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Coming of Age Day

Coming of Age Day (成人の日) is a public holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday of January under the Happy Monday System. It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have already reached the age of maturity between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current year, and to help them realise that they have become adults. Festivities include coming of age ceremonies (成人式) held at local and prefectural offices, as well as after-parties among family and friends.

Overview
On June 13, 2018, the age of maturity was lowered for the first time since it was established. According to the new law, which came into force in 2022, a citizen is considered an adult with the onset of full 18 years. Note that Coming of Age Day and the ceremony itself are not directly linked to changes in the legal status of young people. For example, adult status becomes effective on the 18th birthday, with some exceptions; both men and women can marry and are released from parental authority. At the same time, they are released from the various family and social restrictions imposed on minors. As adults, they become eligible for contracting on their own. As before, drinking and smoking are allowed at age 20, and the right to vote and to obtain a driver's license for passenger vehicles begins at age 18 (16 for motorcycles).

History
Coming of age ceremonies have been celebrated in Japan since at least 714 CE, during the reign of Empress Genmei when a young prince donned new robes and a hairstyle to mark his passage into adulthood.

Rituals to celebrate adulthood have existed since ancient times, such as Genpuku (changing to adult clothing) and Fundoshi-iwai (loincloth celebration) for boys and Mogi (dressing up) and Keppatsu (tying the hair up) for girls. Cultural anthropology and folklore studies treat such ceremonies as rites of passage (initiations).

Genpuku
Genpuku (元服) is a Japanese coming-of-age ceremony which dates back to Japan's classical Nara period (710–794 AD).[1] This ceremony marked the transition from child to adult status and the assumption of adult responsibilities. The age of participation varied throughout history and depended on factors such as sex, political climate, and social status. Most participants were aristocratic children between the ages of 10 and 20, and most descriptions of genpuku focus on the male ceremony rather than the female ceremony due to the exclusion of women from politically important court positions and warrior status. Important changes in clothing and hairstyle typically denoted this transition, for both men and women. Youth and children were often synonymous, and a period of adolescence was not often present throughout the periods in which traditional genpuku flourished. The etymology of the word, which is atypical, reflects the major points of genpuku ceremonial format; in this case gen (元) means "head" and fuku (服) means "wearing". The ceremony is also known as kakan (加冠), uikōburi (初冠), kanrei (冠礼), shufuku (首服), and hatsu-motoyui (初元結).

General ceremonial format
Genpuku was traditionally considered a major rite, an important ritual affecting life course in which a child exchanged his childhood status for an adult status, and continues from the Nara (710–794 AD) into the Tokugawa period (1603–1868). The ceremony was usually backed by an older society member of political importance, and included the exchange of a childhood name for a new adult name (烏帽子名), the adoption of adult hairstyles and clothing, and the assumption of adult responsibilities. Genpuku was undergone by both males and females, but was differentiated by ceremonial dress, with men receiving signifying headgear such as a ceremonial court cap (冠) or samurai helmet and women receiving, instead, a pleated skirt (裳着). The population, and members of the population, participating in genpuku depended largely upon both which historical time period the ceremony took place in and the kind of government that was in place at the time. Specific ceremonial formats are built around specific constructions of class, rank, and time period.

Child roles as preparation for adult roles
Since aristocratic children between the ages of 10 and 20 took part in genpuku in order to assume adult status and responsibilities, the role of the aristocratic child was to prepare for adult life. For both male and female children, studies in the Heian period began between ages three and four, usually under the supervision of a wet nurse and perhaps her husband. Children of these ages were taught about key court ceremonies, Buddhist doctrine, and proper ethics. At the age of seven they moved on to more formal learning, specifically studying the skills needed to navigate court life and to succeed in court positions. Skills included, but were by no means limited to, handwriting and calligraphy, and were mainly an education requirement for male children; however, the education of girls was important as well. The ultimate goal of children, whether they were male or female, was to successfully carry on their family's tradition and reputation. Proper education for girls was tied to successful or advantageous marriage, or their future ability to maintain a wealthy patron within the court.

Nara and Heian periods (710–1192)
The earliest official record of genpuku in Japan dates back to the Nara period (710–794 AD), and the ceremony itself is based on an earlier Chinese custom in the Tang dynasty. Beyond the Nara, the ceremony flourished throughout the aristocratic Heian period (794–1185 AD), the last classical period in which Japan was governed by an aristocratic court. Children during Heian were not recognized as officially gendered before genpuku, and were said to have remained near the gods as "children of the kami". As children of the gods, those who had not undergone genpuku were often seen as youthful mediums and were some of the primary performers of ritual exorcisms. In addition, clothing and attire of childhood were ungendered and it was not uncommon for male children to wear makeup often as wakashū. In the period between early childhood and genpuku, boys were classified as wakashū. During these periods, primarily male members of the aristocracy between the ages of seven and fifteen engaged in genpuku. The ceremony was generally a precursor to obtaining court cap and rank. Parents chose when to hold their children's genpuku based on a number of factors, including the arrival of a suitable opportunity, the child's readiness for court service, the presence of one or more influential court backers, and the parents' ability to finance the ceremony.

Once it was deemed an appropriate time for a child to undergo genpuku, a variety of preparations were made for the upcoming ceremony. The child had to acquire a "capping parent", usually a person of influence, who would help the child don the ritual clothing of adulthood, most significantly a ceremonial court hat (kanmuri). Both the capping parent and the biological parents made preparations for the ceremony, but the capping parent was more active in making arrangements.

The genpuku ceremony itself almost always took place in the evening on a predetermined "auspicious day", either at the residence of a kakan (dignitary) or at the Shishinden (Kyoto Imperial Palace). When the capping ceremony was held for the son of a Counselor or Consultant, the capping parent was most often a kakan and the ceremony took place at the kakan's residence. When the ceremony was held for an Emperor or Crown prince, the current Emperor would sometimes cap the initiate within the Shishinden. The capping parent was joined by another important ceremonial participant, either the Nokan (if an Emperor was undergoing the ceremony) or a Rihatsu, who "loosened the childhood coiffure, cut the ends of the hair, bound the head with a fillet, and otherwise prepared the boy to receive the cap". After the capping, the child retreated to a private room to exchange his ungendered wide-sleeved childhood robes for adult male robes. The transition from child to adult was complete, and feasting followed closely thereafter. Genpuku and adult status were accompanied by marriage eligibility, gendering, a removal from the male "erotic gaze" within court, the abandon of makeup use for males, and the opportunity to obtain court rank.

Girls engaged in genpuku as well, although the particular ceremonial rituals were more commonly referred to as mogi. For women, as for men, the ceremony revolved around the presentation of adult clothing; however, women were presented with a pleated skirt, not a court cap. Girls participating in mogi coming-of-age ceremonies traditionally blackened their teeth, shaved their eyebrows, and applied makeup. In addition, their long unbound hair was tied on top of their head in an adult hairstyle.

Age of the samurai (1185–1868)
In 1185 AD the aristocratic court government of classical Japan was forced to coexist with a warrior-administration, ushering in the Age of the Samurai. Just as the sons of aristocracy underwent the ceremony of genpuku to signify their adulthood, so did the sons of warrior nobility. The central feature of genpuku throughout this time period was the placing of a samurai helmet, rather than court cap, by a high status warrior. Adult samurai received their swords and armor at this time. After going through genpuku, youths were expected to do adult labor, and samurai-class men acquired full warrior status and were expected to fight in open battle. In addition, youths gained the right to marry, and to officiate at shrine ceremonies. The ceremony acted to bind youth to the previously mentioned high status warrior. Often this practice was used to confirm and solidify the social status of samurai families. For example, a samurai family of lower status might, through the ceremony of genpuku, become tied to a higher status family. The lower status son would then act as a retainer to the higher status warrior to whom he was tied. After genpuku, warrior sons were accepted as full adults and welcomed to a career in the warrior-administration.

The average age of genpuku varied over time. For example, throughout the Tokugawa period (1603–1868), the age at which children underwent genpuku depended upon whether there was unrest. Full-fledged warriors were expected to take part in battle, so during the unsettled first years of the Tokugawa period, parents delayed genpuku until their sons were full-grown, at around 20 years old. However, as the country became more peaceful, a transition period resembling adolescence emerged. Young boys underwent genpuku and trained to be warriors under an older warrior, but did not engage in war. War acted as a sort of consummation following genpuku, solidifying societal acknowledgement of full adult warrior status. As the long peace continued, the appropriate age to transition from child to adult was lowered in response to dynastic pressures to marry and produce heirs. Boys could not marry until they came of age, so the "adolescent phase" vanished. By the 1700s the average coming of age of samurai-class boys was at 15 to 17, and in the early to mid-1800s it dropped to an average of 13 to 15.

Muromachi period (1338–1573)
During the Muromachi period, a period set within the Age of the Samurai, genpuku gradually spread from the samurai class to include men and women of lower ranks. Within the less wealthy, genpuku was used as a way of acknowledging an entrance into occupational roles, often in the form of apprenticeship. Boys of farming families and the artisan class came of age at 15 to 17, an age that had more to do with their ability to do adult work and take on adult social responsibilities than with their readiness for marriage or war. As a result of the new meanings tied to the ceremony and work, the once solid transitions between childhood and adulthood were lost within the artisan and merchant classes. Adulthood was put off in order that youth could acquire more or new skills related to their future occupations, resulting in the re-emergence of a period resembling adolescence.

Warabi Town, 1946
Today’s form of the Japanese Coming of Age Ceremony has roots from the Youth Festival held in Warabi Town (currently Warabi City), Kitaadachi County, Saitama Prefecture on November 22, 1946, shortly after Japan’s defeat in World War II. At the time, when Japan was in a state of despair due to the defeat, Shojiro Takahashi, then the leader of the Youth League of Warabi Town (later the mayor of Warabi City), hosted a youth festival in order to give hope and encouragement to the young people who would bear Japan's future. The festival was held in a tent on the school grounds of Warabi First Elementary School (currently North Warabi Elementary School), which included the Adulthood Ceremony. This ceremony spread throughout the country and became the present Coming of Age Ceremony.

In Warabi City, it is still called the Adulthood Ceremony. On the Coming of Age Day in 1979, the city erected a monument to mark the birthplace of the Coming of Age Ceremony in Warabi Castle Site Park and commemorated the 20th anniversary of the promotion to a city and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Coming of Age Day.

The first holiday
Inspired by Warabi’s youth festival, the Japanese government promulgated and enacted the National Holidays Law in 1948, to be held every year on January 15. The official holiday aimed "to realise the passage from youth to adulthood, and to celebrate and encourage young people embarking on their adult lives".

In 1949, January 15 was designated as the Coming of Age Day to congratulate and exhort young people to become adults and live independently. Since then, the Coming of Age Ceremony has been held on this day in most regions of Japan. Later, with the 1998 revision of the National Holidays Law, the Coming of Age Day was moved to the second Monday of January in 2000. This amendment is called the Happy Monday System because it makes a long weekend (Saturday – Monday). In addition, according to a survey conducted around 2018, Nagoya City and Morotsuka Village in the Higashiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture also claim to be the birthplace of the Coming of Age Ceremony.

Japan's low birth rate and shrinking percentage of young people, coupled with disruptions to some ceremonies in recent years (such as an incident in Naha in 2002, when drunken Japanese youths tried to disrupt the festivities) and a general increase in the number of 20-year-olds who do not feel themselves to be adults have led to decreased attendance of the ceremonies, which has caused some concern among older Japanese. In 2012, the decline continued for the fifth year in a row, with a total of 1.22 million adults celebrating the holiday in 2012 – under half of the participants seen at its peak in 1976, when 2.76 million adults attended ceremonies. This was the first time it has declined below the 50% threshold. Japan lowered the age of adulthood in 2018 from 20 years of age to 18 which took effect in 2022. This change has caused confusion on the status of the holiday, and raised concerns among the kimono industry which profits from the garments worn during the ceremonies.

Ceremonies
Coming of age ceremonies (成人式) mark one's ending of coming of age (age of maturity), which reflects both the expanded rights but also increased responsibilities expected of new adults. The ceremonies are generally held in the morning at local city offices throughout Japan. All young adults who turned or will turn 18 between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current one and who maintain residency in the area are invited to attend. Government officials give speeches, and small presents are handed out to the newly recognized adults.

During the ceremony, guest speakers give lectures, and commemorative gifts are presented. It is not sponsored by the Japanese government but by each municipality independently. Therefore, although the school-age system, which determines the eligibility for participation, is the same everywhere, some municipalities hold the event on days other than the Coming of Age Day. The age of adulthood was lowered from 20 to 18 on April 1, 2022. However, some municipalities continue to set the age eligible for participating in the ceremony at 20, while others have lowered it to 18.

Many women celebrate this day by wearing furisode, a style of kimono with long sleeves that hang down, and zōri sandals. Since most are unable to put on a kimono by themselves due to the intricacies involved, many choose to visit a beauty salon to dress and to set their hair. A full set of formal clothing is expensive, so it is usually either borrowed from a relative or rented rather than bought especially for the occasion. Men sometimes also wear traditional dress (e.g. dark kimono with hakama), but nowadays many men wear formal Western clothes such as a suit and tie more often than the traditional hakama. After the ceremony, the young adults often celebrate in groups by going to parties or going out drinking.

The ceremony often takes place in the city hall or school's gyms. There are some special cases such as the ceremony having been held at Tokyo Disneyland since 2002.

Date
The ceremony is commonly held on the Coming of Age Day, but there are regional variations. Some municipalities hold it during Golden Week (a week from late April to early May when Japanese holidays follow one after another), Obon (days to honor one's ancestors), or January 1–3. For example, in Niigata prefecture in 2017, no city held it on the Coming of Age Day (January 8); two were on January 7, and all others were during March, April, May, or August. It is because these areas have high snowfall, and many young people are out of town and do not come back until Golden Week or Obon. Many ceremonies were canceled or postponed in 1989 due to the death of the Emperor, and in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic.

Eligibility
Initially, eligible people to participate in the Coming of Age Ceremony were those with birthdays between the day after the Coming of Age Day of the previous year and that of the current year. So for the Ceremony held on January 15, 1999, participants must have been born after January 15, 1980 (19 years ago), until January 14, 1981 (18 years ago). However, recently (especially since the introduction of the Happy Monday System), the school-age system has become more common. In the Japanese school system, a grade consists of students born between April 2 of a year and April 1 of the subsequent year. Today, those who legally become adults between April of the previous year and March of the current year are eligible to participate in the ceremony.

This new practice caused a problem. If the eligibility for the Coming of Age Ceremony is based on the school age, those born after the Coming of Age Day and before April 2 must attend the Ceremony a year later than their peers. Consequently, they can find fewer friends to celebrate with at the Ceremony. Due to the Happy Monday system, there were some people who were still 19 years old at the Coming of Age Ceremony for the year, but they would become 21 years old at the Ceremony of the following year. For example, as shown in the January 2001 calendar, a person born on the second Monday, January 12, 1981 was still 19 years old on the Coming of Age Day (January 8, 2001), but the same person became 21 years old on the Day in 2002. The same problem occurred for those born between January 10–13 in 1992 and January 9–13 in 1998.

Additionally, in Sapporo City, Hokkaido and Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, the calendar year system was used in which those who reached their 20th birthday between January 1 and December 31 of the past year were eligible to participate in the Coming of Age Ceremony. This system has been switched to the school-age system since 2000, however.

Until the 1960s, more than half of the new adults were working youths who had already entered society. However, since the 1970s, the number of students entering universities and vocational schools has increased, while the number of junior high school and high school graduates finding employment has decreased. Consequently, the ratio of students (rather than working youth) to all new adults has been increasing year by year.

The Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications estimated the population of new adults in January 2020 to be 1.22 million. Its percentage in comparison to the total population had been below 1% for 10 consecutive years. The participation of people from other countries, such as technical intern trainees and international students, has also been increasing. In 2020, Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture sent out invitations in Indonesian, Vietnamese, English, and Easy Japanese. The city had 30 foreign-born participants in 2019, about 6% of the total participating adults.

Business
In recent years, fewer Japanese people have worn kimonos. Since many participants wear expensive kimonos for the Ceremony, the kimono industry promote kimonos. However, because kimonos are so expensive, many participants end up renting them or using those handed down from their mothers.

The Ceremony is also a good opportunity for the beauty industry, which dresses, makes up, and hairdos for the attendees. They host makeup workshops for those who begin wearing makeup earnestly and sell cosmetic products. Even photo studios, where attendees take commemorative pictures after being decorously dressed, will focus on advertising. Competition for customers has become zealous in related businesses.

In 2018, Harenohi, a company that sells furisode (long-sleeved kimono) in Yokohama and other cities, abruptly shut down its business on January 8, the Coming of Age Ceremony day. This incident caused an uproar because those who had made reservations to purchase or rent a furisode from the company were unable to wear it, and some had to cancel their participation in the Ceremony.

Problems
According to the public opinion survey conducted by the Yokohama City Board of Education in March 2004, among minors, new adults, and people in their 20s, approximately 20% to 30% viewed the Coming of Age Ceremony as an event like a reunion where friends meet again. Furthermore, 20% of the women in their 20s or younger responded that the Ceremony is an event where new adults meet in formal suits and festive clothes. This result suggests that the event’s purpose and the target group’s expectations are divergent.

In this survey, 82.7% of high school students and minors said that they wanted to participate in the Ceremony, while 17.2% said they did not. Among high school students and minors, the most common reason for not participating was “not interested in the content,” at 36.8%. While more than 50% of high school students, minors, and new adults answered that attractions such as concerts by singers were necessary, half of them also answered that introductions of guests such as mayors and politicians were unnecessary. The Yokohama City’s proposal determines that such components make the Ceremony lengthy and impoverish the content.

Risshi-shiki
Risshi-shiki (立志式) is a ceremony held in school for students who have turned 15 years of age; literally "establishing aspirations ceremony," in which children stand in front of the school and declare their goals for the future.

title: Coming of Age Day


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

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Napa

Napa or NAPA may refer to:

Places

 * Napa, California, the county seat of Napa County, California
 * Napa County, California, United States
 * Napa River, California
 * Napa Valley AVA, an "American Viticultural Area" designated wine region
 * Rancho Napa, an 1838 Mexican land grant

Medicine

 * NAPA (gene), N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein, alpha
 * N-Acetylprocainamide (acecainide), an anti-arrhythmic heart drug

Organizations

 * NAPA Auto Parts, an American retailers' cooperative
 * National Academy of Public Administration (United States), an American national academy
 * National Amateur Press Association, the earliest amateur press association, founded in 1876 and still in existence
 * The Nordic Institute in Greenland (Nunani Avannarlerni Piorsarsimassutsikkut Attaveqaat)
 * North Adriatic Ports Association
 * National APIDA Panhellenic Association, whose common abbreviation is NAPA

Surname

 * Alex Napa (born 1976), Cook Islands footballer and manager
 * Dylan Napa (born 1992), Australian rugby league player
 * Ian Napa (born 1978), European bantamweight boxing champion
 * Malachi Napa (born 1999), English footballer
 * Selina Napa, Cook Islands politician and current Member of the Cook Islands Parliament

First name

 * Napa Kiatwanchai (born 1967), Thai World Boxing Council strawweight champion

Schools

 * Napa High School, Napa, California
 * Napa Valley College, previously named Napa Junior College and Napa Community College, a community college in Napa Valley, California
 * National Academy of Performing Arts, Karachi, Pakistan

Ships

 * USS Napa, various ships of the United States Navy
 * MV Napa, a passenger ferry operating in San Francisco Bay, California, United States

Other

 * Napa cabbage, a type of Chinese cabbage
 * Napa leather, a leather noted for its soft feel
 * Napa platform, an Intel Centrino platform for laptop computers
 * National Adaptation Programme of Action, a type of plan submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by Least Developed Countries
 * North American Phonetic Alphabet
 * Napapiirin Palloketut (NAPA for short), Finnish volleyball club

title: Napa


text: Talk:Council-controlled organisation

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Zori

Zori, also rendered as zōri (草履, ), are thonged Japanese sandals made of rice straw, cloth, lacquered wood, leather, rubber, or—most commonly and informally—synthetic materials. They are a slip-on descendant of the tied-on sandal.

Similar in form, modern flip-flops became popular in the United States, Australia and New Zealand when soldiers returning from World War II brought Japanese zori with them.

Use
Like many Japanese sandals, zori are easily slipped on and off, which is important in Japan, where shoes are removed and put back on when entering and leaving a house, and where tying shoelaces would be impractical when wearing traditional clothing.

The traditional forms of zori are seen when worn with other traditional clothing. Modern forms are fairly common, however, with casual Western wear, especially in summer. While geta are now mostly worn with the informal, traditional zori are often worn with the more formal kimono.

In rain, zori may be worn with toe covers ( zori).

Materials
The zori originated as a slip-on form of the tie-on. In the Edo period (1603-1867), the production of zori became professionalized, and a variety of fancy types of zori emerged, using fancier materials. While zori were still commonly woven of rice straw (, literally "straw zori"), rushes of various kinds and bamboo sheath were also used. If they were made of something less cheap than rice straw, an extra outsole was often sewn on. This could be made of coiled hemp rope, wistaria stems, , or wood in lateral strips ( or ). Leather soles were used on. Modernly, polyurethane and cork are used as outsoles.

Zori also have a variety of upper surfaces. Zori with a woven wicker covering are referred to as  If it is woven of rice straw (as above), they are. If they are woven on the same four-warp pattern, but using a weft of bamboo sheath (peelings of bamboo culms), they are 竹皮 (たけがわ) zori, literally bamboo-skin zori. The topsole may also be woven of common rush. This is the material used for most tatami mats, and are also woven on the same many-warp pattern as tatami.

Raffia, rattan, and paper strips (treated and twisted to resemble rush) are also used in topsoles. Some soles are skiamorphic moldings that look like woven topsoles. Topsoles might also be made of cloth, leather, vinyl cloth, or EVA foam. Soles made entirely of waterproof (usually synthetic) materials are called 雨底 (amezoko) zori, literally rain-soled zori. Elastomer zori are called ゴム草履 (gomu-zōri).

Wrapping straw straps with cloth makes the zori into (cloth zori, ) Modern zori are usually made with the straps as a separate piece, not woven at the same time as the sole.

The are the straps holding the sole to the foot; the part that should fit loosely between the toes is the maetsubo (前壺), and the side-straps are the yoko-o (横緒). , like zori soles, are traditionally symmetrical, with no difference between left and right, though some designs diverge from this.

The of informal zori can be made of a velour-like material, as is often the case for  zori. The of more formal colored vinyl zori are either vinyl or fabric straps. The fabric is often either the fabric used for the shoe, or (a type of Japanese crepe, of silk or rayon), or cotton, often with a different, softer fabric underneath. Men's zori may also feature leather or leather imitation.

Traditionally, are adjusted to the wearer, being tied through three holes by strings attached to the straps. can wear and stretch easily; in such instances, the can be adjusted or replaced through small flaps in the soles, which conceal the knots that hold them in place. In other instances, however, the can be entirely inaccessible, requiring the glued sole to be split open, or entire shoe to be replaced.

Varieties and formalities
Both the gender of the wearer and the formality of the occasion affects the choice of zori. Regardless of variety, zori are almost always worn with socks.

Women's zori are seldom flat, save for zori. The soles come in different thicknesses and angles, and are typically covered by vinyl or fabric, though some modern varieties feature a hard black plastic sole with a non-slip base. In contrast, men's zori almost always feature a flat sole.

Zori with a woven wicker covering are referred to as   zori are generally considered to be relatively formal zori, even if the covering is a vinyl imitation of a woven bamboo-sheath cover. Though most zori with a cover are considered to be menswear - known as  - traditional women's footwear with a  cover also exist, though these are generally confined to the  variety of geta. In contrast, zori are more modern, and are not worn with kimono, but are considered working wear or are sometimes matched with casual Western or Japanese clothing. These zori more closely resemble a flat sandal with a woven base.

Setta were historically mostly, but , they were often ; they were also increasingly likely to have coloured and patterned straps.

Vinyl or plastic zori are next in formality. They are worn with formal clothing such as a semi-formal kimono. The most formal variety of zori are generally worn by women; they are brocade covered zori that are used with the most formal of kimono, such as wedding and funeral wear.

The, or thongs, may be white or black, depending on the occasion; white are worn with formal zori, with black  considered to be informal. They may also complement the colour of the garment. Black, white, and red are traditional and commonly mass-produced, but colourful  with a variety of patterns, sometimes chosen separately from the zori, are also popular.

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Carlo Gesualdo

Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (between 8 March 1566 and 30 March 1566 – 8 September 1613) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, he is better known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century. He is also known for killing his first wife and her aristocratic lover upon finding them in flagrante delicto.

Early life
Gesualdo's family had acquired the principality of Venosa, in what is now the Province of Potenza, Southern Italy, in 1560. He was probably born on March 30, 1566, three years after his older brother, Luigi, though some sources have stated that he was born on March 8. Older sources give the year of birth as c. 1560 or 1561, but this is no longer accepted. A letter from Gesualdo's mother, Geronima Borromeo, indicates that the year is most likely 1566. Gesualdo's uncle was Carlo Borromeo, later Saint Charles Borromeo. His mother was the niece of Pope Pius IV.

Carlo was most likely born at Venosa, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, but little else is known about his early life. "His mother died when he was only seven, and at the request of his uncle Carlo Borromeo, for whom he was named, he was sent to Rome to be set on the path of an ecclesiastical career. There he was placed under the protection of his uncle Alfonso (d. 1603), then dean of the College of Cardinals, later unsuccessful pretender to the papacy, and ultimately Archbishop of Naples." His brother Luigi was to become the next Prince of Venosa, but after his untimely death in 1584, Carlo became the designated successor. Abandoning the prospect of an ecclesiastical career,, he married, in 1586, his first cousin, Donna Maria d'Avalos, the daughter of Carlo d'Avalos, prince of Montesarchio and Sveva Gesualdo. They had one child, a son, Don Emmanuele.

Gesualdo had a musical relationship with Pomponio Nenna, though whether it was student-to-teacher, or colleague-to-colleague, is uncertain. Regardless of this, however, he had a single-minded devotion to music from an early age, and is said to have showed little interest in anything else. In addition to the lute, he played the harpsichord, and guitar. In addition to Nenna, Gesualdo's accademia included the composers Giovanni de Macque, Scipione Dentice, Scipione Stella, Scipione Lacorcia, Ascanio Mayone, and the nobleman lutenist Ettorre de la Marra.

Homicide
Some years into her marriage with Gesualdo, Donna Maria began an affair with Fabrizio Carafa, third Duke of Andria and seventh Count of Ruovo. On the night of October 16, 1590, at the Palazzo San Severo in Naples, the two lovers were caught in flagrante by Gesualdo, who killed them both on the spot.

The day after the killing, a delegation of Neapolitan officials inspected the room in Gesualdo's apartment where the killings had taken place, and interrogated witnesses. The delegation's report did not lack in gruesome details, including the mutilation of the corpses and, according to the witnesses, Gesualdo going into the bedroom a second time "because he wasn't certain yet they were dead".

The Gran Corte della Vicaria found Gesualdo had not committed a crime.

Successor
About a year after the gruesome end of his first marriage, Gesualdo's father died and he thus became the third Prince of Venosa and eighth Count of Conza.

Ferrara years
By 1594, Gesualdo had arranged for another marriage, this time to Leonora d'Este, the niece of Duke Alfonso II. That year, Gesualdo ventured to Ferrara, the home of the d'Este court and also one of the centers of progressive musical activity in Italy, especially the madrigal; Gesualdo was especially interested in meeting Luzzasco Luzzaschi, one of the most forward-looking composers in the genre. Leonora was married to Gesualdo and moved with him back to his estate in 1597. In the meantime, he engaged in more than two years of creative activity in the innovative environment of Ferrara, surrounded by some of the finest musicians in Italy. While in Ferrara, he published his first book of madrigals. He also worked with the concerto delle donne, the three virtuoso female singers who were among the most renowned performers in the country, and for whom many other composers wrote music.

In a letter of June 25, 1594, Gesualdo indicated he was writing music for the three women in the concerto delle donne; however, it is probable that some of the music he wrote, for example that in the newly developing monodic and/or concertato styles, has not survived.

Return to Gesualdo and final years
After returning to his castle at Gesualdo from Ferrara in 1595, he set up a situation similar to the one that existed in Ferrara, with a group of resident virtuoso musicians who would sing his own music. While his estate became a center of music-making, it was for Gesualdo alone. With his considerable financial resources, he was able to hire singers and instrumentalists for his own pleasure. He rarely left his castle, taking delight in nothing but music. His most well-known music was published in Naples in 1603 and from the castle of Gesualdo (with printer Giovanni Giacomo Carlino) in 1611. The most notoriously chromatic and difficult portions of it were all written during his period of self-isolation.

The relationship between Gesualdo and his new wife was not good; she accused him of abuse, and the Este family attempted to obtain a divorce. She spent more and more time away from the isolated estate. Gesualdo wrote many angry letters to Modena where she often went to stay with her brother. According to Cecil Gray and Peter Warlock, "She seems to have been a very virtuous lady ... for there is no record of his having killed her."

In 1600, Gesualdo's son by his second marriage died. It has been postulated that after this Gesualdo had a large painting commissioned for the church of the Capuchins at Gesualdo, showing Gesualdo, his uncle Carlo Borromeo, his second wife Leonora, and his son, underneath a group of angelic figures; however, some sources suspect the painting was commissioned earlier, as the identity of the child is unclear.

Late in life he suffered from depression. According to Campanella, writing in Lyon in 1635, Gesualdo had himself beaten daily by his servants, keeping a special servant whose duty it was to beat him "at stool", and he engaged in a relentless, and fruitless, correspondence with Cardinal Federico Borromeo to obtain relics, i.e., skeletal remains, of recently canonized uncle Carlo Borromeo, with which he hoped to obtain healing for his mental disorder and possibly absolution for his crimes. Gesualdo's late setting of Psalm 51, the Miserere, is distinguished by its insistent and imploring musical repetitions, alternating lines of monophonic chant with pungently chromatic polyphony in a low vocal tessitura.

Gesualdo died in isolation, at his castle Gesualdo in Avellino, three weeks after the death of his son Emanuele, his first son by his marriage to Maria. One 20th-century biographer has raised the possibility that he was murdered by his wife. He was buried in the chapel, in the Church of the Gesù Nuovo, in Naples. The sepulchre was destroyed in the earthquake of 1688. When the church was rebuilt, the tomb was covered over, and now lies beneath it. The burial plaque, however, remains visible.

Compositions and style
The evidence that Gesualdo was tortured by guilt for the remainder of his life is considerable, and he may have given expression to it in his music. One of the most obvious characteristics of his music is the extravagant text setting of words representing extremes of emotion: "love", "pain", "death", "ecstasy", "agony" and other similar words occur frequently in his madrigal texts, most of which he probably wrote himself. While this type of word-painting is common among madrigalists of the late 16th century, it reached an extreme development in Gesualdo's music.

His music is among the most experimental and expressive of the Renaissance, and without question is the most wildly chromatic. Progressions such as those written by Gesualdo did not appear again in Western music until the 19th century, and then in a context of tonality.

Gesualdo's published music falls into three categories: sacred vocal music, secular vocal music, and instrumental music. His most famous compositions are his six books of madrigals, published between 1594 and 1611, as well as his Tenebrae Responsoria, which are very much like madrigals, except that they use texts from the Passion, a form (Tenebrae) used by many other composers. As in the later books of secular madrigals, he uses particularly sharp dissonance and shocking chromatic juxtapositions, especially in the parts highlighting text passages having to do with Christ's suffering, or the guilt of St. Peter in having betrayed him.

The first books of madrigals that Gesualdo published are close in style to the work of other contemporary madrigalists. Experiments with harmonic progression, cross-relation and violent rhythmic contrast increase in the later books, with Books Five and Six containing the most famous and extreme examples (for instance, the madrigals "Moro, lasso, al mio duolo" and "Beltà, poi che t'assenti", both of which are in Book Six, published in 1611). There is evidence that Gesualdo had these works in score form, in order to better display his contrapuntal inventions to other musicians, and also that Gesualdo intended his works to be sung by equal voices, as opposed to the concerted madrigal style popular in the period, which involved doubling and replacing voices with instruments. In addition to the works which he published, he left a large quantity of music in manuscript. This contains some of his richest experiments in chromaticism, as well as compositions in such contemporary avant-garde forms as monody. Some of these were products of the years he spent in Ferrara, and some were specifically written for the virtuoso singers there, the three women of the concerto di donne.

Characteristic of the Gesualdo style is a sectional format in which relatively slow-tempo passages of wild, occasionally shocking chromaticism alternate with quick-tempo diatonic passages. The text is closely wedded to the music, with individual words being given maximum attention. Some of the chromatic passages include all twelve notes of the chromatic scale within a single phrase, although scattered throughout different voices. Gesualdo was particularly fond of chromatic third relations, for instance juxtaposing the chords of A major and F major, or even C-sharp major and A minor, as he does at the beginning of "Moro, lasso, al mio duolo".

Reception
The fascination for Gesualdo's music has been fuelled by the sensational aspects of his biography. In 2011 Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker:"If Gesualdo had not committed such shocking acts, we might not pay such close attention to his music. But if he had not written such shocking music we would not care so much about his deeds. Many bloodier crimes have been forgotten; it’s the nexus of high art and foul play that catches our fancy."

In his own lifetime, the salacious details of Gesualdo's killing of his first wife and her lover were widely publicized, including in verse by poets such as Tasso and an entire flock of Neapolitan poets, eager to capitalize on the sensation. The accounts of his cruelty were expanded with apocryphal stories such as the alleged killing of an illegitimate child of Donna Maria and her lover, which according to one variant of the made-up story was "suspended in a bassinet and swung to the point of death". Until the 1620s his music was imitated by Neapolitan composers of polyphonic madrigals such as Antonio Cifra, Michelangelo Rossi, Giovanni de Macque, Scipione Dentice, Girolamo Frescobaldi and Sigismondo d'India.

After the Renaissance Gesualdo's life story and his music were largely forgotten until the 20th century: in 1926 Gray and Warlock published their book on Gesualdo. The life of Gesualdo provided inspiration for numerous works of fiction and musical drama, including a novel by Anatole France and a short story by Julio Cortázar. Several composers responded to Gesualdo's music: In 1960 Igor Stravinsky wrote Monumentum pro Gesualdo, containing an arrangement of Gesualdo's madrigal "Beltà, poi che t'assenti". In 1995 Alfred Schnittke wrote an opera based on Gesualdo's life. Another Gesualdo opera was written by Franz Hummel in 1996. Salvatore Sciarrino arranged several of Gesualdo's madrigals for an instrumental ensemble.

Music based on Gesualdo's life and music
Operas based on Gesualdo's life and music:
 * Maria di Venosa (1992) by Francesco d'Avalos.
 * Gesualdo (1993) by Alfred Schnittke.
 * Gesualdo (1998) by Franz Hummel.
 * The Prince of Venosa (1998) by Scott Glasgow.
 * Luci mie traditrici (1998) by Salvatore Sciarrino
 * Gesualdo (2003) by Bo Holten.
 * Gesualdo (2010) by Marc-André Dalbavie, lyrics by Richard Millet.

Other music inspired by Gesualdo or his music includes:
 * Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960) by Igor Stravinsky
 * Omaggio a Gesualdo (1971) per violino e sei gruppi strumentali, by Jan van Vlijmen
 * Tenebrae Super Gesualdo (1972) for Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, Cello, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Harpsichord, Marimba, Mezzo-Soprano, Viola, Violin and Celeste by Peter Maxwell Davies
 * Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato wrote and recorded a song "Gesualdo da Venosa" about him, for his 1995 album L'ombrello e la macchina da cucire. The song was remastered in 2008.
 * In 1997, Australian composer Brett Dean paid homage to Gesualdo in Carlo, a work for string orchestra, tape and sampler.
 * Tenebre (1997) for String Orchestra by Scott Glasgow
 * Le voci sottovetro: Elaborazioni da Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1998) for voice and ensemble by Salvatore Sciarrino
 * In 1998 Italian jazz arranger and composer Corrado Guarino, of Bergamo, in collaboration with Livorno saxophonist Tino Tracanna, released the CD Gesualdo. The work featured arrangements from books I, IV and VI of the Madrigals.
 * La terribile e spaventosa storia del Principe di Venosa e della bella Maria (1999) music for l'Opera dei Pupi for voice and ensemble by Salvatore Sciarrino
 * Sulla morte e la follia (2004) for Violin, Violoncello and Piano by Sergio Blardony
 * Tenebrae (2008) by John Pickard
 * Mexican/British composer Hilda Paredes has arranged three madrigals from Book Six for countertenor and string quartet: "Belta, poi che t'assenti", "Arditta zanzaretta" and "Moro lasso", published by University of York Music Press, were premiered in Tokyo at the Ishibiashi Memorial Hall by countertenor Jake Arditti and the Arditti String Quartet in 2012. The quartet have continued to perform them since.
 * Night of Your Ascension (2015), album by experimental music collective Wrekmeister Harmonies.
 * The Prince of Venosa - for string quartet (2016) by Caio Facó
 * The Second Violinist (2017), an opera composed by Donnacha Dennehy, written and directed by Enda Walsh, in which the central character is in love with the music of Carlo Gesualdo, and with a plot that echoes his life. The score is influenced by part of Gesualdo’s motet Tristis anima mea.

Legacy
The Conservatorio di Musica Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ([State] Conservatory of Music Carlo Gesualdo do Venoza), Potenza, in the region of Basilicata, Italy, was founded in 1971 and named for the composer.

In The Doors of Perception (1954), Aldous Huxley writes of Gesualdo's madrigals:

Mozart's C-Minor Piano Concerto was interrupted after the first movement, and a recording of some madrigals by Gesualdo took its place.

'These voices' I said appreciatively, 'these voices – they're a kind of bridge back to the human world.'

And a bridge they remained even while singing the most startlingly chromatic of the mad prince's compositions. Through the uneven phrases of the madrigals, the music pursued its course, never sticking to the same key for two bars together. In Gesualdo, that fantastic character out of a Webster melodrama, psychological disintegration had exaggerated, had pushed to the extreme limit, a tendency inherent in modal as opposed to fully tonal music. The resulting works sounded as though they might have been written by the later Schoenberg.

'And yet,' I felt myself constrained to say, as I listened to these strange products of a Counter-reformation psychosis working upon a late medieval art form, 'and yet it does not matter that he's all in bits. The whole is disorganized. But each individual fragment is in order, is a representative of a Higher Order. The Highest Order prevails even in the disintegration. The totality is present even in the broken pieces. More clearly present, perhaps, than in a completely coherent work. At least you aren't lulled into a sense of false security by some merely human, merely fabricated order. You have to rely on your immediate perception of the ultimate order. So in a certain sense disintegration may have its advantages. But of course it's dangerous, horribly dangerous. Suppose you couldn't get back, out of the chaos...'

David Pownall's play Music to Murder By (1976) juxtaposes the life of Gesualdo with that of twentieth-century composer Peter Warlock. In 1985 the French writer Michel Breitman published the novel Le Témoin de poussière based on the latter part of the life of Gesualdo. In 1995, Werner Herzog directed the film Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices about the life and music of Gesualdo.

In the NME musician Anna Calvi named Gesualdo as one of her ultimate cult heroes: "Gesualdo was an Italian composer who, because of mental illness, murdered his wife and her lover, and wrote music in the 16th century that was so progressive and extreme that no one attempted to recreate his style until the 20th century... It wasn't until centuries later that he was rediscovered, and his work is a huge inspiration to me."

Gesualdo's name is used by The Gesualdo Six, a British vocal consort, directed by Owain Park. The group was founded in Cambridge in 2014 for a performance of the Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday in Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge. The group perform a broad-ranging repertoire, from the music of the medieval period through to contemporary compositions of the present day.

Score editions

 * Carlo Gesualdo: Madrigali a cinque voci (Libro Quinto – Libro Sesto), Edizione critica a cura di Maria Caraci Vela e Antonio Delfino, testi poetici a cura di Nicola Panizza, con uno scritto di Francesco Saggio, prefazione di Giuseppe Mastrominico, La Stamperia del Principe Gesualdo, Gesualdo, 2013. ISBN 978-88-906830-2-2

Recordings
Gesualdo's madrigals and his Tenebrae Responsoria are often recorded.

Madrigals

 * Gesualdo, Madrigaux. Les Arts Florissants: Harmonia Mundi France CD 901268 ''(selection from madrigal books 4–6)
 * Gesualdo, Complete Sacred Music for Five Voices. Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly: Naxos 8.550742
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali Libri I-III. Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam: CPO 777 138–2
 * Carlo Gesualdo de Verona, "The Complete Madrigals" [Libri I-VI]. 7 discs. Marco Longhini & Delitiæ Musicæ. Naxos 8507013.
 * Gesualdo, "Madrigali a 5 voci" Books 1-6 [Complete] 6 discs. Quintetto Vocale Italiano Newton Classics 8802136
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro I. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5221 (only complete edition of Gesualdo's madrigals currently available)
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro II. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5222
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro III. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5223
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro IV. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5224
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro V. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5225
 * Gesualdo, Madrigali, Libro VI. The Kassiopeia Quintet: GLO5226
 * Gesualdo, Quarto Libro di Madrigali. La Venexiana: Glossa GCD920934
 * Gesualdo, Quinto Libro di Madrigali. La Venexiana: Glossa GCD920935
 * Gesualdo, Quinto Libro di Madrigali. The Hilliard Ensemble: ECM New Series. ECM 2175 476 4755
 * Gesualdo, Quinto Libro di Madrigali. The Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley. L'Oiseau-Lyre 475 9110 DM
 * Gesualdo, Sesto Libro di Madrigali. IL Complesso Barocco: Symphonia SY94133 (deleted), now Pan Classics PC10229
 * Gesualdo, Sesto Libro di Madrigali. La Compagnia del Madrigale: Glossa GCD922801

Other

 * Il cembalo intorno a Gesualdo, Paola Erdas (harpsichord)
 * Gesualdo, Sacrae Cantiones Liber Secundus. Vocalconsort Berlin, James Wood: HMC 902123

title: Carlo Gesualdo


text:
Cold open

A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In North American television, this is often done on the theory that involving the audience in the plot as soon as possible will reduce the likelihood of their switching from a show during the opening commercial. A cold open may also be used to recap events in previous episodes or storylines that will be revisited during the current episode.

The cold open technique is sometimes used in films. There, "cold opening" still refers to the opening moments or scenes, but not necessarily to the full duration before the title card, as the title card might appear well after the start.

Development
In the early 1960s, few American series used cold opens, and half-hour situation comedies almost never made use of them prior to 1965. Many American series that ran from the early 1960s through the middle years of the decade (even sitcoms) adopted cold opens in later seasons. However, beginning in the late '50s, several dramatic series, notably such Warner Bros. shows as 77 Sunset Strip, would cold-open with an attention-grabbing scene from the middle of the episode, which would repeat when the story arrived at that point.

Cold opens became widespread on American television by the mid-1960s. Their use was an economical way of setting up a plot without having to introduce the regular characters, or even the series synopsis, which would typically be outlined in the title sequence itself.

British producer Lew Grade's many attempts to break into the American market meant that various shows he was involved with incorporated the cold open. Later, many British action-adventure series employed the format, such as The New Avengers (1976–1977) and The Professionals (1977–1981).

During the 1960s and 1970s, daytime soap operas became the main users of cold opens, with most American soaps employing the format.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, some shows began with highlights from the previous episode. Also throughout the 1970s and 1980s, many traditional multi-camera sitcoms usually launched straight into the opening theme song, although this has changed in modern use. Today, between the 2000s and 2010s, most multi-camera and single-camera American sitcoms usually use cold opens for each episode, that last for at least 1–2 minutes (and 3–4 minutes at the most) before transitioning into the opening title sequence or theme song of the show.

Documentaries do not use cold openings as frequently as fictional shows. The World at War (1973–1974) is one famous exception, wherein a few short minutes an especially poignant moment is featured; after the title sequence, the events that explain the episode are outlined more fully.

News
Most American news shows, including on channels providing 24-hour news coverage, use cold opens to introduce a summary of the stories covered in that edition.

Dramas
Cold opens are common in science fiction dramas and crime dramas. In the U.S., TV shows will occasionally forgo a standard cold open at the midway point of a two-part episode, or during a "special" episode. Vince Gilligan has been declared "Undisputed Master of the Cold Open" in multiple reviews, detailing particular episodes of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. The Australian drama series, McLeod's Daughters used a cold open at the beginning of episodes for the majority of its run, before being phased out for its eighth and final season.

Soap operas
While several soaps experimented with regular opens in the early 2000s, all U.S. daytime dramas are currently using cold opens. Typically, a soap opera cold open begins where the last scene of the previous episode ended, sometimes replaying the entire last scene. After several scenes – usually, to set up which storylines will be featured in the episode – the opening credits are shown. By contrast, most British soap operas typically begin with regular opens. In Australia, soap opera Home and Away briefly used a cold open for a few episodes in 2006.

Comedy
One of the most well-known users of the technique, Saturday Night Live has regularly used a cold-open sketch since its start in 1975. Many modern American sitcoms use or used cold opens, such as The Office, Home Improvement, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Modern Family, Cheers, and Parks and Recreation. Another well-known use of a cold open in comedy is in the NBC show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which starred SNL alum Andy Samberg. Many other comedy formats also use cold opens, including late-night talk shows and satirical 'news' shows. British show You’ve Been Framed! most notably used this in the Jeremy Beadle, Lisa Riley and Harry Hill eras.

Children's programming
Several American children's shows use cold opens, such as Animaniacs, The Upside Down Show, Pokémon, and Wallykazam! for example, uses the technique to set up the main conflict or plot of the episode.

Sports
The UFC plays a cold open before a PPV main card, to build up anticipation for the fights that will follow.

Film
In film production, the section of the film before the opening credits is called the pre-credits, and they are sometimes crafted as a cold open. A classic example is the series of James Bond movies, which traditionally start with a cold open showing a dramatic conflict or chase scene after the usual gun barrel sequence and before the title sequence.

In some films, the title card does not appear until the end. In such cases, one cannot refer to the entire film as the "opening", and the term "cold open" in these instances refers to the opening moments or scenes.

Likewise, in films with excessively long pre-credits sequences, the "cold open" does not necessarily refer to the entire pre-credits sequence.

Podcasts
Cold opens are occasionally used in the beginning of Podcasts and the reason for its utilization may change depending on the genre or theme of each respective Podcast and its frequency can vary. Some podcasts such as TrueAnon use a cold open at the start of every episode which may include either a skit or off-topic conversation between its two main hosts and producer before going into the intro of the podcast. Since early 2022, the weekly Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone regularly employs cold opens, which often include the cast self-reflexively discussing the use and effectiveness of cold opens and "grabbers."

Radio
Cold opens were also an occasional device in radio. Jack Benny's weekly program would usually begin with Don Wilson reading standard copy announcing the name of the program and introducing the stars. Sometimes, however, particularly for a show at the start of a new season, the actors would launch into the material without any announcement and perform a sketch written to give the audience the impression they were eavesdropping on the stars' off-microphone lives. That would be followed by the more standard Don Wilson introductions and the show would proceed as usual after that.

Video games
Many video games have included cold opens. These either begin with a lengthy opening sequence or include an entire level before the titles. It is common in Japanese RPGs, with the original Final Fantasy an early example.

Nomenclature
Cold opens sometimes employ a segment known as a "teaser" or "tease". A memorandum was written by Gene Roddenberry on May 2, 1966, as a supplement to the Writer-Director Information Guide for the original Star Trek series, describing the format of a typical episode. This quotation refers to a cold open, commonly known as a teaser: "a. Teaser, preferably three pages or less. Captain Kirk's voice-over opens the show, briefly setting where we are and what's going on. This is usually followed by a short playing scene which ends with the Teaser "hook"."

The "hook" of the teaser was some unexplained plot element that was alluded to in the teaser, or cold open, which was intended to keep audiences interested enough in the show to dissuade them from changing stations while the titles and opening commercial roll.

In television series, a similar technique called a cliffhanger is often employed before commercial breaks, to keep the audience from switching channels during the break.

A closing scene at the end of a show, after end credits, is known as the "tag".

title: Cold open


text:
Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Edgar Miles Bronfman Jr. (born May 16, 1955) is an American businessman, filmmaker, theater producer, and media executive who is a managing partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm focused on creating and investing in technology companies. He previously was CEO of Warner Music Group from 2004 to 2011 and as Chairman of Warner Music Group from 2011 to 2012. In May 2011, the sale of WMG was announced; Bronfman would continue as CEO in the transaction. In August 2011, he became Chairman of the company as Stephen Cooper became CEO. Bronfman previously was CEO of Seagram and vice-chairman of Vivendi Universal. Bronfman Jr. expanded and later divested ownership of the Seagram Company, and also worked as a Broadway and film producer, and songwriter under the pseudonyms Junior Miles and Sam Roman. He is chairman of FuboTV.

Early life
Born in 1955, Edgar Jr. ("Efer" to friends) is the son of Edgar Miles Bronfman and the grandson of Samuel Bronfman, patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish families in Canada. The Bronfman family gained its fortunes through the Seagram Company, an alcohol distilling company. Edgar Jr. is the second of five children of Ann (Loeb) and Edgar Miles Bronfman. His mother was the daughter of John Langeloth Loeb Sr. (a Wall Street investment banker whose company was a predecessor of Shearson Lehman/American Express) and Frances Lehman (a scion of the Lehman Brothers banking firm). They divorced in 1973.

Film production
Bronfman proceeded to a brief career in entertainment in the 1970s as a film and Broadway producer. The summer before his final year of high school, in 1972, he was a credited producer on the film, The Blockhouse. He briefly had a production company, with Steve Sheppard, called Sagittarius. His Efer Productions company was signed by Universal Studios in 1977 to a three-year movie production contract. He produced the unsuccessful film The Border (1982), which starred Jack Nicholson.

Seagram Company
In 1982, Bronfman returned to the Seagram Company, before moving to London to become managing director of Seagram Europe. In 1984, Bronfman returned to New York as President of the House of Seagram, the company's U.S. marketing division. By 1994, he became the Chief Executive Officer, where he began a move away from the traditional liquor business and into entertainment. According to Cigar Aficionado, Edgar Jr. led the family on a series of disastrous business deals, ultimately losing the family's ownership of Seagram.

The first step in this diversification was the widely criticised sale of Seagram's stake in DuPont. In 1981, Edgar Bronfman Sr. had sold Seagram's stake in Conoco to DuPont, in exchange for almost 25% of the chemical giant. This stake in DuPont, by 1995, represented about 70% of Seagram's total earnings. Nevertheless, Bronfman Jr., acting as Seagram CEO, approached DuPont about buying back its shares, a deal that DuPont wasted no time in closing.

With the proceeds of the $9 billion sale, Bronfman Jr. went on an expansion into the entertainment business, in music through the acquisition of PolyGram, and in film entertainment through MCA and Universal Pictures. However, the new entertainment conglomerate he created had a brief life, before needing a strategic partner. Bronfman Jr., then led Seagram into a controversial all-stock acquisition by French conglomerate Vivendi in 2000. Bronfman Jr., became chief of the new company, Vivendi Universal, but the Seagram company effectively lost control of its entertainment businesses. Meanwhile, the beverage division—the core of Seagram was acquired by Pernod Ricard and Diageo and divided between the two firms. Seagram, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist.

In December 2001, Bronfman announced he was stepping down from an executive capacity at Vivendi Universal, but remaining as vice chair of the board.

In 2002, Bronfman joined private investment firm Accretive LLC as General Partner. The firm focuses on conducting deep market research and hand-selecting firms to back. Among its past projects are Accretive Health and Fandango (ticket service). Companies it currently backs include human resources firm AlphaStaff and small-business insurance company Insureon.

Warner Music Group
On February 27, 2004, Bronfman finalized the acquisition of Warner Music Group and was chairman and CEO of the music company for the following 7 years. Bronfman helped to transform WMG by rapidly growing the company's digital music sales, redefining the relationships it has with artists, and diversifying its revenue streams through its expansion into growing areas of the music business. WMG held an initial public offering of stock in 2005 (NYSE: WMG), and is now the only standalone major music company to be publicly traded. While the stock has fallen from a high in 2005 of over $30 per share, the company has nonetheless produced double-digit growth in its digital business, increased its market share, and delivered stable revenue performance despite a drastic music industry decline during the same period. In 2008, The New York Times reported that WMG's Atlantic Records became the first major record label to generate more than half of its music sales in the U.S. from digital products.

In May, 2011, WMG and Bronfman announced the company's sale to Access Industries for US$3.3 billion cash. Access is controlled by Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik, a former board member and still-substantial shareholder of WMG at the time of the purchase announcement. The sale, coming after a three-month bidding process, "serves the best interests of stockholders as well as the best interests of music fans, our recording artists and songwriters, and the wonderful people of this company," according to a statement released by Bronfman. CEO Bronfman would continue in his post in the transaction, though further job cuts were also foreseen. The investment group which has owned the company since 2004 was said to have received a positive return on its investment.

In August 2011, Bronfman became Chairman of Warner Music and Stephen Cooper became CEO. He stepped down as chairman on January 31, 2012. In February 2017, it was reported that Meredith Corp. and a group of investors led by Bronfman Jr. were considering pursuing Time Inc.

He is currently the chairman of Endeavor, an international non-profit development organisation that supports entrepreneurs.

Waverley Capital
In 2017, it was announced that Bronfman would be launching a new venture capital firm called Waverley Capital, alongside Luminari Capital founder Daniel Leff. This firm would invest in "innovative and disruptive" companies within both technology and entertainment, with offices in New York and Palo Alto, California, with a Los Angeles office expected to open in the future.

Music career
In 1973, Bronfman began a songwriting career under the pseudonyms Junior Miles and Sam Roman. He often collaborated with Bruce Roberts on songs like "Whisper in the Dark", which he gave to Dionne Warwick to record in thanks for introducing him to his first wife, Sherry. Bronfman also co-wrote "To Love You More", which was recorded by Celine Dion, and Barbra Streisand's "If I Didn't Love You".

Personal life
Edgar M. Bronfman, Jr., is the son of Edgar Bronfman, Sr., the billionaire businessman and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress who died aged 84 in 2013. He is the half-brother of Clare Bronfman, who as a 39-year-old was charged in 2018 in a NXIVM sex-trafficking case.

In 1979, Bronfman married his first wife, the actress Sherry Brewer, in New Orleans. Bronfman's father did not approve of the marriage because of Brewer's race being Black. "I very much wanted for him to end the relationship, because I told him, all marriages are difficult enough without the added stress of totally different backgrounds", Bronfman Sr. wrote in his memoirs. "Sherry offered to convert [to Judaism], which though well intentioned, was not the point."

Bronfman and Brewer eloped and he and his father remained estranged. The couple had three children before they divorced in 1991:
 * 1) Benjamin (born 1982) – Bronfman's eldest son with Sherry is also known as "Ben Brewer", a rock musician. Brewer was the guitar player and vocalist for the New York-based alternative rock band The Exit. He also was engaged to Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, a British recording artist, songwriter, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent, better known under the stage name of M.I.A. Her compositions combine elements of electronica, dance, alternative, hip hop and world music. They have a son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, born on 11 February 2009.
 * 2) Vanessa, and
 * 3) Hannah (born 1987) – Actress and DJ. Hannah is probably best known for Beautified, an app for setting last-minute beauty appointments.

In 1993 Bronfman married Clarisa Alcock San Román, a Catholic, the daughter of Frank Alcock Pérez-Matos, a Venezuelan oil executive of half British descent, and Dinorah San Román Strup. They have four children: Aaron, Bettina, Erik, and Clarissa.

Insider trading conviction
On January 21, 2011, Bronfman was found guilty in French court of insider trading as Vivendi chief and received a 15-month suspended sentence and a €5m fine.

Considering the jail sentences handed out to other executives for similar convictions, BNN reporter Michael Kane told CTV News "The fact that the judge suspended the jail time could be looked at as getting off lightly, perhaps."

He appealed the decision in 2011.

Stance on music copyright infringement
At the height of file sharing service Napster's popularity, Bronfman was a leading opponent of the illegal use of peer-to-peer technology. As CEO of Universal, he helped lead the music industry's opposition to Napster, likening it to slavery and Soviet communism.

In 2006, WMG was the first major media company to create a business model around user-generated content and, more recently, has been pushing for ways to monetise the popularity of P2P networks on college campuses.

In late 2006 in an interview with Reuters, Bronfman caused a stir by admitting that his children have copyright infringing music. He claims to have delivered punishment for this but wants it to remain within the realm of the family.

Lately, Bronfman may have revised his judgement. During the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress, he told the audience that mobile operators should not make the same mistakes that the music industry has:

"We used to fool ourselves ... We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won."

In 2010 Bronfman changed his philosophy on the music industry's online business models, stating that he does not support free advertising supported models. He said that WMG will focus on promoting services that require payment, that will appeal to the population that already pays for downloads in stores such as iTunes.

"The 'get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price' strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future."

title: Edgar Bronfman Jr.


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Title sequence

A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an opening theme song with visuals, akin to a brief music video). It typically includes (or begins) the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program. It may consist of live action, animation, music, still images, and/or graphics. In some films, the title sequence is preceded by a cold open.

History

Since the invention of the cinematograph, simple title cards were used to begin and end silent film presentations in order to identify both the film and the production company involved, and to act as a signal to viewers that the film had started and then finished. In silent cinema, title cards or intertitles were used throughout to convey dialogue and plot, and it is in some of these early short films that we see the first examples of title sequences themselves, being quite literally a series of title cards shown at the beginning of a film. With the arrival of sound, the sequence was usually accompanied by a musical prelude or overture.

Slowly, title sequences evolved to become more elaborate pieces of film. The advent of television was a pivotal moment for title design because it forced the major film studios to invest in making cinema more attractive in order to win back a diminishing audience. The "cast of thousands" epics shot on various patent widescreen formats were a direct response to television's successful invasion of the leisure marketplace. Part of cinema's new prestigious and expansive quality were orchestral overtures before the curtains opened and long title sequences — all designed to convey a sense of gravitas it was hoped television would be unable to compete with. As cinema's title sequences grew longer and more elaborate, the involvement of prominent graphic designers including Saul Bass and Maurice Binder became more common. The title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography. This innovation, in turn, influenced the 1960s television predilection for title design, resulting in the creation of strong graphics-led sequences for many television shows. Since then, the mediums of film and television have engaged in a kind of push and pull behavior, inspiring and spurring each other in different directions.

There have been several such pivotal moments in title design history. The introduction of digital technologies in the late 1980s and early 1990s to film and television changed both industries, and accordingly the 1990s saw a resurgence in title design. Ironically, a key sequence in this resurgence was the main title to David Fincher's Se7en, designed by Kyle Cooper while at R/GA, which was created using primarily analogue means. The title opticals for Se7en were created by Cinema Research Corporation, the leading title company in the 1990s. Soon thereafter, television followed suit and networks like HBO began to develop more cinematic experiences for television, including more elaborate and considered title sequences. For example, when The Sopranos first aired in 1999, it was only the second hour-long television drama that HBO had ever produced. Its title sequence "helped lend the show a credibility and gravitas normally reserved for cinema, giving it a stronger foothold in the mind and memory of the audience."

As of the beginning of the 21st century, title sequences can be found bookending a variety of media besides film and television including video games, conferences, and even music videos.

Films
Some films have employed unusual and fairly elaborate title sequences since the late 1910s; in America this practice became more common in the 1930s. In the 1936 film Show Boat, cut-out figures on a revolving turntable carried overhead banners which displayed the opening credits. This opening sequence was designed by John Harkrider, who created the costumes for the original 1927 Broadway production of the musical.

In several films, the opening credits have appeared against a background of (sometimes moving) clouds. These include The Wizard of Oz (1939), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), the David Lean Oliver Twist (1948), and the 1961 King of Kings.

In 1947, the Technicolor film Sinbad the Sailor, the letters of the opening credits seem to form from colored water gushing into a fountain.

Film titles and credits usually appear in written form, but occasionally they are spoken instead. The first example of this in American cinema was The Terror (1928). There are also a few cases in which titles and credits are sung, including the musicals Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) and Meet Me After the Show (1951).

Since the late 1950s, film title sequences have been a showcase for contemporary design and illustration. The title sequences of Saul Bass and Maurice Binder are among the best examples of this. They also inspired many imitators both in cinema and on television.

In the 1959 film Ben-Hur, the opening credits were set against the background of the "Creation of Man" in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. As the credits progressed, the camera slowly zoomed in on the Hand of God outstretched toward Adam.

In 1976, Saul Bass designed a title sequence for That's Entertainment, Part II in which he paid homage to a range of title sequences from earlier Hollywood films and replicated several novelty title sequences from the 1930s including Maytime (1937).

Kyle Cooper's title sequence for David Fincher's Seven (1995) influenced a whole host of designers in the late 1990s. Its aesthetic has "been co-opted almost wholesale by the horror genre as a house style".

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996) actually has no opening title sequence. The only credits seen at the beginning are the name of the production company, Shakespeare's name, and the title of the film. However, the title is shown by means of the camera slowly panning across the base of the statue of the dead king Hamlet, whose ghost will appear in three scenes of the film, and who will play a crucial role in the story.

Television
Title sequences for television series have routinely played a central role in establishing the show's identity. Repeated at the beginning of every new and rebroadcast episode, usually with limited changes over the course of the series' run, they can become highly memorable. Theme music played during the sequence may be remembered clearly by viewers decades later.

Title sequences can take a variety of forms, incorporating different elements. A song may summarize the backstory or premise of the series, such as for The Brady Bunch, The Beverly Hillbillies, or Mister Ed. Less commonly, a voice-over may serve the same function, as for Star Trek, Quantum Leap, or The Twilight Zone. Often a song will more generally set the theme of the series, such as for WKRP in Cincinnati, Cheers, or All in the Family. An instrumental piece may be used the same way, as for Taxi, The Bob Newhart Show, or Dallas. A title sequence will at some point badge the show with a typographic logo. Visuals may be used to quickly present the backstory, as in I Dream of Jeannie or Gilligan's Island. Because it is produced at the outset of a series, the sequence will usually include visuals taken from early episodes already shot when it was prepared. Short clips of key characters may be used to introduce them and to credit the actors playing them, as with The Love Boat. In and around these elements may be other footage depicting the setting, or examples of scenes common to the show (e.g. car chases for a police drama, household activities for a sitcom, singing and dancing for a variety show).

Although a title sequence may be modified during a series to update cast changes or incorporate new "highlight" shots from later episodes, it will tend to remain largely the same for an entire season. Some shows have had several quite different title sequences and theme music throughout their runs, while in contrast some ever-popular shows have retained their original title sequences for decades with only minor alterations. Conversely, retaining a series' original title sequence can allow a producer to change many key elements within a programme itself, without losing the show's on-screen identity. Other variations include changing only the theme music whilst keeping the visuals or vice versa.

Some series make minor changes to the title sequence of each episode, such as superimposing a different episode title on each one. Others make minor alterations to the content of the sequence itself, to keep them from being completely repetitive each episode and to reward attentive viewers. For example, The Rockford Files would feature a different message left on the title character's answering machine, and The Simpsons features several unique elements in the title sequence of each episode (e.g. the couch gag).

In anime series, opening and ending title sequences have evolved into a distinct art form in their own right: due to the running length of a half-hour block of programming on Japanese television providing more time for the actual episode as opposed to commercials, an episode is able to budget one-and-one-half minutes each for an OP (opening sequence) and ED (ending sequence). These will invariably feature pieces of vocal music, sometimes sung by members of the voice cast for the program, and will have unique animation that thematically serves to open and close the episode; often, guest animators will be brought in to direct and provide key animation for these sequences. The OP credits will usually include director, producer, animation director, studio, music, and OP animation credits: detailed staff and voice cast is almost always reserved for the ED. In anime produced primarily for an audience of young children, karaoke lyrics to the song will sometimes be provided at the bottom of the opening and ending sequences. For further information on anime openings, see Music in Japanese animation.

Television specials, especially of classic works, sometimes contain unusual opening credit sequences. In the title sequence of Mikhail Baryshnikov's 1977 version of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, for example, we see closeups, freeze-frame and slow-motion shots of Baryshnikov and female lead Gelsey Kirkland "warming up" for the ballet. When the actual title appears on the screen we see Baryshnikov in his nutcracker costume and mask leaping into the air in slow motion and freeze frame. The "Overture Miniature" is heard during the opening credits.

In contemporary television news a title sequence can be changed every day, by including footage of that day's news with a presenter's voice "teasing" the items. This ensures that the title sequence appears fresh but still identifies the news program by its music and visual style.

In 2010, TV Guide published a list of American TV's top 10 credits sequences, as selected by readers. The series, in order of first to tenth, were: The Simpsons, Get Smart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the original Hawaii Five-O, True Blood, The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, The Brady Bunch, Mad Men, and The Sopranos.

Video games
The animated introduction, attract mode, title screen, and title sequence have been a major part of video games for decades. However, it is only recently that game title sequences have been able to match the quality and fidelity of film and television titles.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Eidos Montréal and The Last of Us by Naughty Dog are two examples of Triple-A games that have employed film-style opening title sequences. Professor Layton and the Lost Future had the title following some gameplay setting up the story.

title: Title sequence


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Closing credits

Closing credits, end credits and end titles are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television show, and video game. While opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, and at the very end of a work. A full set of credits can include the cast and crew, but also production sponsors, distribution companies, works of music licensed or written for the work, various legal disclaimers, such as copyright and more.

Typically, the closing credits appear in white lettering on a solid black background, often with a musical background. Credits are either a series of static frames, or a single list that scrolls from the bottom of the screen to the top. Occasionally closing credits will divert from this standard form to scroll in another direction, include illustrations, extra scenes, bloopers, joke credits and post-credits scenes.

The use of closing credits in film to list complete production crew and the cast was not firmly established in American film until the late 1960s and early 1970s. Films generally had opening credits only, which consisted of just major cast and crew, although sometimes the names of the cast and the characters they played would be shown at the end. Two of the first major films to contain extensive closing credits – but almost no opening credits – were the blockbusters Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and West Side Story (1961). West Side Story showed only the title at the beginning of the film, and Around the World in 80 Days had no opening credits at all.

title: Closing credits