‘The Knight of the Rose’ For the follow-up to Elektra, Strauss declared he wanted to write a Mozart opera. Despite Hofmannsthal’s protests about a light, Renaissance subject set in the past, the librettist soon came up with a scenario that delighted Strauss. The correspondence between librettist and composer was good-natured and respectful. Each made suggestions to the other ...
(Vol’-ter fun dâr Fo’-gel-vi-da) fl. c. 1200 German Minnesinger Both in his time and in ours Walther von der Vogelweide has been considered the leading figure in medieval German poetry, and his music was mentioned for its excellence by his contemporaries. His poetic works are found in a large number of manuscripts – an indication of his popularity – but ...
The Renaissance recorder was played by blowing directly into a beak-shaped mouthpiece and the pitch was varied by changing the fingering on the holes – a set of seven on the front of the instrument and a single thumb-hole at the back. During this period the instrument was generally made of a single piece of wood, but today it usually ...
Tim Farriss (b. 1957) was born in Perth, Western Australia, and found fame with his brothers Andrew and Jon as a member of the band INXS, originally known as the Farriss Brothers Band. The oldest of the Farriss children, Tim was classically trained on the guitar for four years, starting at the age of eight. He ...
Lenny Breau (1941–84) was a Canadian guitarist who blended many styles of music, including country, classical, flamenco and jazz guitar. Breau, inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, used fingerstyle techniques not usually associated with jazz guitar. Breau was born in Auburn, Maine. His French-speaking parents, Hal ‘Lone Pine’ Breau and Betty Cody, ...
John Renbourn (b. 1944) is a father of contemporary British folk music and an acknowledged master of fingerstyle guitar. He is best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch and his work with the folk group Pentangle. Renbourn created music that fused British and Celtic folk with blues, jazz, British early music, classical guitar and Eastern forms. ...
Master of guitar-generated sound effects, Adrian Belew (b. 1949) makes his Parker Deluxe guitar not only sing but also scream, squawk, roar, tweet and talk in elephant tongue. Best known for his time in King Crimson during the early Eighties as comic foil to Robert Fripp’s relatively nerdy straight man, Belew is one of the most ...
Versatile American roots guitarist Ry Cooder was born in Los Angeles, California in 1947. As a child, he mastered the fundamentals of guitar, and at the age of 17, played in a blues outfit with singer/songwriter Jackie DeShannon. In 1965, Cooder teamed up with blues legend Taj Mahal and future Spirit drummer Ed Cassidy in The ...
Blues-rock guitarist Peter Green was born Peter Greenbaum in Bethnal Green, London in 1946. He began playing guitar at the age of 10. Among his early influences were Hank Marvin, Muddy Waters and B.B. King. After Green played bass in several semi-pro outfits, keyboardist Peter Bardens invited him to play lead in his band. Three months later ...
Derek Trucks was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1979. Trucks bought his first guitar at a yard sale for $5 at age nine and became a child prodigy, playing his first paid performance at age 11. Trucks began playing the guitar using a ‘slide’ bar because it allowed him to play the guitar with his small hands. By his ...
Guitar One magazine declared him a ‘modern-day master of the Telecaster’. In the 2007 Guitar World readers’ poll, his instrumental guitar tour de terror The Devil Knows My Name was named Best Shred Album of 2007. Also in 2007, he graced the covers of Guitar Player and Guitarist magazines, while in 2008, he was featured on the ...
Many of the famous German Baroque organs are what is known as Werkprinzip (‘department principle’) organs, built up of several separate ‘departments’ (i.e. a manual or pedal keyboard and its chest), all linked into the single console at which the organist plays. This method of construction means that organs can be tailored to specific requirements and added to over ...
1685–1759 English composer George Frideric Handel is one of the best known of all Baroque composers. His gift for melody, his instinctive sense of drama and vivid scene-painting, and the extraordinary range of human emotions explored in his vocal compositions make his music instantly accessible. Works such as Messiah (1741), Water Music (1717) and Music for the Royal Fireworks ...
Although the first generations of electric bluesmen played louder and more flamboyantly than their acoustic forefathers, their music was still traditional in its delivery and structure. The British blues players who emulated them during the 1960s were also fairly traditional in their approach to the genre. Jimi Hendrix opened things up a bit more when he first appeared on the ...
The spiritual tradition gave rise to many gospel staples, though many of the early ‘university’ singers who performed them had received a formal European musical schooling. The tradition reached a peak with the solo concert performances of the great singer Paul Robeson and the famous contralto Marian Anderson – the ambassadors for black America. The links between blues and gospel ...
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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...
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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.