Work/Life Balance: An Alternative View

The first thing to be noticed is they are NOT interconnected. Life can exist without work (as we understand it) being performed whereas work cannot be done unless life is present. The whole of non-human life has gone on & will go on without the human race & their much vaunted "Work."

Also the term "Work" cannot strictly be ascribed to activity undertaken at others behest for monetary or social benefits, which can more accurately be called "servile work" or more brutally "slavery." Only activity taken up by self-motivation for creative or altruistic purposes can be truly defined as (Creative) "Work."

The second thing to be noticed is that the (only?) goal of human life (in civilisation) has been to reduce the work involved in any activity. This has been especially evident during the Industrial Revolution, when steam 

power & later use of fossil fuels & electrical power has been to reduce human work or to put it more bluntly, drudgery. The classic example being the mass manufacture of pins quoted in Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations." Such being the case, elevating "hard work" to an almost divine virtue, is ridiculous.

If this has happened to a great extent in manual & even skilled labour (eg: robotics), AI (Artificial Intelligence) promises to take it even further into activity involving "human?" Intelligence. This leaves only truly "Creative" activity in human hands (minds?). This may include artistic activity & thinking up new fields like calculus, fractals, quantum theory & the like, which were so thought of in the first place.

Musical Interpretations of "Romeo & Juliet"

Hector Berlioz's "Dramatic Symphony" called "Romeo et Juliette" Op.17, (H 79) received its first performance on 24 November 1839. It has seven movements & lasts 90 minutes. Many movements were predominantly vocal so generally only the instrumental sections are played on their own.

Charles Gounod's opera "Romeo et Juliette"  (with a French libretto) was first produced on 27th April 1867. It was an instant success, giving 89 performances & well received by critics. It has four duets for the star-crossed couple.

Tchaikovsky's work on "Romeo & Juliet" was called a "Fantasy Overture" which had its premiere on 16th March 1870. It plays for about 20 minutes & purely instrumental. It is actually a symphonic poem in Sonata form with an introduction & an epilogue. The main love theme was used in many movies & TV serials.

Prokofiev's Ballet on "Romeo & Juliet" was composed in 1935 & premiered in 1938. It is more than two hours long & has 52 sections. It has 11 pages dedicated to its story & analysis in the giant exhaustive work "The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music" by Robert Philip.