Twenty-first-century guitar hero Matthew Bellamy (b. 1978) was born in Cambridge, England. His father George was rhythm guitarist in the Tornadoes, who scored a massive transatlantic hit with the Joe Meek-produced ‘Telstar’. Before learning guitar, Bellamy took piano lessons as a boy, equally inspired by Ray Charles and classical music. In the mid-1980s, the family moved ...
c. 1622–77 English composer While a chorister at Exeter Cathedral, where he learnt to play the organ, the young Matthew Locke met Christopher Gibbons (1615–76), with whom he later collaborated on the music for the masque Cupid and Death (1653). Locke’s revision of the piece in 1659 has survived in autograph and is the only known complete score of ...
(Piano, b. 1960) A prolific recording artist, Shipp considers himself to be a follower of bassist William Parker, with whom he has worked on many projects including the David S. Ware’s Quartet. His keyboard style is rhythmically propulsive; he lays dense harmonic accompaniments for single-note instruments. In 1999 he contracted with Thirsty Ear Records to produce his own ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1991–present) South African-born Matthews (guitar, vocals) formed his band in Virginia, recruiting Stefan Lessard (bass), Leroi Moore (saxophone), Boyd Tinsley (violin) and Carter Beauford (drums) into the ranks. Fusing elements of world music into a sound that celebrated folk, funk and rock in equal parts, they built an audience by undertaking constant touring, ...
Jason Becker, born in 1969, is an American neo-classical metal guitarist and composer whose steady rise to the top of the guitar world was cut short by illness. Becker was born and raised in Richmond, California. In high school, he performed Yngwie Malmsteen’s ‘Black Star’ with his band at a talent show. At 16, he formed ...
Alternative guitarist and singer Jeff Buckley (1966–97) was born in Anaheim, California. Jeff barely knew his father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, who died when he was eight. His mother, Mary Guibert, was a classically trained pianist and cellist, which meant that music was all around when Buckley was growing up. He started playing acoustic guitar at ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1994–present) Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar), Chris Wolstenholme (bass) and Dominic Howard (drums) provide such an enlivening take on the classic power trio formation in rock that it is sometimes easy to forget they are just a trio. Even their earliest singles (‘Cave’ and ‘Muscle Museum’, both 1999) were delivered with ferocity and an understanding of what makes ...
First performed at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden on 1 December 1951, this adaptation of Herman Melville’s short story saw E. M. Forster writing large portions of prose while Eric Crozier focused on the dramatic execution. Accordingly, Billy Budd was one of the most meticulously researched and well-written librettos of any Benjamin Britten opera. Typically for ...
Based on a series of eight Hogarth paintings, this opera was first performed on 11 September 1951 at Il Teatro La Fenice in Venice. In The Rake’s Progress, Stravinsky’s neo-classical style maintains a clear delineation of musical numbers separated by recitatives (accompanied by harpsichord), and as such it has often been considered a stylistic companion to the works of ...
(Guitar, bass, reeds, programming, vocals, b. 1951) Cleveland, Ohio-born Sharp is on the cutting edge, combining his experience as an improviser – he was a cornerstone of Manhattan’s 1980s downtown, avant-garde music scene – with deep tradition. Sharp’s earliest gigs were with blues bands. After 20 years of sophisticated experimentation with other styles ...
(Fa’-leks Men’-del-son) 1809–47 German composer Mendelssohn was born into a cultured banking family, who in 1816 converted from Judaism to Christianity, adding ‘Bartholdy’ to their name. Felix studied the piano, theory and composition, and showed early talent, writing his first piece at the age of 11. There were also important non-musical inspirations for his composing at this ...
1659–95 English composer Henry Purcell was, without doubt, the most distinguished English composer of the seventeenth century. Equally at home writing for the church, the theatre or the court, he also set a number of bawdy catches for which it is likely he also wrote the words. Unfortunately, little is known about Purcell’s private life. His ...
(Yo’-han Sa-bäs’tyan Bakh) 1685–1750 German composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a closely knit musical family of which he was rightly proud. His father Johann Ambrosius Bach (1645–95) had an identical twin brother, Johann Christoph (1645–93), who was like a second father to the young Sebastian. Johann was such a common name that almost all boys called Johann were known ...
Brothers Caleb (born 14 January 1982, vocals and rhythm guitar), Jared (born 20 November 1986, bass) and Nathan Followill (born 26 November 1979, drums) and their cousin Matthew Followill (born 10 September 1984, lead guitar) grew up in Tennessee’s deep south with the brothers’ Pentecostal preacher father, learning the way of the Lord. But their love ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1988–present) Taking their name from the famed John Milton poem, it was only fitting that Nick Holmes (vocals), Gregor Mackintosh (guitar), Aaron Aedy (guitar), Stephen Edmonson (bass) and Matthew Archer (drums) delivered a slower brand of dark thrash metal. Early EPs and albums enjoyed a noisy cult success although by Shades Of God (1992) and Icon (1993) ...
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