Mozart was, with Handel, the composer Beethoven revered above all others. And Fidelio could hardly have been written without the example of Mozart’s mature operas. Yet with his strongly ethical, idealistic outlook, even to the point of priggishness, Beethoven regarded works such as Don Giovanni (1787) and, especially, Così fan tutte (1790) as flippant ...
The years 1826–28 saw the deaths of the three greatest composers of their respective generations, Weber, Beethoven and Schubert. Only in the years that followed could early Romanticism really forge its own identity. The 1830s saw the flowering of a new generation of great composers, including Chopin, Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt and Mendelssohn, and for ...
and Pizarro is arrested, while Leonore is given the keys for Florestan’s chains. She releases him and everyone celebrates the virtues of love and fidelity. Personalities | Ludwig van Beethoven | Early Romantic | Opera Techniques | Singspiel | Classical Era | Opera ...
(Lood’-wig van Bat’-ho-fan) 1770–1827 German composer Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the greatest composers in history – perhaps the greatest. Standing at the crossroads between the classical and Romantic eras, he created music that belongs not just to its period but to all time. He excelled in virtually every genre of his day, and had enormous influence on the ...
1770–1827, German Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn to a musical family, on 16 December 1770. He started composing at the age of 11 and experienced opera from the inside when he joined the Bonn court orchestra as a viola player in 1789. His letters reveal that from his early years in Vienna, where he moved in ...
of the Barrel Organ The mechanical principle underlying all such instruments, from the automated organ and piano to the spectacular mechanical orchestras of the nineteenth century, for which Beethoven composed his notorious Battle Symphony. At its heart is a revolving cylinder or barrel, placed horizontally and bearing brass or steel pins which open (or trigger the opening) of ...
As ensemble music became more popular during the sixteenth century there was increased demand for wind instruments that could elegantly negotiate the lower ranges. Large versions of wind instruments intended for the higher registers lacked volume and agility and were often difficult to play. Various elements of existing instruments – the bass recorder’s crook and the shawm’s double reed, for ...
The history of musical instruments has always been very closely linked to the history of music itself. New musical styles often come about because new instruments become available, or improvements to existing ones are made. Improvements to the design of the piano in the 1770s, for instance, led to its adoption by composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...
the nineteenth century by Weber, among others, made an instrument with 13 keys essential. While its chamber-music life in the classical period had produced such masterpieces as the Beethoven Septet (op. 20) and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A (K581), in the Romantic period, before Brahms’ quintet of 1891, it was limited. However, it became an ever-more ...
clarinet or a chalumeau. Mozart had a fondness for the instrument, using it particularly in his masonic pieces. The basset horn never really caught on, in spite of Beethoven using it in the overture to Prometheus (1801) and Richard Strauss in his opera Daphne (1936–37), and it slowly died out. Basset Clarinet Not to be confused with the basset ...
Instrument With all its subtleties, it is small wonder that the clavichord was so beloved of Bach (who prized ‘singingness’ above all other musical virtues), and of Mozart and Beethoven after him – despite their ownership and mastery of the latest pianos. Until the advent of the electronic piano, with its attendant headphones, the clavichord remained the most ...
that exploits its particular strengths and that ‘sells’ that particular combination of instruments to audiences and performers. The music of Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), for example, used the string quartet so well that it became one of the central mediums of classical music. A continuing demand for the ensemble is also important. ...
The flute most familiar to us from its use in orchestral and solo music is more properly known as a ‘transverse’ or ‘side-blown’ flute. The flute family is distinct from the other woodwind instruments in that it does not use a reed to generate sound. Instead, a stream of air striking the edge of an opening in the side of ...
In one form or another, the harpsichord ruled the domestic keyboard roost throughout Europe – and later in America – from the late-sixteenth to the early-nineteenth centuries. Apart from the organ, it was the grandest and most versatile of all keyboard instruments until the advent of the mature fortepiano in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. Rise and Fall of ...
been well catered for musically ever since its introduction in the eighteenth century. Aside from the famous concertos by Mozart, there are works by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), Beethoven, Haydn, Strauss, Oliver Knussen (b. 1952), György Ligeti (b. 1923) and Britten. One of the horn’s most striking characteristics is its timbral variety. It is a great ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.