for Mn(II) was determined to be 0.18 μM, correlating well with a value obtained by isothermal titration calorimetry of 0.30 μM for the first metal binding event and 5.3 μM for the second. An Arrhenius plot of the NAO hydrolysis for Mn(II)-loaded ArgE was linear from 15 to 55 °C, suggesting the rate-limiting step does not change as a function of temperature over this range. The activation energy, determined from the slope of this plot, was 50.3 kJ mol−1. Other thermodynamic parameters were ΔG ‡ = 58.1 kJ mol−1, ΔH ‡ = 47.7 kJ mol−1, and ΔS ‡ = –34.5 J mol−1 K−1. Similarly, plots of lnK m versus 1/T were linear, suggesting substrate binding is controlled by a single step. The natural product, [(2S,3R)-3-amino-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoyl]leucine (bestatin), was found to be a competitive inhibitor of ArgE with a K i value of 67 μM. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data recorded for both [Mn(II)_(ArgE)] and [Mn(II)Mn(II)(ArgE)] indicate that the two Mn(II) ions form a dinuclear site. Moreover, the EPR spectrum of [Mn(II)Mn(II)(ArgE)] in the presence of bestatin indicates that bestatin binds to ArgE but does not form a µ-alkoxide bridge between the two metal ions

Epidemiology of ovine Johne's disease 2 - pasture contamination level and age susceptibility.

To develop pasture management strategies for control of ovine Johne’s disease, research was conducted in a flock of 840 sheep to determine whether age of sheep and pasture contamination levels affect ovine Johne’s disease. Lambs (median age 5.5 months at the start of the trial) were highly susceptible to infection and should not be exposed to high levels of contamination or a proportion will develop severe infection leading to death. Of great benefit to industry was the finding that hoggets and adult sheep were relatively resistant to the clinical effects of OJD. Even though infection occurred, ewes rarely succumbed to the disease while hoggets were more resistant than lambs. This means that hoggets (median age in this study 22.5 months) and adult sheep can be used to graze contaminated pasture with less risk of clinical impact compared to lambs, and so these classes of sheep can be used to prepare pasture for lambs. Pasture spelling should also be useful. Conventional wire strand fences do not prevent spread of infection so disease control needs to be based on an area-wide approach

Epidemiology of ovine Johne's disease 2 - pasture contamination level and age susceptibility.

To develop pasture management strategies for control of ovine Johne’s disease, research was conducted in a flock of 840 sheep to determine whether age of sheep and pasture contamination levels affect ovine Johne’s disease. Lambs (median age 5.5 months at the start of the trial) were highly susceptible to infection and should not be exposed to high levels of contamination or a proportion will develop severe infection leading to death. Of great benefit to industry was the finding that hoggets and adult sheep were relatively resistant to the clinical effects of OJD. Even though infection occurred, ewes rarely succumbed to the disease while hoggets were more resistant than lambs. This means that hoggets (median age in this study 22.5 months) and adult sheep can be used to graze contaminated pasture with less risk of clinical impact compared to lambs, and so these classes of sheep can be used to prepare pasture for lambs. Pasture spelling should also be useful. Conventional wire strand fences do not prevent spread of infection so disease control needs to be based on an area-wide approach

\u3cem\u3eargE\u3c/em\u3e-Encoded \u3cem\u3eN\u3c/em\u3e-Acetyl-l-Ornithine Deacetylase from \u3cem\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/em\u3e Contains a Dinuclear Metalloactive Site

The catalytic and structural properties of the argE-encoded N-acetyl-l-ornithine deacetylase (ArgE) from Escherichia coli were investigated. On the basis of kinetic and ITC (isothermal titration calorimetry) data, Zn(II) binds to ArgE with Kd values that differ by ∼20 times. Moreover, ArgE exhibits ∼90% of its full catalytic activity upon addition of one metal ion. Therefore, ArgE behaves similarly to the aminopeptidase from Aeromonas proteolytica (AAP) in that one metal ion is the catalytic metal ion while the second likely plays a structural role. The N-acetyl-l-ornithine (NAO) deacetylase activity of ArgE showed a linear temperature dependence from 20 to 45 °C, indicating that the rate-limiting step does not change over this temperature range. The activation energy for NAO hydrolysis by ArgE was 25.6 kJ/mol when loaded with Zn(II) and 34.3 kJ/mol when loaded with Co(II). Electronic absorption and EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) spectra of [Co·(ArgE)] and [CoCo(ArgE)] indicate that both divalent metal binding sites are five coordinate. In addition, EPR data show clear evidence of spin−spin coupling between the Co(II) ions in the active site but only after addition of a second equivalent of Co(II). Combination of these data provides the first physical evidence that the ArgE from E. coli contains a dinuclear Zn(II) active site, similar to AAP and the carboxypeptidase G2 from Pseudomonas sp. strain RS-16 (CPG2)