Sentences

The Four Books of Sentences (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum) is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the sententiae or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.

Origin and characteristics

The Book of Sentences had its precursor in the glosses (an explanation or interpretation of a text, such as, e.g. the Corpus Iuris Civilis or biblical) by the masters who lectured using Saint Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate). A gloss might concern syntax or grammar, or it might be on some difficult point of doctrine. These glosses, however, were not continuous, rather being placed between the lines or in the margins of the biblical text itself. Lombard went a step further, collecting texts from various sources (such as Scripture, Augustine of Hippo, and other Church Fathers) and compiling them into one coherent whole. In order to accomplish this, he had to address two tasks: first, that of devising an order for his material, because systematic theology had not yet been constituted as a discipline, and secondly, finding ways to reconcile doctrinal differences among his sources. Peter Abelard's Sic et Non provided crucial inspiration for the latter tasks.

Sentences (composition)

Sentences is an oratorio for countertenor and orchestra based on the life and work of the logician Alan Turing. It was written by the American composer Nico Muhly with a libretto by Adam Gopnik. The work was commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia and was first performed on June 6, 2015 by the countertenor Iestyn Davies and the Britten Sinfonia under Muhly.

Composition

Sentences has a duration of roughly 30 minutes and is composed in six parts with a coda. Muhly described the inspiration for the piece in the score program notes, writing:

He added:

Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo countertenor and an orchestra comprising flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trombone, bass trombone, percussion, celesta, and strings.

Reception

Reviewing the world premiere, Tim Ashley of The Guardian lauded, "'No one wants a gay martyr oratorio,' Muhly has said. Indeed, the tone is alternately celebratory and sorrowful. His post-minimalist, asymmetric rhythms suggest the excitement of intellectual discovery. A quiet elegy for Morcom forms the work's touching kernel." Hannah Nepil of the Financial Times similarly wrote:

Sentence (linguistics)

A sentence is a linguistic unit consisting of one or more words that are grammatically linked. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command or suggestion. A sentence is a set of words that in principle tells a complete thought (although it may make little sense taken in isolation out of context); thus it may be a simple phrase, but it conveys enough meaning to imply a clause, even if it is not explicit. For example, "Two" as a sentence (in answer to the question "How many were there?") implies the clause "There were two". Typically a sentence contains a subject and predicate. A sentence can also be defined purely in orthographic terms, as a group of words starting with a capital letter and ending in a full stop. (However, this definition is useless for unwritten languages, or languages written in a system that does not employ both devices, or precise analogues thereof.) For instance, the opening of Charles Dickens's novel Bleak House begins with the following three sentences: