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• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Instrumentalist
• Late Romantic

(E’-zak Al-ba’-neth) 1860–1909 Spanish pianist and composer Albéniz led the revival of a Spanish national musical style at the turn of the twentieth century. He studied composition with Felipe Pedrell (1841–1922), famous for his pioneering collections of Spanish folk and classical music that also inspired Albéniz’s contemporary Enrique Granados and, a little later, Manuel de Falla (1876–1946). Aged 20, ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

(En-re’-ka Gra-na’-thos) 1867–1916 Spanish composer Born in Lérida, Granados studied with Pedrell in Barcelona and then in Paris. He later founded and directed a music academy in Barcelona. Like his compatriots Albéniz and Falla, he forged a new Spanish style, with strumming effects, ornamentation, modes and exuberant dance rhythms. His best-known works are the Goyescas (1911), two ...

• Personalities
• Modern Era
• Opera

1865–1935, French A contemporary of Debussy and Ravel who joined the French Wagnerian movement, Dukas is primarily known for his orchestral fantasy L’apprenti sorcier (‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, 1897), memorably featured in Disney’s animated feature Fantasia. He was a perfectionist who spent years rewriting his partially written works. Two of Dukas’ operas remained unfinished: the Wagner-inspired Horn et Riemenhild (1892) ...

• Classical
• Modern Era

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 ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Early Romantic

(Kârl Ma-re’-a fun Va’-ber) 1786–1826 German composer Weber was a central figure in the growth of the Romantic movement in Germany, and one of its most important composers. He resuscitated and spread an enthusiasm for German opera, to which his own three-act opera Der Freischütz (‘The Free-shooter’, 1812) contributed. A gifted Kapellmeister and astute critic, he raised standards of ...