Artistic and cultural life in Britain is rather rich, like in most of the European countries. It has passed several main stages in its development.

The Saxon King Alfred encouraged the arts and culture. The chief debt owed to him by English literature is for his translations of and commentaries on Latin works. Art, culture and literature flourished during the Elizabethan age, during the reign of Elizabeth I; it was the period of English domination of the oceans and colonies, and, due to the strong political and economic position of the country, there were few obstacles in the way of the cultural development. This time is also famous for the fact that William Shakespeare lived and worked then.

The empire, which was very powerful under Queen Victoria, saw another cultural and artistic hey-day as a result of industrialisation and the expansion of international trade during the so-called industrial age.

However, German air raids caused much damage during the First World War and then during the Second World War. The madness of the wars briefly inhibited the development of British culture.

Immigrants who have arrived from all parts of the Commonwealth since 1945 have not only created a mixture of nations, but have also brought their cultures and habits with them. Monuments and traces of past greatness are everywhere. There are buildings of all styles and periods. A great number of museums and galleries display precious and interesting finds from all parts of the world and from all stage in the development of nature, man and art. London is one of the leading world centres for music, drama, opera and dance. Festivals held in towns and cities throughout the country attract much interest. Many British playwrights, composers, sculptors, painters, writers, actors, singers and dancers are known all over the world.

3.2. Music al culture of Great Britain

The people living in the British Isles are very fond of music, and it is quite natural that concerts of the leading symphony orchestras, numerous folk groups and pop music are very popular.

The Promenade concerts are probably the most famous. They were first held in 1840 in the Queen's Hall, and later were directed by Sir Henry Wood. They still con­tinue today in the Royal Albert Hall. They take place ev­ery night for about three months in the summer, and the programmes include new and contemporary works, as well as classics. Among them are symphonies and other pieces of music composed by Benjamin Britten, the famous English musician.

Usually, there is a short winter season lasting for about a fortnight. The audience may either listen to the music from a seat or from the ‘promenade’, where they can stand or stroll about, or, if there is room, sit down on the floor.

Concerts are rarely given out-of-doors today except for concerts by brass bands and military bands that play in the parks and at seaside resorts during the summer.

Folk music is still very much alive. There are many folk groups. Their harmony singing and good humour win them friends everywhere.

Rock and pop music is extremely popular, especially among younger people. In the 60s and 70s groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd became very popular and successful.

The Beatles, with their style of singing new and excit­ing, their wonderful sense of humour became the most successful pop group the world has ever known. Many of the famous songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney are still popular. Some of the more recent rock groups are Eurhythmics, Dire Straits, and Black Sabbath.

British groups often set new trends in music. New staff and styles continue to appear. One of the most popular contemporary musicians and composers is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musicals and rock operas by A. L. Webber have been a great success both in Britain and overseas.

The famous English composer of the 19th century was Arthur Sullivan. Together with William Gilbert, the writer of the texts, he created fourteen operettas of which eleven are regularly performed today. In these operettas the English so successfully laugh at themselves and at what they now call the Establishment that W. S. Gilbert and A. Sullivan will always be remembered.

Art Galleries

      Britain is probably one of the most rich European countries when cultural inheritance is considered. Along with Italy and Germany, it’s a home for many famous art galleries and museums.

If you stand in Trafalgar Square in London with your back to Nelson's Column, you will see a wide horizontal front in a classical style. It is the National Gallery. It has been in this building since 1838 which was built as the National Gallery to house the collection of Old Masters Paintings (38 paintings) offered to the nation by an English Private collector, Sir George Beamount.

Today the picture galleries of the National Gallery of Art exhibit works of all the Euro­pean schools of painting, which existed between the 13th and 19th centuries. The most famous works among them are ‘Venus and Cupid’ by Diego Velazquez, ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’ by Nicolas Poussin, ‘A Woman Bathing’ by Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt, ‘Lord Heathfield’ by Joshua Reynolds, ‘Mrs Siddons’ by Thomas Gainsborough and many others.

In 1897 the Tate Gallery was opened to house the more modern British paintings. Most of the National Gallery collections of British paintings were transferred to the Tate, and only a small collection of a few masterpieces is now exhib­ited at Trafalgar Square. Thus, the Tate Gallery exhibits a number of interesting collections of British and foreign modern painting and also modern sculpture.

The collection of Turner’s paintings at the Tate includes about 300 oils and 19,000 watercolours and drawings. He was the most traditional artist of his time as well as the most original: traditional in his devotion to the Old Masters and original in his creation of new styles. It is some­times said that he prepared the way for the Impressionists.

The modern collection includes the paintings of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon and Graham Sutherland, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton, the chief pioneers of pop art in Great Britain. Henry Moore is a famous British sculptor whose works are exhibited at the Tate too. One of the sculptor's masterpieces - the ‘Reclining Figure’ - is at fees Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.

3.4. The British Theatre

Britain is now one of the world's major theatres centres. Many British actors and actresses are known all over the world: Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Glenda Jackson, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and others.

Drama is so popular with the British people of all ages that there are several thousand amateur dramatic societies. Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. Some of them are privately owned. The tickets are not hard to get, but they are very expensive. Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. The National Theatre stages modern and classi­cal plays, the Royal Shakespeare Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries when it performs in Stratford-on-Avon, and modern plays in its two auditoria in the City's Barbican Centre. Shakespeare's Globe Playhouse, about which you have probably read, was reconstructed on its original site. Many other cities and large towns have at least one theatre.

There are many theatres and theatre companies for young people: the National Youth Theatre and the Young Vic Company in London, the Scottish Youth Theatre in Edinburgh. The National Youth Theatre, which stages classical plays mainly by Shakespeare and modern plays about youth, was on tour in Russian in 1989. The theatre-goers warmly received the production of Thomas Stearns Eliot’s play ‘Murder in the Cathedral’. Many famous English actors started their careers in the National Youth Theatre. Among them Timothy Dalton, the actor who did the part of Rochester in ‘ Jane Eyre’ shown on TV in our country

The British Education

       The British educational system incorporates a system of school education, higher education and a number of other less important particular subsystems. Here we will consider the basics of the British educational system.

The British Schools

Schooling in Great Britain is voluntary under the age of 5 but there is some free nursery school education before that age. Primary education takes place in infant schools for pupils ages from 5 to 7 years old and junior schools (from 8 to 11 years). Some areas have different systems in which middle schools replace junior schools and take pupils ages from 9 to 11 years. Secondary education has been available in Britain since 1944. It is compulsory up to the age of 16, and pupils can stay at school voluntarily up to three years longer.

In 1965 non-selective comprehensive schools were introduced. Most local education authorities were have now completely changed over to comprehensive schooling.

At the age of 16 pupils take school-leaving examinations in several subjects at the Ordinary level. The exam used to be conducted by eight independent examining boards, most of them connected with the university. This examination could also be taken by candidates at a further education establishment. This exam was called the General Certificate of Education (GCE). Pupils of comprehensive school had taken the examination called the Certificate of Secondary Education either with or instead of the GCE.

A GCE of Advanced (“A”) level was taken two years after the Ordinary level exam. It was the standard for entrance to university and to many forms of professional training. In 1988 both examinations were replaced by the more or less uniform General Certificate of Secondary Education.

The private sector is running parallel to the state system of education. There are over 2500 fee-charging independent schools in GB. Most private schools are single-sex until the age of 16. More and more parents seem prepared to take on the formidable extra cost of the education. The reason is the believe that social advantages are gained from attending a certain school. The most expansive day or boarding schools in Britain are exclusive public schools like Eton college for boys and St. James’ school for girls.