In the world of Arts (4)

LONDON (3)

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and commercial centre. It is one of the largest cities in the world and the largest city in Europe. Its pop­ulation is about 8 million. London is situated on the river Thames. The city is very old. It has more than 20 centuries old history. Tra­ditionally it is divided into several parts, the City, West­minster, the West End and the East. End. They are very different from each other. The City is the oldest part of London, its financial and business centre. Numerous banks, offices and firms are concentrated here. Few people live in the City but over a million come to work here. There are two places of inter­est in the City: St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. St. Paul's Cathedral was built in the 17th cen­tury by the architect Christopher Wren. The Tower of London was built in the 15th century. It was used as a fortress, a palace and a prison. Now it's a museum. Westminster is the aristocratic official part of London. There is Buckingham Palace where the Queen Lives and the Houses of Parliament along the north bank of the Thames. The clock tower of the Houses of Parliament is famous for its big hour bell known as «Big Ben». Westminster Abbey is the place where the coronation of nearly all kings and queens has taken place. Many of them are buried here as well as some other famous people of the country. The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of London. The best hotels, restaurants, shops, clubs, parks and houses are situated there. There are many tour­ists there from different countries of the world. Trafalgar Square is the geographical centre of Lon­don; it was named in the memory of Admiral Nelson's victory in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The tall Nel­son's Column stands in the middle of the square. The East End is an industrial district of London. There are many factories there. The region is densely populat­ed by working class families.

People cannot live without music. They listen to music, they dance to music, they learn to play musical instruments. Some of them are fond of pop-music, others prefer jazz, and still others listen only to classical music. As for me, I like both pop-music and classical music. My favorite composer is Sergey Prokofiev. He was born in 1891, and when he was six, he began composing music. When he was thirteen, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatoire where his teachers were such famous musicians as N.Rimsky - Korsakov and A.Liadov. He played his works for the first time at a concert in St. Petersburg when he was seventeen, and two years later at a concert in Moscow. Prokofiev composed music to such famous ballets as "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella", to the opera "War and Peace". He wrote seven symphonies. His sixth and seventh symphonies are known all over the world. Besides, he wrote nine sonatas, many songs and different pieces far the piano. Prokofiev died in 1953. But thousands of people all over the world still enjoy his wonderful music. As fords other kinds of arts, I like painting very much. Some time ago I watched a good TV programmer about English painters. Some portraits attracted my attention. They were painted by the famous English artist Joshua Reynolds. He was born in England, but spent much time in Italy where he studied art. He became a famous portrait painter. People liked his portraits very much. In 1768 Reynolds became the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. He made a whole gallery of portraits of the most famous people of his time - writers, scientists and actors.

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