Vladimir Horowitz: “Pianostrating” Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

It is known that Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition has been popularly orchestrated, but not so well known that the brilliant pianist Vladimir Horowitz composed a piano transcription of the famous work. Horowitz composed a transcription because he claimed that Mussorgsky’s original composition was too “introverted” and that his writing was “awkward” since Mussorgsky was not much of a pianist. Horowitz’s transcription caused a strong controversy about tampering with Mussorgsky’s masterpiece, but he only sought to make a better piano sound. This analysis examines how Horowitz transformed each movement in pursuit of enhancing the character and making the piece more pianistic

Increasing Teachers\u27 Use of Behavior Specific Praise Via Apple Watch Prompting

This study evaluated the effects of a teacher prompting procedure to increase teacher behavior specific praise (BSP) using an Apple Watch. Participants included three Head Start general education teachers. An ABAB design across participants was used to examine the effects of Smart Watch-based prompts on teachers\u27 praise rate. The study consisted of four phases: (a) baseline, (b) teacher praise training and intervention, (c) withdrawal from intervention, and (d) reimplementation of intervention. Implementation of the intervention was associated with increases in both BSP and general praise for all participating teachers. Although averages did not meet the criterion set by the researcher of one statement per minute, these findings suggest a functional relation between implementation of the procedure and increases in teacher praise