William Burdon

William Burdon (1764–1818) was an English academic, mineowner and writer.

Life

Burdon was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the son of George Burdon, was educated at Newcastle grammar school, and went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1782. He graduated B.A. 1786, and M.A. 1788, when he was elected a Fellow of his college.

In the early times of the French Revolution, Burdon's views were republican, but he later modified them. He resigned his fellowship in 1806, on declining to take holy orders, and moved to London; it is thought he had suffered a crisis of faith. He was later an associate of George Cannon, and published in his Theological Enquirer as W.B.

A wealthy man, Burdon owned coalmines at Hartford, near Morpeth, where he lived for part of each year. Hartford Hall was built there for him around 1807 by William Stokoe. Alterations were later made to the house, about 1875.

Burdon died at his London house in Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, on 30 May 1818. He was a patron of the writer Hewson Clarke.

Burdon

Coordinates: 54°51′18″N 1°23′49″W / 54.855°N 1.397°W / 54.855; -1.397

Burdon is a village and civil parish in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is south of the city centre. The north-west of the parish includes part of the Doxford Park estate. It has a population of 971.

See also

References

External links

Media related to Burdon at Wikimedia Commons

Drone (music)

In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect, as is the archaic term burden (bourdon or burdon) such as, "the drone [pipe] of a bagpipe," the pedal point in an organ, or the lowest course of a lute. Burden also refers to a part of a song that is repeated at the end of each stanza, such as the chorus or refrain.

The term comes from the French bourdon, a staff; or a pipe made in the form of a staff. "The drone does not take its name from the bee. It is a far older word," sharing an Indo-European root ("dhran, to drone, to hum") with the Sanskrit "dhran", the Greek "thren-os", and the English "thrum", "drum", and "dream".

Musical effect

"Of all harmonic devices, it [a drone] is not only the simplest, but probably also the most fertile."

A drone effect can be achieved through a sustained sound or through repetition of a note. It most often establishes a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. A drone can be instrumental, vocal or both. Drone (both instrumental and vocal) can be placed in different ranges of the polyphonic texture: in the lowest part, in the highest part, or in the middle. The drone is most often placed upon the tonic or dominant (play "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with a drone on the  tonic , on the  dominant , or on  both . Compare with  changing chords .). A drone on the same pitch as a melodic note tends to both hide that note and to bring attention to it by increasing its importance.

Burdon (surname)

Burdon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

See also