(Nels Ga’-de) 1817–90 Danish composer In Copenhagen, Gade, a pioneer of the modern Scandinavian school, was violinist in the Royal Orchestra where many of his earliest works were performed, including the prize-winning tone-poem Ossian (1841). His masterly Symphony in C minor (1843) was first given in Leipzig by Mendelssohn. The following year, Gade assisted Mendelssohn as conductor ...
became interested in the subject of the Ring in the mid-1840s, at a time when several other composers, including Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Robert Schumann (1810–56), Liszt and Niels Gade (1817–1890), were similarly drawn to the theme. All of them were responding to the operatic potential of the early thirteenth-century Nibelungenlied (‘Lay of the Nibelungs’), which had been rediscovered after ...
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 same year he ...
genre of melodrama. Recommended Recording: Symphony No. 2 in E Flat, op. 38, Detroit SO (cond) Neeme Järvi (Chandos) Introduction | Late Romantic | Classical Personalities | Niels Gade | Late Romantic | Classical ...
Bass Drum The dominant feature of every military band is its big bass drum. Throughout the history of percussion instruments, this drum has been the mainstay of time-keeping, whether it is used for a marching army or in a late-twentieth century heavy metal band. Early versions of the bass drum (it was certainly known in Asia around 3500 BC) ...
Across the centuries and around the globe, many different forms of music have enjoyed mass appeal for a limited period of time. None, however, have been able to match the widespread influence of the popular music that erupted in America during the mid-1950s and, by the second half of the decade, was exerting its grip over ...
In the early 1980s, as the new wave of British heavy metal was taking the US by storm, an American music revolution called ‘thrash metal’ was brewing, combining the heavy sounds of metal with the unabashed aggression and speed of punk. At the centre of this sonic storm was a young quartet called Megadeth, which featured the ...
More than any other hard-rock or heavy-metal duo, Iron Maiden guitarists Adrian Smith and Dave Murray (b. 1956) set the standard for twin-guitar harmony lines and riffs. Indeed, their killer riffs and epic songs have helped to make Iron Maiden one of the most influential metal bands of all time. Murray was born in Edmonton, England. Inspired by ...
Dave Mustaine (b. 1961) was the original lead guitarist for the heavy-metal band Metallica and the co-founder, lead guitarist and lead singer of the thrash-metal band Megadeth. He was born in La Mesa, California. Brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, by the age of 17, he was surviving financially by dealing drugs. In the 1970s, Mustaine ...
The guitarist in Dream Theater, John Petrucci (b. 1967) brought his virtuoso style – lengthy syncopated lines, complex rhythmic variations and grinding tones – into the progressive-metal scene. In the past decade, he has been involved in several extracurricular projects, often with other members of Dream Theater. Raised in Long Island, New York, Petrucci started ...
(Alto saxophone, composer, b. 1953) New Yorker John Zorn deconstructed bebop themes in the late 1970s and created musical games that dictated improvisational structures. He plays assertively in bands such as Masada, purveying electric funk, Japanese pop and punk rock. Zorn has encouraged other renegade musicians by establishing music policies at venues and curating international festivals. As ...
Johnny Ramone (1948–2004) was born John Cummings in Long Island, New York. As a teenager, Johnny played in a band called The Tangerine Puppets alongside future Ramones drummer Tamás Erdélyi (better known as Tommy Ramone). Johnny worked as a plumber with his father before The Ramones became successful. He also attended military school and briefly attended college in Florida. ...
With his work as a studio player and as a prolific solo and guest artist, Larry Carlton (b. 1948) has long been known as a guitarist’s guitarist. Carlton has won three Grammys for his performances and compositions. Carlton started learning to play guitar when he was six years old. He warmed to jazz in high school and was influenced by ...
Many guitarists of the ‘shred’ variety unfortunately stick to scalar lines and diatonic arpeggios in straight major or minor keys. Marty Friedman (b. 1962) is not one of them. Indeed, Friedman’s tendency towards Eastern, Middle Eastern and other ethnic sounds has distinguished him as one of the most musically gifted super-pickers the guitar world has ever seen. Martin Adam ...
(Vocals, b. 1947) Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, Texas, Meat Loaf had a musical theatre as well as a rock’n’roll background (he starred in The Rocky Horror Picture Show). This was apparent on the camp but hugely appealing excess of breakthrough album Bat Out Of Hell in 1977, written by Jim Steinman and produced by Todd ...
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