Romeo and Juliet

Two households both alike in dignity

in fair Verona, where we lay our scene

from ancient grudge break to new mutiny

where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,

a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life

whose misadventured piteous overthrow

do with their dead bury their parents’ strife

• Two households: Montague and Capulet, mortal enemies in the past, have their enmity renewed recently, with bloody feuds.
• The two lovers were of course Romeo (a Montague) and Juliet (a Capulet)
• In fair Verona where there is a false balcony of Romeo and Juliet.
• "Star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers whose relationship is often thwarted by outside forces. The term encompasses other meanings, but originally means the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship. The phrase is astrological in origin, stemming from the belief that the positions of the stars ruled over people's fate

It’s the triumph of love over hate. It’s a brutal, powerful emotion that catapults the lovers against their world and against themselves.

It portrays the chaos and passion of being in love

Love and death are interconnected. If their love is impossible, they prefer death: so profound it is. Their fate takes them to their death.

The romantic teenage love that knows no boundaries

Love prevails over everything; including family loyalties (deny thy father and refuse thy name).

The forcefulness of love

Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. See West Side Story. My favourite Juliet is Olivia Hussey, 15 years old at the time in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film. There is a Romeo and Juliet suite by Prokofiev.

Phrases of the Play have been incorporated to everyday English

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. 

…

 It is my lady, O, it is my love!
 Oh, that she knew she were!
 She speaks yet she says nothing; what of that? 

As you’ll probably know Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet’s love story takes place in Verona. This city is the perfect place for this story to take place, for its middle age ambient. There are also some real references in Verona. The house you’re seeing is the "real" home of Juliet’s family (the Capuleti). The building dates from the 13th century and as you can see, it’s a major tourist attraction.

…

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet; 

Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks, to "deny (his) father" and instead be "new baptized" as Juliet's lover. This one short line encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of the play.

…

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. 

…

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! 

…

Oh, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon

swear by thy gracious self

Final

Juliet

Sweet good night

And I wish you sweet good night too with these chocolates.

The joy of classical music

We are going to interpret the first eight notes of a symphony. The most famous symphony of all, I would say.

¿Have you got the script? The score is in page one. The lyrics are in page two.

At three, we begin.

Dah dah dah DAH

Sorry, sorry, I will give you a hint

Cesar’s phone sounds.

Ok, everybody

Dah dah dah DAH

Well done!

You guessed right this is the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth, the most famous symphony in the world ¿Who doesn’t know it? These four strokes Dah dah dah DAH is “the way destiny knocks on the door” said the musician. You cannot escape destiny, can you?

Imagine we are facing a beautiful Orchestra like the London Symphony, which played in Valencia last Sunday. What do we see?

We see the families of instruments, each with its distinctive sound. We have the strings in front: violins at left, violas at centre, cellos and double-basses at right. The difference between them is the size and the length of the strings and fingerboard. The longer the strings, the lower is the pitch of sound. As the 1st violin can be easily accommodated under the chin, the double bass musician struggles to put his arms around the outsized instrument.

The low pitch instruments provide a background sound for the high pitch instruments. Behind the strings there are the woodwinds (oboe, clarinet, flute and bassoon) and the brass (trumpet, trombone and tuba).

And on top of it all there is the percussion (timpani, triangle, gong).

This is a baton, the simplest of musical instruments. It doesn’t make any noise by itself, but can draw wonderful sounds from an orchestra. It’s used by the conductor to indicate rhythm or expression.

Last Sunday in Valencia we were able to see one orchesta at its fullest. The London Symphoy, 125 musicians, all kind of percussion. What do they interpret?

I was, composed when the musician was in love with Harriet Smithson, an Irish actress. Passion inspires fully the work of art.

It’s truly fabulous. It is one of the great symphonies of all time.

It consists of 5 movements:

1.  Daydreams, passions

2.  The Ball (a waltz)

3.  Scene in the countryside (a quiet day, with a storm at the end)

4.  March to the scaffold, incredibly powerful, with the music of the Gregorian chant “dies ire”.

5.  Witches’ Sabbath (expressive instrumentation, bells sounding, apocalyptic conclusion)

Musical education does take years. You have to learn the musical notation system first (an universal language) and then master your chosen instrument.

But it is not necessary to go through this long and winding process to enjoy classical music. The only thing you need is some power of concentration.

I begin my concentration. To me is like a train departing from the station. I have to catch that train. I begin to run alongside the train trying to grab the handles of the nearest wagon. After running for quite a bit, I finally catch the train. My concentration is now total. Instead of following the music, the music carries me in her lap. I abandon myself and enter into a state of “flow”.

Let’s try once again the Beethoven 5th symphony

At the count of three

Dah dah dah DAH

Well done!

What is the rule of law

We, human beings are social animals. This means that we are highly interactive with other members of our species and we have clearly recognizable and distinct society.

Social individuals need to cooperate and cooperation requires an organization. Decisions are more efficiently taken by one or a few members of the group, the necessity of a leader is relevant. Cooperation and leadership require a set of rules and there is where the law comes into effect.

Early groups of hunter-gatherers had chieftains which later developed into monarchs. The monarch was probably the strongest or the wiser. The monarch imposed his rule. Religion helped to attribute legitimacy to the monarch as getting his power from God.

Democracy (government of the people) is based on popular sovereignty. The power doesn’t come from the divinity but from the people. The people, through its representatives, elaborate the laws governing the society.

Rule of law implies that every citizen is subject to the law. It stands in contrast to the idea that the ruler is above the law, for example by divine right (a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God).

Aristotle declared, "The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual”.

Legitimacy is the popular acceptance of a governing law or regime as an authority. 

  The political legitimacy of a civil government derives from agreement among the autonomous constituent institutions —legislative, judicial, executive — combined for the national common good; legitimate government office as a public trust, is expressed by means of public elections.

Charismatic authority derived from the leader’s charisma, based upon the perception that he or she possesses supernatural attributes, e.g. a clan chieftain, a priestess, or an ayatollah.

Traditional authority derived from tradition, wherein the governed populace accepts that form of government as legitimate because of its longevity by customs, e.g. monarchy.

Rational–legal authority derived from the popular perception that the government's power derives from established law and custom (a political constitution), e.g. representative democracy.

the central institutions for interpreting and creating law are the three main branches of government, namely an impartial judiciary, a democratic legislature, and an accountable executive. 

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.

Many people use the term "democracy" as shorthand for liberal democracy, which may include elements such as political pluralism; equality before the law; the right to petition elected officials for redress of grievances; due process; civil liberties; human rights; and elements of civil society outside the government.

A lone Robinson Crusoe doesn’t need any law. The necessity of rules stems from the organisation of human beings into societies.

Small groups are the early organisation of humans. The bigger the group, the greater the necessity of a set of rules.