Classical Slavery

Historian Bettany Hughes gives her personal take on the diverse cultures of the ancient world in this 2010 documentary series on More 4. The series begins with an examination of Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC to become the world’s first global centre of culture. The programme explores Alexandria’s role as a powerhouse of science and learning, and focuses on the female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia, the subject of the feature film Agora, starring Rachel Weisz.

The Alexandrov Ensemble (commonly known as The Red Army Choir in the West) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the ensemble consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble. The Ensemble has entertained audiences both in Russia and throughout the world, performing a range of music including folk tunes, hymns, operatic arias and popular music. The group's repertoire has included The Volga Boatmen's Song, Katyusha, Kalinka, and Ave Maria. It is named for its first director, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883–1946).

A prolific, Emmy Award-winning composer, Michael Whalen grew up in Washington, D.C., where he played in a variety of orchestras, bands, and experimental performance groups. He studied music at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and University of Maryland. In 1987, he moved to New York City, where he composed for television soundtracks and commercials; Whalen provided music for well over 1,000 commercials, including award-winning campaigns for clients such as Coca-Cola, BMW, Nike, IBM, and GE.

Born and raised in Luanda capital city of Angola, Vivalda Dula is considered as ‘’The New Face of Angola World Music’’ and has become the voice of the new generation of Angolan musicians that creates a huge cultural and international impact on today's Angolan music. This soulful singer, songwriter, percussionist and multi-award winner, has conquered and grace the world music stage with her undeniable talent and excited eclectic music symbiosis between her traditional roots and world music.

This collection of 14 strikingly original essays offers the general reader, the student and the scholar a rare and stimulating view of classical antiquity.

In his liner-notes to Hermann Max’s C.P.E Bach oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu the German musicologist Peter Wollny writes: "In the second half of the eighteenth century the German oratorio was marked by two characteristics. The tendency toward a highly individual depiction of emotions and the avoidance of dramatic operatic plots." Therefore composers turned away from stories from the Old Testament which were so successfully used, for instance, by Handel for his dramatic oratorios, and focused rather on the person of Jesus Christ. Bach's oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wüste seems to contradict this statement.