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Sandra Schmirler

Sandra Marie Schmirler (June 11, 1963 – March 2, 2000) was a Canadian curler who captured three Canadian Curling Championships (Scott Tournament of Hearts) and three World Curling Championships. Schmirler also skipped (captained) her Canadian team to a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the first year women's curling was a medal sport. At tournaments where she was not competing, Schmirler sometimes worked as a commentator for CBC Sports, which popularized her nickname "Schmirler the Curler" and claimed she was the only person who had a name that rhymed with the sport she played. She died in 2000 at 36 of cancer, leaving a legacy that extended outside of curling. Schmirler was honoured posthumously with an induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and was awarded the World Curling Freytag Award, which later led to her induction into the World Curling Federation Hall of Fame.

In 2019, Schmirler was named the second greatest Canadian female curler in history (after Jennifer Jones) in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers. Schmirler's Olympic team, which also included Jan Betker, Joan McCusker and Marcia Gudereit, was named the greatest female Canadian curling team of all time as part of the same poll.

Curling career
While attending Biggar Composite School in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada, Schmirler started curling in Grade 7 as part of the school's physical education program. She grew up an athlete, playing volleyball, badminton, and softball. She was also an avid speed swimmer. She continued to curl on the local scene, participating in the Biggar Curling Club ladies' league in Grade 9. Playing as third on her high school team, she won a provincial championship in Grade 12, when her team went undefeated throughout the season.

She continued to curl after graduating from high school, while attending the University of Saskatchewan, making her first appearance in Saskatchewan's provincial playdowns in 1983. Schmirler threw fourth stones for a team which consisted of 1979 Canadian Junior Champions Denise Wilson (skip), Dianne Choquette and Shannon Olafson. The team represented the University of Saskatchewan at the Saskatoon city playdowns where they were eliminated. After graduating university, Schmirler moved to Regina to take a job at the North West Leisure Centre. She continued to curl, and was given the nickname "Schmirler the Curler" by a supervisor at the facility. Schmirler joined the Saskatoon-based Carol Davis rink, playing third for the team. In their first season together, they made it to the 1984 provincial finals where they lost to Lori McGeary.

In 1987, as a member of Kathy Fahlman's rink, Schmirler won her first provincial championship, sending her to her first national championship, where she and her team finished in fourth place with a 7–5 win–loss record. The following season, the team lost in the A-B final of the 1988 provincials to Michelle Schneider (now Englot), eliminating them from a chance at a second straight trip to the Hearts. In the 1989 playdowns, Team Fahlman lost in the southern Saskatchewan playdowns, failing to even make it to the 1989 Saskatchewan Scott Tournament of Hearts.

Prior to the 1988–89 curling season, Schmirler and Jan Betker found themselves curling with different teammates, attempting to put together a stable squad. After a disappointing season, Schmirler decided to skip for the 1990–91 season, with Betker playing third. They recruited Joan Inglis (McCusker) to play second, and McCusker recommended Marcia Gudereit as a lead. This rink won the provincials in their first year together, defeating Kim Armbruster (Hodson) in the Saskatchewan final, 5–3. At the 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the team finished in fourth place. In 1993, the Schmirler rink again won the provincial title, defeating Sherry Scheirich (Middaugh) in the final, 7–2. Representing Saskatchewan at the 1993 Scott Tournament of Hearts, her rink defeated Maureen Bonar in the finals, giving Saskatchewan its first national women's curling championship since Marj Mitchell's win in 1980. The rink moved on to the World Championship and defeated Janet Clews-Strayer from Germany in the final that year, winning Canada its sixth world women's title. The next season, she and her rink competed at the Tournament of Hearts as defending champions. The team finished first in the round robin, and defeated Connie Laliberte in the final to clinch a second consecutive Canadian championship. She and her team then represented Canada at the World Women's Curling Championship, where they finished first in the round robin. She then advanced to the playoffs, and won the semifinal against Josefine Einsle of Germany and the final against Christine Cannon of Scotland. With her win in the final, she and her team clinched their second world championships, equalling their run from the previous season. At the time, no other Canadian women's rink had won consecutive world championships. Schmirler returned to the Tournament of Hearts the next year as the defending champion. She and her team finished with an 8–3 win–loss record and advanced to the playoffs as the second seed. She lost her next two games, however, and failed to advance to the final, losing a chance to win a third consecutive title. The next season, Schmirler added Renelle Bryden to the lineup, as McCusker took the year off. For the 1996 Saskatchewan Tournament of Hearts, Gudereit who had been playing second was replaced for health reasons by Karen Daku. At the provincial Hearts, the team fell to Sherry Scheirich (now Middaugh) in the final.

In 1997, Schmirler and her rink returned to the Tournament of Hearts, where they finished with a 9–2 win–loss record in the round robin. They advanced to the playoffs, and defeated Alison Goring of Ontario twice en route to winning her third Canadian championship. They then went to the World Championships, where they again finished first in the round robin and advanced to the playoffs, defeating Helena Blach Lavrsen of Denmark in the semifinals and Andrea Schöpp of Germany in the final to win a third world title. After each of these three seasons, her rink was named "Team of the Year" by Sask Sport.

In the 1998 Winter Olympics, curling became a medal sport for the first time. Olympic trials were held in November 1997 to select Canada's representatives at the Olympics. Schmirler qualified for the Trials through a best of three series against Connie Laliberte held in December 1995. At the Trials, the Schmirler rink finished first in the round robin, and defeated Shannon Kleibrink in the final with a score of 9–6, behind strong shot making from Schmirler and McCusker. Schmirler made a difficult in-off to win and clinch the berth to the Olympics. The 1998 Winter Olympics were held in Nagano, Japan. The Schmirler rink was among the favourites for gold, but there was a strong field in the event. After finishing the round robin in first place with six wins and one loss, Canada played their semifinal game against Great Britain's Kirsty Hay. The game was tied after regulation play and went to an extra end, where Schmirler barely made a draw with her last rock to win the game. In the final against Denmark's Helena Blach Lavrsen, Schmirler secured a win in nine ends, winning Canada the gold medal. After winning the gold medal, Sandra appeared on the front page of The New York Times. After the Olympics, the Schmirler rink was named 'Team of the Year' by the Canadian Press. The team were also inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1999. After returning from the Olympics, Schmirler and her rink had to compete almost immediately in the Scott Tournament of Hearts as Team Canada. Schmirler and her team made the playoffs, and won the 3 vs. 4 playoff game before dropping the semifinal to Anne Merklinger. After losing in the semis, Schmirler joined CBC as a colour commentator for the final match.

Family and education
Schmirler was born to parents Shirley and Art Schmirler on June 11, 1963. She was born with a club foot, which required her to wear a cast for two months. She had two older sisters, Carol and Beverley. She attended high school in Biggar, and moved to Saskatoon to attend university. She started out towards a degree in computer science, but transferred after her first year to work for a degree in physical education. She convocated with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1985.

In 1993, teammate Marcia Gudereit introduced Schmirler to Shannon England. On June 22, 1996, they were married. In 1997, Schmirler was pregnant with their first child. When this information was revealed to reporters at the Scott Tournament of Hearts, they jokingly dubbed her "Schmirler the Hurler". On September 15, 1997, their daughter Sara Marion was born. In April 1999, Sandra's father Art Schmirler died from esophageal cancer. On June 30, 1999, the couple's second daughter, Jenna Shirley, was born.

Illness and death
After Jenna's birth, Schmirler experienced many health problems. She had suffered from back pain, which was thought to be pregnancy related, and following Jenna's birth, she began to suffer from stomach pains. Tests showed that a cancerous node the size of a fist had developed behind her heart. As her condition worsened, she underwent surgery on September 6, 1999. During surgery, a dead piece of the tumour broke off and released a blood clot into her lung. Her heart stopped beating, and only emergency heart massage kept her alive. Almost a month after being diagnosed with cancer, doctors finally provided a specific diagnosis – metastatic adenocarcinoma, with an unknown primary site. Because no one could pin down where the cancer came from, Sandra referred to it as "the cancer from Mars." In addition to chemotherapy and radiation, Schmirler explored orthomolecular medicine through the Canadian Cancer Research Group. This form of alternative medicine involves large doses of vitamins and nutrients.

In 2000, Schmirler worked as colour commentator for CBC during Canada's national junior curling championships. During her illness, Schmirler had been largely removed from the public eye. While in Moncton for the championships, Schmirler held a press conference to update her situation. In speaking publicly about her ordeal for the first time, Schmirler spared few details about what she had gone through, while also expressing her hope for the future: "There were three goals I had coming out of this thing, and the first one was to look after my family. And the second one...because I curl so much, I've never taken a hot vacation, so I'm going to put my feet in the sand in a warm place. And the last one was to actually be here today, and I thank CBC, I thank Lawrence (Kimber), and Joan Mead."

After returning from Moncton, Schmirler felt physically well, but suffered a setback when a CAT scan revealed spots around her lungs. The decision was made not to proceed with further chemotherapy, but she continued with the orthomolecular therapy. She had been scheduled to work the 2000 Scott Tournament of Hearts, but was unable to do so. She faxed a statement from the hospital, which was read by TSN's Vic Rauter. "I'm still fighting hard and I still hope to make it to the Brier, not playing but talking. For Saskatchewan, I was hoping to be in your green shoes (at the Scott). But keep things in perspective. There are other things in life besides curling, which I have found. But I hope to be on the curling trail again next year. And I'll see you all in Sudbury (the next Scott site) in 2001. Your curling friend, Sandra." However, the optimism in her statement belied the seriousness of her condition. She had been moved to palliative care. She died in her sleep at the Pasqua Hospital Palliative Care Unit on the morning of March 2, 2000, at age 36.

Her death caused reactions not just within Saskatchewan and the curling community, but also across the country. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said in a statement: "All Canadians have been touched by the untimely death of Sandra Schmirler. Most of us came to know her through her exploits as a champion curler and as an exemplary sports ambassador for Canada. But what really set her apart was her bright, engaging personality and her incredible zest for life, qualities that were so clearly in evidence as she fought so valiantly against her illness. She will be sorely missed." In honour of Schmirler, flags at provincial office buildings in Saskatchewan were lowered to half-staff.

TSN offered to broadcast her funeral live and to make the signal available to any other stations at no charge. Her husband, Shannon England, agreed to the broadcast on the condition that the family would not be shown during the service. CBC also broadcast the service, marking the first time a Canadian athlete's funeral had been televised live on two networks. The Brier was just getting underway and games in the afternoon draw were delayed to allow curlers and fans to watch the funeral, which was broadcast on screens at the rink. Regina's Agridome and Schmirler's home Caledonian Curling Club also opened to show the funeral. Nine hundred people attended the service at the Regina Funeral Home, thousands watched at satellite locations around the province, and hundreds of thousands watched on television. The funeral was conducted by the Rev. Don Wells, and Sandra was eulogized by Brian McCusker, teammate Joan McCusker's husband.

Awards and honours
In addition to the titles captured by her team on the ice, Schmirler has been recognized in several different ways off the ice as well. In 2000, Schmirler was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, becoming the first posthumous recipient. Along with the other members of her rink, she had been previously awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Regina. In the fall of 2000, Schmirler was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Schmirler and her team were inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on two separate occasions, once in 1997 for winning three World Curling Championships and once in 2001 for winning the gold medal at the Olympics. At the annual Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the top player in the playoff round is awarded the Sandra Schmirler Most Valuable Player Award.

After her death, the city of Regina honoured Schmirler in several ways. The South East Leisure Centre where she used to work was renamed the "Sandra Schmirler Leisure Centre," and the road leading up to the Callie Curling Club, where her team curled out of, was renamed "Sandra Schmirler Way." Schmirler's hometown of Biggar also honoured her memory with the construction of "The Sandra Schmirler Olympic Gold Park."

“The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was created in May 2001 by a group of Sandra’s friends and teammates. Their vision was to create a living legacy in honour of this amazing woman who touched the hearts of so many Canadians from coast to coast to coast. While she lost her biggest battle, her legacy lives on. The lives of countless babies born premature and critically ill have been, and continue to be saved, with life-saving equipment the Foundation has funded in her name. Millions of dollars have been given to hospital NICUs in every province, the Yukon and Northwest Territories to fund life-saving equipment for babies born too soon, too small or too sick. This list continues to grow every year with the generous support of our many donors. Sandra reached out to her country in sickness and in health and made us understand what really matters in life. While we mourn her passing, we celebrate the lasting legacy she left behind.” Robin Wilson

On January 7, 2009, Sandra was named the winner of the 2009 World Curling Freytag Award (later incorporated into the WCF Hall of Fame). The award, named after American Elmer Freytag, who founded the World Curling Federation, honours curlers for championship play, sportsmanship, character and extraordinary achievement. Her husband and daughters accepted the award on her behalf at the 2009 World Men's Curling Championship.

title: Sandra Schmirler


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Werner Erhard and Associates

Werner Erhard and Associates, also known as WE&A or as WEA, operated as a commercial entity from February 1981 until early 1991. It replaced Erhard Seminars Training, Inc. as the vehicle for delivering the est training, and offered what some people refer to as personal and professional development programs. Initially WE&A marketed and staged the est training (in the form of the est seminars and workshops), but in 1984 the est training was replaced by WE&A with a more modern, briefer, more rigorous and more philosophical program - based on Werner Erhard's teachings and called "The Forum".

In 1991 Erhard sold the assets of WE&A to a group of employees, who later formed Landmark Education. Erhard then retired and left the United States.

Timeline

 * February 1981: Werner Erhard and Associates (WE&A) set up.
 * 1984: WE&A replaces the est training with "The Forum".
 * 1991: Erhard sold the assets of WE&A to a group of employees who later formed Landmark Education.

Objective studies
A scientific study conducted by a team of psychology professors concluded that attending the Forum had minimal lasting effects — positive or negative — on participants. The research won an American Psychological Association "National Psychological Consultants to Management Award" in 1989.

The results of the research study appeared in two articles in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1989 and in 1990, and in 1990 in a book titled Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training.

Subjective surveys
The abstract of Charles Denison's PhD dissertation for the College of Education (University of Denver), "The Children of est: A Study of the Experience and Perceived Effects of a Large Group Awareness Training (the Forum)", reported that the Forum had a definite structure, curriculum, and pedagogical approach. Denison's study identified the primary concepts of The Forum, called "distinctions". Denison's data indicate that qualitatively significant results were produced in participants' self-assessed functioning in cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains. Most participants attributed significant life effects to their experience.

Public-opinion analyst Daniel Yankelovich did an investigation of the response of participants to their experience of the Forum. Yankelovich reported that "more than seven out of ten participants found the Forum to be one of their life's most rewarding experiences". The study reported that 95 percent of Forum graduates believe the Forum had "specific, practical value" for many aspects of their lives, and 86 percent of those surveyed said that it helped them "cope with a particular challenge or problem".

Conceptual evaluations
Professor of Communication Studies, Bruce R. Hyde, in his paper "Saying the Clearing: A Heideggerian Analysis of the Ontological Rhetoric of Werner Erhard", discusses the Forum as the beginnings of Erhard's work in developing transformational education utilizing an ontological approach rather than an epistemological approach.

Impact
One of the more common alleged results of the Forum was the healing of relationships with parents. One facet of this course was to urge participants to stop blaming their parents for their problems and begin to express their natural love for them that was often buried under accumulated resentments.

Many projects to come out of WE&A involved working to foster value, camaraderie and opportunities to serve the community. As an example of this a group of participants in a "High performance" seminar threw a Christmas party at a homeless shelter by planning, preparing, cooking and participating with the people in the shelter. As a result, they came "away with the gift of knowing we are them and they are us, homeless or sheltered, employed or out of work, broke or salaried; we recognize ourselves in their eyes and in their plight."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Werner Erhard and Associates


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Bernie Worrell

George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. In later years, he also worked with acts such as Talking Heads, Bill Laswell, and Jack Bruce. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Worrell was described by journalist Jon Pareles as "the kind of sideman who is as influential as some bandleaders," with his use of synthesizers particularly impactful on funk and hip hop.

Early life
Worrell was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, where his family moved when he was eight. A musical prodigy, he began formal piano lessons by age three and wrote a concerto at age eight. He went on to study at the Juilliard School and received a degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1967. As a college student, Worrell played with a group called Chubby & The Turnpikes; this ensemble eventually evolved into Tavares.

1970s
After meeting George Clinton, leader of a Plainfield-based doo wop group called The Parliaments, Worrell moved with Clinton, The Parliaments and their backing band, The Funkadelics, to Detroit, Michigan; thereafter, both groups became collectively known as Parliament-Funkadelic. During the 1970s the same group of musicians separately recorded under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, (among several others), but toured as P-Funk. Worrell played grand piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, Hammond B3 organ, ARP String Ensemble and Moog synthesizer, co-wrote, and wrote horn and rhythm arrangements on hit recordings for both groups and other associated bands under the "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" production company, and many of his most notable performances were recorded with Bootsy's Rubber Band, Parlet, The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns. Worrell recorded a 1978 solo album, All the Woo in the World, with the musical backing of P-Funk's members.

While funk musicians traditionally utilized electric keyboards, such as the Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes electric piano, Worrell was the second recipient of the Moog synthesizer created by Bob Moog. Mainly responsible for creating Parliament's futuristic sound, Worrell's use of the Minimoog bass on the Parliament song "Flash Light", on 1977's Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome, heavily influenced the sound of R&B music and served as a bridge between American R&B and the insurgence of new wave, new age and techno. He used the ARP Pro Soloist as well. Worrell played synthesizer and digital keyboard on P funk songs throughout the 1970s, most notably "Mothership Connection (Star Child)" and "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" from Mothership Connection (1975) and "Aqua Boogie" from Motor Booty Affair (1978).

1980s
When Parliament-Funkadelic took a hiatus from touring in the early 1980s, Worrell was recruited, along with other musicians from differing musical genres such as guitarist Adrian Belew, to perform and record with Talking Heads. Worrell's experience and feel for different arrangements enhanced the overall sound of the band. Though he never officially joined Talking Heads, he was a de facto member of the group for most of the '80s: appearing on one of their studio albums, several solo albums, two tours and performing in their 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense. Talking Heads officially disbanded in 1991. Worrell was later invited to perform with Talking Heads as part of their 2002 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Worrell provided keyboard parts for Mtume's hit song "Juicy Fruit".

Worrell co-produced Fred Schneider's 1984 solo album Fred Schneider and the Shake Society and played keyboards and synthesizers on some of the album's tracks.

In 1987 he appeared on the critically acclaimed solo release Casual Gods by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads. The LP contained the US Album Rock Tracks chart hit "Rev It Up", which reached number seven and appeared in the movie Something Wild. He worked with Jerry Harrison on his other releases also.

1990s–2010s
From the late 1980s through the 2010s, Worrell recorded extensively with Bill Laswell, including Sly and Robbie's Laswell-produced Rhythm Killers and the 1985 Fela Kuti album Army Arrangement. Worrell performed with Gov't Mule. Through the beginning of the 21st century, he became a visible member of the jam band scene, performing in many large summer music festivals, sometimes billed as Bernie Worrell and the Woo Warriors. He appeared on several Jack Bruce albums, including A Question of Time, Cities of the Heart, Monkjack and More Jack than God.

Worrell was a founding member of the CBS Orchestra when the Late Show with David Letterman launched in August 1993, playing lead synthesizer. Worrell departed in November when the orchestra added a horn section.

In 1994, Worrell appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in the African-American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time magazine.

Worrell joined the rock group Black Jack Johnson, with Mos Def, Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish and Dr. Know. He appears with the band on Mos Def's 2004 release The New Danger.

Worrell joined forces with bass legend Les Claypool, guitarist Buckethead and drummer Bryan Mantia to form the group Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains.

In 2009, he joined longtime Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer J.T. Lewis to form the band SociaLybrium. Their album For You/For Us/For All was released on Livewired Music in January 2010.

Worrell appeared in the 2004 documentary film Moog with synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog and several other Moog synthesizer musicians. In 2011, he toured with Bootsy Collins, another major figure from Parliament-Funkadelic.

From 2011 through 2015, Worrell performed with his group, the Bernie Worrell Orchestra. The band became known for the appearance of special guests at live performances, including Bootsy Collins, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Jimmy Destri, Mike Watt, Rah Digga and Gary Lucas.

In 2012 and 2013, Worrell played a series of concerts with guitarist Steve Kimock, bassist Andy Hess, and vocalist-percussionist Camille Armstrong. Kimock's son John Morgan Kimock played drums for the group in 2013.

Worrell worked on the Seattle-based Khu.éex' project fusing traditional Tlingit music with funk, jazz, and experimental music. The project includes Preston Singletary, Skerik, Stanton Moore, Captain Raab and Randall Dunn among others.

In 2015, Worrell appeared in the movie Ricki and the Flash as the keyboard player in Meryl Streep's band. The movie reunited Worrell with director Jonathan Demme, who had directed Stop Making Sense.

Worrell was a judge for the 12th, 13th, and 14th annual Independent Music Awards.

During May 2016, the New England Conservatory of Music gave Worrell, who studied at the school until 1967, an honorary Doctor of Music degree.

Death
In January 2016, Worrell was diagnosed with a "mild form" of prostate cancer, stage-four liver cancer and stage-four lung cancer. He relocated from New Jersey, his long-time home, to Bellingham, Washington.

A tribute and benefit concert to raise funds for Worrell's cancer treatment, produced by the Black Rock Coalition and featuring musicians with whom Worrell has worked over his career, occurred on April 4 and 5, 2016.

On May 9, Worrell's wife Judie posted an update on his condition on his Facebook page:

"As of Friday, Bernie can barely speak. Tumor has grown and Recurrent laryngeal nerve is pressing on vocal cord, paralyzing it. Treatment starts Tuesday to (hopefully) shrink tumor before it gets to other vocal cord and/or shuts down breathing. VERY difficult time for him.

I am updating y'all because many asked BUT do not consider this an invitation to bombard us with treatment ideas. Bernie is deciding what treatment he wants. I will delete any more messages that do not respect his decision(s)."

Judie Worrell issued a statement on Facebook on June 16 to friends and family that "I was just told that Bernie is now headed 'Home'." She encouraged people close to Worrell to "visit him to say your goodbyes" and added that he is too ill to speak on the phone or text.

Bernie Worrell died at his home in Everson, Washington, on June 24, 2016, at the age of 72. His wife issued a statement that "Bernie transitioned Home to The Great Spirit. Rest in peace, my love—you definitely made the world a better place. Till we meet again, vaya con Dios."

Following his death, guitarist Buckethead created a 21.5 minute long tribute song: 'Space Viking'. Buckethead published it on his 'Pike' series, as part of Pike 245. The song was captioned: "To Bernie Worrell, The Greatest Music Maker Of All".

Documentary
Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth is a documentary film about Worrell's life, music and impact. At AllMovie, critic Mark Deming wrote that the film "profiles his life and career while also examining how even a genius has to find a way to make a living".

Solo albums

 * 1978: All the Woo in the World
 * 1990: Funk of Ages
 * 1993: Blacktronic Science
 * 1993: Pieces of Woo: The Other Side
 * 1997: Free Agent: A Spaced Odyssey
 * 2007: Improvisczario
 * 2009: Christmas Woo
 * 2010: I Don't Even Know
 * 2011: Standards
 * 2013: BWO Is Landing (credited as "The Bernie Worrell Orchestra")
 * 2014: Elevation: The Upper Air
 * 2016: Retrospectives

Funkadelic

 * 1970: Funkadelic
 * 1970: Free Your Mind... and Your Ass Will Follow
 * 1971: Maggot Brain
 * 1972: America Eats Its Young
 * 1973: Cosmic Slop
 * 1974: Standing on the Verge of Getting It On
 * 1975: Let's Take It to the Stage
 * 1976: Tales of Kidd Funkadelic
 * 1976: Hardcore Jollies
 * 1978: One Nation Under a Groove
 * 1979: Uncle Jam Wants You
 * 1996: Live: Meadowbrook, Rochester, Michigan – 12th September 1971
 * 2008: Toys (recorded 1970–74)
 * 2014: First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate

Parliament

 * 1970: Osmium
 * 1974: Up for the Down Stroke
 * 1975: Chocolate City
 * 1975: Mothership Connection
 * 1976: The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein
 * 1977: Live: P-Funk Earth Tour
 * 1977: Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome
 * 1978: Motor Booty Affair
 * 1979: Gloryhallastoopid
 * 1980: Trombipulation

Selected contributions to other albums

 * 1981: Jerry Harrison, The Red and the Black
 * 1982: George Clinton, Computer Games
 * 1982: Talking Heads, The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
 * 1983: Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues
 * 1984: Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense
 * 1983: Rita Coolidge, Never Let You Go
 * 1984: Fred Schneider, Fred Schneider and the Shake Society
 * 1985: Fela Kuti, Army Arrangement
 * 1985: The Golden Palominos, Visions of Excess
 * 1986: Ginger Baker, Horses & Trees
 * 1987: Jerry Harrison, "Casual Gods"
 * 1987: Jesse Rae, The Thistle
 * 1992: Praxis, Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)
 * 1995: Jack Bruce, Monkjack
 * 1995: Julian Schnabel, Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud
 * 1995: Third Rail (James Blood Ulmer & Bill Laswell), South Delta Space Age
 * 1996: Pharoah Sanders, Message from Home
 * 1998: Robben Ford, Tiger Walk
 * 1998: Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends [Gov’t Mule]
 * 1998: Pharoah Sanders, Save Our Children
 * 2001: Shin Terai, Unison
 * 2004: Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, The Big Eyeball in the Sky
 * 2004: Mos Def, The New Danger
 * 2005: Munkeez Strikin' Matchiz, Wreck It (with Bo Diddley and Chuck D.)
 * 2006: Gigi, Gold & Wax
 * 2006: Baby Elephant, Turn My Teeth Up
 * 2007: Shin Terai, Lightyears
 * 2007: Praxis, Tennessee 2004
 * 2008: Praxis, Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness)
 * 2008: Science Faxtion, Living on Another Frequency
 * 2009: Eric McFadden Trio, Delicate Thing
 * 2016: Joe Marcinek Band, Slink
 * 2017: Jesse Rae, Worae

Awards

 * Independent Music Awards 2013: "Get Your Hands Off" - Best Funk/Fusion/Jam Song

title: Bernie Worrell


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Sila María Calderón

Sila María Calderón Serra (born September 23, 1942) is a Puerto Rican politician, businesswoman, and philanthropist who was the governor of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2005. She is the first woman elected to that office. Prior to her term as governor, Calderón held various positions in the government of Puerto Rico, including the 12th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1988 to 1989, and Chief of Staff to Governor Rafael Hernández Colón. She was also mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, from 1997 to 2001.

Early life and education
Sila Calderón Serra was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 23, 1942, to entrepreneur César Augusto Calderón and Sila Serra Jesús. Her maternal grandfather Miguel Serra Joy emigrated from Mallorca, Balearic Islands to Puerto Rico in the late 19th century which granted Calderón Spanish citizenship in 2012. She attended high school at the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Las Madres in Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 1964 she graduated with honors from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government. She later attended the Graduate School of Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico.

First career years: 1973–1985
Her career began in 1973 when she was named Executive Aide to the Labor Secretary, Luis Silva Recio. Two years later, she was named Special Aide for Economic Development to then Governor, Rafael Hernández Colón.

After Hernández Colón was defeated in the 1976 general elections, Calderón went to work on the private sector working as Director of Business Development at Citibank, N.A. in San Juan. At the time, Citibank in San Juan was one of John Reed's experimental marketing centers. As part of her business development responsibilities, Calderón designed and marketed several new consumer products which significantly increased the earnings of the Retail Division of the Bank. In 1978, she became president of Commonwealth Investment Company, a family real estate concern that owned and managed industrial buildings.

First government positions: 1985–1990
In 1984, Rafael Hernández Colón was again elected governor and he appointed Calderón as Chief of Staff, being the first woman in that position. In 1988, Hernández Colón named her Puerto Rico's 12th Secretary of State.

During this time, Calderón was also part of the Governor's Economic Adviser Council and the board of directors of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank and the Center for Specialized Studies in Government Management. She also presided the Inversions Committee of the Industrial Development Company. She was also Secretary General of the Commission that organized the activities of the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of the Americas.

Return to private life: 1989–1995
Calderón resigned in 1989 and returned to her business endeavors. She served on the boards of major local corporations such as BanPonce, Banco Popular, and Pueblo International. She also served as part of the Committee for Economic Development of Puerto Rico, the Sor Isolina Ferré Foundation, and as President of the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation during 1991 and 1992.

Mayor of San Juan: 1997–2001
Calderón returned to public life in 1995, running in the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) primary for Mayor of San Juan. She won the primary handily over her two opponents by a huge margin. After that, she became President of the Municipal Committee of the PPD in San Juan, and later became part of the board of directors of the Party.

In the 1996 mayoral general election, she was elected Mayor of San Juan, becoming the second woman in the city's history to serve in that office and the first woman elected to the position. As mayor, she undertook one of the largest public works program in the city to date, sponsoring various urban redevelopment projects to revitalize Old San Juan, Condado, Río Piedras, Santurce, and other deteriorated sections of the city. She also initiated the Special Communities Program to assist poor communities’ empowerment and economic development.

Governor: 2001–2004
On April 21, 1999, Calderón presented her candidacy to be Governor of Puerto Rico. On May 31, she won the primary and took the presidency of the party, with then-President Aníbal Acevedo Vilá assuming the role of Vice-president. Acevedo Vilá eventually became Calderón's running mate for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico.

In 2000, Calderón led the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) during a close campaign for governor against Carlos Pesquera (PNP) and Rubén Berríos (PIP). Calderón was elected governor, becoming the first elected female governor in the history of Puerto Rico. After being sworn in, Calderón appointed her two daughters, Sila Mari and María Elena, to serve as First Ladies.

As governor, Calderón took action to help the most disadvantaged communities. With the passing of Law 1 of 2001 the government invested $1 billion to create the Puerto Rico Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development with the intention of developing the marginalized communities of the island. The program intended to create 14,500 development projects in 686 communities. The program has been criticized for many of the projects never being completed and funds instead being diverted.

In 2003, Calderón announced her determination to fulfill the commitments of her platform and her decision not to seek re-election in 2004.

On May 26, 2004, Calderón had to deal with a man who entered La Fortaleza, the governor's mansion, with a knife and took a receptionist hostage, demanding to speak directly with Calderón. After Calderón negotiated with the hostage taker, the man dropped the knife and surrendered to the police.

Present
Calderón is a partner in Inter-American Global Links, Inc. (IGlobaL), a business and trade consulting firm with links in Central America, the Caribbean and the United States. She chairs a philanthropic Foundation which has establish a non-profit and non-partisan entity – The Center for Puerto Rico: Sila M. Calderón Foundation – which gives attention to the issues of poverty, women, urban revitalization, ethical values and social responsibility.

Honours and awards
During her career, Calderón has received many honors and awards:

 * The Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce named her Outstanding Woman in the Public Sector three times (1975, 1985, 1987).
 * In 2005, she was named as one of the Distinguished Women of the Year by the Product Association of Puerto Rico.
 * In 1987, she was granted the Order of Isabella the Catholic by Juan Carlos I, King of Spain.
 * In 1988, she was selected Leader of the Year in the field of Public Works by the American Public Works Association, Chapter of Puerto Rico.
 * In 2003, she received the Harvard Foundation Award.
 * In 2004, she received the Golden Plate Award from the Academy of Achievement in Washington, DC.

Calderón has also received several honorary degrees:

 * 1989 – Manhattanville College – Doctor in Arts and Humanities
 * May 1997 – Manhattanville College – Doctor of Humane Letters
 * May 2001 – Boston University – Doctor of Laws
 * May 2001 – New School University – Doctor of Laws

During her tenure, Calderón gave particular attention to strengthening the economic, commercial and cultural ties between Puerto Rico and its Latin American neighbors. Underlining this effort, official visits were paid by Governor Calderón to the Dominican Republic, Panama and Costa Rica in the years 2001, 2002 and 2004. In recognition of her administration's efforts of collaboration between these countries and Puerto Rico, their governments bestowed upon her their most important civil orders: the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella of the Dominican Republic; the Order of Núñez de Balboa of Panama; and the Order of Juan Santamaría of Costa Rica.

Personal life
Calderón was married to engineer Francisco Xavier González Goenaga from 1964 to 1975. They had three children together: Sila María, Francisco Xavier, and María Elena. Both Sila María and María Elena are attorneys, and they served as "First Ladies" of the Commonwealth during Calderón's governorship. Francisco is an investment banker at RBC Capital Markets.

In 1978, Calderón married entrepreneur Adolfo Krans. They divorced in 2001 after 23 years of marriage.

Calderón married again, during her tenure as governor, with Ramón Cantero Frau, her former Secretary of the Department of Economic Development. The wedding was celebrated on September 10, 2003. They were divorced two years later.

title: Sila María Calderón


text:
Talk:Serialism

The Listener
I think some attention should be given to how a listener perceives serial music. Information from the field of music cognition offers great insight into how serial music is interpreted by a listener. For example, labarotory tests conclude that professional musicians and non musicians alike do very poorly recognizing and remembering passages of serial music. The listener does not infer any large scale schemata of serial works according to such studies. This may be of benefit to the article.

I wholeheartedly agree.Colbyhawkins (talk) 13:25, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Article quality
As someone who has devoted a good part of his life to understanding the compositional practice of a number of composers who can be described as practitioners of serialism, I just want to say (civilly) that two days ago we had an article that dealt with this difficult topic pretty well. I regret that the article which, for no discernible reason, has entirely replaced it - why did the writer think this was necessary? - does not (and I'm still being civil) do so nearly as well. The number of basic spelling and syntax errors in themselves require a rather large amount of labour to correct before we could even start on the content, and it looks like that would be labour spent in vain. A pity.

Cenedi

 * The previous page was well below the standards of wiki content - it was POV, personal essay, unorganized, contained unencyclopediac content, it did not cite sources, it adopted POV naming conventions. The behavior of the previous editor/editors has violated a raft of standards for wikiquette and wikistyle. The characterizations of the changes made are inaccurate, bordering on the mendacious. This article needs further work, including descriptions of techniques, works, performances and performance history and influence of serialism as a technique and as an idea. I object both to the abombinable quality of the article as it stood when I began working on it, and to the absolutely unacceptable personal actions of the previous editors. Stirling Newberry 00:17, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Incompetent Alterations To This Page
I am one of the two lecturing musicologists who have jointly spent dozens of hours over the past week or so (July 2005) carefully constructing a well-researched entry that, for the first time on this site, clearly and sensibly explains 'serialism'. I therefore wish to point out to users of this site that the sudden, summary deletion and alteration of much of our work in the large-scale edit by one 'Stirling Newberry' replaces our developing entry by something that is *utterly incompetent*, *misleading*, *woefully selective and incomplete*, *incorrect as to several matters of fact*, and *intermittently meaningless*. Users are advised to go back several stages through the 'edit history' to see something written by people who actually have a published track record of knowing what they are writing about. The fact that an amateur tonal composer is able to impose his misunderstandings over the heads of qualified professionals in the field is *a disgrace*. It also brings wikipedia into disrepute, and will only have the effect of discouraging competent authorities from assisting with the project.

Mark D.

 * Hello Mark; welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your work on the article.  I need to mention a couple things:  first, I would like to point out our civility policy, which actually helps editors of differing viewpoints get along, if followed carefully; and I need to point out that Wikipedia is a collaborative enterprise, and there just might be more than one expert in the room; and I need to point out that no one "owns" articles here:  they constantly evolve, with input from people knowledgeable in the subject at hand.  I can wave my Ph.D. and pound on the table too, but it probably won't help my case; indeed a reputation for arrogance is not a useful monkey to have on your back here.  Looking at the content, at first blush, your version looks good to me, and Stirling's has its good points too.  You need to go through point by point, on this talk page, and discuss it with him if you both want to work on the article.  Vandalising the article with an angry note about "incompetence" is really not the right approach, but I welcome you to try again, the right way.  Thank you for listening, Antandrus  (talk) 02:52, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

 * Try again?!? *No chance*. When I was revising the appalling mess that was there when I first arrived, I bent over backwards to try and incorporate *everything* that other people had written - adding careful and respectful qualifications and caveats where what they had written was incomplete, partisan or clueless. Yet I see this amateur whose efforts you seek to defend has simply *deleted* whole swathes of what I and my associate had revised and added - and replaced it with material which, in so far as it means anything at all, is at times so *wrong* as to make it and its writer a laughing stock.

 * I'm afraid you'll just have to manage without me and my friend: we have better things to do than provide fodder for egotistical amateurs who have no idea that they have no idea.

 * Mark D.

 * Good lord, I don't think you could personify the 'arrogant professor' any more if you actually tried to. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Duncan Frost (talk • contribs) 10:40, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Character bashing does not treat the quality of the edits which should be discussed on their own merits, not whether you think someone is being arrogant.Jmckaskle (talk) 16:06, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Serialism vs twelve tone
I've scribbled a bit about the problems of this subject before on Talk:Tone row, but I thought it best that I try to quickly explain the changes I just made here:

Serialism and twelve-note music are not strictly speaking the same thing. Twelve-note music is a subset of serialism, really. It doesn't make sense to speak of the two as the same, because you might have a serial piece which uses a scale with 41 notes to the octave and serialises them - such a piece is serial, but not twelve-note music in any sense. Likewise, you might have a piece that serialises dynamics, durations, accents and instrumentation, but not pitches - such a piece would also be serial, but not twelve-note music. This is a bit of a chewy problem, because the best known serial composers (Schoenberg, Berg and Webern) serialised only pitches, and so the two terms become confused. However, there's no question of somebody calling a totally serialised work like Pierre Boulez' Polyphonie X "twelve-note music" - it's serial, and that's all there is to it.

Here's a quote from the Harvard Dictionary of Music which I just copied from, which probably puts the problem better than I could:

 * "[serial music is] music constructed according to permutations of a group of elements placed in a certain order or series. These elements may include pitches, durations, or virtually any other musical values. Strictly speaking, serial music encompasses twelve-tone music as well as music employing other types of pitch series, ie., those containing fewer than twelve pitches (e.g., certain "pre-twelve-tone" movements from Schoenberg's Five Piano Pieces op. 23 and Serenade op. 24; Stravinsky's In Memoriam Dylan Thomas) and those containing more than twelve pitches (e.g., Messiaen's Quator pour la fin du temps). Normally, however, the term is reserved for music that extends classical Schoenbergian twelve-tone pitch techniques and, especially, applies serial control to other musical elements, such as duration. Such music, mainly developed after World War II (although there were also earlier tendencies in this direction, notably in the music of Berg and Cowell), is often distinguished from twelve-tone serialism as "integral" or "total" serialism. It is usually characterized by a high degree of precompositional planning and thus also of compositional determinacy.

OK, after all that, the other edits I made are quite simple: first, serial music is not always atonal - quite a lot of Berg's serial passages, for instance, are definitely in a certain key. Secondly, I don't think Stravinsky's Fanfare for a New Theatre is a good example of a serial composition: it's a pretty small piece for just two trumpets, which hardly ever gets heard. Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra is a far better known piece (as well as being an excellent example of what you can do with the twelve-note technique). --Camembert

 * OK, I've finally taken the plunge and moved the specifically 12-tone stuff (which was most of the article) to twelve-tone technique. Hopefully I'll be able to expand this article soon. --Camembert 19:33 Apr 21, 2003 (UTC)

Yes, the serialism is a "development" of the 12-tone technique, but to say that Schoenberg, Webern, and Alban Berg, in particular, were serial composers is just not accurate and they should not be cited as such. I mean, in my opinion, Alban Berg's music is the complete antethises of serialism - compare a work as moving as Wozzeck or his Violin Concerto with, let's say, Structure 1a and you will hear that they just can't be grouped in the same school of composition. Well, it's only my opinion, I guess. Grcruz (talk) 00:24, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Nono and Cage
Two quick notes/questions: 1. Did Luigi Nono develop serial principles really that independently? As far as I know he regularly attended to the "Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik" in Darmstadt, meeting there with Stockhausen and even Boulez. 2. It seems that John Cage (sic!) had some influence on the delopment of serialism. Unfortunately the only source I have for that right now is an interview with the musical historian Reinhold Brinkmann (Harvard) in German . Here is the relevant part of the interview with an English translation by me below:

"Unter musikgeschichtlichen Gesichtspunkten muss heute auch einer Figur wie John Cage zentrale Bedeutung für die Entwicklung im frühen Nachkriegseuropa beigemessen werden; nach dem kürzlich veröffentlichten Briefwechsel zwischen Cage und Boulez muss er als einer Väter der seriellen Musik betrachtet werden, denn er hat bestimmte kompositionstechnische Verfahren mit Boulez besprochen, die dann direkt in die serielle Technik eingegangen sind. Man müsste eigentlich die Musikgeschichte von dieser internationalen Perspektive aus neu schreiben."

"From the point of view of musical history one must realize that even a figure like John Cage had a central role in the development in the early post-war-Europe; following the recently published exchange of letters between Cage and Boule, he has to be acknowledged as being one of the fathers of serial music, because he discussed with Boulez certain aspects of composition technique which directly became part of serial technique. Actually the history of music would have to be rewritten from this international perspective [a perspective which takes the influence of American composers on musical development in post-war Europe into account; Utis]"

That said, I am not sure whether Brinkmann puts such an emphasis on it, just because he wants to make a point. Thus, I am not arguing for including it into the main article yet, not without further recherche/evidence. But I thought it might be worth mentioning here on the talk page.

-- Utis 01:19, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Goeyvaerts and Messiaen
This page needs to include Goeyvaerts.

 * That's Karel Goeyvaerts. Hyacinth 01:25, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

 * We lost the info, which justifies the external link, that he wrote the first serial piece. Hyacinth 21:50, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

 * I always thought the first serial piece was Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensités (1949)... David Sneek 09:03, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

 * "He composed the first serial composition, Nummer 2 (1951) for 13 instruments ." Hyacinth 11:13, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Are you suggesting that 1951 came before 1949? David Sneek 10:38, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * No, I'm suggesting that Mode de valeurs et d'intensités isn't always considered serial. Do you have a source which considers it so? Hyacinth 11:06, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * Sure. From Olivier Messiaen: "The results of these experiments were pieces such as Modes de valeurs et d'intensités for piano which have been described as the first works of total serialism." 1949: "Olivier Messiaen composed his Mode de valeurs et d'intensities (Mode of Durations and Intensities), a piano composition that 'established 'scales' not only of pitch but also of duration, loudness, and attack.'" "In Structures, Boulez uses a series of 12 pitches borrowed from Messiaen's Mode de valeurs et d'intensite, a series of 12 durations (borrowed from the same source), a series of 12 attacks, and a series of 12 dynamics."  "...quand il fut question d'une extrapolation des principes de la série webernienne des hauteurs aux durées, attaques et intensités, Messiaen produisit en 1949 la pièce pour piano intitulée Mode de valeurs et d'intensités, oeuvre qui a immédiatement entraîné l'adhésion de Boulez et Stockhausen, et provoqué - qu'on le regrette ou non - la naissance du phénomène structural connu sous l'appellation de série généralisée." . David Sneek 12:27, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * Note that the article specifies "total". Hyacinth 12:42, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * So does our Messiaen article. David Sneek 12:45, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * Its not surprising that Messiaen would willingly accept credit for such an important development, and thus I'm not sure if he is a reliable source here. Note that the article specifies "total", and that your second source indicates that Mode de valeurs et d'intensités only serialized pitches and durations and is thus not "total" serialism. Can there be "total" serialism? I don't know, and there is a slippery slope at the bottom of which we find a definition of the first twelve tone piece as the first serialist piece. Hyacinth 12:46, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * That said, I welcome you to contribute a description of this conflict to the article. Hyacinth 12:48, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Also, I now realize you weren't quoting Messiaen, but the article about him. Hyacinth 12:50, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
 * The second source only says that Boulez borrowed two of the series - the pitches and the durations - from the piece, but that does not contradict that attack and intensity were also serialized, as the other sources say. How many parameters before we can speak of "total" serialism? By the way, "Messiaen expressed annoyance that his work Mode de valeurs et d'intensités, seen by some as the first work of total serialism, was given such importance in his output." David Sneek 13:00, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

 * This is a great example of the clarification that is needed here. Mode de valeurs was based upon series of notes to which durations and intensities were attached, but those series were not all complete 12-tone sets. And the series were simply played out simultaneously, without modifying the order with any of the methods familar from Viennese 12-tone technique. So, it was serial but not 12-tone, and Messiaen always identified it as "modal". I think that it would be a great service to more clearly separate the "serial" concept from the "twelve-tone" methods of Hauer, Schoenberg, Webern, and then, later in this article, address the problem of the serialization of several parameters, whether through fixing durations and other parameters directly to pitches (as in Messiaen, Goeyvaerts, Boulez) or through a parallel system of operations, designed to project structural aspects of a single set (as in Babbitt), and then, finally, to discuss perceptual issues.

A great way to improve this article
Out of curiosity as to what kind of language "Eesti" was, I clicked it while I was reading this article. I was amazed to find numerous manuscript diagrams relating to serialism, which appear to have been drawn by composers themselves. Not being able to speak "Eesti" (which turns out to be Estonian), I would appreciate it if a speaker of Estonian translated some of the Estonian article, at least the parts with the diagrams. Or, if you don't speak it, have a look at the diagrams in the article in Estonian, it's pretty fascinating.

 * Much of that material looks copyright. If Estonia falls into the same copyright loophole as the bulk of the former Soviet Union, material from before 1970 or so is fair game, but the copyright laws of English-speaking countries would not permit the publication of these. CRCulver 00:47, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

relation to pointillism?
I can't find anything in Wikipedia about the musical style pointillism. Is that the same as what Wikipedia is calling Serialism? If so it should be mentioned in this article and there should be a pointer page. If it is different then pointillism should have a page too.

Lloyd

 * Usually when instrumental writing is called "pointillistic" it generally means that the writing consists of individual notes, not chords. CRCulver 21:33, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

 * "Pointillism" (more accurately, "punctualism") is, as you say, a musical texture or style, and is not the same thing as serialism, which is a technique of composition. However, most (not all) of the music described by the term was also created (between about 1950 and 1955) using serial techniques of one sort or another. This is doubtless why it is found in the Serialism article. An example of a non-serial punctual work is Messiaen's "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" (1949). The term was originated probably by Herbert Eimert or Karlheinz Stockhausen, after discussion with other people working in Cologne around 1953, and so was originally a German term: "punktuelle Musik". German has a separate word for pointillism, "Pointillismus". In a certain sense, these are polar opposites, since in painting (e.g., Seurat) pointillism concerns densely packed dots (the closest musical equivalent is theTonschar or "swarm of notes" found in the so-called statistical textures of Stockhausen's music after 1954, or the "clouds" in Xenakis's music from around the same time). Punctual music, on the contrary, tends to sparse textures, though the definition usually involves the separate determination for each note of all of its various "parameters" (pitch, duration, dynamic, timbre, register, etc.). Jerome Kohl 00:04, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

FWIW, I have now added an article on Punctualism, and linked both to and from the Serialism article. I wonder if a redirect for "Pointillism (music)" and a disambiguation page should be created? --Jerome Kohl 02:11, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Questions
In the fifth paragraph of Basic Definition, the author states: "The most common requirement is that first half and second half of the row not be inversions of each other." However, this was most often not the case. Schoenberg and Webern, to name two composers, often deliberately constructed 12 tone rows such that the first and second hexachords were related by inversion, retrograde or both. In fact, in the seventh paragraph of 'Theory of Serial Music' the author states that: "An aggregate may be divided into subsets, and all the members of the aggregate not part of any one subset are said to be its complement. A subset is self-complementing if it contains half of the set and its complement is also a permutation of the original subset. This is most commonly seen with hexachords or 6 notes of a basic tone row. A hexachord which is self-complementing for a particular permutatition is referred to as prime combinatorial. A hexachord which is self complementing for all basic permutations – Inversion, Retrograde and Retrograde Inversion – is referred to as all-combinatorial. The concepts of combinatoriality were explored by Schoenberg and Webern, but were rigorously defined and explored in the work of Milton Babbitt."

"The most common requirement is that first half and second half of the row not be inversions of each other." Not true. One has to wonder where that came from. Gingermint (talk) 20:33, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Lack of examples and specifics
This article is in dire need of more specifics, and fewer vague generalities. I just read the whole thing, and I don't believe I saw a single specific piece of music mentioned. There is also not a single example written out in musical notation. The whole thing reads like one long "he said, she said."--75.83.140.254 01:52, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * As someone who has only a basic understanding of music theory I have to agree. I've read the article several times and find it difficult to envisage even a simple theoretical example of serialism that I can be confident meets the "correct" definition (whatever that is). Imagine you had to show a young student a simple example of serialism such that they could go away and mimic the premise and come up with their own example that fits within the definition of serialism (even if it sounded awful). What example would you provide to this end? I'd love to contribute such a sentence but am unqualified to do so. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.171.7.39 (talk) 20:18, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

See Verifiability and NOTTEXTBOOK. Specifically, when does the article become vague. Which parts would you like cleared up? Would notated sound examples help? Hyacinth (talk) 20:35, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Glenn Gould?
Glenn Gould is listed under important serialist composers. While he was a great advocate of serialism, and occasionally made his own compositional attempts in this style, none of these were published/recorded; his main published work, the String Quartet, was influenced by the "achievement of Schoenberg in unifying unifying motivic concepts," but didn't use the serialist method.

Thus, unless I am forgetting something, GG should probably be removed from the list of important serialist composers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JeanneShade (talk • contribs) 00:12, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

I've removed a ton of composers from the list. One simply can't list in this article EVERY composer who had a serial idea. That's for another page! I've left the biggest names (including Glenn Gould). I left Gould because it is an interesting name and one reading this article might think, "What? Gould didn't just play the piano? I've got to look this up." Gingermint (talk) 20:36, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

 * And I've put them all back. Hardly any of the composers you removed are "merely composers who once had a serial idea." Most are major composers whose work includes numerous important serial compositions. If you wish to debate the relative merits of each composer you think is not sufficiently notable—or sufficiently notable as a composer of serial music, by all means let us do so. I suggest we start with Robert Gerhard, one of the names you deleted, whose work from 1950 onward was almost entirely serial, including his four completed symphonies.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 20:44, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Quasi Mathematical Language
I take issue with the use of the description "quasi-mathematical language" in the section "Theory of Serial Music." Is the language mathematical or not? Are permutations then only quasi-permutational? Is there any literature that describes the use of mathematical language as justifying the "quasi-" tag? Jmckaskle (talk) 16:41, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Although I agree that your point may be well-taken, there are at least two articles by one author, John Backus, that you may be interested to read: "Re: Pseudo-Science", Journal of Music Theory 4, no. 2 (November 1960): 221–32, and "Die Reihe—A Scientific Evaluation", Perspectives of New Music 1, no. 1 (Autumn 1962): 160–71. The former is a devastating (and hilarious) criticism of Joseph Schillinger's Schillinger System of Musical Composition, the latter an equally negative if somewhat more serious-toned critique of the pseudo-scientific language found in several of the earliest issues of Die Reihe. Schillinger's work is not exactly serial (at least, not by the usual definitions), but serialism was the main focus of Die Reihe, as stated on the title page of the original German edition.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 19:24, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'll take a look. Thank you.Jmckaskle (talk) 18:33, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Schnittke
So as to prevent an edit war, I'm posting here concerning Schnittke and his position in the article. In my edit I had modified the article to include Schnittke in both lists of composers, but this was later reverted on the account of double-dipping. My primary concern is that Schnittke does indeed belong to both lists: he was an active serialist during the 60s (one of the very few in the Soviet Union), but left this practice by the end of the decade to pursue polystylism. My questions:
 * Should he be included in either list?
 * If included in the first list, would the short time of his serialism justify his placement? If included in the second list, would it be as a result of the relatively short time period in which he was a serial composer?

--DannyDaWriter (talk) 19:30, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

 * Danny, I think the problem has a lot to do with a rather poorly cast paragraph which badly needs rewriting. The key phrase is "other composers", separating the first list from the second. One composer cannot be both himself and someone else or—perhaps a little more accurately—cannot be a member of one group as well as of another defined as lying outside of it. I think what you are trying to say is that the first group is said to consist of composers who "went through extended periods of time in which they disciplined themselves always to use some variety of serialism", while the second "used serialism only for some of their compositions or only for some sections of pieces". I have always thought that the first characterization has the aroma of self-flagellation, not to mention the weakness of being hopeless vague (as you rightly point out) about what might constitute an "extended period of time". The central subject of my PhD dissertation concerned the way in which the music of one of those composers (Stockhausen) always had non-serial as well as serial aspects; in fact, I made the point that true "totality" of serialism is impossible, since it is always possible to think of a new parameter for any composition that was not included by the composer. The upshot is that any composer who has used "some kind of serialism"—whether consistently throughout his/her career or not—has also necessarily "used serialism" only for some aspects of all of those compositions (unless, of course, serialism can be redefined to cover any and all techniques of musical composition, in which case all music is serial).
 * I haven't taken the trouble to wade through the early edit history of this article (this phraseology had been in place long before I had anything to do with this), but I would not be surprised to learn that it started out by saying something like "some composers always used serialism in all of their works, while some others used it only occasionally". In any case, I think the time has come to seriously re-think this paragraph, which is at best hopelessly vague, and at worst completely void of meaning.
 * To answer your questions directly, (1) Yes, Schnittke should be included in one list or the other, and (2) Considering the composers named in the first list, the brevity of Schnittke's engagement with serialism would not justify his inclusion there, and indeed would be a reason for including him instead in the second list. However, as the article stands, the criteria are not so clear, and the reader must be more than passingly familiar with the works of all twenty composers named in the two sets to understand what is meant. In short, it will communicate nothing at all to the reader who does not already know the answer.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 19:59, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Opening definition
Serialism is a pretty dense and complex topic and for many people, i.e. students just learning about it; a more succinct and explanative opening sentence would help. "In music, serialism is not only a technique, method (Griffiths 2001, 116), "highly specialized technique" (Wörner 1973, 196), or "way" (Whittall 2008, 1) of composition, but also "a philosophy of life (Weltanschauung), a way of relating the human mind to the world and creating a completeness when dealing with a subject" (Bandur 2001, 5)." Is just ridiculously convoluted and (if you don't mind my saying) sounds a lot like it was written by a serialist! To many composers, Serialism is not a 'philosophy of life' but is in fact one useful tool of many in the compositional process. Can this be cleaned up?--JDOCallaghan (talk) 13:49, 22 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I remember wrestling with one or more other editors over this opening sentence and, IIRC, the main issue had to do with a particularly obtuse quotation from a "reliable source" (still included) that one editor insisted must stay. So, this opening sentence was not written by "a serialist", but rather is a prime example of the work of a committee. If you can come up with a smoother sentence (and I agree that almost any change at all would make it easier to read) without running afoul of the sources already cited, then by all means go ahead (lede sentences are supposed to summarize the article content, and so should not require reference citations at all, but the edit history speaks against this common-sense counsel in this case). I tried, and failed. The best of luck to you.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 19:05, 22 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I see that Hyacinth has boldly gone where none have gone before (well, nearly), and I applaud the edit, though I fear someone is going to look closer at Griffiths's New Grove article and extend the quotation of his definition into territory where none should go again. On the other hand, I shouldn't be surprised if the editors who objected previously to this sentence make a return visit and start the shambles all over again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 06:39, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I have a feeling I wrote that sentence, not a committee, but without checking the edit history I'd guess I'm wrong. This split seems to fit the article structure (lead vs body) better now. Hyacinth (talk) 06:46, 23 February 2010 (UTC)
 * The structure is much improved, thanks. However, I'm fairly certain you were not responsible for the citation of Bandur (which was mine) and I cannot now recall who insisted on retaining the citation of the single word "way" from Whittall, which seems pointless to me (simply a synonym of "method", yes?). In any case, the details of definition do not belong in the lede sentence, and are much better placed now.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 18:55, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I think it's much better now. I added a bit to the opening sentence to contextualize it in more specific terms for readers new to the subject. It now reads, "serialism is a method of composition or technique (Griffiths 2001, 116) which uses number series to determine different musical elements." I think that's broad enough that it doesn't exclude any use of serial technique, but specific enough that it lets people know what it's fundamentally about. Do people feel like this helps? --JDOCallaghan (talk) 01:08, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Are not "method" and "technique" synonyms? Hyacinth (talk) 04:04, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

 * I would have thought so—at least, in this context. Of course, synonyms are not identities, and Griffiths uses "method" first, and "technique only subsequently. Could this be significant?
 * As to the "number series" business, I know of only a single source that would (partially) confirm this, and it is unfortunately not published. It was a lecture by Richard Toop at the Southbank Centre in November 2008 and he did not use the word "series"—only "numbers". I immediately think of Stockhausen's Stimmung, which is a serial composition unquestionably governed by number sets—but are these numbers in "series"? Aus den sieben Tagen is an even more worrisome case, since it has been shown to be serial, but numbers are scarcely involved at all. I shall have to ask Richard how this fits into his definition.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 06:08, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * And is it music? And does it consist of elements? And are they determined? Hyacinth (talk) 08:45, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * (1) This depends on your definition of music, (2) yes, (3) no, but the processes by which they are manipulated are.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 19:42, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * What, no sources? And are they really manipulated and really through processes? Hyacinth (talk) 07:30, 25 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Though I see you are jesting, I still don't quite follow you. Of course there are sources (I presume you are speaking of the article on Aus den sieben Tagen), the elements are not determinate and yet are subjected to processes, yes. I've been reviewing that article, and I see it could be improved by expansion on this business of "process".—Jerome Kohl (talk) 22:33, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

More seriously though, how does it look now? Hyacinth (talk) 09:13, 25 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I think it's pretty good, if erring on the side of being a bit too vague, though it's hard not to be without stepping on toes. Without taking the terms as literally as one perhaps should, 'which uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements' could refer to almost any system of composition. Maybe highlighting the strictness and rigor behind classical serialism could be accomplished simply by adding: 'which uses a defined series of values to manipulate different musical elements', or something to that effect?--JDOCallaghan (talk) 18:26, 25 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree that it looks much better (I think I already said that). I wonder, JD, what exactly "classical serialism" is, though? Does this mean the textbook definitions, or actual music? There is a considerable discrepancy, in my experience, and this is the single largest cause of confusion and exasperation on the part of newcomers to this subject.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 22:33, 25 February 2010 (UTC)
 * That's true enough. I can think of even a few Berg and Schoenberg pieces which use reduced sets or else in some ways take liberties with the idiom, if memory serves correctly. Perhaps it's as focussed as it can get without being inaccurate. --JDOCallaghan (talk) 09:31, 26 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Berg and Schoenberg are salutary examples, to be sure (Schoenberg: "My works are 12-tone compositions, not 12-tone compositions"), but things get far worse when it comes to defining "strict" compound (or total) serialism! I have seen textbook definitions so obviously based on Boulez's Structures Ia that we are forced to conclude it is the only work of "strict" serialism ever composed. Despite the fact that the definition cannot even be made to describe Structures Ib or Ic, the texts go on to name works as varied as Boulez's Le Marteau sans maître, Nono's Il canto sospeso, and Stockhausen's Kontra-Punkte as other examples (before doubling back and telling us that Milton Babbitt got there ahead of Boulez, and used the same "strict technique" in the Three Compositions for Piano and Composition for Four Instruments). It's no wonder that students exposed to this rubbish quickly become angry and frustrated with the concept of serialism.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 21:53, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Please clarify the mathematical jargon
"Furthermore, the organizing principles of serialism inspired mathematical analogues, such as uses of set theory, group theory, operators, and parametrization, for example in the post-war works of Elliott Carter, Iannis Xenakis, and Witold Lutosławski." Due to my edits of operator-related articles, operators link is now pointing on disambiguation page, and because of the widespread confusion of operator and operation I cannot infer what exactly was meant here. Please, clarify. --- Kallikanzaridtalk 00:08, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

Basic Definitions
The first sentence under this heading states, "Serialism is a method...of musical composition." The third sentence states, "However, serialism is not by itself a system of composition..." According to dictionary.com, "system" is a synonym for "method". I hope that by making this observation I am not guilty of improper synthesis. Colbyhawkins (talk) 03:33, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

History of serial music
This section seems to me remarkably insufficient. There is virtually nothing of the history of serialism. It seems to me this section ought to begin with Liszt and Wagner to give the motivations for serialism. The first phrase of the third sentence, "The serialization of rhythm, dynamics, and other elements of music developed after the Second World War by arguing[weasel words] that the twelve-tone music of Arnold Schoenberg and his followers of the Second Viennese School had serialized pitch," makes no sense - perhaps the author forgot "only" before the last word. Even with this addition, the word "arguing" is ambiguous at best. Under the sub-heading "Twelve Tone Music", we get exactly one sentence: "In the early 20th century composers began to struggle against the ordered system of chords and intervals known as "functional tonality", in an effort to find new forms of expression and underlying structural organizing principles". The term "twelve tone music" is never mentioned under this heading. I agree with Mark D. - this article is pitiful.Colbyhawkins (talk) 14:05, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

 * What should be done about it? Hyacinth (talk) 12:39, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Yardumian
No mention in the Yardumian article. Hyacinth (talk) 07:12, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Richard Yardumian used a unique variation of the 12-tone scale "different from Schoenberg's" in which "series were derived by alternating major and minor thirds" (Schwartz 2001).

What?
What's Serialism? I've read the article, but I still have no idea. This has got to be one of the worst articles on wikipedia from a beginner's perspective. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.215.147.110 (talk) 18:17, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

 * How should the article be improved? Specifically what is hard to understand? Hyacinth (talk) 22:29, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

 * The first sentence is a disaster. A method or technique (why both?) of composition (why not composing?) that uses different elements... I forget how it ends. Rothorpe (talk) 00:52, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

 * Agreed (and it is probably best not to remember how it ends). There was a huge argument about this about three years ago, and we wrestled it to a standstill. Maybe it is time to fix this now, if everyone has calmed down.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 18:16, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

 * I assume you're referring to . Hyacinth (talk) 22:56, 31 August 2012 (UTC)

 * Yes. Sorry for any ambiguity. I assumed "the first sentence is a disaster" was sufficient identification.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 06:43, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

I agree with the above comments: the article does not explain to a layperson what Serialism is.

- The first sentence of the article defines Serialism as "a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements" Huh? That seems like a description of any piece of music: it consists of a series of pitches, rhythms, and dynamics.

- The first sentence under "Basic definitions" is even worse: 'Serialism is a method, "highly specialized technique", or "way" of composition. It may also be considered "a philosophy of life, a way of relating the human mind to the world and creating a completeness when dealing with a subject."' Once again this could describe *any* musical technique. I truly don't understand this article. Cstanford.math (talk) 13:24, 5 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, almost every piece of music consists of pitches, rhythms, and dynamics, and any method of composition is...a method of composition. The article goes on to explain what distinguishes serialism from other methods and serialist music from other music.AlsoWukai (talk) 00:51, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

Too Many Notables
The list of notable composers goes on forever. As many of these alleged notable composers are downright obscure, it would be reasonable to cull many of these names. 108.202.113.201 (talk) 20:54, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

 * Lists like this are a liability to any Wikipedia article. However, you are wrong about one thing: none of the composers in the list are "obscure"—they are all quite famous, in fact. So, the question is not one of removing names no one has ever heard of, but rather, it is one of establishing an objective rating scale by which the list can be ranked from highest to lowest, and then setting a reasonable number of names to be included. Once this is done, pruning the list becomes an automatic process, formulated by mathematical means. Simple, really.—Jerome Kohl (talk) 03:41, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

title: Talk:Serialism


text:
Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums

WikiProject Albums is an organization of Wikipedians dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of all kinds of audio recording albums. We seek ways of simplifying album pages so users can get the basic information fast, creating high-quality new pages, ensuring a standardized format and making articles as informative as possible.

Feel free to ask questions on the talk page. Below is a basic guide to writing an article on a specific album; this is only a guide and you should feel free to personalize an article as you see fit, though others may change it to fit our standards.

Departments

 * /Assessment
 * /Popular pages (Watchlist of popular pages)
 * /Sources
 * /Stub templates and categories
 * List of

Album article style advice
All editors are encouraged to consult the style guide, which has many guidelines, suggestions, and tips for creating and improving album articles.

 * /Album article style advice

Participate
Everyone is welcome to join the project and contribute. Lists of members can be found in Category:WikiProject Albums participants and this list.

To join the project, please add: to your user page. After you save (publish) that userbox to your user page, you will automatically be added to the members category.

Welcome new member
If you'd like to welcome new users with a message that is tailored to the project, please use the code  which will leave this message on their talk page.

Album articles
When you create or find a new album article, please use the WikiProject Albums template to include the article in the scope of this project by adding at the top of the talk page: Either form is acceptable.

The parameters are used as follows:
 * The parameter class adds the article to categories based on its quality assessment. Use ratings,  ,  ,  ,   or   according to the quality scale. If you are unsure about which rating applies, please leave the parameter without a value.
 * If the page does not have an infobox, set needs-infobox to . Otherwise remove this parameter.
 * If the page needs immediate attention, set it to . Otherwise remove this parameter.

Note that for several years, there was an importance parameter, but this was removed per consensus in 2023.

Barnstar
To recognize a fellow editor for their work on album articles, feel free to use the Project's barnstar. Add the following code to their talk page. Type your own personal message in place of "message".

Notability
While members of this project like to see new articles about albums, not all albums should have articles at Wikipedia. Many consider any original studio album by a notable artist to be important enough to deserve an article; other editors follow stricter guidelines. See the following policies and policy proposals:
 * Notability (albums)
 * Notability (comedy) (historical, inactive as of February 2007)
 * Notability (music)
 * Notability

Discography
There are no explicit guidelines on how to incorporate an album article in a discography. Of course, there are several ways it can be done. In all cases, please keep the following hints in mind:
 * sort the albums, e.g. ascending by date (since a discography is in some sense a chronology),
 * if you use tables, use wikicode, to make the list easier to maintain.

A simple way to list albums could be:
 * first album (year of release)
 * second album (year of release)

Note that album titles should be in italics and only albums, not release years, should be linked.

A different way using a table could be:

Most album covers are non-free images, and are not permitted in discographies (or any other gallery or list). See Non-free content criteria #8 and Non-free content for clarification of this policy.

500 greatest albums
One of our project goals is to bring as many albums as possible that are listed in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time to at least GA (Good Article) status.

Numbers of articles that reached at least GA-status:

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title: Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums