1882–1961 Australian composer Influenced by Grieg and by Delius, Grainger spent his early years as a concert pianist and, after that, in the US as a teacher. He was also particularly interested in folksong and much of his output consists of arrangements of such pieces. He is best known for such brief and catchy pieces as ‘Country Gardens’ ...
(Vocals, 1966–68) Going solo in 1966 after a stint with vocal group The Esquires Combo, Sledge released an independent single, the heartfelt ballad ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’. It was snapped up by Atlantic, topping both US pop and US R&B charts and becoming a soul classic. A few follow-ups charted, including ‘Warm And Tender ...
The affectionately nicknamed ‘squeeze box’ is the smallest of all conventional keyboard instuments, and the lowliest cousin of the organ (except the shirt-pocket harmonica). Strictly speaking, however, it has neither keys nor a keyboard. Nor has it a uniform shape. Playing Technique Whereas the standard English concertina is hexagonal, German and American models are square. The basic ...
A type of xylophone, the marimba is a percussion instrument. The percussionist strikes a row (or two rows) of wooden blocks – laid out like a keyboard – beneath which are attached a series of echo chambers that resonate the sound. The compass of the instrument varies, but generally covers three or four chromatic octaves from the C below ...
(Ed’-värd Greg) 1843–1907 Norwegian composer Of Scottish ancestry, Grieg first studied music with his mother, and later went to Leipzig (1858–62) to study with Ignaz Moscheles and Carl Reinecke, and with Gade in Copenhagen. There he became organizer of the Euterpe Society for Scandinavian Music and subsequently, in Norway, founded the Norwegian Academy of Music (1867). The ...
(Oom-bâr’-to Jôr-da’-no) 1867–1948 Italian composer A leading member of the verismo school, Giordano has been much criticized for dramatic crudity and melodic short-windedness. He remains popular with singers, however, who value his effectively flattering vocal writing, and with audiences, who respond to his sense of the stage and his emotional power. Such works as Andrea Chénier ...
Traditional is the term given to folk music so old its origins have been long forgotten. Different songs are often performed to the same tunes and sometimes the same ballad is played with various tunes. Songs with the same story pop up on both sides of the atlantic with different treatments, after being transported by emigrants and adapted through the ...
The Modern Age was characterized by rapid and radical change and political turmoil. By 1918 the Russian tsar, the Habsburg emperor and the German kaiser had lost their thrones. The two Russian revolutions of 1917 resulted in a Communist government led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was fragmented to allow self-determination to the newly formed countries of Czechoslovakia ...
An important aspect of Romanticism was its focus on individual feeling and expression, in contrast to the universal strictures of classical form and style. This led inevitably to a concept of the artist as a misunderstood genius, battling against the world. The second generation of English Romantic poets, including Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, contributed significantly ...
The twentieth century saw the piano return to the orchestra: notable works including the orchestral piano are Kodály’s Háry János (1926), Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana (1937). Modern composers realized that, as it creates sound with hammers that strike strings, the piano is technically a member of the percussion family. Indeed, in Grainger’s The Warriors (1916) ...
The theremin was invented by the Franco-Russian physicist Lev Theremin (or Termen) in 1920. It is unique in the manner by which it is played, as the performer never actually touches the instrument. When the player’s hand approaches or retreats from a vertical antenna, the sound generated by two radio-frequency oscillators swings up or down. The pitch can vary ...
Southern-rock guitarist Duane Allman was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1946. Allman was inspired to take up the guitar by his brother Gregg. At first, they played country music, their initiation into the blues coming when the brothers saw B.B. King performing in Nashville. The pair began playing professionally in 1961, first in The Allman Joys ...
(Tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, b. 1926) Jimmy Heath’s early devotion to Charlie Parker saw him nicknamed ‘Little Bird’, but he switched from alto to tenor saxophone and developed his own voice. He honed his writing skills with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra throughout 1949–50. He spent 1955–59 in prison, but rebuilt his career with a series of recordings ...
(Vocals, b. 1953) Blue-eyed soul singer, Bolton (or Bolotin as he was born), spent the early part of his career as a much heavier proposition singing for rock band Blackjack, before making his name with powerful renditions of soul classics intermingled with classy AOR ballads, often co-written with Dianne Warren. His change in style came with 1987’s ...
(Vocal duo, 1957–71, 1981–83, 2003–04, 2009–10) As ‘Tom and Jerry’, Paul Simon (vocals, guitar) and Art Garfunkel (vocals) had a minor US Hot 100 success as teenagers in 1957 with ‘Hey Schoolgirl’. Both attempted to forge solo careers, which took Simon to the UK where he became a reliable draw in the country’s folk clubs. ...
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David Bowie
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