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Carlos Chávez, the symphony's dedicatee

The Short Symphony, or Symphony No. 2, is a symphony written by the American composer Aaron Copland from 1931 to 1933. The name derives from its short length of only 15 minutes. The work is dedicated to Copland's friend, the Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez (pictured). The composition contains complex rhythms and polyharmonies, and incorporates the composer's emerging interest in serialism and Mexican music. Copland later arranged the work as a sextet. The symphony was not widely performed during Copland's lifetime, largely due to the piece's rhythmic difficulties. After Serge Koussevitzky and Leopold Stokowski both declined to conduct the premiere, Chávez agreed to deliver it in 1934 in Mexico City. Though Copland thought of the Short Symphony as "one of the best things I ever wrote", some critics found it to be fragmented and cacophonous. Others agreed with Copland's assessment, describing the symphony as a masterpiece and a significant work in both Copland's career and modernist music. (Full article...)

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In the news

Abdalla Hamdok

Abdalla Hamdok (pictured) is reinstated as Prime Minister of Sudan in an agreement following the October coup.
In rallying, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia win the World Championship, and Toyota takes the manufacturers' title.
Kosmos 1408 is destroyed by a Russian anti-satellite weapon and becomes a cloud of space debris.
We Continue the Change, led by Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, wins the most seats in the Bulgarian general election.

On this day

November 23: Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan

Edwin Hubble

1733 – African slaves in the Danish West Indies began an insurrection in one of the earliest and longest slave revolts in the Americas.
1867 – The Manchester Martyrs were hanged in Manchester, England, for killing a police officer while helping two Irish nationalists escape from police custody.
1924 – The New York Times published evidence from Edwin Hubble (pictured) stating that the Andromeda Nebula, previously believed to be part of the Milky Way, is in fact another galaxy.
1976 – Jacques Mayol became the first person to freedive to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft).
2011 – Arab Spring: After 11 months of protests in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to transfer power to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Beatriz Galindo (d. 1535)
El Lissitzky (b. 1890)
Mary Whitehouse (d. 2001)

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Today's featured picture

The northern palm squirrel (Funambulus pennantii) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It has a wide distribution in the Indian subcontinent and Iran, being a semi-arboreal species found in dry deciduous forest and many other rural and urban habitats. It is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of least concern. This northern palm squirrel was photographed in Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Photograph credit: Charles James Sharp

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