Musicians in Focus

Maestro He Wu-qi: His Contributions to Chinese Classical Music From 1926-1968

2011-07-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

He Wu-qi was well-known in the music circle during the 1950s. His major contribution to music culture was the establishment of the 20th Century classical music of China on Chinese instruments. In 1951 - 1952, He Wu-qi established The First National Orchestra - the Shanghai Traditional Orchestra, for Modern China. Lu Chun-ling was one of the first masters to join He Wu-qi. He Wu-qi worked tirelessly on orchestration to feature Lu as soloist in concertos. Two of the most popular concertos they both worked on are "Galloping on the Grassland" and "Past and the Present". The Yuan, the Ming and the Qing dynasties did not have their own classical Chinese music unlike the musical Jin dynasty (the time of Xie An), so He Wu-qi and Shang Yi invented their own classical music and classical dance music. He Wu-qi arranged "The Moon on High" and Zhou Hao and Ma Shenglong arranged traditional "Processional" and "Moderately Embellished Six-Measures" for the Chinese orchestra. He Wu-qi and his colleagues composed "Galloping on the Grassland", "Ma An Mountain Overture," "Fishing Song of the East China Sea," and others.

The creativity and passion for Chinese classical music of He Wu-qi was unparalleled. His student Ma Shenglong played his brilliant pipa in a re-orchestrated version of "Flower and Moon over the Spring River" in a series of 1959 concerts in Beijing. All the Beijing leaders widely admired the musical passion of He Wu-qi and Ma Shenglong.

In the 1960s up to the present, Shen Sinyan further propagated "The Moon on High," "Processional," "Moderately Embellished Six-Measures," "Galloping on the Grassland," "MaAn Mountain Overture," "Fishing Song of the East China Sea," "Bengawan Solo," "General's Order" and Shang Yi's "Bow Dance," "Overture to Dagger Society," and other pieces in the United States. In 2011, He Wu-qi's National Orchestra for Modern China is on its sixtieth year. He Wu-qi did not live to witness the discovery of the musical treasures of JiaHu, Lady Hao, YuYang and SuiXian and the large volume of integrated scientific and musical research related to them, but He Wu-qi would have certainly smiled to the intonation of the bowed five-stringed zhu of YuYang Princess 2000 years ago during the Western Han Dynasty and the movie Lady Hao (3300 years ago, late Shang Dynasty

Exactly fifty years ago (May and June, 1960), the largest and the most passionate Chinese classical repertoire were recorded for the world by He Wu-qi:

"Fishing Song of the East China Sea"

"The Moon on High”

"Flower and Moon over the Spring River

References:

Pan, FangSheng and Shao Ying, Maestro He Wu-qi (1926-1968), Chinese Music, 33, 16 (2010).

Shen, Sin-yan, The Shanghai Traditional Orchestra and He Wu-qi, Chinese Music, 5, 43 (1982).

Shen, Sin-yan, On the Acoustical Space of the Chinese Orchestra (in Chinese), People's Music, 1989, No. 2, 2 (1989). Shen, Sin-yan, Resonances of Shanghai - The Shanghai Traditional Orchestra, 33, 18 (2010).

The Russian Five of Classical Music

2011-07-12T03:08:00.000-07:00

In the latter part of the nineteenth century five Russian composers developed a musical style based on the melodies, rhythms, and harmonies of Russian folk music.

Mily Balakirev Alexander Borodin
The Russian Five is composed of a special group of Russian composers namely Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, sometimes known as “The Mighty Five” or “The Five.” In the latter part of the nineteenth century they developed a musical style based on the melodies, rhythms, and harmonies of Russian folk music. Mily Balakirev (1837-1910) was the leader and the only thoroughly trained musician of the group. Arriving in St. Petersburg from the provinces, where he had come to know Russian folk music intimately, Balakirev at the age of eighteen set about to preach the nationalist ideals that were inspiring Michael Glinka (1804-57) and Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813-69) to compose operas based on Russian subject matter.
Russian musical life had been dominated until the middle of the nineteenth century by western European composers and native composers trained in the western European style. Balakirev, fired with tremendous energy and an almost fanatical zeal, attracted the four other talented young men and influenced them with his own enthusiasm.

Cesar Cui
Alexander Borodin (1833-87) was one of the leading chemists of his day. Cesar Cui (1835-1918), trained as a military engineer, became a professor at the Russian Artillery School and Military College. Modest Mussorgsky (1839-81) was a cavalryman and civil-service employee. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) was a naval officer until, in his late twenties, he chose music as his career.

Modest Mussorgsky
“The Five” met regularly, performing and discussing both the musical classics and the new music of the Romantic composers. They also brought in their compositions—whatever they happened to be writing—for criticism, suggestions, and encouragement. Basing their works on Russian folk songs and exotic Asian melodic ideas, “The Five” were forced to invent a harmonic style that fitted the modal patterns of the melodies; a type of orchestration colorful enough to portray the vivid scenes they had in mind; and musical forms in which the song-phrase, rather than the motive, was the basic building block.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Somewhat narrow in their outlook, “The Five” sneered at the less nationalistic compositions of Anton Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky. These men were great enough to ignore the sneers of “The Five” and even to encourage performances of their music.
Once having established the principles of what they felt to be truly Russian music, the members of “The Five” quickly asserted their individualities. Balakirev concentrated on

Bruno Mars: Debut Album Review

2011-03-22T00:52:00.000-07:00

Bruno Mars seems to have appeared on the music scene over night. His name and songs are floating everywhere. The television show "Glee" has even covered two of his songs already which usually only pays tribute to more established artists. "Doo-Woops and Hooligans" is his debut album in which he already has comparisions to Michael Jackson to Jason Mraz.

Grenade is a catchy song with a pounding beat about a bad break up. It is a preteen favorite that parents will find themselves singing along as well. Break-up songs are good to start with because everyone can reach feelings of anger or pain but he maintains that edge while it is still fun to sing to.

Read more about Bruno Mars: Bruno Mars: Debut Album Review

Umm Kulthum: Legend of the East

2011-03-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

Umm Kalthoum (Arabic: أم كلثوم) (1904–1975), an Egyptian singer and musician, was the most famous singer in the Arab world in 20th century. She was born to a modest family in one of Egypt’s villages, Senbellawein, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. She was influenced by her father, an imam (Koran reader), who taught her the instruction of Islam as well as trained her to recite it perfectly. Umm Kalthoum singing talent appeared at a very young age. When she was twelve years old, she had the chance to sing in public, and at the age of sixteen she was recognized by a famous singer, who invited her to go to Cairo, where her talent could be explored and appreciated.

Read more: Umm Kulthum: Legend of the East

Facts About Israel Kamakawiwoole Hawaiian Music: Over the Rainbow

2011-02-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

"Israel Kamakawiwo’ole" was Born in Honolulu Hawaii in 1959 and spent the first five years of his life with his Grandfather, ( "Tutu Kane" in Hawaiian ) on the Hawaiian island of Niihau. In 1964 he returned to the island of Oahu to live with his immediate family and learned the importance of his Hawaiian language and heritage. IZ was a native Hawaiian, who upon his death in 1997, at the age of 38, was only the second citizen to receive the honor of having his body lay in state at the capitol building in Honolulu Hawaii. Israel IZ Kamakawiwoole is remembered fondly in Hawaii and throughout his worldwide fan base as much more than just a Hawaiian singer, song writer and composer. IZ sings original Contemporary Hawaiian Music in the native Hawaiian tongue and performs his beautiful ukulele songs using his solo tenor ukulele to accompany the gentle purity of his golden smooth and passionate voice which covers an extraordinary range of vocal octaves.

Read more: Facts About Israel Kamakawiwoole Hawaiian Music over the Rainbow

Béla Bartók: A Great Hungarian Composer

2011-02-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

(March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945)
Béla Bartók was an outstanding composer of the modern age who wrote works for string quartets, large orchestras, and series of compositions for use of young musicians and students of music. At the age of six, he began to study music in his native Hungary. He was already composing short piano pieces at the age of nine. He further continued his music studies at the Royal Academy in Budapest, and returned in 1907 as one of its youngest professors in piano.
Upon visiting a friend living in a far off village, Bartók heard a kind of Hungarian music which eventually influenced his musical compositional style for the rest of his musical career. His fellow composer, Zoltan Kodaly, also admired this type of music. They both realized that what they were actually hearing as Hungarian music in the city was actually gypsy music, a different dimension of Hungarian, or Magyar, folk music, which they can use and derive inspiration from.

Read more: Béla Bartók: A Great Hungarian Composer

Bela Bartok: An Analysis of His Music
The Music of Bela Bartok: A Study of Tonality and Progression in Twentieth-Century Music
Béla Bartók - Mikrokosmos Volume 1 (Blue) Songbook

Chick Corea

2010-07-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

by Scott Yanow
Chick Corea has been one of the most significant jazzmen since the '60s. Not content at any time to rest on his laurels, Corea has been involved in quite a few important musical projects, and his musical curiosity has never dimmed. A masterful pianist who, along with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, was one of the top stylists to emerge after Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner, Corea is also one of the few electric keyboardists to be quite individual and recognizable on synthesizers. In addition, he has composed several jazz standards, including "Spain," "La Fiesta," and "Windows."

Corea began playing piano when he was four and, early on, Horace Silver and Bud Powell were influences. He picked up important experience playing with the bands of Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo (1962-1963), Blue Mitchell (1964-1966), Herbie Mann, and Stan Getz. He made his recording debut as a leader with 1966's Tones for Joan's Bones, and his 1968 trio set (with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes) Now He Sings, Now He Sobs is considered a classic. After a short stint with Sarah Vaughan, Corea joined Miles Davis as Herbie Hancock's gradual replacement, staying with Davis during a very important transitional period (1968-1970). He was persuaded by the trumpeter to start playing electric piano, and was on such significant albums as Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and Miles Davis at the Fillmore. When he left Davis, Corea at first chose to play avant-garde acoustic jazz in Circle, a quartet with Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland, and Barry Altschul. But at the end of 1971, he changed directions again.

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Julian Bream: An Ambassador of the Classical Guitar

2010-03-17T01:10:00.000-07:00

Julian Bream is one of the most famous classical guitarists of the twentieth century and he has achieved worldwide fame not only for the guitar but also for his work with the Renaissance Lute. He is considered to be one of the most important ambassadors of the classical guitar and has formed a solid bridge between the music of the past with the technology of today. He helped usher the classical guitar into the modern age.

He was born in 1933 and took up the classical guitar on his eleventh birthday when he received one as a present. He was already an accomplished musician having studied piano and cello but with the classical guitar and lute he excelled.

Significant Contributions

In 1960 he formed a group called the Julian Bream Consort. It was an Elizabethan period ensemble for which Bream played the lute. This Consort brought about a revival in interest of the Elizabethan era which is considered to be a period of time that was the absolute pinnacle of the English Renaissance. His work with this group earned him a Grammy award for best chamber music performance. This award would be the first of many awards which include three more Grammy awards.

One of the most important contributions he made to the world of the classical guitar was his development of a complete repertoire for performance. His transcriptions of works for guitar and lute span five centuries and he has particularly focused on lute works from the Elizabethan era and Spanish guitar works from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has also had many composers create works specifically for him.

Ambassador to the media of the Twentieth Century

Bream has embraced television and radio and used these media to bring classical guitar and lute to a mass audience. His 2003 DVD video profile Julian Bream: My Life in Music, which is a three hour long piece, includes interviews and performances and is considered to be one of the finest contributions ever made to the world of Classical Guitar. He has also created a British television series entitled Guitarra! It charts a musical journey across Spain.

Learn More about Him

If you are looking to read more about him there is a newly published book called The Art of Julian Bream. If you are looking to experience some of his music you might want to start with his collaborative work with John Williams. They are a two volume set entitled Together and Together Again. If you want a more encompassing view of his music as it spans the decades he has a two volume CD set called The Ultimate Guitar Collection. The first CD is a compilation of many of his transcriptions and the second CD focuses on his works for Spanish guitar.

Julian Bream is one of the greatest classical of the modern day. His tireless performance and work with the guitar has spanned many decades of personal performance and many centuries of music. He has bridged the gap between the past and the future by giving us an enormous repertoire of music in just about every modern mode of media from CD to television and film. And it is his particular gift for transcription and interpretation that has enabled him to bring five centuries of plucked instrument music into the modern world.

by Will Kalif
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Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky

2009-07-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

ēˈgər fyôˈdərôˌvyĭch strəvĭnˈskē, 1882–1971, Russian-American composer. Considered by many the greatest and most versatile composer of the 20th cent., Stravinsky helped to revolutionize modern music.

Stravinsky's father, an actor and singer in St. Petersburg, had him educated for the law. Music was only an avocation for Stravinsky until his meeting in 1902 with Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom he studied formally from 1907 to 1908. Stravinsky's First Symphony in E Flat Major (1907) is pervaded by the influence of Rimsky-Korsakov's nationalistic style. The work of Stravinsky interested the ballet impressario Sergei Diaghilev, and Stravinsky's first strikingly original compositions—L'Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird, 1910) and Petrouchka (1911)—were written for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in Paris.

In the ballet Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring, 1913) he departed radically from musical tradition by using irregular, primitive rhythms and harsh dissonances. The audience at the premiere of the ballet reacted with riotous disfavor. However, in the following year the work was performed by a symphony orchestra, and ever since it has been recognized as a landmark and masterpiece of modern music.

At the beginning of World War I, Stravinsky moved to Switzerland, where he composed several works based on Russian themes, including the ballet Les Noces (The Wedding, 1923). Influenced by 18th-century music, he embarked on an austere, neoclassical style in such works as the poetic dance-drama Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale, 1918), the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927; text by Jean Cocteau after Sophocles), and the choral composition Symphonie de psaumes (Symphony of Psalms, 1930).

In the 1930s, Stravinsky toured throughout Europe and the United States as a pianist and conductor of his own works. He became a French citizen in 1934, but five years later he moved to the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1945. Compositions of the 1940s include such diverse works as the Ebony Concerto (1946) for clarinet and swing band; the Third Symphony (1946) in three movements; the ballet Orpheus (1948); and a mass (1948) for voices and double wind quintet.

After composing the opera The Rake's Progress (1951; inspired by Hogarth's engravings, with libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman), Stravinsky turned to experiments with serial techniques (see serial music). In Cantata (1952) the new technique was evident, and in the chamber piece Septet (1953) he made the full transition to serialism. He continued to compose in this exacting style in the abstract ballet Agon (1957) and in Threni (1958), a work for voices and orchestra. His creative originality was undiminished in his late works, which display remarkable freshness, meticulous craftsmanship, and an experimental quality.

Stravinsky's influence on 20th-century music is immeasurable. He revitalized the rhythms of European music and achieved entirely new sonorities and blends of orchestral colors. A series of lectures he delivered at Harvard were published as Poétique musicale (1942, tr. Poetics of Music, 1948).

Bibliography

See his autobiography Chronicles of My Life (1935, tr. 1936); his Memories and CommentariesExpositions and Developments (1962), and Dialogues and a Diary (1963), all three written with R. Craft. See also biographies by R. Siohan (1959, tr. 1966), A. Dobrin (1970), P. Horgan (1972), R. Craft (1972), L. Libman (1972), and S. Walsh (1999); studies by J. Pasler (1986), P. van den Toorn (1987), S. Walsh (1988), and C. M. Joseph (2001 and 2002). (1960),

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Gilberto Santa Rosa -. The Salsa Gentleman

2009-07-06T04:53:00.000-07:00

"El Caballero de la Salsa" was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1962. For 12 years an organized group of fans in its infancy in the genre of tropical music. Two years later received master's Mario Ortiz the first opportunity to record professionally. Entering the music scene fully integrated professional orchestra La Grande for two years. There he met the master Elias Lopez, who helped him as a polished performer and with whom he went as a singer on recordings of other exponents of Afro-Caribbean song.

In 1980 you have an opportunity to participate in the recording "Homenaje a Eddie Palmieri" Puerto Rico with the All Star This experience is integrated into the popular Tommy Olivencia orchestra with whom he made several recordings to pass Willie Rosario's orchestra , with whom he recorded six additional disks.
In his 24 years made his debut as soloist and conductor with the support of the company's Combo Records maestro Rafael Ithier and producer Ralph Cartagena. Recorded four LP's Gilbertito was reaffirmed as one of the most important promises of the sauce to a century.

In 1990, he made his theatrical debut in "The couple uneven" with Rafa and Luis Muñiz Vigoreaux, son. Also, debuting in the Fine Arts Center in a concert near the Nicaraguan Luis Enrique, which confirmed its enormous roots and its gift to the Sone.
It was at that time it became part of the CBS family record, now known as Sony Discos. His first production for this stamp was "Viewpoint" in 1990, which received Platinum and Gold Record. But then it followed the successful launches of new products were like "Perspective" (1991), "A one time two times" (a tribute to Tito Rodriguez released in 1992), "Born Here" (1993), "Going Wind (1994), "The man and his music, production in 1995 reflects the live presentation of the artist at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York," Essence "(1996) and" De corazón "(1997).

His music and his style came to Japan, which he visited as a musical ambassador of Puerto Rico in 1995 and who managed to break the language barriers, in interpreting "Facing the Wind" in the difficult Japanese language.

Since then the international calling market making it one of the artists of the genre of tropical increased demand abroad. Proof of this, successful presentations at the First Festival "President" in Dominican Republic, the Lincon Center in New York with Andy Montañez in July 1997, at the Teatro Anayansi in Panama in September 1997 and the Universal Amphitheater Hollywood with Olga Tañon.

His career was very successful in founding the classical genre and tropical in the historic concert "Symphonic Salsa," presented at the Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan. Accompanied by the Symphonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico, its production was made in the United States, that's how broke box office records at the Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas in February 1998. That historic moment, which was translated into compact, was recognized by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico as one of the most important recordings of the year.

With the arrival of 2000 "Symphonic Salsa" is returned to Venezuela in Maracaibo to replenish their triumphant concert. With a sold as a whole, the singer with the accompaniment of the Orquestra Sinfónica de Maracaibo. There in the cradle of the bagpipes, Gilberto Santa Rosa shared the stage with one of the most important figures of this genre, Neguito. Act which completed its work in Caracas as the illustrious Simon Diaz rose to the dais at the Teatro Teresa Carreño to reinforce the interpretation of the classic "old horse".

The release of her album "Expression" strengthened the presence of Gilberto in the international music market. Certainly their offensive burst to the sound of "Let wanting." But the theme was "Somebody tell me," original Alfanno Omar, who held him for several weeks at the top of the Billboard lists. Similarly "Expression" was chosen by the National Foundation for Popular Culture as one of the 20 most outstanding productions of 1999.

In promotion for this album Gilberto went first to Buenos Aires while her concert at the Clemente Coliseum in San Juan was an artistic success.

By: Freshoutsourcing
Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

Tego Calderon - The Reggaeton King

2009-07-06T04:49:00.000-07:00

(Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1972) Puerto Rican singer and composer, one of the reggaeton and Latin hip-hop highlights of the current scene.

On February 1, 1972 born in a wealthy family from the town of Santurce Tego Calderón. Over the years, that child would become one of the most famous reggaeton singers and music of his native country, Puerto Rico. His compositions have achieved considerable success in large part because they show a significant influence of salsa and rhythms characteristic of Antillean music. No doubt that is the result of his great admiration for the idol to generations of Latinos, Ismael Rivera.

The racism and life on the street are two of the themes which revolve around the compositions of Tego Calderón. African tradition of his people and his experience in prison will have made enough to reflect their feelings in many of their songs and dedicate his efforts to talk to young people about the evil that can be found on the street.

Tego Calderón's life can be defined as traveling as soon moved his family and he spent his youth first in Rio Grande, another city of Puerto Rico. It was precisely in those years when his parents took him to music lessons, which helped him to train in this area. He later moved to all United States.

Although the music did not fail to be present in your life at any time since teenager Tego Calderón was dedicated to many different jobs to survive. The now famous performer was still very young when he began to take its first steps as a percussionist music: at the time was engaged to play the drums in the group Escolquer. His artistic interests changed in 1988, while living in Miami. There he discovered the rap and started to penetrate this world.

The career of this singer known for its aesthetic Afro started when he participated in the recording Crazy Boricua 2. Then go through a time of silence, until the rapper Eddie Dee helped him back to sing. The result of this collaboration are the themes that appear in terror of lyric and Boricuas NY.

Tego Calderón began to have serious problems when he decided to return home. He had no luck in his facet as a musician and was doomed to delinquency. It was at that time when the singer ended up in Puerto Rico prison after being tried for possession of weapons. Far from being the start of its decline, this meant their recovery phase as an artist.

In 2002, after leaving prison, launched under the direction of the White Lion Records label debut album, El Abayarde. This album was a resounding success which has sold over 300,000 copies and led to Tego Calderón to start a spiral of tours, collaborations and concerts. Its impact was such that even then many fans know him as El Abayarde.

All titles of this work is true hits: The Abayarde, Cambumbo, Your eyes, Plant and Bonsai flag, among others. Later, on July 1 of 2003, the record company RCA began to distribute copies of Abayarde in various locations in the United States. Achieved in this country the same success as in Puerto Rico and this time was even nominated for the Latin Grammys. In addition to performing all of these recordings Tego Calderón has taken part in the film 45 and has had the privilege of working with prestigious musicians from different genres, such as Angel "cachet" Maldonado and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

In 2004 participated in a compilation of Latin hip-hop published under the title The Enemy of Guasíbiri and two years later, after signing a contract with the multinational Atlantic Records, released his second album: The Underdog / El underestimated. The new work rhythms merged from various sources (pump, reggae, blues, Cuban rumba and salsa NY) and maintained its lyrical quality and direct contact with the street. This album was followed Abayarde The counter-attack (2007), in a line similar to the one above, which received a Grammy nomination for 2008.

By: Freshoutsourcing
Article Source: http://www.bigfreearticles.com

David Foster - Award-winning Musician And Composer

2009-07-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

Born November 1st, 1949, David Foster is an award winning producer, composer and musical arranger, and has won 14 Grammy awards – and been nominated for 42 – over the course of his career. As a member of the musical group Skylark during the 70s, Foster gained the opportunity to work closely with many high-level celebrities and musicians, including: John Lennon, Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Andrea Bocelli, Madonna, Gordon Lightfoot, and many, many more!

Foster was also asked to compose the score for the film St. Elmo’s Fire, and gained several additional hit singles off the movie’s soundtrack release. Through his own record label, Foster produced debut albums for several well-known musical artists who have since moved onward to very lucrative musical careers, such as: Josh Groban, The Corrs, and Michael Buble. His label is known as 143 Records.

Foster was married in 1991 to Linda Thompson, and although they are no longer together, Foster and Thompson worked together on several pieces such as the song “I Have Nothing” from the soundtrack to The Bodyguard in 1992. This song was nominated for both a Grammy and an Academy Award, and in 1996, Foster’s composition “The Power of the Dream” with Kenneth Edmonds became the official theme song for that summer’s Olympics.

As an attempt to get into television, Foster and his two step-sons began a reality TV show called The Princes of Malibu, where Foster played himself, trying to convince his sons to shape up and make their own way in the world. The show failed, and was canceled soon after its debut. More recently, Foster was featured as a guest on the television reality show American Idol, as a mentor to competitors. He was also a judge on the show Nashville Star, as well as Celebrity Duets, a show created and produced for Fox-TV.

By: Gabriel Adams

The Life of Memphis Musician B.B. King

2009-07-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

B.B. King is an American blues guitarist and was born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925. His name is the most recognizable in the blues genre and he is arguably one of the most respected and admired blues guitarists of all time. He began his career as a Memphis musician in Tennessee in 1946.

B.B. King only worked as a Memphis musician for a few months and after struggling to make it he returned to Mississippi. King decided that it would be easier to go back to Mississippi and spend a few years getting prepared for the scene as a Memphis musician because he had learned quickly that it was much different then what he was used to. It did not take too long for him though because he ended up returning to Memphis only two years later. His very first job as a working Memphis musician was at the R&B local radio station WDIA as a singer. By 1949, he had begun to record songs for the RPM Records label that was based out of Los Angeles. B.B. King recorded most of his early songs with producer Sam Phillips who later became the founder of Sun Records. As a Memphis musician, King had a myriad of jobs in the area and one of them was working as a disc jockey which is where he got his nickname Beale Street Blues Boy. This nickname was later shortened to B.B. and is still what he goes by today.

Throughout the 1950s, B.B. King became on of the most important names in all of R&B music with hits like You Know I Love You, Woke Up This Morning, Please Love me, When My Heart Beats Like a Hammer, Whole Lotta Love, You Upset Me Baby, Every Day I Have the Blues, Bad Luck, Ten Long Years and Sweet Little Angel. By 1962, King was very popular and landed a music contract with ABC Paramount Records which later became part of MCA Records. Now, he works on his current label, Geffen Records, which is what became of MCA Records.

B.B. King has a lot of success outside of the blues market as well, but it was definitely his time working as a Memphis musician that claimed him his fame. This popularity was what allowed King to go into the mainstream parts of the music scene in the 1980s all the way through to today.

By: Phoenix Delray

Edvard Grieg

2009-06-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen, on the west coast of Norway, in 1843. He showed a strong interest in music at a very early age, and after encouragement from the violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810 -1880) was sent to the Conservatory in Leipzig at the age of fifteen to receive his musical education. There he had fundamental and solid musical training, and through the city's flourishing musical life, received impressions and heard music which would come to leave its stamp on him for the rest of his life - for better or for worse. Even though he severely criticized the Leipzig Conservatory, especially towards the end of his life, in reality his exceptional gifts were recognised, and one sees in his sketchbooks of the Leipzig period that he had the freedom to experiment as well. He had no good reason to criticize the conservatory, nor his teachers, for poor teaching or a lack of understanding.

From Leipzig Grieg travelled to Copenhagen, bringing with him the solid musical training he had acquired, and there soon became known as a promising young composer. It was not long before he carne under the influence of Rikard Nordraak, whose glowing enthusiasm and unshakeable belief that the key to a successful future for Norwegian music lay in nationalism, in the uniquely Norwegian, the music of the people - folk-songs - came to play a decisive role in Grieg's development as a composer. Nordraak's influence is most obvious in the Humoresques for piano, Op. 6, which was considered a turning-point in Grieg's career as a composer.

In the autumn of 1866, Grieg settled in Christiania (Oslo). In 1874 Norway's capital was the centre for his activities. During this time he also wrote the majority of the works which laid the foundation for his steadily increasing fame. In spite of his poor health -he had had a defective lung ever since childhood -he was constantly on concert-tour as a pianist or as a conductor, always with his own works on the programme. After his last concert-tour in 1907, he wrote to his friend Frants Beyer:

This Tour has been strange. The Audiences have been on my Side. In Germany I have received more ac claim for my ART than ever before. But the Critics both in Munich and in Berlin have let me know in no uncertain terms, that they think I am a dead Man. That is my punishment for my lack of Productivity in these last Years, which my wretched physical condition has caused. It is a hard and undeserved Punishment -but I comfort myself with the thought that it is not the Critics, who govern the world. (Letter to Frants Beyer, 5th March, 1907)

More clearly than anything else, this letter shows a trend which Grieg experienced in his later years in relation to his music. It was also a development which would continue internationally until long after his death. Within the musical "establishment", there were increasing numbers of people who were gradually becoming more critical of Grieg's music and of his abilities and talent as a composer. In the meantime his popularity among music-loving audiences increased in inverse proportion. Grieg enjoyed some of his greatest popularity with the general public during the last years of his life, when, in spite of his greatly weakened health, he was continually on tour, in popular demand from concert-managers all over the world. The critics, however, were sceptical and condescending, and there is no doubt that Grieg felt hurt by their attitude:

I cannot be blamed if my music is played in third-rate hotels and by school-girls. I could not have created my music any other way, even though I did not have my audience in mind at the time. I guess this popularity is all right, hut it is dearly bought. My reputation as a composer is suffering because of it, and the criticism is disparaging.'

From early on Grieg was labelled a composer of small forms. His indisputable lyrical ability and talent were never doubted, but apart from some very few works such as the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, and the String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27, the Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7, the three Violin Sonatas, Op. 8 in F major, Op. 13 in G major and Op. 45 in C minor, and the Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36, he was not able, in spite of his many desperate attempts to do so, to feel completely at home with more extended ihUSicil:1 forms. He felt that this was a short-coming, and unfairly blamed his education at the Leipzig Conservatory. Nevertheless, he also showed that he could master these f6rMs when on rare occasions he found raw musical material that could be reworked and treated within the traditional structure of sonata-form. The only problem was that the musical material to which he felt closest and that most fascinated him, was of another quality and character.

Grieg's encounter with Norwegian folk-music, and his assimilation of essential features from this music, released certain aspects of his own creativity that soon led to his music being, for many, identified with folk-music. By some he was considered more or less simply an arranger of folk-music, and that hurt him very deeply:

In my Op. 17 and Op. 66, I have arranged folk-songs for the piano, in Op. 30, I have freely rendered folk-ballads for the male voice. In three or four of my remaining works, I have attempted to use Norwegian songs thematically. And since I have published up to seventy works by now, I should be allowed to say that nothing is more incorrect than the claim from German critics that my so-called originality is limited to my borrowing from folk-music. It is quite another thing if a nationalistic spirit, which has been expressed through folk-music since ancient times, hovers over my original creative works.'

Much instrumental Norwegian folk-music is built from small melodic themes, units which are repeated with small variations in appoggialuras and sometimes with rhythmic displacements. Sections are then joined together to form larger units. We seldom find any true development as it is understood in traditional classical music. It gradually became clear to Grieg that he felt the greatest affinity with this music. That is why it also became so difficult to distinguish between what in Grieg's works came originally from folk-music, and what was his own composition. This must also have been especially difficult for foreign critics and audiences.

In Grieg's music there are two features which particularly attract our attention, rhythm and harmony. In many instances Grieg's rhythm in his piano compositions is taken from the folk-dance, as well as from compositions which are not based upon folk-music. He placed great emphasis on the rhythmic element, and considered it paramount in the presentation of his works which have dance as the point of departure. He was of the opinion that in order to be able to play one of his compositions, one had to know and feel the dance rhythm. Characteristic of his understanding of the rhythmic element is the story about the meeting between Grieg and Ravel in Paris, in 1894, at the home of William Molard:

While the bright-eyed company discussed music, Ravel quietly went over to Molard's piano and began to play one of the master's Norwegian Dances. Grieg listened with a smile, but then began to show signs of impatience, suddenly getting up and saying sharply: "No, young man, not like that at al1. Much more rhythm. It' s a folk-dance, a peasant dance. You should see the peasants at home, with a fiddler stamping in time with music. Play it again! And while Ravel played, the little man jumped up and skipped about the room to the astonishment of the company.'

Harmony is at the heart of his work. Often it is the harmony itself which is the basis of the composition. Grieg pointed this out emphatically in a letter to his biographer, Henry T. Finck:

The realm of harmony, has always been my dream world, and my relationship to this harmonious way of feeling and the Norwegian Folk-songs has been a mystery even for me. 1 have I understood that the secret depth one finds in our Folk-songs is basica/1y owing to the richness of their untold harmonic possibilities. In my reworking of the Folk-songs Op. 66, but also I elsewhere, l have attempted to express my interpretation of the hidden harmonies in our Folk- I songs.'

Grieg's interest in harmony had become obvious to others already while he was at the Conservatory. At that time it was first and foremost a desire to experiment. Later harmony became his way of bringing forth the very "soul" of the folk-tunes. Among other things, he deliberately used unfamiliar, "radical" chord progressions in order to suggest the vague tonality (sotto voce half tones, vague thirds) such as one finds in many of the songs, a melodic characteristic which would otherwise be impossible from an instrument like the piano.

Grieg's instrument was primarily the piano. From his earliest years to the concert-tour in the year he died, he performed as a pianist his own compositions. He was not a virtuoso, but his intimate familiarity with the piano allowed him to present his own music in such a way as to leave a deep and lasting impression upon everyone who heard him play. According to contemporary reports he had a marveilous ability to bring out the best, the very essence, of his own piano pieces. When he took his place on the platform, the atmosphere became electric, and the critics emphasized his refined touch, tone quality, and the complete absence of superficial gestures.

Grieg's music contributed very modestly to the development of piano technique. Most of his piano pieces are technically speaking within the abilities of competent amateurs. This, together with musical characteristics which seem to have a stimulating and refreshing effect, contributed to the fact that he was one of the most played, and respected composers in Europe-popular, if not with the critics, then at least with the majority of those interested in music.

Grieg's compositions were written in the epoch of the piano. Music and piano-playing in the average home were at a peak during the last half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of this century. Cyril Ehrlich has calculated that in 1910 alone more than 600,000 pianos were produced. To know how to play the piano was part of the general education in most middle-class families, especially for girls. No wonder the music publishers C. F. Peters hoisted the flag in London and Frankfurt every time Grieg delivered a manuscript for a new album of piano pieces. It is also understandable that Grieg sometimes experienced the demand for new piano pieces as a strain. There were also times when he felt that the production of piano pieces was a sort of bribe, or indulgence, to make sure that the publishing-house issued his other works as well. Nevertheless, in general, Grieg had an excellent relationship with his publisher in Leipzig. He was particularly dose to Dr Max Abraham (1831 - 1900), who became editor at Peters in 1863. This is dearly shown by the abundant correspondence that has been preserved. Verlagsbuchhandlung C. F. Peters Bureau de Musique, was the full name of the publishing- house that acted as Grieg's exclusive publisher from 1890 and agreed to pay him 4000 Marks every year, a sum which was adjusted to 6000 Marks in 1901. In return, Grieg was to offer Peters all of his future compositions with rights, für allen Länder (for all countries), for a certain fee.

Grieg experienced a great deal of adversity during certain periods of his life, but he also had more success than most other composer colleagues of his time. Nevertheless he never lost the feelings of unrest, of not having developed his talent to the full degree, of having left something undone, something unfulfilled within himself. Throughout his life, Grieg was a restless soul. He never felt completely at peace anywhere. When he was in Bergen, he longed for Olristiania, and when he was there he longed for Copenhagen and the continent. When he was abroad, he longed to be back home, but no sooner had he arrived in Bergen than he felt oppressed and restless and wanted to go off again. There were perhaps only two places where he really felt at home and satisfied, on the concert- platform and in the Norwegian mountains, especially Jotunheimen. When he was in the presence of his audience or experiencing the powerful and free nature of the western part of Norway, he felt whole and complete.

The incidenta1 music for Sigurd Jorsalfar, which Grieg wrote in 1872 for the historica1 drama by Bjemsteme Bjornson (1832-1910) was originally for orchestra and consisted of five numbers. Three of these rearranged for piano and they were published by the Danish publisher, Lose, in 1874. Grieg revised the music for Sigurd Jorsalfar in 1892 and the orchestra1 score of the revised version was published by Peters in 1893 as Opus 56. At the same time a revised edition of the piano arrangements was issued. This last is recorded elsewhere in the present series. The second of the three pieces, Ved mannjevningen (Trial of Strength), is based on a Gavotte for violin and piano written in 1867.

Grieg's collaboration with Bjornson during the years from 1871 to 1874 was intense, inspiring and stormy and resulted in several dramatic and melodramatic compositions that are considered to be among the best things that Grieg wrote (Olav Trygvason, Op. 50 and Bergliot, Op. 42). Together they planned with Olag Trygvason to create a nationa1 Norwegian opera. Work on this had started, when Grieg accepted are quest from another writer, Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) to write music for a new drama, Peer Gynt. The sketch of the opera was laid aside and this effectively ended the relationship between Grieg and Bjornson. Once the music for , Peer Gynt was finished, Grieg was ready to resume work on the opera, but by this time historica1 drama was already a thing of the past for Bjornson, who was now absorbed in contemporary drama and realism. It is probable that Bjornson never really forgave Grieg for setting aside their plans for a great opera in order to write music for a play by Ibsen. Towards the end of 1876 contact between them was completely broken. Bjornson had suggested that Grieg write the music for one of his plays on a contemporary subject, but the composer felt that this was not for him:

One cannot manage to overcome Everything in this World, and I am pursuing other ideals. To paint Norwegian Nature, Peasant Life, History and the Poetry ~ of the People in Notes, is where I feel I have a contribution to make, and what you are talking about has my full Sympathy, but I am not the Man to do it, at .least not at this point in my Life, I am still infatuated by Romanticism in all its vigorous abundance. (Letter to Bjornsteme Bjornson, 21st February, 1875)

The separation between Grieg and Bjornson lasted until 1888, when Grieg once again took out the sketches for Olag Trygvason and wrote a work for orchestra. The same year a piano excerpt was published with the number Opus 50 and under the title Scenes from Olav Trygvason, consisting of seven numbers. The orchestral score was published by Peters in 1890. Later, probably in 1893, Grieg reworked for piano two of the pieces, the second and sixth of the orchestral version. These were published under the title of Gebet und Tempeltanz aus Olav Trygvason. These pieces had originally been written for a four-part mixed choir and orchestra.

In connection with the first performance of the operatic fragment in Christiania (Oslo) in autumn 1889, Grieg wrote to Bj0mson suggesting that they forget their earlier difference and inviting him to the first performance, while seeking his permission to give him credit for the work. Bj0mson accepted the gesture wholeheartedly, but nonetheless their relationship was never as it had been.

The melodrama Bergliot, Op. 42, was written in 1871 for Bjornson's poem, first published in 1862. Bergliot is also a character from an early heroic epic. She was married to the nobleman Binar Tambarskjelve, when he and their san Bindride were killed by the king, Harald Hardrade. In his poem Bjornson tries to express Bergliot's inner struggle and suffering, how she w avers between despair and the desire for revenge and how the king's treadtery has made her feel stronger rather than, subservient. For this poem Grieg w rote intense and powerful music, reflecting the drama. The music was performed for the first time in "' Christiania in 1885 with Laura Gundersen in the leading role. When the , work was published two years later, the orchestral score and piano , excerpts, it was dedicated to her.

In the end, however, it is the music for Peer Gynt that more than any other work has contributed to Grieg's international reputation. The incidental music was first heard at the first performance of the play at the Christiania Theatre on 24th February 1876 and was a great success. Grieg, however, was not present and was, in fact, often absent at first performances of several of major works. One month later he managed to have same of the pieces published by Lose in Copenhagen, but the music only became famous when he published his orchestral Peer Gynt Suite No.1, Op. 46. At the same time he published a piano arrangement of the suite. Five years later he followed this with a piano arrangement of Suite No.2, Op. 55. The orchestral Suite No.2 was originally published in January 1893 with five movements but this was withdrawn after Grieg had had the opportunity of hearing it at a concert in Leipzig that he conducted. He was convinced that the fifth piece, Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter, should only be played in the theatre:

I have now heard the piece... I have even conducted it... and with all respect and love to all the trolls, in the final analysis we must show no mercy and cut it out.

Article source: www.classicsonline.com

Aram Khachaturian

2009-04-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

The year 2003 is declared the year of Aram Khachaturian by the UNESCO, an honor that only outstanding personalities with remarkable contributions to the world’s culture and arts have earned. Aram Khachaturian made a unique and historical contribution to the music. This contribution is important and complex. He foreshadowed a rapid rise of the Armenian national music and its transformation to a new professional level, and it is largely due to him and his talented creations that the Armenian music is known as an original part of the universal world of music.

This is not the only achievement of Aram Khachaturian, who has left a deep legacy of innovation and organic synthesis of the Oriental and Western musical cultures. That is his main achievement. As a famous Russian composer, Rodion Schedrin put it, “Khachaturian was the source of the modern and original approach to the folk and artistic components in a composer’s skill.” As such, his accomplishments are reflected in the music of all the schools of composing in the world. Khachaturian belongs to Armenia as much as he does to Russia and the rest of the world.”

Khachaturian’s works are deeply rooted in the Armenian people, arts, and culture. At the same time, they are embedded professionally in the European and Russian musical classics. The integral contact between his ethnic roots and broader musical traditions on the background of his rare artistic gift gave Khachaturian an opportunity to express himself in music in a bold, even daring manner, with limitless energy and vital force.

Aram Khachaturian’s path to the world of music was unordinary, and his artistic biography can be considered unusual for a famous composer. He was raised in a family of a humble book-binder who could boast of no professional musicians among his ancestors, yet the household stood out for its love of arts, singing, and folk music. The main artistic environment was the city of Tbilisi where he grew up and spent his adolescent years.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Tbilisi was a lively city with multiethnic population, with organic cohabitation of several cultural and artistic traditions of the peoples of the Caucasus, including the Armenians, Georgians, Azeris, Russians, and Jews. The Khachaturian household included four brothers. The elder brothers were seriously engaged in theater, and, in fact, the elder two later became professional actors. The junior sibling – Aram – had a clear preference for music. He played in a percussion ensemble at school, picked up tunes and songs heard elsewhere on his father’s old piano, and beat up ingenious rhythms on the chairs. The many musical voices of the urban life – the singing of the minstrel “ashughs,” the sazandar’s tunes, the city park orchestras – nurtured the ear and imagination of the would be composer. The first visit to the opera was shockingly stirring for the youth.

Recognizing Aram’s giftedness, his elder brother Suren who had by then become a theater producer in Moscow helped the eighteen-year-old Aram relocate to Moscow, to expose him to a world of opportunities, and, indeed, Aram had gone through rapid development. The young Aram Khachaturian had initially enrolled as a biology student at the Moscow University School of Mathematics and Physics, and immersed himself in the capital’s artistic environment. Music’s attractive force was, nevertheless, irresistible and the youth bid farewell to a career in biology and transferred to the Gnesin’s School of Music, in the class of cello. Following the advice of an experienced instructor and composer Mikhail Gnesin, he took up his composition class. Recognizing the genius of the young musician, Gnesin referred to him as ‘an unpolished precious stone.’

Four years later the twenty-three-years old Khachaturian entered the Moscow Conservatory, beginning his formal composition education at an age when most students neared graduation. Yet his creative potential was enormous. In his first years at the Conservatory, he created pieces that sound original and fresh today, such as the Dance for Violin, Poem Song, and a Poem and Toccata for the piano, Dancing Suite, Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano. His First Symphony forcefully announced his graduation from the Conservatory in 1934, enshrining his name next to other famous graduates, such as Rakhmaninov, Taneyev, and Skriabin.

Enrolled as a graduate student, Khachaturian wrote chamber pieces, the score to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Armenian-produced movie Pepoe, and Piano Concerto, a masterpiece that earned him worldwide fame. The Concerto stood out for its ingenuity and colorful virtuosity that endear it to the performers and guarantee its vitality. The musical piece began to be performed abroad as well, and was universally acclaimed.

With name recognition under his belt, Khachaturian masterfully created other works, and scores for movies and plays, such as Lope de Vega’s Valencian Widow, and Masquerade. These masterpieces were followed by the Symphonic Poem with Chorus and Concerto for Violin dedicated to David Oistrakh. Both Concerto for Piano and Concerto for Violin gained worldwide recognition and were performed by the violinists around the world. Simultaneously, Khachaturian composed the ballet Happiness, which was first staged in Moscow in 1939, during the Art of Armenia event. This score would later be used as a basis for Gayane.

World War II was an extraordinary influence and inspiration on many composers, and some of their best works were created in those years, such as Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No 7. Khachaturian, who had already become one of the top three Soviet composers, created his Symphony No. 2, or Symphony with Bells. According to Shostakovich, Symphony with Bells was ‘the first of Khachaturian’s works to raise the voice of the tragic to such a level, yet it is also deeply optimistic and jubilatory.’ His Symphony No. 3, written in 1947, was a hymn to the victory.

Khachaturian became quite an authority, and as a Professor at the Moscow Conservatory taught a class that would school other famous composers from Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Romania, and Japan. Khachaturian’s composition class cultivated individuality, not just professional skills. In addition to creating music, the Maestro led an active civic life and was also a conductor, visiting many foreign countries as well.

In 1956, Khachaturian completed his next, and probably the best-known masterpiece, Spartacus, which earned such accolades as ‘feast of music.’ Dmitri Kabalevski said no other composer could have called to life this story the way Khachaturian had done. The flamboyant and emotionally broad music of Spartacus lives on and brings joy to its listeners.

Khachaturian continued to be acclaimed all over the world, and received many awards for his invaluable contributions to musical art. Yet he continued to create until the very end. In 1960’s, Khachaturian composed three Concerto-Rhapsodies for violin, cello, and piano with orchestra, and in 1970’s, he composed three sonatas solo. Khachaturian intended to compose an opera, but he could not finish it. He passed away in 1978, a month before his seventy-fifth birthday.

His body laid in state in the Moscow Conservatory that had been his home, and was then transferred to Yerevan where it was laid to rest at the City Pantheon of Armenian Artists. Thousands of fans bid farewell to their favorite composer to the tunes of his immortal and invigorating Masquerade rather than to a traditional tragic march.

When Khachaturian’s tunes are playing it seem like the Mother Earth is expressing itself. He lived and created for the people and he wanted to be heard and understood. While many twentieth-century composers rambled in a search for an “original” language, Khachaturian composed music that was clear yet not primitive, comprehensible yet complex. His priorities were a quick thought, colorful and expressive melody, and clear musical expression, and that is why he had been given the joy of a popular acclaim and of an Artist’s contact with a grateful listener. His music, like that of any other classic, will forever bring the gift of the fine, emotional, poetical, and colorful world.

excerpt from Margarita Ter-Simonian

Stephen Collins Foster

2009-04-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Stephen Collins Foster, the "father of American music," wrote songs in the nineteenth century that live on to this day. He was the forerunner of today's professional songwriter, though he died in poverty. He expanded the musical tastes of America like no other before him.

Born in Pennsylvania, Foster was one of ten children. Though his family was middle class when he was young, his father's descent into alcoholism impoverished them. Foster took to songwriting, though he had little formal training on the piano. When he was eighteen, he published his first song.

While he lived in Pittsburgh, Stephen Foster met his two pivotal influences. One was a music store owner from Germany named Henry Kleber. Kleber was classically trained and taught Foster proper technique and musical theory. The other was a blackface singer named Dan Rice that introduced Foster to a completely different style of music. Foster was intrigued by both the classics and the minstrel songs, and he learned to combine the two worlds into one musical genre.

Stephen Foster relocated to Cincinnati to work with his brother's steamship company. While there, he would write his first hit. "Oh Susanna" became the de facto theme song of the California Gold Rush of 1848. Since songwriting royalties were unheard of at the time, he received one hundred dollars for one of the most well-known songs of all time. If he were alive today, a hit of its magnitude would make him a millionaire many times over.

He moved back to Pittsburgh soon after and wrote many other hit songs under contract with Christy Minstrels. Two of these songs, "Camptown Races" and "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" are still well known today. The latter was referenced in the song "Sins of the Father" by maverick songwriter Tom Waits on his 2004 album Real Gone.

Copyright laws for songwriting were in their infancy at the time, so Stephen Foster was often in poverty. He soldiered on and kept writing despite his lack of money. His wife and daughter left him in 1861 after moving to New York City. The quality of his songs began to decline, and the Civil War destroyed the market for new songs. Foster tried using a co-writer to help him gain ground with new audiences, but he failed miserably.

Stephen Foster died with thirty-eight cents to his name at the young age of thirty-seven. He collapsed while trying to call a chambermaid and cut his head open on a broken washbasin. A scrap of paper was found in his wallet that read, "Dear friends and gentle hearts." One of his songs was published posthumously and became a favorite in music boxes. It was called "Beautiful Dreamer."

Throughout his life, Stephen Foster used his meager piano skills to write songs that brought minstrel music to the masses. While many performers of the era mocked slaves with minstrel songs, Foster abhorred this and demanded that performers not talk down to slaves. He demanded performers understand the plight of the black community and have compassion for their fellow man. It was in this way that Stephen Foster transcended both musical genre and social convention, and it is part of the reason why the words and melodies of his songs have resonance today.

by Duanne Shinn

Franz Josef Haydn

2009-04-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Franz Joseph Haydn is remembered in history as the Father of the Symphony and an adventurer into almost every element of music.

Franz Joseph Haydn is best remembered for his symphonic music, honored by music historians who have dubbed him the "Father of the Symphony." That is a well-known fact. But did you know that Haydn worked his way from peasant to Kapellmeister where he lived in the house of a prince? Did you know that although Austria was his home, he traveled to London to write his most famous symphonies? Did you know that Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" grew out of his love of nature, as he was an avid hunter and fisherman? Or did you know that Haydn was mentor to a young music student by the name of Mozart?

These are the lesser-known facts, the parts of Haydn's life that allow us to peek inside a great man's legacy to see what made him tick. Haydn was indeed a self-made man. Born in the small village of Rohrau, Austria on March 31, 1732, Franz Joseph Haydn was the second of twelve children. His father was a wagon maker by trade, but quite musical. On Sundays, the Haydn family often gave private concerts. Haydn's father played the harp while Haydn and his mother sang. A cousin who was a schoolmaster recognized the five-year-old boy's talent and offered to take him into his school so that he could receive musical instruction. The food portions for the children were meager and Haydn himself said that "there was more flogging than food." Still, Haydn persevered, determined even as a young boy to maximize the opportunity and learn all that he could.

At the age of eight, Franz Joseph Haydn became a choirboy for the Viennese Cathedral. Again, the food was far less than what a growing youth needed and the choir children's treatment in general was harsh. Haydn stayed, learning all that he could about church music, until puberty changed the timbre of his voice and he was cast into the streets of Vienna with nothing more than a change of clothes. At the age of seventeen, Haydn found lodging and work. He gave music lessons and played in the serenades to earn money. An open door presented itself in the form of an Italian composer named Niccolo Porpora who hired Haydn as his accompanist. Haydn's status was that of a servant, but Porpora did adequately feed him - something he had not enjoyed at the school or the Cathedral - and taught him Italian, voice, and composition. Again, a positive-minded Haydn saw it as an opportunity.

With practice and performance, Haydn's musical prowess and fame grew with time. He was offered the position of Music Director for Count Morzin. From there, Haydn accepted employment with the Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy where he became the Vice-Kapellmeister and later Kapellmeister. His duties were intense, ranging from the administrative responsibilities associated with monitoring the needs of the musicians under him to himself composing music for orchestral, operatic, and chamber music performances. His response to the challenge was as it had always been - Haydn exhibited not only the stamina for that which was required of him, but the brilliance of creation that made his music famous. While in the employ of the Prince, Haydn composed eleven operas, sixty symphonies, five masses, thirty sonatas, one concerto, and hundreds of shorter pieces.

Haydn's positive attitude and sense of humor made him a favorite among musicians. Music students valued his knowledge and skill and considered it an honor to learn from him. One such musician was Mozart. Although Mozart was much younger than Haydn, the two men treated each other with a mutual respect reserved for the obviously gifted. Although Haydn openly opined Mozart as the more dramatic composer, his young counterpart looked to Papa Haydn as a mentor and the master of quartets.

Haydn's sense of humor often came into play during his thirty-year tenure with Prince Esterhazy. The prince had become complacent when listening to Haydn's symphonies, even falling asleep at the performances. This was something that seared the feelings of the diligent composer, especially when the prince emitted a loud snore during a part of the symphony over which Haydn had especially labored. Haydn decided to create a new symphony for the prince, a symphony that he hoped would "get Prince Esterhazy's attention." This particular symphony was written with a long slow movement, designed to be so soothing that the prince would surely fall asleep. On the evening of the performance, the prince did indeed drift off. Then, suddenly, a loud chord shattered the serenity of the murmuring movement. The prince awoke with a start and almost fell off his chair! Haydn adeptly gave the piece the name "Surprise Symphony."

On another occasion, Haydn was plagued by his musicians who were complaining that they were long overdue for vacations. He again faced the dilemma with ingenuity. Haydn composed a symphony during which the musicians' parts dropped off two by two. On the evening of the performance, Haydn saved this symphony as the last number, knowing that dusk would set in and the musicians would need to play the piece by candlelight. As each instrument's part finished, the musicians blew out their candles and left the stage until only Haydn was left. Prince Esterhazy got the message and sent everyone on vacation. Haydn named the piece "The Farewell Symphony."

When the prince for whom Haydn had served most of his career died, Haydn saw it as yet another opportunity. He packed his bags and traveled to London where he was employed by the entrepreneur J.P Salomon to compose symphonies. The demand for new music was incredible. Even at the age of sixty, Haydn's stamina was unquenchable and he produced perhaps his greatest work. Of these are the famous "London Symphonies."

After a return to Austria, Haydn turned to a new type of composition - the oratorio. He wrote "The Creation" and "The Seasons," both tributes to his love of nature and God. An enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and a man who considered his peace to come from God, it was not out of character for Haydn to turn to the topic, although the venture into a different music medium at such a late stage of his life might be considered unusual. Still, that was Haydn - never one to promote the usual.

Haydn died at the age of 77 on May 31, 1809. Elssler, Haydn's faithful servant, friend, and the chronicler of his works, wrote that Haydn passed from this world "quietly and peacefully," just as he had lived.

Haydn - a self-made man, remembered for his contribution to the symphony. But anecdotal studies of his life show he was also a man of optimism with an uncanny sense of humor. He was a mentor to other musicians and an untiring adventurer into almost every element of music.

article source

Billy Joel: The Piano Man

2009-04-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

William Martin Joel, better known as pianist and pop tunesmith Billy Joel, was born on May 9, 1949 in the Bronx. He was raised in a town called Hicksville, New York by an English mother and a German father. He has a sister named Judith and a half-brother named Alexander, who is also an accomplished piano player and conductor. In fact, Joel's father was an acclaimed piano player as well. A talent for tickling the ivories seems to run in the Joel family.

Ironically, Billy Joel didn't initially want to take piano lessons. He finally did at his mother's insistence, but neighborhood kids picked on Joel for being interested in music instead of sports. Joel studied under a Julliard music teacher who also happened to teach ballet, so bullies accused him of taking dance lessons.

Joel eventually took boxing lessons in order to defend himself. He ended up being a somewhat successful contender on the amateur Golden Glove circuit.

Partly due to his rock and roll lifestyle, Billy Joel was one credit short of graduating high school. Music was his true calling, and he decided to pursue his dreams of becoming a pop star after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Joel made his first recording at age 16 with a British Invasion cover band called The Echoes.

Joel signed his first solo record contract in 1971 with Artie Ripp of Family Productions. It was entitled “Cold Spring Harbor," but it was mastered at the wrong speed and distorted the pitch of Joel's voice. Songs like “She's Got a Way" and “Everybody Loves You Now" were on the album, but they consequently didn't garner much attention until the 1980s when they were re-released.

Billy Joel's first hit song was “The Piano Man." Released in 1973, it is still a popular radio and jukebox tune around the world today. It skyrocketed his career, and he was then able to be more hands-on in the production of his own songs. He is one of a select few musicians recording today that are in charge of their own brand of music by having their name on the copyright instead of a recording company.

Once Joel was in control, the hits of the late '70s and '80s started to hit the streets. From ballads like “Just the Way You Are" to rocking tunes like “Uptown Girl," Joel's music made him a household name.

Billy Joel was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Although he officially announced his retirement from recording music in 1993, he frequently tours and releases compilation albums. Rumors are circulating about an upcoming tour with Joel and Elton John, reuniting the two piano legends onstage.

By Duane Shinn

Isaac Hayes: Soul Man

2009-04-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Hayes grew up poor in Tennessee; he was raised by his grandparents after the deaths of his parents. As a child Hayes began singing in his community church and taught himself to play the piano, organ, flute and saxophone; later he dropped out of high school to earn money picking cotton.

In the early 1960s Hayes landed a job as a session player for various artists on the Memphis-based Stax Records record label. During this time Stax Records became successful with artists like Otis Redding and Dusty Springfield. Hayes, David Porter and the Stax Records studio band Booker T. & the MGs served as the main production team for many of these artists.

Hayes’ early success as a musician is due in large part to his work at Stax Records. Along with songwriting partner David Porter, Hayes wrote the now classic R&B hits “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” “Soul Man,” “When Something is Wrong with My Baby” and “Hold On I’m Comin’” for the R&B duo Sam & Dave. Read more about Hayes’ music contributions in music magazines.

In 1968 Hayes released his debut album, which was unsuccessfully commercially. A year later, while Stax Records lost its entire catalog to Atlantic Records, he released “Hot Buttered Soul” on the Stax label, which is now recognized as a milestone in soul music. The album broke out of the traditional album standard of 10 three-minute songs and instead contained four songs clocking in at five to 18 minutes long. The album boosted Hayes to Stax No. 1 artist. Next he released “Black Moses,” also a successful album. For more on Hayes’ musical accomplishments, read music magazines like Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and Spin magazine.

In 1971 Hayes composed music for the soundtrack of “Shaft,” a blaxploitation film. He also appeared in a cameo role in the film. The movie’s theme-song became a worldwide hit single and spent two weeks on the Billboard Magazine Hot 100 charts at No. 1. Hayes won an Academy Award for “Best Original Song,” for the theme song. Hayes was the first African-American to win a non-acting Oscar; he also won two Grammy awards. For more on Hayes’ film career read African-American magazines like Vibe, Essence and Jet magazine.

After the success Hayes and Stax Records found themselves in deep debt. In 1975 Hayes released “Chocolate Chip,” in which he embraced the disco sound and found success with the single “I Can’t Turn Around.” Hayes garnered praise from critics but his albums sell took a nose dive in the late 1970s and in 1976 he filed for bankruptcy.

In the 1980s and 1990s Hayes appeared in several movies including “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” and television shows like “The A-Team” and “Miami Vice.” He kept a low profile until 1995 Hayes launched a comeback with the release of “Branded,” that sold modestly and garnered positive reviews. At this time Hayes joined the Scientology religion and Hayes participated in many Scientology events.

In 1997 Hayes garnered new fans and attention by providing the voice for the character “Chef” on the popular yet controversial Comedy Central animated series “South Park.” Gained a lot of popularity; left the show when show criticized Scientology. Hayes was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2006 Hayes confirmed he suffered a stroke; in 2008 Hayes was found unconscious in his home near Memphis and he died at Baptist Memorial Hospital where authorities listed cause of death as a stroke. Hayes left behind 12 children, 14 grandchildren and his fourth wife.

Magazines like People, Essence, Time and Newsweek all profiled Hayes at the time of his death and ran tributes and appreciations.

By: Jessica Vandelay
Articlecat.com

Hoagy Carmichael: Songwriter Extraordinaire

2009-04-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hoagland Howard Carmichael, better known as Hoagy Carmichael, was born in Bloomington, Indiana on November 22, 1899. He was the musical genius behind two of the most recorded songs of all time, "Stardust" and "Heart and Soul."

The musical talent of Hoagy Carmichael began in southern Indiana. His mother named him Hoagland after a circus troupe called &quotThe Hoaglands" that stayed with Carmichael's parents while his mother was pregnant.

Hoagy's mother was a very talented pianist, and she played in many silent movies. She taught Carmichael how to sing and play piano. By age six Hoagy was giving recitals. He spent the vast majority of his young years through high school studying the piano.

Hoagy moved to Indianapolis when he was 18 and attempted to earn enough money working several labor jobs to send money home to help support his family. During this time, he also learned jazz improvisation.

Sadly, his little sister died at age three in 1918 because the family could not afford to get her adequate medical care. This event had a devastating effect on Hoagy, and he vowed to find success in his career to help his relatives. He completed his undergraduate and law degree at Indiana University, and he also enjoyed continued success in music.

By 1927, “Stardust" and “Washboard Blues" as performed by Paul Whiteman were becoming huge hits across the country. Because Hoagy spent most of his time at the Indiana law firm where he worked thinking about his music, he was eventually fired. He then went to Hollywood and later New York City to advance his musical career.

In the 1930s, Carmichael worked with legends like Louis Armstrong. He even wrote “Georgia on My Mind," which would later become one of Ray Charles' biggest hits. In 1931, Bing Crosby recorded a version of "Stardust," further launching the fame of the song and its writer. He soon frequented the same circles as George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Fred Astaire in New York City.

In 1935 Hoagy Carmichael married Ruth Meinardi, and they later had two sons named Hoagy Bix and Randy Bob. The family moved to California after Hoagy accepted a $1000 a week contract to work for Paramount Films. Some of his best work was composed for major films over the next two decades.

Carmichael's film success was huge. He appeared as an actor in 14 major films, and he always played at least one of his songs in each movie. He even won an Academy Award for Best Song for “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." During this time, he was still writing songs for outside the movie world as well. Many of his songs were political in nature, speaking out against FDR as a staunch Republican. He also hosted three musical variety shows on the radio during this time.

Hoagy Carmichael was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1971. He died of heart failure in California in 1981, but his musical legacy lives on today. In fact, numerous modern musicians cite him as a big influence. For instance, John Lennon once said Carmichael was his favorite songwriter.

Hoagy Carmichael wrote two autobiographies, released together as one book in 1999. In 2008, a mural featuring his picture was dedicated to him in Richmond, Indiana.

By Duanne Shinn

article source: freearticlesandcontent.com

Achille Claude Debussy

2009-03-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

The French composer Achille Claude Debussy (1862-1918) developed a strongly individual style and also created a language that broke definitively with the procedures of classical tonality.

The world having made peace with his innovations by the time of his death, Claude Debussy subsequently came to be regarded as the impressionist composer par excellence—a creator of poetic tone pictures, a master colorist, and the author of many charming miniatures (including Clair de lune, Golliwog's Cake Walk, and Girl with the Flaxen Hair ). Only a handful of critics between World Wars I and II were concerned with the historical impact of his accomplishment, the scope of which is gradually coming to be recognized. It is generally accepted today that his coloristic harmonies do not simply "float" but "function" in terms of a structure analogous to the classical tonal structure and are governed by equally lucid concepts of tension and repose.
Claude Debussy was born on Aug. 22, 1862, at St-Germain-en-Laye into an impoverished family. Thanks to his godparents, he was able to enter the Paris Conservatory 10 years later. Although he worked hard to gain a solid grounding, the archaic and mechanical nature of much of what he studied there did not escape him. Still, certain aspects of his training were exciting, notably his introduction to the operas of Richard Wagner.

Attitude to Wagner

In 1884 Debussy won the Prix de Rome for his cantata L'Enfant prodigue. In Rome the following year he was homesick for Paris, and he wrote that one of his few solaces was the study of Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde. Not many years later Debussy harshly criticized Wagner, but his scorn seems directed more toward Wagner's dramaturgy than toward his music. Although Debussy could ridicule the dramatis personae of Parsifal, he did not neglect to add that the opera was "one of the finest monuments of sound that have been raised to the imperturbable glory of music." Throughout his life Debussy was fascinated by the chromatic richness of the Wagnerian style, but in keeping with Verlaine's epigram, "One must take eloquence and wring its neck," he would categorically reject Wagnerian rhetoric. His inclinations were toward conciseness and understatement.

Influence of the Gamelan Orchestra

At the height of his enthusiasm for Wagner, Debussy had an experience as important for his later development as Wagner had been for his beginnings: the revelation of the Javanese gamelan at the Paris World Exposition of 1889. This exotic orchestra, with its variety of bells, xylophones, and gongs, produced a succession of softly percussive effects and cross rhythms that Debussy was later to describe as a "counterpoint by comparison with which that of Palestrina is child's play." What has come to be regarded as the typical impressionist texture—an atmosphere of melodic and harmonic shapes in which dissonant tones are placed so as to reduce their "shock" value to a minimum and heighten their "overtone" value to a maximum—was a logical conclusion to the explorations in sonority of 19th-century European composers. Yet without the specific influence of the gamelan Debussy might never have realized this texture in all its complexity.
The effect of the experience at the Exposition of 1889 was not immediately manifested in Debussy's work. It was the process of growth in the years 1890-1900 that brought the elements of the exotic music of the gamelan into play with others already discernible in his style and produced a new tonal language. The completion of this process toward the end of the decade can thus serve as a line of demarcation dividing the earlier years, not without their masterpieces—Ariettes oubliées (1888), Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1892; Afternoon of a Faun ), and the String Quartet (1893)—from the period of maturity.

Mature Works

Debussy's first large-scale piece of his mature period, the Nocturnesfor orchestra (1893-1899), is contemporaneous with the work on his only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande (1894-1902), based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck. The notoriety surrounding the premiere of Pelléasin 1902 made Debussy the most controversial figure in musical France and divided Paris into two strongly partisan camps.
Two years later Debussy abandoned his wife of 5 years, Rosalie Texier, to live with and eventually marry Emma Bardac, a woman of some means. The first taste of existence free from material worry seems to have had a beneficial effect on his productivity. During these years he wrote some of his most enduring works: La Mer (1905) and Ibéria (1908), both for orchestra; Images (1905), Children's Corner Suite (1908), and two books of Préludes (1910-1912), all for piano solo.
Debussy's pieces of the following years show certain marked changes in style. Not as well known as his works of the preceding years but in no way inferior, they have less surface appeal and are therefore more difficult to approach. It is ironic that just when he was exploring new avenues of thought he was in a sense relegated to the shadows by a "radicalism" more sensational than anything connected with Pelléas 10 years earlier. Debussy's ballet Jeux, his last and most sophisticated orchestral score, which had its premiere on May 15, 1913, was virtually eclipsed by the scandal of Igor Stravinsky's ballet Sacre du printemps (Rite of Spring ) on May 29. Debussy's ambivalent attitude toward Stravinsky's music may reflect a certain resentment of the younger composer's noisy arrival on the scene. Debussy evinced a genuine, if limited, admiration for Stravinsky's work and even incorporated certain Stravinsky-like effects in En blanc et noir (1915) and the études (1915). Whether or not Debussy's general tendency in his late pieces to achieve a drier, less "impressionistic" sound is the direct result of Stravinsky's influence is difficult to say.
When Debussy composed these last-mentioned works, he was already suffering from a fatal cancer. He completed only three of a projected group of six sonatas "for various instruments" (1915-1917). He died in Paris on March 25, 1918.

Characteristics of Debussy's Music

A notable characteristic of Debussy's music is its finesse, but it is a characteristic applicable to almost every other aspect of his artistic behavior as well. His choice of texts to set to music (from Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Maeterlinck), his own efforts in verse for the song set Proses lyriques (1894), and his fine prose essays (posthumously compiled under the title Monsieur Croche, the Dilletante-Hater ) all attest to a culture that must have been mostly innate, since there is so little evidence of it in his early family life or formal education.

Finesse and understatement would seem to reinforce the mysterious and dreamlike elements in Debussy's music. In this respect his opera Pelléas is the key work of his creative life, because through it he not only achieved the synthesis of his mature style, but also in the art of allusion of Maeterlinck's play found the substance of what he could express in music more tellingly than anyone else. The words and actions of the opera pass as if in a dream, but the dream is suffused with an inescapable feeling of dread. Debussy brings to this feeling a disquieting intensity through music of pervasive quiet, broken rarely and only momentarily by outbursts revealing the underlying terror.
Similarly, in Nuages (Clouds ), the first movement of the Nocturnes, the clouds are not cheerful billows in a sunlit sky but ominous signs—of what we cannot be sure. Characteristically, Debussy leaves us with a mystery: he presents us with the imminence of disaster but not disaster itself. Premonition is a force capable of disrupting the amiable surface of Debussy's music and is also one of the music's chief emotional strengths. What is more, it is a symbol of Debussy's position vis-à-vis European music at the turn of the century.

Enrique Granados

2009-03-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

Enrique Granados is a modern Spanish composer and pianist who modeled much of his music on his country's folk-idiom. He was born Pantaléon Enrique Granados y Campiña on July 27, 1867, at Lérida, Catalonia. His father, though Cuban by birth, was an officer in the Spanish army, and so the precocious child's earliest musical studies, both in piano playing and in theory, started under an army bandmaster. Soon, however, the family settled in Barcelona, where Enrique received piano instruction under Francisco X. Jurnet and Joan Baptista Pujol, and later worked at composition with Felipe Pedrell. From 1887 to 1889 Granados was in Paris, studying under Charles de Bériot, lodging with his compatriot pianist Ricardo Viñes, and reveling in an existence devoted equally to music and to bohemianism. He returned to Barcelona in 1890, a full-fledged pianist and composer, and married two years later.

In 1900 Granados founded and directed a short-lived concert society in Barcelona, the Sociedad de Conciertos Clásicos. He also started the Academia Granados a year later and was in charge of this piano school until his death.

In his concert appearances Granados played many of his own works, including the Spanish dances and the piano version of his Goyescas (a piano suite named after scenes from the paintings and tapestries of Goya and episodes from the Goyesque period in Madrid, a time marked by bloodshed and political upheaval). He began these pieces about 1902, and the work occupied him on and off for seven years.

Granados produced, in addition to original compositions, sundry arrangements, adaptations, editings, studies, and even a textbook. Meanwhile, appearing at intervals throughout his career were several stage works, among which were the operas Follet (1903) and Liliana (1911). After the première of his opera Maria del Carmen in 1898 he was made a Knight of the Order of Carlos III. Later distinctions he received were Officier de l'Instruction Publique and Chevalier de la Légion d' Honneur.

When the Goyescas piano suite had received its first performance, in 1911, Granados turned to a project that may well have already been long in his mind--an opera based on the same material. But for the outbreak of the war, the opera would have been produced in Paris in 1914. Instead, the première was in New York on Jan. 26, 1916. Two months later, on March 24, Granados was returning home from this event when his ship, the Sussex, was torpedoed in the English Channel; both he and his wife were drowned.

Like Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), Granados was a member of the national school of composers in Spain who felt that a nation should build its art music on the foundation of its native folk-songs and folk-dances. (The leader of this movement was Granados' former teacher, Pedrell.) Granados was among the great pianists of his era; his Goyescas pieces established him as a serious composer, and his Spanish dances were to secure his position in light composition.

Source: Collier's Enclycopedia, 1997
Copyright © 1997 Collier Newfield, Inc., all rights reserved.

Joseph - Maurice Ravel

2009-03-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Maurice Ravel was a French composer who studied at the end of the Romantic period, worked through the Impressionist period and into the Modern period. He was born in Paris in 1875, and died in quiet, rural retirement in 1937.

He studied music at the Paris Conservatory, where his tutor, and a significant influence on his style, was Faure. His composition was also influenced by the styles of Chabrier and Satie. Ravel showed much promise as a young composer, and was nominated, by Faure, for a number of awards. To the surprise of many of his contemporaries, he was overlooked for these awards and he left the Conservatory bitterly disappointed.

During the First World War (1914 - 1918) he was unfit for service, and volunteered to work as an orderly in a military hospital. After the war, his health, which had never been robust, deteriorated. He moved to the village of Tourador, continuing to compose until shortly before his death, though during the last ten years of his life he produced only a few works.

Major Compositions

These are listed in chronological order. It is not a complete list - just highlights.

Pavan for a Dead Princess (piano) (1899)

Mirrors (piano) (1904)

Sonatina (piano) (1905)

Gaspard of the Night (piano) (1908)

L'heure Espagnole (opera)(1909)

Minuet on the Name of Haydn (piano) (1909)

Pavan for a Dead Princess (orchestral) (1910)

Mother Goose (piano, then orchestral) (1911)

The Tomb of Couperin (piano) (1917)

The Tomb of Couperin (orchestral) (1919)

The Child and the Furniture (opera) (1925)

Bolero (orchestral) (1928)

Don Quixote and Dulcinea (vocal) (1932)

Technique and Style

Ravel is a contemporary of Debussy, and, although classified with him as using the Impressionist style, Ravel's compositions are more classical, with disciplined harmonies and part work. He did not, for example, adopt the whole tone scale or pentatonic scale for any of his major works. His music, however, is certainly not typically classical or Romantic.

He heard the use of new intervals - 9ths, 11ths and 13ths - in jazz, but used them very differently in his compositions, splitting them between parts, and applying a technique called the 'long pedal', in which the pianist is instructed to keep the dampers (the 'loud' pedal') raised for extended periods. The result of this is that the strings can resonate at the harmonics of the notes being played. This technique, pioneered successfully by Beethoven in his later works, had fallen into disuse because, if applied without great skill, it sounds 'muddy'. Ravel showed that it can highlight relationships between notes played at different times.

He made extensive use of the technique of first composing a work at the piano, and later orchestrating it. As a result, many of his works exist both as piano pieces and orchestral scores. Later in his life, he also produced orchestral arrangements of the works of other composers, including

Debussy (Sarabande, Tarantelle)

Chabrier (Picture Pieces)

Musorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition)

Some Interesting Pieces

Even a small study of the pieces can tell you a lot about the musician.

The suite of orchestral pieces called The Tomb of Couperin contains many classical elements, and is rightly understood to be a sincere homage to the classical French composer François Couperin (1688 - 1733) and to that school and style of music. The later orchestral version is written like that, and that's the interpretation that most people pick up. If you play the original version, written for piano, exactly as written, you discover that all the pieces have an overlay of intense sadness. On the original manuscript, each piece is dedicated to a soldier, and it turns out that each one was nursed by Ravel; each one later died of wounds received in battle. As well as a homage to things past, Ravel was mourning the passing of that civilization, for he felt at the time that the war would be lost, and France would be overrun.

The Mother Goose suite was written for two pianos. Although it sounds 'full', each piano part is not very difficult technically. It was intended to be performed by children - as it was at its premiere.

The Minuet on the Name of Haydn assigns letters of the alphabet to the notes on the piano (as expected, but extended beyond one octave), and weaves a three-part minuet using those notes as the theme. At some points in the piece, the name can be detected running backwards. To achieve this, and still sound musical, shows the highest technical skill

Although it is a piece that has been done to death in recent years, Bolero must be mentioned. If this is the only piece by Ravel that you know, do not let it put you off trying some others. It is by far the most overtly dramatic piece that he wrote. It was written for an avant-garde dance troupe, and was designed to make the dancers work against it - the opposite of conventional dance music. Ravel described it as 'anti-music'. At the end of the first performance, someone in the audience shouted 'This is madness!'. Ravel shouted back 'Yes! Someone understands!'.

article and image source: bbc.co.uk

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's life

2009-03-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov was born in a small provincial town called Tikhvin , 200 km from St.Petersburg. His family was unusual by the age of its members. At the time of his birth his father was 60, his mother 42 and his brother was already a naval officer and was 22 years old.

In Tikhvin little Nika learned to play the piano. His parents noticed, that he made good progress and had a perfect ear. But they did not pay attention to this. At his parents will, Nika, when he was twelve, entered the Naval School at St.Petersburg to become a mariner following his brother.

From that time he began to go to operas, symphonic concerts and acquired a passion for music. His new music teacher Canille noticed the musical gift of his pupil and told him he should try to compose music himself. Canille explained the general rules of musical composition, set him homework and soon introduced to the composer Mily Balakirev who was the head of a St.Petersburg musical circle. During the last year of his studies at the Naval School (1861/62) Nikolay began to compose a symphony. He was happy and dreamed to become a composer.

But his mother and brother (his father died in March 1862) convinced him that a musical career would not ensure a sufficient income, and therefore he should become a naval officer. In order to do this, he had to embark on a round-the-world trip. In October 1862 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov set off from Kronstadt as a gardemarine on the clipper "Almaz".

The young composer agreed with his parents hoping he would be able to compose on the ship. But the atmosphere there was not suitable to write musical compositions. Official duties did not allow any spare time for music. There was no piano or any other musical instrument on the ship. Not one of the crew took any interest in music. Nevertheless, during the first months of the cruise, mainly during a long stop in England (winter 1862/63) he composed the Andante for his symphony. But later, little by little, his passion for music died down. He thought that music was no longer a part of his life. The cruise lasted 2 years and 8 months. During this time Rimsky- Korsakov visited Germany, England, The United States of America (where he went on a trip to the Niagara Falls), Brazil, France and Spain. He saw many different aspects of nature, particularly of the Northern, Equatorial and Southern seas, the stormy and calm ocean, the starry sky of the Southern hemisphere.

All these natural pictures left striking impressions in his memory. Later he interpreted in his music, with a great talent,these impressions, as well as the natural phenomenon of the North of Russia. He created beautiful musical pictures of the sea (e.g. in "Sadko", "The Tale of the Tsar Saltan", "Sheherazade"); of the forest with its sounds (e.g. in "The Snowmaiden", "The Legend of the Invisible Town Kitez"); of the air and sky (e.g. in "The Christmas Night", "Kashtshey Immortal").

After Rimsky-Korsakov came back to Russia (May,1865), he began to work for the Coast Service in St.Petersburg and intended to enter the Naval Academy. But in St.Petersburg he met his former musical friends, who forced him to return to music and to complete his symphony. In the same year, on December 19th , the N.Rimsky-Korsakov's first symphony was performed for the first time in a concert with Mily Balakirev as the conductor, and it was a great success. The audience were astonished, when they saw that the author was a very young naval officer. So his musical career began. Still he had to earn a living and thus only gave up active naval service eight years later.

Rimsky-Korsakov's musical activity did not only include the creative work. From 1871, when he was twenty seven, and until the end of his life, he was a professor of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire; he held a civilian post of the inspector of the Naval Brass-bands for ten years (1873-1883); worked as the Director of the Free Music School for seven years (1874-1881); was the Director' s Assistant of the Imperial Capella for ten years (1883-1893); conducted symphonic concerts for more than thirty years (1874-1907) at St.Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Brussels and Paris. He died in his own country-seat, Loubensk when he was sixty four.

article and image source: www.russianlaw.net

The Wizard of Keyboard and Piano Music Chopin

2009-03-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

Frederic Chopin was born March 1, 1810 in the Duchy of Warsaw in Poland. He was not very old when his potential was recognized. In fact, he was regarded as a child prodigy pianist. As early as seven, Frederic Chopin was performing in front of an audience and composed two of his first pieces in the same year. When he was a young man, he left Poland and would never return. He eventually made his way to Paris where he worked as a piano teacher and a composer. He did not perform very often as most of his time was put into his teaching and personal work, though he did perform in a few concerts from time to time.

The first instrument that Frederic Chopin learned to play was the piano. He was creative from the start, making up his own tunes, and received his first piano lessons from his older sister. He was six years of age when he received his first professional lessons and it was not long before his skill and talent surpassed that of his teacher. The same year that he first began performing in public, he composed G minor and B flat major, two polonaises. In 1926, he went to the Warsaw conservatory, which was a part of the Warsaw University and studied with Jozef Elsner for a period of three years. It was after this that he left Poland and would eventually make his way to Paris. When he first arrived in Paris, he was uncertain about whether he would remain there or not; however, it would soon become his home. He would remain there for some time and travel around while he performed. He eventually married and had two children. Later, his health deteriorated and he eventually past away from tuberculosis.

From the start, Frederic Chopin was different from other composers and musicians, such as Mozart and Beethoven. He was more innovative, more creative and more experimental with music than the great ones before him. In fact, he created new forms of music that was beautiful and was more of an emotional expression of Chopin's. He made innovations in waltz, impromptu, prelude and many other existing forms of music. This particular musician and composer made an incredible impact on music. He introduced a change from the original forms that would greatly influence the future of music. He was the first composer to write ballads and pieces of music separately, and changed etudes, among other genres, into expressive and emotional pieces.

Much of his music was also thought to be influenced by his beloved homeland, Poland. Many of his pieces were an effort to celebrate the culture of his homeland. Even though he left Poland to grow in his musical career, his heart was always rooted there and much of his inspiration came from the home he loved so much. Even after Russia regained control of Poland, which was a main reason why he could never return home, he continued to show his love for Poland through his music in a number of compositions.

by Victor Epand

Ludvig van Beethoven

2009-03-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

Born in 1770, Ludvig van Beethoven was one of only three of his parents’ seven offspring children to survive infancy. Yet the world of music owes this chance event an immeasurable amount, because he would go on to be one of a handful of composers to grace the art form with a style and quality that is truly unique. His father was his first music teacher, a proficient tenor, and his grandfather on the paternal side had been Kappelmeister at the court of Clemens August of Bavaria. Music was in his blood, and he started playing viola and organ at a very early age, although he was not a prodigy in the Mozart mould – despite his father’s attempts to declare that Ludwig was seven for an early performance when he was in fact nine. However he was certainly a talented youngster, and published his first three piano sonatas in 1783. He died in 1827 and it is said that as many as 30,000 people attended his funeral procession.

How Beethoven’s deafness has helped interpreters

Beethoven’s genius is merely underlined by the fact that he started to lose his hearing in his late twenties, yet continued through intense frustration and anguish to compose some of music’s most complex and beautiful pieces. For the historian and student of his music, however, the composer’s deafness created a unique opportunity to appreciate the composer. Because he could not take part in an oral conversation, he would carry with him notebooks and have conversations with people in writing. These people could be performers, conductors, students or masters, and the notes survive today to give a unique insight into not only the man, but his art, too – among his notes are specific instructions on how to play many of his compositions and descriptions of his emotional state and day-to-day life, all of which are priceless to the modern interpreter.

Beethoven’s major piano works

During Beethoven’s life, the piano as an instrument became much more accepted as an instrument, partly due to technological enhancements that meant a piano could hold its own with a full orchestra whilst retaining its warmth, tone, sustain and power in the chamber setting. The harpsichords, spinets and clavichords of the past would eventually lose popularity among composers and audiences. The timing could not have been more perfect for Beethoven; he would become a master at both performing on and composing for the piano. He is usually regarded as having composed five piano concertos, although his piano arrangement of his Violin Concerto in D Major is sometimes referred to as his Piano Concerto No. 6. Beethoven was a prolific composer of piano sonatas; altogether there are 32 of them, and many are well known, even among people with no interest in classical music. His best known piano sonatas are “Moonlight”, “Waldstein”, “Pathétique” and “Pastoral” (not to be confused with his Pastoral Symphony). He also left copious amounts of chamber music, much of which had a piano (or more than one piano) as an integral part, along with his string quartets, duos and quintets.

by Charlie Buquette

The Divine Composer Named Johann Sebastian Bach

2009-03-03T04:44:00.000-08:00

Born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach in the year of 1685, this German composer began his musical career with learning to play the violin and the harpsichord, which his father taught him to play. His family was a very musical family; his father was an organist for the church and his uncles and brothers were composers and organists as well. In fact, his uncle, Johann Christoph Bach was extremely well known at the time for his talents. Johann Sebastian's family was quite successful in their music and was relatively well known for their talent.

At the age of ten, tragedy struck Johann Sebastian's immediate family when his mother passed away and his father followed her fate within a year. After this happened, his older brother took him in and this is where Johann Sebastian continued to learn what he could from his brother. It was during this time that he also learned to play the clavichord. Four years after moving in with his older brother, he earned the Choral scholarship, which allowed him to travel to Luneburg and attend St. Michael's school for two years. There, Johann Sebastian learned more about playing instruments, like the harpsichord and the organ, but also studied some geography, theology, other languages, physics and history.
After his two years at St. Michael's, he went to the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst where he remained for about seven months as court musician. During this time in Weimar, his reputation as an organist began to grow. Life continued to improve for Johann Sebastian when he took the position of organist at a church in 1703, which offered him a higher salary and allowed him more time to work on his own creations. It was there that he began creating some of his own compositions, though he still had much to learn about composing music.

He remained in this position for about three years before he decided that it was time for him to move on. In 1706, he was offered the organist position at the church of St. Blasius', located in Muhlhausen, where he had more freedom than he did in his previous position. He later married Maria Barbara and had seven children. Sadly, only four of the seven children made it to adulthood. This marriage would not be his only marriage as his first wife, Maria Barbara passed away in 1720. Bach remarried in 1721 to Anna Magdalena and together they had thirteen children. Unfortunately, only six of the thirteen grew into adulthood.

As time went on, his career and reputation continued to grow. He accepted a few more different positions including court master in Weimar, director of music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, and was eventually appointed Cantor of Thomasschule in Leipzig where he remained until his death in 1750. Throughout his life, Johann Sebastian Bach learned all that he could about music. His passion for this art was incredible and was what led him to compose some of the most amazing pieces of the time. He is remembered today as one of the most innovative genius' of that period, though he didn't bring in any new forms of music; instead, he built on the style that was present at the time. Today, he is best known for the music he composed and is considered one of the best composers in history.

by Victor Epand

Richard Wagner

2009-02-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

SO much has been said of "the music of the future" that it will doubtless interest many to learn something of the man who is its principal exponent, and who, if not the greatest of living composers, as some assert, enjoys certainly the widest notoriety of any.

RICHARD WAGNER was born at Leipsic, the 22d of May, 1813. When but six months old he had the misfortune to lose his father; and his mother, marrying again some time after, removed to Dresden, where young Richard entered upon a course of studies, in which music was included—showing, however, no special aptitude or taste for the divine art. For poetry and the drama, on the contrary, he evinced a very decided inclination, amounting, in fact, almost to a passion, the fruits of which were numerous plays and poems, admired in the circle of his friends, but never known beyond its limits. The profound impression that a first hearing of some of Beethoven's symphonies made on Wagner, seems to have awakened him to a sense of his true power, and inspired him with the idea of becoming a composer.

His early studies in harmony and counterpoint were irregular and by no means thorough, owing doubtless to that natural impatience of ambitious youth to grasp at once at a coveted whole, without mastering the disagreeable details absolutely necessary to its value as an acquisition.

At the age of nineteen he composed a symphony, which was performed at Leipsic, and met with a certain success. It was not until after the production of this work, laboriously written, that the young composer realized how much was still wanting to make him at home, so to speak, in his profession; and he then spared no effort until a thorough knowledge of fugue and counterpoint was acquired.

Contemporary in composition with the symphony were numerous pieces of minor importance—piano-forte sonatas, études, fantasias, etc.—essays of the composer with his talent, and, as such, not of sufficient consequence to deserve special mention. In 1833, or thereabouts, Wagner, then residing in Wurzburg, felt a strong desire to write for the stage, influenced, no doubt, as was all Germany at that time, by the grand dramatic conceptions of Von Weber. As the result of this influence came Wagner's first opera, entitled "Les Fées," in many points a flagrant imitation of Weber's style, and, for this reason, perhaps, never represented.

Widely differing from this was his second lyric drama, composed two years later, when he occupied the position of orchestral director atMagdeburg. This work, entitled "Le Novice de Palerme," of which the words and music are both his own, shows unmistakable evidences of the influence of Auber, whose "La Muette de Portici" had just won an almost unparalleled success, and whose melodious, flowing style, our ambitious composer studied, until it had become, as we might say, his own. But every thing seemed to conspire to render the effort unsuccessful. The resources of the theatre were meagre, the season late, the vocalists unmanageable, and "Le Novice" was "shelved" after one representation.

In the course of the following year Wagner was chosen chef d'orchestre to the theatre at Königsberg. The duties here he found much more arduous than those at Magdeburg, and, worse still, infinitely more disagreeable and antipathetical to his nature. To conduct inferior and uninteresting operas, and to twist those operas into all sorts of distorted shapes, at the pleasure of an unreasonable manager and capricious artists, was a work which he, as a composer, found positively revolting. For some months he endured this, chafing under the restraints put upon him, but acquiring, from the very repugnance that these offences created, a new strength to carry out the reforms he contemplated. The only important event occurring at Königsberg was his marriage to the prima donna of the theatre, a person of fine disposition and with great natural talent, who, in the many trials and misfortunes of the years that followed, showed herself a loving and devoted companion until her decease, in the latter part of 1865.

Some few months after his marriage, Wagner was offered a position as capelmeister at Riga, and accepted it. But here, finding only a continuance of many disagreeable duties encountered at Königsberg, and at last despairing of ever rescuing German taste from its depraved condition, he concluded to seek a field of action more favorable to the development of his peculiar ideas. He naturally turned to Paris, just then lavishing its favors on Auber, Meyerbeer, and Rossini—Paris, so liberal in its support of the fine arts, so ready to recognize and reward the true and the great. There, and there only, could success be found. Quickened by the idea, he already sees the resources of the Grand Opera placed at his disposal, with an opportunity to compose a work full of those dramatic effects that have made "Les Huguenots" and "Guillaume Tell" so acceptable to the Parisians. The subject of Rienzi, the last of the Roman tribunes, suggesting itself as favorable to the purpose, he hesitates no longer, writes a libretto for the opera, arranges his affairs, and is soon on his way to the French capital.

In the voyage from Riga to Boulogne-sur-Mer, the vessel was overtaken by a terrible storm, and narrowly escaped shipwreck. Through the fiercest of the gale Wagner remained upon deck, fascinated and awed by the wild surging of the waves, and the weird, ominous moaning of the wind through the cordage. This scene made a lasting impression on his mind; and, in the overture to the "Flying Dutchman," written some years later, he has well conveyed the idea of a tempest at sea.

Boulogne once reached, the financial condition was such as not to warrant a continuance of the journey. Wagner took lodgings at a short distance from the town, and set bravely to work, confident that Paris was soon to make amends for his many disappointments. One day, happening to meet with Meyerbeer, he showed him some pages of the "Rienzi" score, and spoke with enthusiasm of his hopes and plans for the future. Although the composer of "Les Huguenots" well knew the many disheartening rebuffs that enthusiasm must encounter, he did not discourage the young man, but gave him letters of introduction to Joly, Pillet, and Habeuck, musical directors, and to Schlesinger, editor of the Gazette Musicale.

Armed with these, Wagner hurried on to Paris, where, for a time, they secured him certain attentions and abundant offers of service; but the genuineness of these last, when put to the test, was found sadly wanting. After repeatedly suffering the disappointment of promises broken and engagements unfulfiled on the part of his newly-found friends, he awoke at length to a sense of his situation—plainly worse than ever be fore. It was a severe blow, but he had strength to meet it, and an unfailing energy to bear him up.

Suddenly through the cloud of trouble came a ray of hope. Joly, director of the Théâtre de la Renaissance, consented to produce "Rienzi." The affairs of the theatre being in an embairassed condition, a bold stroke, it was thought, might possibly set them right. Wagner, encouraged, bent to the work with spirit, but to no purpose; the theatre was bankrupt before the opera could be brought out. This was a coup-de-grâce. Misery now stared him in the face.

In those dark days Schlesinger was the one friend who remained faithful. He accepted for the Gazette Musicale several articles on musical topics, and through his efforts Wagner was commissioned to write an overture for the Société des Concerts. "Faust" was chosen as the subject of this overture, which, on rehearsal, was deemed not sufficiently interesting or meritorious to warrant its public performance. Driven to new efforts by this failure, the future composer of "Tannhauser" was, for a time, engaged in arranging for flute, cornet, and other instruments, the popular airs of the day. He also prepared piano-forte editions of at least two complete operas. But matters grew even more desperate, creditors still more importunate; and at last finding it desirable to effect a change of base, he decided to locate at Meudon, a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of the great city.

It is well known that Wagner regards the piano as the most despicable of all instruments; he hates its very presence, its most dulcet tones have no power to soothe his savage breast. Meudon, he thought, would surely be free from the tormentor, and for that reason, if for no other, desirable as a place of residence.

Hardly was he settled in the new lodgings when—horror of horrors!—from some deep recess of the house came sounds resembling those of a superannuated piano, but a thousand times more aggravating. Wagner, furious at this unexpected infliction, rushed frantically from room to room, up-stairs and then down, down, down to the uttermost depths, some twenty feet under ground. There was his sedate landlord, the person whom he least suspected, seated before the offending instrument, and enraptured, apparently, with its marvellous power. And such an instrument—harp, piano, and organ, combined— [662] forming stupendous whole, capable of most unearthly sounds. The place, the man, the instruments, were too much for our composer, who burst into a hearty laugh, which brought the performance to a sudden close.

Peace was restored by the immediate removal of the nondescript, and Wagner, suffering no further interruption, worked on in the composition of a new opera, "Der Fliegende Holländer," determined to return to Germany if Dresden should decide in favor of" Rienzi," which had been sent there for consideration. Meanwhile, matters went from worse to worse, and, when the new opera was completed, the composer was actually without money to buy paper upon which to write the overture. Fortunately, at this crisis came a letter from Dresden, announcing the acceptance of "Rienzi," and requiring the composer's immediate presence. But the necessary means for the journey were wanting. In a frenzy of haste Wagner again composes and transcribes all sorts of airs for all sorts of instruments, until a sum sufficient for the immediate purpose is acquired. Dresden once reached, "Rienzi" is carefully prepared and enthusiastically received.

This success was soon followed by Wagner's appointment as orchestral director at the Dresden Opera-House, and as capelmeister to the king. This last honor had been conferred on no one since the death of Morlacchi, Weber's successor.

At Dresden Wagner found a fine theatre, excellent orchestra, and an intelligent and refined public. Here he remained until 1848, producing, in 1843, "Der Fliegende Holländer," and, two years later, "Tannhauser," which then received only two representations, owing probably to the fact that, in this opera, the composer first abandoned the accepted forms and style of operatic composition, to give place to his own peculiar ideas, since more fully developed and more strikingly presented.

Led by his republican sympathies to participate in the Revolution of 1848, Wagner, at the end of its short career, was forced to fly the country, and chose Zurich as a place of residence. While there, he published his most important literary work, entitled "Opera and Drama," the leading idea of which is shown in the following extract from its preface:

"I claim," he says, "herein to prove the possibility and necessity of a system of artistic creation in music and poetry (considered together) superior to that universally adopted at the present time."

This book severely criticises the works of Meyerbeer, who is accused of neglecting the true interests of art to satisfy his desire for popularity—an accusation that raised up against Wagner a host of enemies, and which he afterward deeply regretted.

Shortly before the appearance of this volume, he published two brochures, "Art and Revolution," and "The Artistic Mission of the Future," both of which excited much comment in literary and musical circles from their clear and forcible language, and from the boldness and originality of thought they displayed.

Wagner's fourth grand opera, "Lohengrin," was, through the efforts of the pianist Liszt, produced in Weimar, in 1850, with considerable success, and is now regarded by many as the composer's most pleasing work. In 1855 we find him in London, directing the concerts of the Philharmonic Society; and, by endeavoring to change some of their long-established customs and accepted interpretations of standard works, creating much illfeeling and a strong party of opposition to his innovations. While there, he gave exhibitions of wonderful powers of memory, frequently conducting the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, without a score.

Determined, at any cost, to introduce his music to the Parisians, Wagner, in the autumn of 1859, returned to the French capital, and made every effort to secure a representation of "Tannhauser," but for a long time without success. At length the emperor, at the urgent solicitation of Madame de Metternich, ordered "Tannhauser" to be put in rehearsal. Every means were placed at the disposal of the composer to insure the best possible performance of the opera, and so anxious was he to obtain this result, that four months were occupied in its preparation.

The Parisians were not disposed to recognize favorably the efforts of a declared enemy to their worshipped Meyerbeer, and so it happened that "Tannhauser" was withdrawn after three representations, at the last of which opposition to the piece raged so fiercely that scarcely a note of the music was heard. Shortly after this terrible failure, Wagner, broken down in health and spirits, left Paris, craving, above all things, the repose of mind denied him in the harassing excitement of the previous six months.

After some time spent in travel, he made efforts to produce his opera, "Tristan and Isolde," composed in 1857; but, meeting with little or no encouragement, he gave up the attempt in very disgust, and proposed returning to Zurich, intending for the future to lead a retired life. Before this purpose could be carried out, however, he was invited to Munich by the young King of Bavaria, who offered him, as an inducement, entire control of the music of the Court Theatre and every facility for the production of his operas. Here was an opportunity too good to be lost. Wagner, accepting the offer, went immediately to Munich, where he received a royal welcome, and where he has since resided principally, admired and favored by the king, who, it is said, even sacrifices the interests of state to his love of music—music of the future, that is.

"Tristan" was first performed in June, 1865, the greatest care being exercised in its preparation; but it failed to make any marked impression. Since then Wagner has written three operas—" Die Meistersänger von Nuremberg," first represented in 1868; "Das Rheingold," in 1869; and "Die Walküre," in the past year—besides this, publishing, from time to time, brochures on matters relating to his art, which have attracted more or less attention. The later operas have not been, and can never be, as successful as "Tannhauser" and "Der Fliegende Holländer," principally for the reason that each succeeding work departs more than its predecessor from accepted precedents, and just in the proportion of that departure are the elements of popularity wanting. Both of the last-named operas have been favorably received in the principal European capitals, and represent the composer's real successes.

A thorough and careful analysis of Wagner's work cannot be given within the limits of a magazine article, and we must, therefore, be content to notice briefly his leading ideas and the peculiarities of his style as influenced by those ideas.

Looking at the operas of the last generation of composers—those of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini, for instance—we find the libretto and the music to be two entirely distinct portions of the work, the librettist patching up some sort of a story that should offer the composer opportunities for the display of musical effects and for an average number of scenas—solos, choruses, and concerted pieces.

We see also that the music and story have often but little in common as regards characteristic color—that is, they are not appropriate to each other; and from this results a want of unity in the opera, as realized, fatal to any true dramatic expression. This is not only evident in the music rendered by the orchestra, but is still more noticeable in the vocal parts, often written with no regard to their situation, and with the sole and express design of showing off the voices to advantage.

If we compare, now, the old system with the new, it becomes plain that the latter embodies many true principles which must eventually prevail.

In the first place, Wagner holds that the composer should be his own librettist, choosing some poetic legend that he feels is capable of inspiring both the words and music. The legend he considers peculiarly well adapted for a musical setting, since it deals not with mere external incidents, but with the emotions and passions, to the expression of which music so admirably lends itself.

By the new system, the music and story should not only be conceived together, but should be so intimately connected and harmoniously blended as to be almost indispensable to each other. As Wagner insists that nothing must interrupt the smooth and natural progress of the dramatic action, he carefully avoids any approach to the old system of dividing the opera into set pieces—so many arias, choruses, etc.—these occurring only when absolutely required by the situation. Hence arises the complaint from many that he is not melodious. If we understand melody to be a limited musical phrase of marked rhythm, and one that is easily caught, then the accusation is just. But this absolute melody that exists of itself, independent of any idea or sentiment, this, according to Wagner, has no merit, and is entitled to no place in the musical drama.

In the entire opera of "Tristan" not five well-defined airs can be found. This is not so much because Wagner is wanting in melody, as that his melodic ideas, from their peculiar shape, are not always to be recognized by those listening eagerly for a "tune." Every melody, he says, is made up of many melodic phrases, each having a distinct value of its own; and these being combined with [663] the original theme, and presented in many different ways, go to make up a whole of noble proportions—the true melodic idea.

On the appearance of any principal character, or at the first manifestation of a sentiment to be developed later in the course of the drama, he gives out a motif—that is, not precisely what would be called an air, but a phrase, having some melodic significance, and the rhythm of which is well defined. Here we see the use of the true melodic idea. This motif, once clearly given, recurs at every re-appearance of the character or fresh development of the sentiment it represents, and is always presented in some new way, yet is always recognizable. And not only are all the resources of the phrase employed, but by many delicate processes of modulation, and by many niceties of harmony and instrumentation, is that phrase colored, to best adapt it to the accompanying situation.

The grand idea of all this is, that the music must at all times reflect the drama, and, as far as possible, reveal those shades of sentiment and passion which mere words fail to express.

One great reason why Wagner's music is not more generally acceptable, lies in the fact that he makes frequent use of the hardest and most dissonant chords, and treats these with the utmost freedom; that is to say, where, with other composers, these harmonies occur only at rare intervals, and their entrance is then carefully prepared, with Wagner we find them piled upon each other, regardless, apparently, of all laws of harmonic connection. In the whole introduction to "Tristan," there is not a single consonant chord; hardly one recognizable form in a chaos of strange combinations. Notwithstanding these facts, Wagner's mastery of the science of harmony is beyond question, as may be proved by a single glance at his noble choruses, often written in six and eight parts, and arranged with a cleverness that compels admiration.

Whether the world can ever accept his theory of tone-combination and chord-connection as the true one, is a matter which time alone can decide. But when we remember that many harmonies employed by Beethoven and Schumann, now accepted without a question, and even admired for their originality, were at first declared harsh and disagreeable, it seems quite possible that these Wagnerian extravagances may, at no distant day, be regarded as perfectly legitimate, if not actually pleasing.

It is, perhaps, in the vocal portion of Wagner's operas that we find the widest departures from established precedent. There it is by no means the design to show off the vocalist advantageously, but to express, in the most appropriate way, the idea to be conveyed. In order to accomplish this, Wagner makes the most extraordinary demands on the voice, which he appears to regard simply as an instrument, capable of enduring to any extent and of overcoming any difficulty whatsoever. He has, in fact, written for voices purely instrumental passages, which it is folly to suppose can ever be perfectly or decently executed by a human organ; and even were artists found ready to accept rôles rendered formidable by these difficulties, it is still a question whether such a distortion of the vocal powers can be made acceptable to civilized ears.

To Wagner are we indebted for at least one great reform—that of raising the orchestra to a place of first importance in the interpretation of the lyric drama. In the operas of Bellini, Donizetti, and even of Rossini, the orchestra seldom reflected the character of the dramatic situation, often serving simply as a support and accompaniment to the voices; not until the advent of Weber's genius did it assume any thing like its true position.

Wagner holds that the orchestra should not only share equally with the voices in the development of the drama, but that each prominent character and prevailing sentiment, besides being represented by some striking musical phrase, should have in the orchestra a tone-color appropriate and peculiar to itself. Whatever may be the merits of this theory, no one certainly is better qualified to display them than Wagner himself, for his knowledge and command of orchestral resources are unsurpassed. In the instrumentation of no other composer, save that of Beethoven, do we find such a marvellous power of expression, such wonderful effects of light and shade; and to this power principally must we attribute not only the success already won, but whatever may be reserved for him in the future. Familiarity with Wagner's productions cannot but lead to a more expressive and eloquent orchestration; and indeed, in Gounod's "Faust" and "Romeo," and in the latest operas by Italian composers, are ample evidences of the influence of the new school in this direction.

To conclude, Wagner is a composer of undoubted talent, whose ideas, although sometimes carried to extremes, will eventually have a beneficial effect on music, from their very boldness and vigor, if from nothing else. Again, he is a poet of great dramatic power, and a writer possessing literary abilities of no common order. Last, but by no means least, he is a man thoroughly in earnest; and, whatever may be his other claims to our consideration, this one, at least, should be recognized and honored.

by George B. Miles

article source

Johannes Brahms

2009-02-27T01:12:00.000-08:00

He had been born in Speck Lane, Hamburg, in 1833. In this section of Old Hamburg were dark, narrow streets and tall, gabled, and crowded houses--the commonplace reality of a bare and repulsive poverty." His father, who was twenty-seven years old at Johannes' birth, had come to Hamburg penniless and uneducated to seek a musical career. He had slender professional talent, but was shrewd, upright, and diligent. He made a scanty living by playing for chance audiences in street restaurants and for sporadic engagements in dance-halls and beer gardens. His financial situation improved slowly as through twelve years' work he became a regular and reliable contra-bassist in some of the humbler orchestras of Hamburg. At Johannes' birth the mother was forty-four. She was the daughter of the landlord of one of the father's rooming houses . . . a small, plain woman, of poor health and with a bad limp. For a time she helped the family income by a tiny business in needles, cotton, and tapes. She was described by a Hamburg neighbor as "a little withered mother who busied herself unobtrusively with her own affairs, and was not known outside her dwelling."There were three children, a sister older than Johannes and a brother younger. The family moved often during Johannes' childhood, but always remained in crowded, poor, and simple apartments. Theirs was a poor but honorable home, in which perhaps the greatest asset was the great affection of the parents for the children.

Johannes' musical education began at home where as a tiny child he showed unusual aptitude. Recognizing this aptitude, his parents managed to begin formal lessons with a piano teacher, O. Cassel, when Johannes was eight. His first playing was in dance halls and taverns, late at night. By the age of ten, he had shown such genius that it was suggested that he should be taken on a tour to America to make money as a prodigy. To prevent such a fate, Cassell persuaded an eminent teacher named Marxsen to undertake the instruction. To accomplish this, Johannes' father and his musical friends arranged a benefit concert, a concert at which the ten-year old boy played with remarkable skill.

In 1853 a gypsy violinist from Hungary persuaded the young musician to accompany him on a tour through the cities of Germany. It was during this tour that Johannes made a number of friends who were to open a wider prospect and to provide counsel, inspiration, and support. These were quick to recognize his talent in both recital and composition. Among them were Joachim (Hanover), Robert and Clara Schumann (Dusseldorf), and Franz Liszt. Liszt, however, was at the time the idol and leader of a new school of music with which the young Brahms would have nothing to do. Between them developed quickly a feud which lasted many years. The Schumanns, on the other hand, began an enduring and fruitful comradeship with Brahms. In fact, Robert Schumann wrote an article hailing Brahms in the highest terms as the coming great composer, as an artist "at whose cradle graces and heroes mounted guard." Thus, at twenty, the boy from Hamburg was thrown into the center of German musical controversy and attention. This introduction to fame stirred in him both delight and dread, great embarrassment and a great sense of obligation to merit Schumann's confidence.

Brahms spent the next three years in close association with the Schumanns, who made Johannes a virtual member of the family and who introduced him to a large circle of musical friends. At the Schumann household Brahms' chamber music and his Liebeslieder found a congenial setting. The musicians played together, arranged concerts together, and composed many works under the inspiration of one another. This almost idyllic period was terminated by the sudden terrible illness of Robert Schumann. When his friend died, Brahms gave up everything in order to stand by the widow and the six children. His friendship for Clara Schumann now developed into an ardent love, which became the source of great inner turmoil until they both recognized the impossibility of marriage.

Johannes remained unmarried, primarily because of his artistic career. He often wished for marriage, but did not feel he could offer a wife the security she deserved. In a period when his music was often received with icy coldness or violent hissing, he did not wish to subject a woman to this animosity. Later on when admiring females would ask him if he were married, he would reply, "It is my misfortune still to be unmarried, thank God!"

...it is difficult to get a clear profile of Brahms' own inner convictions. This is due in part to his "deep-rooted dislike for all display of solemnity" and a great reticence in betraying his deepest feelings. It is also due to the fact that most of his biographers have been primarily concerned with his musical career rather than with his faith. We know that his mother was extremely solicitous of his moral training as a child and that she instilled a basic religious orientation toward life. We find evidence to establish the fact of constant and informed use of the Bible. This use began in primary school, where all the children-Jews, Catholics, and Protestants-listened to daily readings. There is no record that Brahms ever held a church post as organist or choir director. He was staunchly Protestant, aware of current philosophical and theological issues, but not attracted by dogmatic or creedal narrowness. He was more closely akin to the liberal than to the orthodox Lutheranism of the nineteenth century. When on his trips to Italy he entered a cathedral, he was careful not to wound the sensibilities of those around him. If "the worshipers turned to look at the newcomer, he would never omit to feign to dip his finger in the benitier and lightly make the sign of the Cross, in order not to scandalize the believers by the intrusion of a heretic."

We may perhaps best sense the temper of Brahms' faith by the whole body of his religious music. Schumann had said of listening to his music: "We stand in the wonderful view of the spiritual world." The best clue to his personal faith is provided by the texts which he adopted for the music.

excerpt from "Brahms' German Requiem" written by Paul Minear

Erik Satie Biography

2009-02-27T00:03:00.000-08:00

Erik Alfred Leslie Satie (May 17, 1866 - July 1, 1925) was a French composer.
Born in Honfleur, Basse-Normandie, France, Satie was a music composer, and a performing pianist, though mainly for café and cabaret audiences. Satie wrote theatre and ballet music, as well as piano music. His compositions are original, humorous, often bizarre, and very minimalistic. His music is sometimes called furniture music, supposed to be in the background of everyday life [musique d'ameublement]. It is evidently anti-romantic and also anti-impressionistic. Satie eventually became a leading figure of the French avant-garde.

Today he is regarded as one of the important forebears of minimalism, and John Cage cited him as a major influence (Cage organized and performed in the premiere performance of Satie's 28 hour long Vexations). His work is also considered a forerunner of ambient music, and dadaism as in his ballet Relâche.

He did not begin to be taken seriously as a composer by his contemporaries until he was in his forties. In 1917 the first performance in Paris of the ballet Parade (the orchestration of which included parts for typewriter, foghorn and rattle) caused a scandal, which established his name as a composer. Satie wrote this ballet together with Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso for the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, leader of the Ballets Russes.

His other works include:

Trois Gymnopédies (1888), piano
Messe des Pauvres (1895)
Trois morceaux en forme de poire (1901), piano four hands
Descriptions Automatiques (1913), piano
Sonatine Bureaucratique (1917), piano
Socrate (1918), symphonic drama
Relâche (1924), ballet
Recordings of his complete works have recently been published on Swedish Society Discofil, performed by Olof Hojer.

Satie gave his piano pieces names like (translated to english) Unpleasant Glimpses, Genuine Flabby Preludes (for a dog), or Old Sequins and Old Breastplates. He accompanied the scores of these pieces with all kinds of written remarks, through which he insisted that these should not be read out during performance.

Satie was known as an eccentric, and amongst other things he started his own church, Metropolitan Church of Art of Jesus, Leader (with himself as the only member). Every day of his working life Satie left his apartment in the Parisian suburb of Arcueil to walk across the whole of Paris to either Montmartre or Montparnasse before walking back again in the evening.

A penniless bohemian, Satie wore a top hat, a flowing lavaliere, and a pince-nez. His room at 6 rue Cortot was next door to artist Suzanne Valadon. They began an affair in January 1893, and Satie proposed marriage that same night. The only relationship of his life, he became obsessed with the beautiful artist, whom he called his "Biqui", writing impassioned notes about "her whole being, lovely eyes, gentle hands, and tiny feet." Valadon painted Satie's portrait and gave it to him but after six months, the beautiful Suzanne moved on, leaving Satie brokenhearted. After his death, her portrait of him (shown here) was found in his room at Arcueil.

Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel were among Satie's friends. Although not hailed by the masses, he was admired by many young composers and musicians and was a big influence on Debussy in particular.

Satie was the center of Les Six, a group of six French composers (Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Germaine Tailleferre, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc). The group advocated clear musical language, and opposed impressionism (for example Debussy and Ravel), slavism (Stravinsky) and post-Wagnerism (Schoenberg) in music.

Satie died in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, Île-de-France, and was interred there in the Cimetiere d'Arcueil.

article source biographybase.com

The Life & Music of George Gershwin

2009-02-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Even though George Gershwin's life was sadly cut short by a brain tumor when he was only 38 years old, his music still lives on in the hearts and minds of the world today. Some of his most famous works included "Rhapsody in Blue" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me." His storied career includes many other notable highlights and achievements over the course of his brief life.

George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on September 26, 1898. He was named Jacob Gershowitz at birth. The family name was later Americanized by George to facilitate his show business career. Many of his other family members followed suit and changed their names accordingly. Gershwin had three siblings in his family.

George Gershwin revealed his talent for music at an early age. At the tender age of 10, Gershwin attended his friend Max Rosen's violin recital. He was absolutely fascinated by the passion behind the performance. He loved the sound of the instrument and the skilled nuance with which Rosen performed.

The Gershwin parents had bought a piano for George's older brother, Ira. George came home from the violin recital and was determined to learn to play an instrument, so he began tinkering around with Ira's piano at home. He learned the instrument quickly, so his parents were happy to help him find a suitable professional for a piano teacher.

The search for a piano teacher for young George Gershwin took nearly two years. He finally settled on Charles Hambitzer, who influenced Gershwin's musical life immensely. He taught Gershwin formal techniques and formal European music. Gershwin would attend classical music performances with Hambitzer, and he was often able to reproduce the melodies on the piano when he would return home. Hambitzer acted as Gershwin's mentor until the time of his death in 1918.

At 15, Gershwin dropped out of school to become a song plugger for Jerome H. Remick and Company, a firm from New York City's famed Tin Pan Alley. The position earned him $15 a week, but more importantly, it positioned him well in the music industry.

By 1916, Gershwin published his first song, entitled, "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want Em." He was 17 years old.

He followed up his release in 1916 with a 1917 release of "Rialto Ripples," which was a commercial success. In 1918, he released "Swanee." In 1924, Gershwin began his foray into musicals, a pursuit that would make him forever famous. He penned "Lady Be Good" and "Fascinating Rhythm" that year.

Follow-up musicals in subsequent years included "Oh Kay," "Funny Face," "Strike Up the Band," "Show Girl," "Girl Crazy," "I Got Rhythm," "Porgy and Bess" and "Of Thee I Sing." The latter of the group won the esteemed Pulitzer Prize.

Gershwin's success on Broadway eventually led to calls from Hollywood movie studios. He moved out to California to do some film work. While out in Hollywood, he began complaining of headaches in early 1937. Sadly, during his work on a film entitled "The Goldwyn Follies," George Gershwin collapsed due to a malignant brain tumor. He later died following a surgery to remove the tumor on July 11, 1937.

Although his life was tragically cut short, George Gershwin's legacy will always live on through his music. From timeless hits to musicals, his melodies still resonate in popular culture. His influence will be felt for decades to come.

by Duane Shinn

The Amazing Mr. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

2009-02-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

by Duane Shinn

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. His father and mother were Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart. He had one sister, Maria Anna Mozart, who was born in 1751.

Mozart's father was a minor composer with an interest in music. When his older sister was seven and Wolfgang was three, their father began giving Maria Anna piano lessons as Wolfgang watched with great interest. He had a natural talent for picking out chords, and by age five Wolfgang was composing small pieces on the clavier. His father wrote the pieces down, and they eventually were popularized under names like the Andante and the Allegro in C.

As evidence of Wolfgang's genius became apparent, his parents decided to put him on tour across Europe and showcase him as the child prodigy he was. They traveled to cities like Vienna, Munich, Prague, Paris, Mannheim, London, The Hague, Zurich and Donaueschingen. During his travels, Wolfgang met many influential musicians, including Johann Christian Bach. However, travel was difficult and the family was often wrought with illness.

In 1769 the family set out for Italy. The journey took them until 1771. When they arrived at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Mozart witnessed a performance of Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. He then was able to write down the entire piece from memory, much to the amazement of the music community. Transcribing the music was technically illegal according the Vatican, but the event remains legendary to this day.

In Milan in 1770, Mozart composed and successfully performed the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto, which led to two future operatic commissions for Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. Mozart traveled back and forth between Salzburg and Milan to complete these pieces in the years that followed.

When he returned to Salzburg in 1773, he was appointed as royal musician to the court by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colleredo. His popularity increased tremendously, but so did his yearning for bigger and better successes.

After years searching for a new job in Paris and Mannheim, Mozart eventually was sent to Vienna by his employer. His salary was cut, and he attempted to resign, but the request was denied. He was eventually fired with dishonor in 1781, and he set out to make a freelance career for himself.

His career blossomed in Vienna, and in 1782 he married a woman named Constanze with whom he had six children. At this time, composer Joseph Hayden and Mozart became good friends. He finally obtained an aristocratic commission in 1787 when Emperor Joseph II appointed him as chamber composer. In the same year, Mozart's famous opera Don Giovanni opened in Prague to much critical acclaim.

In the last few years of his life, Mozart produced many noteworthy compositions, like The Magic Flute and his famous unfinished Requiem. He fell ill in 1791 while in Prague for the premiere of his opera La clemenza di Tito in September. By November of that year, Mozart was bedridden because of his illness. He was tended to by Constanze and his family doctor until his death on December 5.

It is impossible for modern medicine to pinpoint the exact cause of his death, but the old medical practice of bloodletting is believed to be a contributing factor. He was buried in a common grave, as was the practice of the time in Vienna. While illness may have stopped the progress of his musical career, the genius of Mozart's compositions lives on through the ages.