Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer of the Classical period Signature Anonymous portrait of the child Mozart, possibly by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni; painted in 1763 on commission from Leopold Mozart He composed more than 600 works, many of which are acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is considered among the greatest classical composers of all time,[1][2] and his influence on Western music is profound. Life and career Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg Early life Family and childhood Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) and Anna Maria, née Pertl (1720–1778), at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg.[4] Salzburg was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in the Holy Roman Empire (today in Austria). When Nannerl was 7, she began keyboard lessons with her father, while her three-year-old brother looked on. The Mozart family on tour: Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. 1762–73: Travel Style
Gioachino Rossini Italian opera composer (1792–1868) Gioachino[n 1] Antonio Rossini[n 2] (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity. Rossini's withdrawal from opera for the last 40 years of his life has never been fully explained; contributory factors may have been ill-health, the wealth his success had brought him, and the rise of spectacular grand opera under composers such as Giacomo Meyerbeer. Life and career[edit] Early life[edit] Giuseppe Rossini(1758–1839) Anna Rossini(1771–1827) Rossini was born on 29 February in 1792[12] in Pesaro, a town on the Adriatic coast of Italy that was then part of the Papal States. First operas: 1810–1815[edit] Naples and Il barbiere: 1815–1820[edit] Music[edit] Arias[edit]
Rossini's Swan Song in Glorious Voice from Florez - Classics Today Review by: Robert Levine Artistic Quality: 9 Sound Quality: 9 It is very hard lately to get worked up about 14th century Swiss oppression by the Austrians. The Austrian Gesler is the governor of a couple of Swiss cantons, and along with his henchman, Rodolphe, and lackeys, is cruel and condescending to the Swiss. Graham Vick’s direction of the opera from the Rossini Opera Festival, abetted by Paul Brown’s sets, makes certain that we are aware of the politics, since even more, say, than Verdi’s Don Carlo, Tell is an opera about politics, with the love story almost parenthetical. Pointedly, the first act’s ballet (choreography by Ron Howell) is folksy and disorganized; the third-act dance sequences portray the aristocratic Austrians doing everything short of using the Swiss as footstools. But all else being equal, this opera is nothing without great singing, particularly from Arnold. Buy Now from Arkiv Music Recording Details: Reference Recording: This one
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 – 2 February 1594)[1] was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition.[2] He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work is considered as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony.[2] Biography[edit] Palestrina was born in the town of Palestrina,[3] near Rome, then part of the Papal States. Palestrina came of age as a musician under the influence of the northern European style of polyphony, which owed its dominance in Italy primarily to two influential Netherlandish composers, Guillaume Dufay and Josquin des Prez, who had spent significant portions of their careers there. During the next decade, Palestrina held positions similar to his Julian Chapel appointment at other chapels and churches in Rome, notably St. He died in Rome of pleurisy in 1594. Music[edit] Pope Marcellus Mass - Kyrie Film[edit]
Romanticism and Revolution The Romantic movement of 19th century art and literature was influenced by revolutionary events such as the French and American revolutions.[1] The 18th century Romantic poets were influenced by many outside influences but chief among them was the revolution occurring in France. Their poetry reflects the social turmoil raging across Europe and their own dreams and worries. The link between the French Revolution and poetry is best shown by examining three English Romantics: Wordsworth, Shelley, and Coleridge, and their political interests and activities in the French Revolution, and how that was reflected in their poems. Wordsworth[edit] Wordsworth’s politics and his poem “Tintern Abbey” demonstrate how his work and social life was influenced by the revolution. “Tintern Abbey” echoes William Wordsworth’s anxieties about the French Revolution. Percy Bysshe Shelley[edit] Percy Bysshe Shelley is another well known Romantic poet who was affected by the French Revolution. Notes[edit]
Romanticism and the French Revolution Romanticism originated in the 2nd half of the 18th century at the same time as the French Revolution.[1] Romanticism continued to grow in reaction to the effects of the social transformation caused by the Revolution. There are many signs of these effects of the French Revolution in various pieces of Romantic literature. By examining the influence of the French Revolution, one can determine that Romanticism arose as a reaction to the French Revolution. Instead of searching for rules governing nature and human beings, the romantics searched for a direct communication with nature and treated humans as unique individuals not subject to scientific rules. The influence of the French Revolution[edit] The French Revolution played a huge role in influencing Romantic writers. A common theme among some of the most widely known romantic poets is their acceptance and approval of the French Revolution. A closer look at the influence of the French Revolution on selected Romantic poets[edit] Byron[edit]
Romanticism and Revolution This political cartoon by James Gillray (1757-1815) illustrates the difference between opposing political views of the French Revolution by contrasting a dignified British freedom with the events of the Reign of Terror, or the rule of fear masquerading as liberty. The French Revolution is widely recognized as one of the most influential events of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, with far reaching consequences in political, cultural, social, and literary arenas. Although scholars such as Jeremy Popkin point to more concrete political issues as grounds for the upheaval, supporters of the Revolution rallied around more abstract concepts of freedom and equality, such as resistance to the King’s totalitarian authority as well as the economic and legal privileges given to the nobility and clergy. It is in this resistance to monarchy, religion, and social difference that Enlightenment ideals of equality, citizenship, and human rights were manifested. Shannon Heath
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe German writer and polymath (1749–1832) Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe[a] (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic.[3] His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and color. He is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language, and his work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day.[3][4] Goethe took up residence in Weimar in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). He was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Karl August, in 1782. Goethe's first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. Life[edit] Early life[edit] He also took great pleasure in reading works on history and religion.
Ludwig van Beethoven German composer (1770–1827) Life and career Early life and education Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she was the daughter of Heinrich Keverich (1701–1751), who was head chef at the court of Johann IX Philipp von Walderdorff, Archbishop of Trier. Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn, at what is now the Beethoven House Museum, Bonngasse 20. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, and two younger brothers survived infancy. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. 1780–1792: Bonn During this time, Beethoven met several people who became important in his life. The period of 1785 to 1790 includes virtually no record of Beethoven's activity as a composer. Beethoven probably was first introduced to Joseph Haydn in late 1790, when Haydn was travelling to London and made a brief stop in Bonn around Christmastime. 1792–1802: Vienna – the early years 1802–1812: The 'heroic' period Deafness The heroic style Goethe The Immortal Beloved
Friedrich Schiller German poet, philosopher, historian and playwright (1759–1805) Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ], short: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃɪlɐ] ; 10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German poet, playwright, historian, philosopher, and physician. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born in Marbach to a devoutly Protestant family. Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision. Early life and career[edit] There the boy Schiller came to the attention of Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg.
Hesiod and the Divine Voice of the Muses The Muses atop Mount Helikon (line 10) and atop Olympos (lines 43, 65, 67) are said in the Theogony to sing, emitting a beautiful (ossa) "voice."1 In 1915, T. L. Agar proposed that the term ossa used to describe the Muses' voice in Hesiod was "an innovation and importation of later times" because its usage was inconsistent with that of the Homeric poems. In particular, Agar noted that ossa in the Theogony is used to denote the clash of heaven and earth (701) and also one of the sounds Typhoeus makes (a bull bellowing, 833), which, at first glance, appear to have nothing in common with the voice of the Muses.