composition

Art of combining sounds to create an original piece of music. It is also another word for the piece of music itself.

composition

In art, the arrangement of elements within an artwork to give a desired effect, often described as pleasing (unified and appealing to the eye) or expressive (intended to evoke a particular mood, feeling, or idea). The elements of pleasing compositions are usually held together by placing them in an imaginary plan, either a quadrant, sequential, or asymmetrical form. Linear compositions arrange the elements along a diagonal, or a system of radiating or curving lines, or in the layout of a simple geometrical figure such as the triangle.

A quadrant composition is a simple one, which seeks to create a balance in the changes from light to dark. A sequential composition relies on creating rhythms within a work of art, which lead the viewer's eyes across an image, like notes would lead a listener through a piece of music. An asymmetrical composition tries to create a sense of balance between the two sides of a picture. A painter may want to consider how colours of different ‘heaviness’ are placed on either side of the composition, or the balance between positive (full) and negative (empty) space.

A particularly popular compositional arrangement in the Renaissance was the golden section, a ratio of 8:13 which was considered to be the most visually satisfying ratio for dividing a line or creating a rectangle.

Colour composition is the application of principles of harmony, contrast, and repetition. Chiaroscuro is another aspect of composition concerned with the balance of light and shade and the arrangement of objects in depth to give the effect of three dimensions.

composition

In Irish history, a key Elizabethan reform policy first instituted by Lord Deputy Henry Sidney (1529–1586) in the mid-1570s, which commuted the feudal practice of coyne and livery (military billeting exacted on tenants and subjects) into a fixed tax collected by English government officials for a commission. The scheme aimed to demilitarize the lordships and settle relations between great lords and lesser families, while securing revenue for the crown. Although successful in Munster, Connacht, and later Ulster, it was unpopular in the English Pale and provoked divisions in the Irish lordships between those who stood to lose and to gain, leading to the rebellions of the 1590s.

Composition was devised by Sidney, in collaboration with his personal adviser Edmund Tremayne. After a favourable reception in Munster and Connacht, Sidney attempted to secure a similar permanent tax from the gentry of the English Pale in place of cess (the traditional maintenance of government troops), but his efforts provoked a constitutional crisis which resulted in his dismissal in 1578; the proposed tax was commuted to an agreed one-year sum. His successor, Lord Deputy John Perrot (c. 1527–1592), promoted composition successfully in Connacht and Ulster in the mid-1580s, but this revival ended with his sudden recall in 1588. However, the expected reintroduction of composition caused increasing dissension between the Irish lordships.