Introduction

Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to:

Introduction (House of Lords)

Introduction is a ceremony in the House of Lords whereby new members are "introduced" to the existing membership. Introductions in the Lords are more elaborate than those in the House of Commons.

Origins

Originally, the Sovereign created and invested new peers personally. The personal procedure, however, was abandoned during the seventeenth century, and in 1621 the House of Lords began the ceremony of introduction. The ceremony has evolved over the years, generally growing more complex. However, in 1998, the Select Committee on Introductions suggested several reforms, which were generally adopted.

Introduced lords

Ceremonial introductions were originally used for all new members of the House of Lords. However, in 1663, the House of Lords decided that peers who inherited a title not be introduced. This applies to hereditary peers joining the House by virtue of by-elections under the House of Lords Act 1999. However, if hereditary peers receive life peerages, they must be introduced like any other life peer, unless they sat in the Lords before the House of Lords Act 1999.

Introduction (British House of Commons)

In the British House of Commons, members of the House elected at a by-election must be formally "introduced" to the House. (Members elected at a general election are not introduced.) The ceremony in the Commons is considerably simpler than those in the House of Lords.

By-elections are generally held on Thursdays, and the introduction in the afternoon of the Tuesday after the election. The new Member enters the Chamber along with two other members acting as "supporters" and bows to the Speaker. The Member and supporters then process to the Speaker's table, where the new Member takes the Oath of Allegiance or Solemn Affirmation. Then, the Member signs the Test Roll, at the top of which the Oath is written. Finally, the Member returns to sit along with the rest of his party.

External links

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht (German pronunciation: [kʁɪsˈtalnaχt]; English: "Crystal Night") or Reichskristallnacht [ˌʁaɪçs.kʁɪsˈtalnaχt], also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, Reichspogromnacht [ˌʁaɪçs.poˈɡʁoːmnaχt] or simply Pogromnacht [poˈɡʁoːmnaχt], and Novemberpogrome [noˈvɛmbɐpoɡʁoːmə], was a pogrom against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and Austria on 9–10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. German authorities looked on without intervening. The name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues had their windows smashed.

Estimates of the number of fatalities caused by the pogrom have varied. Early reporting estimated that 91 Jewish people were murdered during the attacks. Modern analysis of German scholarly sources by historians such as Richard J. Evans puts the number much higher. When deaths from post-arrest maltreatment and subsequent suicides are included, the death toll climbs into the hundreds.

Kristallnacht (album)

Kristallnacht is an album by John Zorn first released in 1993 on the Japanese Eva label and subsequently in 1995 on Zorn's own Tzadik Records label.

Background

Zorn's compositions for the album were based around the events before, during, and following the infamous Night of Broken Glass and represented his first musical exploration of his Jewish cultural heritage.

Zorn has stated:

It’s tied together with passion and research. Every Jew has to come to grips with the holocaust in some kind of way and that was my statement, that’s how I did it. I do not need to do it again (…) it meant a lot to me. It was like a whole lifetime of denying my Jewish heritage coming out in one piece -- John Zorn on BBC Jazz File (July 2000)

Reception

The Allmusic review by Joslyn Layne awarded the album 4½ stars stating "John Zorn has created a musical work that powerfully represents the different stages of this historical event... Zorn's forceful undertaking is realized through the expert and passionate musicianship". Guy Peters stated "Kristallnacht is an attempt at a musical recreation of one of the darkest chapters of the Nazi reign, with music ranging from fairly conventional roots music to extreme near-industrial chaos... Zorn has never aimed at major popularity, preferring total independence above all, and this is what makes an album like Kristallnacht possible... Luckily there are several tracks in which he finds a much more impressive and bearable balance between disturbing noise and affecting beauty, a combination that’s characteristic of several of his releases. Or maybe it’s about disturbing beauty and affecting noise, I’m not entirely sure".