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Number Nine Visual Technology

Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation was a manufacturer of video graphics chips and cards from 1982 to 1999. Number Nine developed the first 128-bit graphics processor (the Imagine 128), as well as the first 256-color (8-bit) and 16.8 million color (24-bit) cards.

The name of the company, as well as many of its products (e.g., Revolution, Imagine, Pepper, Ticket to Ride) refer to Beatles songs. At system boot up, Number Nine cards' video BIOS splash screens display short phrases from Beatles songs related to the cards' model names. Card model names were usually preceded by a "#9" moniker.

History
Number Nine was founded in 1982 by Andrew Najda and Stan Bialek as Number Nine Computer Corporation. The company was renamed Number Nine Visual Technology Corporation in the early 1990s. For most of its existence, Number Nine was based in Lexington, Massachusetts. Number Nine initially made an Apple II accelerator board, then later moved into the design and manufacture of high-end PC graphics cards in 1983. Number Nine was one of the premier, higher-end graphics card companies into the early 1990s. In the mid to late 1990s, Number Nine began to lose market share to competitors in both the price and performance arenas. Number Nine was slow to respond to the boom in 3D graphics, continuing to emphasize high quality, fast 2D graphics. On December 20, 1999, Number Nine announced a "letter-of-intent" for S3 Inc. (later S3 Graphics Co.) to buy substantially all assets and intellectual property of Number Nine. By mid 2000, S3 had completed the acquisition of Number Nine's assets and Number Nine had ceased operations. In 2002 two former Number Nine engineers, James Macleod and Francis Bruno, formed Silicon Spectrum, Inc., and licensed Number Nine's graphics technology from S3 to implement in FPGA devices.

For five years after Number Nine closed its doors, a former employee kept Number Nine's website up and running, with driver downloads and a forum available for self-help. A volunteer and #9 enthusiast provided regular, impromptu technical support on the forum for the last two and a half years the site was active. Several former employees checked in to help occasionally. The website finally went off the air for good in March 2005 and the domain name was taken over by an online gambling company.

In 2013, Francis Bruno from Silicon Spectrum tried to fund an open-source GPU based on a #9 Ticket To Ride IV derived design. Started on the crowdfunding platform kickstarter.com, the campaign was unsuccessful as only $13,000 of the requested $200,000 was gathered. Despite this, source code was released under a GPL3 license in August 2014.

Products
The first Number Nine graphics cards were ISA bus, pre-VGA standard cards that had no graphics accelerator chips. In the latter 1980s to early 1990s, Number Nine made ISA and MCA bus graphics cards based on Texas Instruments' TIGA coprocessors.

Beginning in the 1990s, Number Nine made AGP and PCI graphics cards with their own proprietary graphics accelerators (the Imagine line GPUs). Contemporaneously, Number Nine made AGP, PCI, VLB and ISA graphics cards using S3 Graphics' accelerator chips. Their very last AGP card used an Nvidia GPU.

Early pre-VGA video cards
Early cards (no co-processor, pre-1986, pre-VGA standard):

The Revolution series were large, full-length cards that ranged in price from $1995 to $2995 at introduction.

TIGA cards
Number Nine graphics cards using Texas Instruments' TIGA co-processors were made from about 1986 to 1992. The Texas Instruments TMS-340x0 co-processors were coupled with custom Number Nine-designed application specific chips, which could only handle very primitive graphics functions such as clipping. Nevertheless, this was a major accomplishment. With the exception of the GXi Lite, all of the TIGA graphics cards were large, full length cards.

Cards using a TIGA co-processor were (in approximate order of introduction):

The TIGA-based cards were very expensive in their day, ranging in price from $995 to $2495 at introduction.

Number Nine Video Cards using Number Nine GPUs

The Imagine series GPUs (also called graphics accelerators) were Number Nine's own in-house designs. The Imagine series went through four generations: The Imagine 128 GPU introduced a full 128-bit graphics processor—GPU, internal processor bus, and memory bus were all 128 bits. However, there was no, or very little, hardware support for 3D graphics operations.
 * 1) Imagine 128 (Imagine. Internal codename: "Blackbird").
 * 2) Imagine 128-II (Imagine2. Internal codename: "Silver Hammer").
 * 3) T2R (marked "Ticket to Ride"; sometimes marked "Imagine-3")
 * 4) T2R4 (marked "Ticket to Ride IV").

The Imagine 128-II added Gouraud shading, 32-bit Z-buffering, double display buffering, and a 256-bit video rendering engine.

The Ticket to Ride (Imagine-3) supported WRAM and both the AGP and PCI buses, had a 3D floating point setup engine, bilinear filtering and perspective correction, Gouraud shading, alpha blending, interpolated fogging, specular lighting, double and triple display buffering, 16-, 24- and 32-bit Z-buffering, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, and hardware MIP mapping.

The Ticket to Ride IV included an integrated 250 MHz RAMDAC, support for up to 32 MiB SDRAM, full scene anti-aliasing, per pixel fog, specular, and alpha effects, 10-level detail per pixel MIP mapping, bilinear and trilinear filtering, 8 bits per texel, 8 KB on-chip texture cache, hardware MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, and a full IEEE 754 floating point pipeline 3D rendering setup engine.

Number Nine graphics accelerators were used on the following Number Nine model video cards: These 1990s video cards were Number Nine's flagship cards of their day (the Imagine 128 and 128 Series 2 were very expensive). None required a heatsink on the GPU. The original Imagine 128 was introduced in 1994. The Revolution IV was introduced in 1998.

In addition to a standard analog VGA connector, the Revolution IV-FP (also called the Revolution IV-1600SW) had an OpenLDI digital interface connector for the Silicon Graphics, Inc (SGI) 1600SW digital flat panel monitor. The Revolution IV-FP was one of only a few standard video adapters with the OpenLDI interface for SGI's 1600SW digital flat panel monitor (some others were 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1-1600SW, I-O DATA GA-NF30/PCI, and Siemens Nixdorf S26361-D964 cards in some Siemens Nixdorf computer). SGI's 1600SW video adapters were proprietary (on board) to their O2, 320, and 540 graphics workstations. Formac made a limited number of PCI cards with OpenLDI for Apple Macs.

The OpenLDI interface is neither physically nor electrically compatible with the modern DVI-D interface. This was the early days of digital video connections and there were several competing, incompatible standards. OpenLDI for stand-alone displays disappeared, but several aftermarket manufacturers made adapters to convert OpenLDI to DVI-D so more modern video cards would work with the 1600SW monitor.

The 1600SW monitor was far ahead of its time and was eagerly sought long after it was out of production. For this reason, for a time, Revolution IV-FP and Oxygen VX1-1600SW video cards commanded a premium price in the used market, long after they were out of production.

Number Nine Video Cards using S3 Graphics processors
Number Nine had a close business relationship with S3 Graphics throughout the 1990s. While the Imagine series GPUs and cards were Number Nine's flagship products, contemporaneously, Number Nine produced a series of less expensive video graphics cards using S3's GPUs. The S3-based cards were usually introduced in groups of three, at three price points below the Imagine cards. They carried the same model name, but different model numbers and GPUs. Except for the SR9, Number Nine's last, best S3 card, none of these video cards had heatsinks on the graphics processing chip (GPU).

The S3-based video cards were, in approximate order of introduction:

Number Nine Video Cards with heatsinks

Number Nine's last two graphics cards were the only ones to require heatsinks on the GPU. Both outperformed the Revolution IV.

 * The SR9 was Number Nine's last retail card. It used an S3 Savage4 GPU with a small heatsink on the GPU (the SDRAM one with VGA connector is Savage4 LT, the SGRAM one with DVI connector is Savage4 Xtreme).
 * An OEM-only AGP card using an Nvidia TNT2-M64 GPU and [16 MB? or] 32 MB SDRAM. The heatsink is larger than the one on the SR9. This Nvidia-based card has been variously called (probably unofficially) the "M64" or "Pepper M32," but it was never a retail, end-user product.

PixelFusion joint venture
On April 20, 1999, Bankboston Business Credit announced it had provided $15 Million for Number Nine Visual Technology.

On August 9, 1999, PixelFusion Ltd. and Number Nine Visual Technology Corp. announced they had entered into a relationship whereby Number Nine would use PixelFusion's FUZION 150 chip to design a very high-end 3D graphics accelerator card for AGP Pro-equipped PCs. The card would use 128M to 1024M Rambus RDRAM, while the FUZION 150 chip would contain 24 megabits of embedded DRAM. The product was to be delivered in the first half of 2000. However, no retail products were made following the announcement.

title: Number Nine Visual Technology


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Susanne Hou

Yi-Jia Susanne Hou (, b. December 9, 1977, Shanghai, China ) is a Canadian violinist.

Born in Shanghai and raised in Mississauga, Hou grew up in a musical family. At the age of nine, she studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She went on to attend The Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Naoko Tanaka, and Cho-Liang Lin. At Juilliard, she completed BM and MM music degrees and received the Artist Diploma.

By age 17, the young violinist performed Paganini's Twenty-four Caprices for Solo Violin in Toronto and Aspen. She has also performed all ten of Beethoven's Piano and Violin Sonatas in New York as well as the complete collection of Brahms's Violin and Piano Sonatas and Piano Trios. Hou continues to perform as an international soloist and has recorded the Sibelius Violin Concerto and short works by Sarasate on her CD Fire & Ice with the Slovenia Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra among other recordings.

She captured 3 gold medals with unanimous decisions at international violin competitions: Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud (France, 1999), the Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy, 1999) and the Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition (Spain, 1997).

She also won first place in the Canadian Music Competition for three consecutive years, the Juilliard Dvořák Concerto Competition, the Juilliard-Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra Competition, and the F. Nakamichi Sibelius Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival.

Hou has also been awarded the loan of the 1729 "ex-Heath" Guarneri del Gesu violin by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank competition. She is the first ever violinist to earn First place twice and did it consecutively (2003 and 2006). In 2003 the instrument was valued at US$2.75 million. Her bow was made by her father, Alec Hou.

On Christmas Day, 2006, Susanne performed for the first time together with her father in China. The emotional Shanghai orchestral performance, with Alec conducting and Susanne as the soloist, was the focus of a CBC The National documentary called "Return to Shanghai" by journalist Mychaylo Prystupa. It aired in May 2007 on CBC television.

In 2009, Susanne Hou was granted the use of the 1735 "ex-Mary Portman, Fritz Kreisler Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, Cremona" by the Stradivari Society of Chicago. The historic violin is famous as being once owned and bowed by Fritz Kreisler – widely regard as one of the most famous violinists in history.

Hou's music video 'The Devil's Delight', produced by Rhombus Media premiered on Bravo!TV in 2010; she also stars in a new documentary on the "Canada Council Instrument Bank", Produced by Rotating Planet and Directed by Ari Cohen for Bravo! She performed the violin solo in the Atom Egoyan film "Adoration" which won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Festival de Cannes, featuring music composed by Mychael Danna.

On Nov.27, 2013, Susanne Hou used the Kreisler violin to record Beethoven's 1806 Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 with the London Symphony Orchestra. Hou chose the music as a "tribute" to Beethoven, Kreisler, and her parents Alec and Yvonne Hou. The Beethoven concerto, with Kreisler's cadenzas, was the same music that her father Alec performed the night she was born.

The London recording was filmed for a documentary by Toronto's Know Rules Media in association with UK's HiBROW production company. The film is expected to explore the rare violin's nearly 300-year history, including how it ended up in Hou's hands.

Sir Yehudi Menuhin referred to Hou as "absolutely phenomenal… one of the greatest young talents of the future…" and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, member of jury in the Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud said, "By the final round of the competition, Ms. Hou had the entire jury at her feet."

Awards

 * Winner, Canada Council for the Arts Instrument Bank Competition (Canada, 2003, 2006)
 * Gold Medal, Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud (France, 1999)
 * Gold Medal, Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy, 1999)
 * Gold Medal, Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition (Spain, 1997)
 * First Prize, Juilliard Dvořák Concerto Competition
 * First Prize, Juilliard-Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra Competition
 * First Prize, F. Nakamichi Sibelius Violin Competition at the Aspen Music Festival

Discography

 * you can never have too many suites (2008): de Falla Suite of Spanish Folk Songs, Shostakovich Four Preludes, Kreisler Liebesfreud, Schön Rosmarin & Syncopation, Yang Wong Luo Bin Suite of Folksongs & Dances, Tang New Face of my Motherland, and Li Ci Li Flower.
 * Fantasy (2007): Schubert's Fantasia and Ave Maria, Gounod's Faust and Sarasate's Faust Fantasy
 * Chen Yi (2003): Momentum / Shui, Lin, Hou, Marshall, Singapore SO
 * Fire & Ice (2000): Sibelius Violin Concerto and shorter works by Sarasate

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

title: Susanne Hou


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Talk:Peace and conflict studies

Strategic Foresight Group
In the article, the work of the Strategic Foresight Group is highlighted twice. This seems a bit to much given that

 * the article gives a general overview of the field,
 * in most cases, the work of prominent scholars is only referred to,
 * the Strategic Foresight Groups seems not to be of forefront significance (e.g. is not listed in the 2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index).

Thus, I would delete both passages. What do you think? -- W.pseudon (talk) 20:50, 16 March 2022 (UTC)

 * Pohui 89.191.245.148 (talk) 20:35, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Peace and conflict studies


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8th Army (Wehrmacht)

The 8th Army (8. Armee) was a World War II field army. It existed twice during the war, in the invasion of Poland in 1939, and on the Eastern Front from 1943 onwards.

The 8th Army was activated on 1 August 1939 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command. In 1939 it was part of Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South for the Invasion of Poland. It consisted of two corps, X. Armeekorps and XIII. Armeekorps, and was responsible for the northern part of Army Group South's front. The army saw heavy combat during the Battle of the Bzura. After the conclusion of the Polish campaign, it was reorganized into the 2nd Army which took part in the Battle of France in 1940.

In 1943 it was reformed after the Battle of Kursk from Army Detachment Kempf. After fierce defensive battles throughout 1943, 1944 and the first months of 1945, it finally surrendered in Austria in 1945. It fought in Hungary, Romania, and Austria in 1944 and 1945.

title: 8th Army (Wehrmacht)


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Talk:Severn river

In is more approprate to link this article to the "river servern" page instead of the servern ( Links at time of writing: --Philip Baird Shearer 09:21, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Cotswolds
 * Sabrina
 * 1779
 * Thomas Telford
 * Gloucester
 * 1779 in science

title: Talk:Severn river


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Returner

Returner (リターナー) is a 2002 Japanese science fiction action film directed, co-written, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. It stars Anne Suzuki and Takeshi Kaneshiro, with the former playing a female warrior from 2084, who travels back in time to present-day Japan to prevent an alien race from invading the planet.

Production took place from circa January to April 2002. It reportedly aspired "to be a combination of Mission: Impossible, The Matrix and Leon", and exercised 300 computer-generated shots, as well as wire fu. The film was produced by Robot Communications and was funded by Robot, Toho, Fuji Television Network, Amuse Pictures, Shirogumi, and Imagica.

Returner premiered at Shibuya Public Hall on August 19, 2002, and was released in Japan on August 31. Samuel Goldwyn Films later distributed it in the United States on October 17, 2003. The film grossed over US$11 million worldwide against a US$4 million budget and was the fourteenth highest-grossing Japanese film of 2002. It received generally negative reviews from critics, with most attacking the screenplay and perceived lack of originality, although some praised the acting, action sequences, and visual effects. The film received five nominations at the 26th Japan Academy Film Prize. A sequel was planned but ultimately abandoned.

Plot
Milly is a soldier from 2084, where humanity is on the verge of extinction because of the alien race known as the "Daggra". In mankind's final stronghold in Tibet, Milly leaps into a newly built time portal just before the fortress is overrun. The portal sends her to 2002, where her mission is to kill the first Daggra, who faked a crash landing, and stop him from signaling his invasion fleet.

Milly lands in the aftermath of a shootout in Tokyo Bay, where a hitman named Miyamoto holds the murderous Triad mobster Mizoguchi at gunpoint. Her arrival allows the mobster to escape and Miyamoto takes Milly, whom he thinks he accidentally shot, back to his place. She was saved by a plate of metal in her coat. She tapes a tiny bomb to his neck and threatens him into helping her on her mission. Miyamoto has a personal score to settle with Mizoguchi, who killed his childhood friend by kidnapping him and selling off his organs.

That night, Miyamoto sees Milly cleaning up his trenchcoat on a coat hanger, so he tells her to go back to sleep. The next morning he discovers photos of himself and a newspaper article on his death. He shows these to his weapons supplier Shi, who tells him it's an elaborate trick the Triads wouldn't waste their time on.

With Shi's help, they track down where the alien spaceship crashed, but it was taken away to the National Institute of Space Science. They try to get to the spaceship to kill the alien, but Mizoguchi arrives and tries to take the facility over. Milly is surprised at the alien, it is not what she expected. She hesitates to kill it as Mizoguchi advances into the lab.

The alien uses Miyamoto as its mouthpiece to say it wants to go home. Milly realizes that she has been lied to. The humans and not the aliens, started the war which has been destroying the human race. They started it when they captured and killed the alien. She now knows they must stop Mizoguchi as he wants the alien technology to take over the world. Following the destruction of the Space Science lab, Mizoguchi and his goons take the alien and its ship. Meanwhile, Miyamoto and Milly regroup for the next part of her mission.

The duo again confronts Mizoguchi at an abandoned oil rig, where they rescue the alien. Surviving a huge explosion, a bloodied Mizoguchi threatens to kill them all for ruining his plans. However, his bullets hit an invisible force field. Miyamoto quickly grabs the gun and kills Mizoguchi. Before they can figure out where the force field came from a Daggra craft, disguised as a Boeing 747-400 airliner arrives, having received the alien's distress signal. The Daggra take their wounded comrade and leave Earth. As the future war has ceased to exist, Milly slowly disappears.

Shortly after the incident, Miyamoto decides to give up his life of violence and hands in his guns to Shi. While walking home, he is confronted by a thug whose life he had spared earlier at Tokyo Bay. Realizing that he is weaponless, Miyamoto is helpless as the thug shoots him. The thug walks away, assuming that Miyamoto is dead. Soon after, Miyamoto staggers up and finds a plate of metal similar to Milly's saved his life. The plate has a written message by Milly, telling him she has repaid him. Miyamoto recalls the night Milly messed around with his trenchcoat. While Miyamoto and Milly were asleep, a second, future Milly traveled from the future and slipped the metal plate into his trenchcoat before returning to her timeline. On her way out, she accidentally drops the newspaper article on Miyamoto's death.

Cast

 * Takeshi Kaneshiro as Miyamoto
 * Anne Suzuki as Milly
 * Goro Kishitani as Mizoguchi
 * Kirin Kiki as Shi Zhi Tang
 * Dean Harrington as Dr. Brown
 * Kanata Hongō as young Miyamoto

Production
On January 12, 2002, Screen Daily reported that production on Returner had begun and would wrap in April of the same year. According to a publicist, the film pursued "to be a combination of Mission: Impossible, The Matrix and Leon". It had 300 computer-generated cuts and alleged "state-of-the-art" wire fu. Robot Communications produced it on an estimated ¥450 million (US$4 million) budget, and funded it with Toho, Fuji Television Network, Amuse Pictures, Shirogumi, and Imagica.

Theatrical
Returner had its worldwide premiere at Shibuya Public Hall on August 19, 2002, where it was reportedly attended by 2000 people and the key cast members also gave a "stage greeting". Toho released distributed the film theatrically in Japan on August 31. It was later screened at the 15th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 30, with English subtitles.

As far back as January of that year, Pony Canyon were set to handle the film's international distribution. On August 1, 2002, the official website announced that Columbia TriStar would be responsible for releasing the film overseas. Nevertheless, Pony Canyon would be credited for the film's international release and it eventually received a theatrical release in the United States with English subtitles on October 17, 2003, through Destination Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Home media
On March 7, 2003, Amuse Pictures released Standard and Deluxe editions of the film simultaneously on DVD.

Box office
Returner was a box office hit, becoming the fourteenth highest-grossing Japanese film of 2002. It premiered at number one in the Japanese box office on its release, beating The Cat Returns, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Resident Evil. Overall, the film grossed ¥1.29 billion (US$11 million) in Japan, US$73,060 in the United States, and US$340,920 in Hong Kong, making its global box office total approximately US$.

Critical response
Returner received generally negative reviews.

Derek Elley of Variety wrote in his review that "Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing [sic] is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes." Don Willmott of Filmcritic.com gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a watchable, if somewhat absurd, sci-fi stir fry." Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that "A smorgasbord that seems to have been picked out of a Dumpster. It clumsily combines a fish-out-of-water story with bits lifted from sources including the Terminator movies, Star Wars, Starman, Close Encounters, a couple of Pink Floyd albums and H. G. Wells."

On the positive side, Jo Berry of Empire gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "So much of this film is 'borrowed' it's like watching a chirpy tribute band. Good fun." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle offered qualified praise, but also noted that "only subtitles and a few borrowed ideas from the Japan-born video game Metal Gear Solid prevent the movie from looking like an American Film Institute clip show". Since the film features a lack of originality, as Hartlaub pointed out, it "must rely on the strength of its actors, and they're excellent across the board". Manohla Dargis said in her review for the Los Angeles Times: "Like all good B-movies, Returner comes loaded with enough eccentric touches to give the recycling a whiff of freshness and, as is often the case with many above-par follies, it's the cast that takes the whole thing to another level." Jae-Ha Kim gave it a 3/4 rating, calling it "stylish" but even so noted that "we see elements of films we've seen before".

Proposed sequel
Director Takashi Yamazaki planned a sequel to the film after its release, but encountered some difficulties. Thus, producer Shūji Abe insisted Yamazaki make a period piece set during the Shōwa era instead, as he had always wanted to produce such a project. This ultimately led to the creation of Yamazaki's third film, Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005), which was called a "milestone" in the usage of computer-generated imagery in Japanese cinema by film critic Tadao Sato.

In December 2023, Yamazaki expressed interest in making a sequel to Returner though he feels "too old" to write it.

title: Returner


text:
Category talk:Chinese philosophers

cat del
I've just removed the category-deletion template. The category-deletion page had no sign that a proposal had ever been made; I contacted the editor who had added the template (Gbog, but have had no reply. I assume, therefore, that the template was added, but no other action taken.

The category is clearly different from that of Chinese thinkers, which includes historians, scientists, writers on warfare, etc. Mel Etitis ( Μελ Ετητης ) 09:24, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: Category talk:Chinese philosophers


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L'Histoire du soldat

Histoire du soldat, or Tale of the Soldier (as it was first published), is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced (lue, jouée et dansée)" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky, its libretto, in French, by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz; the two men conceived it together, their basis being the Russian tale The Runaway Soldier and the Devil in the collection of Alexander Afanasyev.

Music
Histoire du soldat is scored for clarinet, bassoon, cornet (often played on trumpet), trombone, percussion, violin and double bass. The music is rife with changing time-signatures and for this reason is commonly, though not always, performed with a conductor.

Roles
Ramuz relates the parable of a soldier who trades his violin to the Devil in return for vast economic gain by means of three actors: the Narrator, who both narrates and impersonates several minor characters; the Devil, who assumes various guises; and the Soldier himself, Joseph, from no army identified. A dancer has the usually silent role of the Princess.

First performances
Stravinsky was helped greatly in the work's production by Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart, who sponsored and underwrote its premiere. In gratitude Stravinsky dedicated Histoire to him, and gave him the manuscript.

Histoire du soldat was first performed on 28 September 1918 in Lausanne, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. British conductor Edward Clark, a friend and champion of Stravinsky and a former assistant to Ansermet at the Ballets Russes, led the British premiere in 1926 in Newcastle upon Tyne and gave three fully staged performances in London the following July.

Suites
Reinhart continued his support of Stravinsky's work in 1919 by funding a series of concerts of his recent chamber music. These included a suite of five numbers from Histoire du soldat arranged for clarinet, violin and piano, in a nod to Reinhart who was an amateur clarinetist. This was first performed on 8 November 1919, also in Lausanne, long before a larger suite employing all seven original instruments became available to other musicians.

Structure
The work's sixteen narrative and instrumental sections alternate and are not intended to overlap.

Part 1
Joseph Duprat, the Soldier, is walking exhausted toward his hometown on a 15-day leave, pack in tow. (Marche du soldat / The Soldier's March). He rests by a stream. From his pack he takes out his lucky St. Joseph medallion, then a mirror, next a picture of his fiancée, and finally his violin. He begins to play. (Petits airs au bord du ruisseau / Airs by the Stream). The Devil appears, disguised as an old man carrying a butterfly net. Joseph does not notice him but continues to play. The Devil sneaks up from behind and startles him.

The Devil asks Joseph to sell him his violin. When Joseph refuses he offers him a book that he says will lead to untold wealth. Joseph does not understand the book, but the Devil convinces him it is worth more than his cheap violin. Joseph realizes the book contains events that happen in the future. He accepts the Devil's offer to spend three days at the Devil's home in great luxury to learn about the book and teach the Devil the violin. After this term the Devil takes Joseph the rest of his way home. (Reprise: Marche du soldat).

But once in his hometown Joseph notices something strange: everyone runs away as they see him. He arrives at his fiancée's house only to find her with husband and children. Finally he realizes that three years, not three days, have passed and that his former neighbors and friends think he's a ghost. (Pastorale).

Joseph sees the Devil in disguise as a cattle merchant and confronts him. The Devil tries to calm Joseph by reminding him of the book's power: Joseph started off as a peddler but with the knowledge gained from the book quickly amassed wealth. The Soldier realizes this material wealth means nothing. All he wants is what he had before, the things everyone else has. (Reprise: Petits airs). Agitated, he leafs through the book for a solution, in vain.

The Devil arrives, now disguised as an old woman peddler. She offers for sale a lucky medallion, a mirror, a picture of a woman, and then a violin. Joseph moves to buy the violin, but when she hands it over he finds he can no longer play: it makes no sound. (Reprise: Petits airs). He hurls it away and tears up the book.

Part 2
Joseph leaves his home with nothing and marches through town. (Reprise: Marche du soldat). He arrives at an inn where he hears the news that the king's daughter is sick, and whoever can raise her from her bed will be given her hand in marriage. He makes his way to the palace. (Marche royale / Royal March).

The Devil is already at the palace disguised as a virtuoso violinist. Joseph turns over some cards and gets an air of confidence when they are all hearts. The Devil makes his presence known, clutching the violin to his chest, and taunts Joseph. The Narrator informs Joseph that the Devil still controls him because he retains the Devil's money, and if he can lose all of it to the Devil in a card game he will be free.

This the Soldier does. He then takes the violin and plays. (Petit concert / Little Concert). He triumphantly marches into the Princess's chambers where he plays another tune. Miraculously the music revives her, and she begins a sequence of dances. (Trois danses / Three Dances: Tango, Waltz, Ragtime).

As the two embrace the Devil arrives, for the first time undisguised. Joseph shields the Princess. He realizes he can defeat the Devil by playing his violin. (Danse du diable / Dance of the Devil). Unable to resist the music, the Devil begins to contort, is exhausted, and finally falls to the ground. Joseph takes the Princess's hand and together they drag the Devil away before falling into each other's arms. (Petit choral / Little Chorale).

But the Devil pops his head in and begins to torment the couple, warning that Joseph may not leave the palace without the Devil regaining control of him. (Couplets du diable / The Devil's Couplets).

Conclusion
Over the Grand choral / Great Chorale, the Narrator states the moral:

The work ends with Joseph crossing the frontier-post, a boundary not to be crossed, after being tempted by the ideal of having both his wife and his mother. The Devil is waiting as Joseph turns back to find his Princess, now gone. (Marche triomphale du diable / The Devil's Triumphant March): violin and percussion entwined in a rhythmic duel, the final measures played solely by the percussionist; here the score is marked decrescendo to the end, although this may be changed crescendo when performing the Suite.

Translations into English and German
The original French text by Ramuz has been translated into English by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, and into German by the poet Hans Reinhart.

Musical influences
Histoire du soldat shows Stravinsky's absorption of a wide range of musical influences: the pasodoble in the Marche royale; the tango, the waltz and ragtime, as played by Joseph to cure the Princess; klezmer in the instrumentation and textures; Luther's Ein feste Burg in the Petit choral; and Bach in the Grand choral. According to the musicologist Danick Trottier, these influences are linked to a certain extent to Stravinsky's experiences and first successes in the cosmopolitan Paris of the early 1910s, since the capital of France was a confluence-point for a variety of artists and musicians during La Belle Époque.

Performance history

 * World premiere: Lausanne, Switzerland, 28 September 1918, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. Cast: Gabriel Rosset as the Soldier, Jean Villard as the Devil (speaking parts), and Elie Gagnebin as the Narrator. Choreography by Georges Pitoëff, who danced in the role of the Devil opposite his wife Ludmilla as the Princess. Sets and costumes by René Auberjonois.
 * UK: Concert Suite: 1920, London, conducted by Ernest Ansermet.
 * Full staging, 1926, Newcastle upon Tyne, conducted by Edward Clark. Three further fully staged performances in London in July 1927.

 * France: Full staging (by Sergei Diaghilev), Paris, 1924.
 * Germany: 1924: Frankfurt, and Wiesbaden (conducted by Otto Klemperer).
 * US: Ballet version: New York City Opera, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center: 1978: Directed by Frank Corsaro and Gardner Compton (who also choreographed), conducted by Imre Palló. Scenic and costume design by Victor Capecce; lighting design by Ken Billington. Barry Bostwick played the title role, and the Princess was portrayed by Mercedes Ellington. John Lankston and the New York City Opera Dancers completed the cast. (Presented on a triple bill with La voix humaine and The Impresario.)
 * Balletmaster Peter Martins created the Suite from L'Histoire du Soldat for New York City Ballet. The premiere was at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center on 30 January 1981 with the original cast consisting of Darci Kistler, Kyra Nichols, Ib Andersen, Heather Watts, Jean-Pierre Frohlich, Victor Castelli, Bart Cook, and Daniel Duell. The Martins ballet was given again May 1987 and revived in May 1999 when it was reviewed by Jack Anderson.

 * Canada: Narrated version: Montreal Festivals, 1949.
 * Staged version: Stratford Shakespearean Festival, 1955: directed by Douglas Campbell. Costume design by Clarence Wilson. Lillian Jarvis as the Princess, Marcel Marceau as the Devil, Douglas Rain as the Soldier, narrated by William Needles.

Recordings

 * Anthony Nicholls (Narrator), Terence Longdon (Soldier), Robert Helpmann (Devil), Arthur Leavins (violin), Jack Brymer (clarinet), Gwydion Brooke (bassoon), Richard Walton (cornet), Sidney Langston (trombone), Edmond Chesterman (double bass), Stephen Whittaker (percussion), conducted by John Pritchard, based on Glyndebourne Opera production 1954 at Edinburgh Festival, LP HMV ALP 1377.
 * L'Histoire du soldat (Suite). Igor Stravinsky conducts the Columbia Chamber Ensemble, 1961, issued as part of "Igor Stravinsky: The Recorded Legacy", Sony, 1991.
 * L'Histoire du soldat (Suite). Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducts a chamber ensemble [no name provided], Angel/Melodiya, 1964.
 * L'Histoire du soldat (Suite). Tashi (version for violin, clarinet, and piano), RCA Red Seal, 1977.
 * Jean Cocteau (Narrator), Jean-Marie Fertey (Soldier), Peter Ustinov (Devil), Anne Tonietti (Princess), studio ensemble, conducted by Igor Markevitch, Philips Records, 1962 production, recorded at Vevey, Switzerland.
 * Brian Phelan (Soldier), Robert Helpmann (Devil), Svetlana Beriosova (Princess), Melos Ensemble, film version 1964, Michael Birkett (director), Dennis Miller and Leonard Cassini (producers), Richard Marden (editor), BHE production.
 * Madeleine Milhaud (Narrator), Jean-Pierre Aumont (Soldier), Martial Singher (Devil), instrumental ensemble conducted by Leopold Stokowski, 1967, Vanguard Records, double album, sequential recordings in French and English.
 * Gérard Carrat (Narrator), François Berthet (Soldier), François Simon (Devil), conducted by Charles Dutoit, 1970, Erato ECD .88198 (this and the Cocteau/Ustinov Philips version listed above are generally considered the best recordings, the Philips being more theatrical – including a speaking part for the princess – but less realistic in terms of the diction of the characters).
 * Glenda Jackson (Narrator), Rudolf Nureyev (Soldier), Micheál Mac Liammóir (Devil), instrumental ensemble conducted by Gennady Zalkowitsch, Argo.
 * John Gielgud (Narrator), Tom Courtenay (Soldier), Ron Moody (Devil), Boston Symphony Chamber Players, 1975, Deutsche Grammophon.
 * Ian McKellen (Narrator), Sting (Soldier), Vanessa Redgrave (Devil), London Sinfonietta conducted by Kent Nagano, 1990, London: Pangea/MCA, ASIN B000009HYG.
 * Frank Zappa recorded the march from The Soldier's Tale on his live album Make a Jazz Noise Here (1991). The same melody was also used at the ending of "Soft-Sell Conclusion" on the second Mothers Of Invention album, Absolutely Free (1967). On 6 September 1972, Zappa narrated in a performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Lukas Foss at the Hollywood Bowl; Ernest Fleischmann as devil and Tim Buckley as soldier.
 * Sally Goodwin (Narrator), Ron Bohmer (Soldier), Reed Armstrong (Devil), Solisti New York, conducted by Ransom Wilson, 1993, Chesky Records, also available as a download from HDtracks.
 * Aage Haugland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Neeme Järvi (CHAN9189), 1993
 * Carole Bouquet (Narrator), Guillaume Depardieu (Soldier), Gérard Depardieu (Devil), Shlomo Mintz (violin and conductor), Pascal Moragues (clarinet), Sergio Azzolini (bassoon), Marc Bauer (cornet), Daniel Breszynski (trombone), Vincent Pasquier (double bass), Michel Cerutti (percussion), CD (B000003I1K) 1997 Auvidis Valois France.
 * Jeremy Irons / The Columbia Chamber Ensemble / Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft. New York: Sony BMG, 2007. 82876-76586-2
 * In 2018, Roger Waters recorded a version in which he narrates his adaptation of the story and portrays all characters, recorded with members of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, released on Sony Classical Masterworks.

Adaptations

 * In 1983, Bil Baird created his final puppeteering work based on L'Histoire before his death in 1987.
 * In 1984, animator R. O. Blechman created an animated version for PBS's Great Performances featuring Max von Sydow as the voice of the Devil. This production was released on VHS the next year and on DVD in 2004.
 * In 1993, United States novelist Kurt Vonnegut reworked the libretto into a tale about World War II Private Eddie Slovik, the first soldier in the United States military to be executed for desertion since the Civil War.
 * In 2002, Joan Sanmartí recorded a jazz arrangement version scored for a septet of electric guitar, tenor saxophone/clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet/flugelhorn, cello, accordion, double bass, and drums, including solo improvisations by most of the interpreters.
 * In January 2006, Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Abdulkareem Kasid created a version set in Iraq and staged by Andrew Steggall at The Old Vic.
 * In 2008, Inuit writer Zebedee Nungak translated the libretto into Inuktitut for performance by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra's tour of Nunavik (the Inuit homeland in Quebec), conducted by Kent Nagano.
 * In 2022, playwright Carol Wolf was commissioned by the Peninsula Symphony of Los Altos, California to write an updated libretto for A Soldier's Tale. The new libretto tells the story of an American soldier who meets Death on the road in Iraq. It was performed on November 13, 2022 with choreography by Arielle Cole, and danced by Cole's company, ArcTangent.

title: L'Histoire du soldat


text:
Illinois Center

Illinois Center is a mixed-use urban development in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, lying east of Michigan Avenue. It is notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago, some streets have two levels, with the lower level for through traffic and service vehicles and the upper level for other local traffic. In Illinois Center, the lower level has been split, with a middle level for through traffic and a lower level for service vehicles.

The development was built on land that had formerly been used for railroad yards by the Illinois Central Railroad, which merged into the Canadian National Railway in 1999. The earliest building is One Illinois Center designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1970. The west half of the rail yards were built out first; the east half was for a time turned into a temporary golf course on the lowest level, where the rail yards had been. The golf course has since been turned into a park, now surrounded by an urban village of high-rise buildings called Lakeshore East.

The development consists of four blocks with a large area to the east. It is bounded on the west by Michigan Avenue, which has two levels. Just east of that road, the upper level rises to become a higher third level, only accessible on the west edge of the development and at the east end of Upper Wacker Drive. Stetson Avenue and Columbus Drive run north-south, and Lake Street, South Water Street, and Wacker Drive run east-west. Randolph Street lies a block south of the main part, and forms the south border of the east half.

All of these streets are at least partly triple-decker. In the south half of the complex, the Metra Electric Lines and the South Shore Line terminate, halfway between Michigan and Stetson Avenues, at Millennium Station. An additional structure, Boulevard Towers East an 80-story mixed-use building was planned on the west side of Stetson between South Water and Lake Street but was cancelled. The site of this proposed building is the last remaining vacant lot in the Illinois Center complex, referred to by locals as the "Political Graveyard". Also proposed for this site was Mandarin Oriental Chicago.

On February 18, 2009, a report in Crain's Chicago Business stated that a New York-based lender had filed a foreclosure suit against the developer, that the sale's center was closed and building units were no longer being marketed through the Multiple Listing Service. The project is no longer listed on the developer's website.

One Prudential Plaza, Two Prudential Plaza and the Aon Center are in the blocks south of the main part.

title: Illinois Center


text:
9th Army (Wehrmacht)

The 9th Army (9. Armee) was a World War II field army. It was activated on 15 May 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.

1940
The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line during its involvement in the invasion of France. It was kept as a strategic reserve and saw little combat.

1941
By 1941, the 9th Army was heavily strengthened and was deployed with Army Group Center for the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa the 4th Army formed the Southern pincer of a massive encirclement of Soviet troops deployed at Białystok, with the German 9th Army forming the Northern pincer. It continued its advance, and soon launched another pincer movement of Soviet troops at Smolensk. Even though successful in encircling Soviet troops, many Soviet troops escaped the pockets due to the large distances it had to secure. Hitler then sent the Panzer forces from Army Group Center to the northern and southern fronts to inflict severe economic damage to the Soviet Union. The 9th Army remained static from late July 1941 until October 1941 when Hitler finally decided to launch his long-awaited attack on Moscow.

In front of Moscow were two elaborate defensive lines: the first was 251 km long in front of Vyazma and the second on Mozhaysk. The 9th Army struck from the north, out-flanking the Vyazma defensive line and, along with the 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies, encircling Soviet forces at Vyazma. This would prove to be the last major encirclement operation launched by the 9th Army.

The 9th Army was placed on the northern flank as the German 2nd, 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies and the 4th Army would spearhead the offensive on Moscow. However, the attack failed due to the cold weather, a deteriorating supply situation, and stubborn Soviet resistance. The Germans suffered severe manpower losses and large parts of the 9th Army's troops were reallocated to the other depleted German Armies.

1942
The 9th Army remained in defensive positions in 1942, dug in 200 miles outside of Moscow as the Germans concentrated their offensive in Southern Russia. As the tide of the battle turned in Southern Russia, the Soviets launched Operation Mars, a major offensive against Army Group Center. The well dug in positions of Army Group Center defeated the Soviet offensive with heavy casualties.

1943
The Germans tried again in 1943 to regain the momentum in the Eastern Front by launching a massive pincer movement at the Kursk salient where 1/6th of all Soviet forces were deployed. The spearheads would be the German 9th Army and the 2nd Panzer Army from the north and the 4th Panzer Army along with Army Detachment Kempf from the south. The Soviets believed the heaviest blow would come from the north and massively reinforced the sector directly opposite 9th Army. By July 1943, the 9th Army had become the largest army ever fielded by the Germans even surpassing the much vaunted 6th Army with 335,000 men along with 600 tanks.

Leading the advance from the north, the 9th Army ran into powerful Soviet defenses, and it gained no more than 10 km on the first day. Walter Model ordered the capture of the key and heavily fortified Ponyri railway station, which was needed to continue the advance towards Kursk. However, the Soviets had massively reinforced the town's defenses, which meant the attackers took very heavy losses. After a week of ferocious fighting, the 9th Army had gained just 20 km. After being unable to breach the enemy lines, the army was then forced to deal with the Soviet counter-offensive which if not checked could have encircled the entire 9th Army. It fought a fighting withdrawal westwards throughout the remainder of 1943.

1944
By 1944, the 9th Army was exhausted, but it had received some badly needed reinforcements and was defending the area of Bobruisk in the first half of that year. On 22 June, the third anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Soviets began their colossal Operation Bagration whose overall objective was the destruction of Army Group Center. The action against the 9th Army was called the Bobruysk Offensive. The 9th Army suffered nearly 80,000 casualties during Bagration of which 65,000 were taken prisoner. Nearly 40% of the 9th Army was destroyed in the summer of 1944. The army was then rebuilt by German units redeployed from Italy and was involved in the defence of Warsaw in autumn and winter of 1944.

1945
On 1 January 1945, the 9th Army (then under Army Group A) had a total strength of 110,930 soldiers, spread across four infantry divisions (17th, 73rd, 214th, 251st), three Volksgrenadier divisions (6th, 45th, 337th), two panzer divisions (19th, 25th), the German garrison in Warsaw and an autonomous blockade brigade.

The Red Army crossed Germany's border on January 12, 1945, and forced the 9th Army to retreat all along the front until it was deployed westward to the river Oder. Three of the 9th Army's formations were tasked with defending the Seelow Heights, which was the last defensible region before Berlin. To the north was the CI Army Corps, in the centre General Helmuth Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps, and to south of the Heights was the XI SS Panzer Corps. In addition south of Frankfurt (which was defended by the Frankfurt Garrison) was the V SS Mountain Corps. In total the 9th Army was reduced to 100,000 men and 800 tanks and assault guns against which the Soviets had over 1,000,000 men and 10,000 tanks and assault guns.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights started on 16 April 1945 when Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder. The 9th Army held the line for about three days. After heavy fighting Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps was driven back towards Berlin. Most of the CI Army Corps divisions, now north of the salient created by the 1st Belorussian Front were reassigned along with LVI Panzer Corps to Army Detachment Steiner which was tasked with counter-attacking and pinching off the salient in an unrealistic plan conceived by Hitler. In the end Weidling's corps was driven back into Berlin and he was promoted to commander of the Berlin Defensive Area, reporting directly to Hitler. Theodor Busse and the rest of the 9th Army were driven into a pocket in the Spree Forest south of the Seelow Heights and west of Frankfurt an der Oder.

From inside the pocket west of Frankfurt Busse attempted a breakout to the west to join up with the 12th Army. The breakout, known as the Battle of Halbe, resulted in the destruction of the Ninth Army as a coherent force. Troops that were not captured or killed by the Soviets crossed the Elbe at Tangermünde and surrendered to the US Army.

title: 9th Army (Wehrmacht)


text:
Patent Law Treaty

The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a treaty signed on 1 June 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland, by 53 States and the European Patent Organisation (an intergovernmental organization). It entered into force on April 28, 2005. It aims at harmonizing and streamlining formal procedures such as the requirements to obtain a filing date for a patent application, the form and content of a patent application, and representation. The treaty "does not establish a uniform procedure for all parties to the PLT but leaves parties free to require fewer or more user-friendly requirements than those provided in the PLT." As of February 2023, the PLT had 43 contracting states.

France
Prior to the entry into force of the treaty in France, a bill was submitted on 14 January 2009 at the French Senate proposing the ratification of the PLT by France. In March 2009, a report from French Senator Rachel Mazuir recommended the ratification of the PLT, as soon as possible, by France. On 24 July 2009, the government was authorized to ratify the PLT. The PLT then entered into force for France on 5 January 2010.

United States
The Treaty was transmitted from the President to the Senate in 2006. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued its Executive Report 110-6 in November 2007. Non-self-executing portions of the PLT were implemented as statute by the [https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/3486/text Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012, Pub. Law 112-211 (Dec. 12, 2012)]. The PLT was ratified by the United States on 18 September 2013, and the ratification instrument was forwarded to WIPO. The Patent Office's implementing regulations were [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/04/11/2013-07955/changes-to-implement-the-patent-law-treaty proposed at 78 Fed. Reg. 21788 (Apr. 11, 2013)] and issued as a [https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/10/21/2013-24471/changes-to-implement-the-patent-law-treaty Final Rule at 78 Fed. Reg. 62367 (Oct. 21, 2013)].

Mexico
Article 20(7)(3) of the proposed new NAFTA, in December 2019, stated that "Each Party shall give due consideration to ratifying or acceding to the PLT, or, in the alternative, shall adopt or maintain procedural standards consistent with the objective of the PLT".

title: Patent Law Treaty


text:
Talk:Severn

On the date of writing by far the most common link for this page is intended to link to the "River Severn" page:
 * Celtic tribes in the British Isles
 * Ceawlin of Wessex
 * United Kingdom
 * Roman invasion of Britain
 * Briton
 * Annwn
 * Nodens
 * Offa's Dyke Path
 * WWT Slimbridge
 * River Avon, Bristol
 * James Brindley
 * Dursley
 * Talk:Bernicia
 * History of the British canal system
 * Wyvern
 * River Wye
 * Ellesmere Port and Neston
 * Tidal power
 * Severn Beach
 * Ironbridge Gorge
 * Trow
 * Estrildis
 * Queen Gwendolen
 * River Wye (disambiguation)
 * GWR Caliph Class
 * User:J heisenberg/Nuttall A

Please do not change the page redirect back to "Severn (disambiguation)" unless there are at least as many pages pointing to other usages. Philip Baird Shearer 09:35, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Severn