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Although the composer Robert Schumann had prophesied in 1853 that Brahms would be pre-eminent in symphonic forms, he was diffident about coming before the public with a symphony. Many felt that Beethoven had already said all that there remained to say in this, the grandest of orchestral genres. So the eventual appearance of Brahms’ First Symphony in 1876 was ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Yo-han’-nes Bramz) 1833–97 German composer Brahms is a Janus-like figure in music history: he simultaneously faced the past and the future. Reviving and enlarging the classical principles of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, his music has often been seen as a conservative reaction against the ‘new music’ of Liszt and, in particular, Wagner. Yet Brahms’ highly personal blend of ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

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 ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The German player and maker Iwan Müller had developed a 13-keyed instrument in about 1812 and the music being written for the clarinet at the beginning of 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) ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

to exploit the immense flexibility of the piano. The combination of violin and piano has been written for extensively, notably in the sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, Johannes Brahms (1833–97) and Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953), while partnerships of piano and cello, clarinet or flute have also been very popular. Any acoustic melodic instrument will form an effective combination with ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

The term ‘horn’ is generally used to refer to the orchestral horn, also known as the French horn. Although it is used in jazz slang to indicate any wind instrument played by a soloist, the name here refers to the orchestral horn. History The early history of the horn is bound intimately to that of the trumpet. Both instruments ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

and challenging. He used a double quartet of saxhorns in Les Troyens and a saxhorn suraigu (high-pitched) for the ‘Marche troyenne’ and the entry of the Trojan horse. Beating Beethoven Brahms wrote for the modest orchestra of Beethoven’s age (the symphonic forces for which Beethoven had written at the end of the classical period were about 55), ignoring the technical developments ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

major solo instrument – a position it has yet to relinquish. Outstanding examples of the concerto repertoire include Beethoven, Edward Elgar (1857–1934), Alban Berg (1885–1935), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Johannes Brahms (1833–97), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–93) and Jean Sibelius (1865–1957). The Viola The viola is the alto member of the violin family. It had become established by 1535 and at that ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Robert Schumann (1810–56), Frédéric François Chopin (1810–49), Franz Liszt (1811–86), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Johannes Brahms (1833–97), Claude Debussy (1862–1918), Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), George Gershwin (1898–1937) and many more. Its foremost practitioners, from Liszt to Ignacy Paderewski (1860–1941) and beyond, were the pop stars ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

1852–1924 British composer Born in Dublin where he studied the organ, Stanford moved to London at the age of 10 to study the piano with Ernst Pauer. At Cambridge he was organist of Trinity College (1873–92) and founder-conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society, where he gave the premieres of many of Brahms’ works. He also studied in Leipzig ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

first performance of works by Lennox Berkeley and Alan Rawsthorne, but was associated mainly with the Classical repertory, especially Mozart. His recordings include the First Piano Concerto by Brahms, conducted by Szell. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Jacqueline Du Pré | Contemporary | Classical ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. Recommended Recording: Prince Igor, soloists, Kirov Opera Chorus & Orchestra (cond) Valery Gergiev (Philips/Decca) Introduction | Late Romantic | Classical Personalities | Johannes Brahms | Late Romantic | Classical ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

between 1875 and 1877; at the same time Dvořák was awarded an Austrian state stipend for poor artists, which greatly increased his productivity. Judging candidates for the stipend brought Brahms into contact with Dvořák’s music and he helped arrange the publication of the Moravian Duets in Germany. Their popularity was eclipsed by that of the Slavonic Dances (1878) which, ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Ba’-la Bar’-tok) 1881–1945 Hungarian composer and pianist Bartók’s earliest works were influenced by Johannes Brahms (1833–97), by Hungary’s famous Liszt and by Richard Strauss, then regarded as the last word in modernism. Bartók’s personal style, though, was formed by his discovery of Debussy and of Hungarian folk music. The strongly rhythmic, percussive, sharply dissonant music that ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Kla’-ra Shoo’-man) 1819–96 German pianist Clara made her debut at the age of 11 and soon became famous as a virtuoso soloist. She also composed music – usually for herself to perform. Early works include a piano concerto (1833–35) and several piano pieces. After a fierce battle with her father, she married Robert Schumann in 1840 and continued to perform, ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie
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