Music in the Aftermath of World War I

Having been inspired by the poem, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, by American poet Walt Whitman, which had been written as an elegy to Abraham Lincoln, Gustav Holst composed his Ode to Death, for choral and orchestra in the wake of World War I. It is now seen by many as Holst's most beautiful choral piece.

Music in the Aftermath of World War One

During the Great War, British composer Edward Elgar had composed several pieces meant to rally the spirits of the British people, including a series of patriotic songs called Fringes of the Fleet, with words by Rudyard Kipling. Nothing in these pieces were to suggest the severe change the Elgar sound would undergo as the war went on, but in the aftermath of the war, battling sickness, depression, and loss, Elgar's severely changed outlook on life was all to evident in his first major composition following WW1, his 2nd cello concerto.

Cotton Textile Industry in 19th Century Egypt

Egyptian cotton has always been viewed as a superior example of the good. source

Muhammad Ali, known as the father of Modern Egypt, set in motion much of the industry and outer communication with Western world. His monopolization of the Egyptian market motivated the full embrace of cotton production, which became Egypt's most profitable good during this period. source

In the 19th century, Alexandria offered something of a hub for cotton traders, where they could meet, and exchange the various types of cotton amongst themselves, a scene that was known as the Alexandria Cotton Exchange.

The Bourse housed the Alexandria Stock Exchange, that thrived in 1880's to the early 1900's. source

 

 

Mohammed Ali Square which housed the stock exchange, became the symbol of the city and of the nation's economy. source

 

 

On-foot cotton transport in Egypt. source

Barge loaded with cotton source

Cotton trade's super teensy archives of export. source

Outside the Café de l'Europe in Place des Consuls, in Alexandria, where cotton traders would meet and discuss. source