(Vocal group, 1931–52) The Ink Spots were the inspiration for many black vocal groups who emerged in the doo-wop era. The group’s tight, mellow harmonies helped them achieve wide crossover appeal. Anchored by the romantic crooning of tenor Bill Kenny and supported by Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson and bass Hoppy Jones, the Indianapolis natives caught fire in ...
As the guitarist in Pink Floyd, David Gilmour’s place in the pantheon of guitar heroes is guaranteed. But it’s not simply his playing on albums like The Dark Side Of The Moon that has assured his status. His meticulous attention to the sound and tone of his guitar in the studio and in concert has earned the universal admiration of ...
Trailblazing Kinks lead guitarist Dave Davies was born in Muswell Hill, London in 1947. The Davies were a close-knit, musical family and Dave acquired his first guitar, a Harmony Meteor, at the age of 11. He taught himself to play, citing blues pioneer Big Bill Broonzy as his earliest influence. Other inspirations were James Burton, ...
(Mekh’-a-il E-va-no’-vich Glin’-ka) 1804–57 Russian composer Known as the ‘father of Russian music’, Glinka was the initial force behind nineteenth-century Russian nationalism. He grew up in a cosseted environment, and his early exposure to music was confined largely to the folksongs sung by his nurse, the traits of which were later absorbed into his melodic style. After a couple of ...
The sense of cultural and societal degeneration and decline affected both the subject-matter of music and, more intangibly, its forms and structures. Much of the music of Johannes Brahms (1833–97), for instance, deliberately invoked earlier models as a way of linking himself with his idea of a great but past tradition. He saturated his music with counterpoint and ...
1804–57, Russian As the composer of A Life for the Tsar (1836), Glinka became the founder of Russian historical opera. A Life for the Tsar told the story of Ivan Susanin, a popular Russian hero who, in 1612, saved the life of the future tsar and founder of the Romanov dynasty, Michael Romanov. Although French and ...
Composed: 1836 Premiered: 1836, St Petersburg Libretto by Baron Yegor Fyodorovich Rozen and others Background The years of turmoil following the death of Tsar Fyodor I in 1598 might finally be coming to an end. The revolt of the ‘False Dmitri’ in 1605 has led to Polish intervention. In 1613, after an interregnum of nearly three years, Mikhail ...
‘Ruslan and Ludmilla’ Composed: 1837–42 Premiered: 1842, St Petersburg Libretto by Konstantin Bakhturin, Valerina Shirov and various others, after Alexander Pushkin Act I Everyone celebrates the marriage of Lyudmila to the knight Ruslan. Her rejected admirers Farlaf and Ratmir are also present. As Lyudmila’s father Svyetozar blesses the couple, a thunderbolt is heard and darkness falls. When ...
Massenet delighted in the nineteenth-century penchant for the oriental more than any other operatic composer. Following Meyerbeer in L’africaine, Berlioz in Les Troyens and the little-known Ferdinand David, who plundered Eastern techniques and themes in several of his works, Massenet first began to use pastiches of oriental musical techniques by imitating the inflections of North African and Arabic ...
1861–1936, Austro-American Schumann-Heink’s voice was renowned for its richness and wide range. Studies with Marietta von Leclair led to her concert debut in 1876 and her operatic debut in Dresden two years later, in Il trovatore. For many years she sang at Hamburg and Bayreuth, while also appearing at London’s Covent Garden in Wagnerian roles. Schumann-Heink made her ...
b. 1929 Dutch conductor Haitink studied with Felix Hupka and Ferdinand Leitner, who gave him a post as second conductor at the Netherlands Radio Union. He became principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961 (shared intitially with Eugen Jochum), and of the London Philharmonic Orchestra 1967–79. He was music director at Glyndebourne 1977–88, and at Covent Garden Opera ...
One of the more popular bands of the ‘British Invasion’ and a considerable influence on both 1970s heavy metal outfits and 1990s groups such as Blur and Oasis, The Kinks went through numerous line-up changes but were always led by singer-songwriter Ray Davies (born 21 June 1944), while his brother Dave (born 3 February 1947) supplied the band’s signature rock ...
One of the defining albums of the 1970s, Dark Side Of The Moon (1973) established Pink Floyd as the biggest progressive rock band of the decade. They have remained massively popular and their influence continues to be felt in rock and ambient music. The band were formed in London in 1965 by singer/guitarist Syd Barrett (born Roger Keith Barrett, ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1992–2005, 2009–present) Kings of the snotty, toilet-humoured nu-punk genre, Blink-182 – Travis Barker (drums), Tom DeLonge (vocals) and Mark Hoppus (bass) – formed while at school, recording in their then-drummer Scott Raynor’s bedroom. Since then, they have grown older but not matured, with 2001’s ‘Rock Show’ a fine example of the band’s ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1996–present) Other bands in the genre may be more acclaimed, and some more stylistically diverse, but Linkin Park – Chester Bennington (vocals), Mike Shinoda (MC), Brad Delson (guitar), Dave Farrell (bass), Joseph Hahn (DJ) and Rob Bourdon (drums) – are certainly the most successful in the nu metal sphere. Formed from the remains of various Californian ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.