(Vocals, banjo, jug, kazoo, guitar, fiddle, piano, 1885–1979) A pioneering bluesman who became a central figure in the Memphis jug band scene, Gus Cannon may have been the first blues recording artist, if tales of music he recorded as early as 1898 are true. However, no documentary evidence of Cannon recordings ...
AC/DC guitarist Angus Young – all five feet two inches of him – is a larger-than-life figure. Rising up from working-class Scottish roots to become the heart and soul of one of the greatest rock’n’roll bands of all time, Young, with his schoolboy outfit and Gibson SG in hand, has become the definitive rock-guitar icon. Born in Glasgow ...
1710–78 English composer Arne was the son of an upholsterer in Covent Garden. As a Roman Catholic in a largely Protestant country, he had no access to the usual opportunities for advancement as a musician through a church appointment. In the 1730s, he became involved with putting on English-language opera performances in London, earning a reputation as a ...
(Goos’-taf Ma’-ler) 1860–1911 Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler bestrode the world of music at the end of the nineteenth century. ‘My time will come’, he remarked about his often misunderstood compositions. For Mahler the conductor, due recognition did come during his lifetime, but another half-century had to pass before a fully sympathetic appreciation of his creative achievement was possible ...
(Bass, piano, composer, 1922–79) Charles Mingus had a tempestuous, multi-faceted personality, which is reflected in the almost schizophrenic extremes of his music and the sheer magnitude of his creative aspirations. Early work with Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo brought him in 1951 from California to New York, where he worked with Miles Davis, Duke ...
(Alto saxophone, 1928–75) Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley and his brother, trumpeter Nat, presided over one of the 1960s’ hippest hard-bop outfits with pianist Joe Zawinul; ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’ was one of their crossover hits. Adderley had been employed as a Florida school band director when he was overheard at a New York gig and was encouraged by ...
(Vocals, b. 1956) Suzy Bogguss served her apprenticeship travelling across America in a camper van for five years, then appearing daily at Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park in 1986. Her third album, Aces (1992), achieved gold status and gained a firm chart foothold for the folk-influenced troubadour’s singles and albums. A highlight of her career was making Simpatico ...
1710–78, English Arne was born in Covent Garden, so it is not surprising that he spent most of his life providing music for the theatre. In 1732 he formed an English opera company with Lampe and Carey, and their first production Amelia (1732) featured his sister Susanna (later Mrs Cibber, for whom Handel composed ‘He was despised’). ...
1732–99, French Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, best known for two plays on the theme of ‘Figaro’, was an amateur musician as well as a playwright. His first Figaro play, Le barbier de Séville (‘The Barber of Seville’, 1775), was produced at the Comédie-Française and his second, La folle journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro (‘The Mad ...
No discussion of this period in opera’s history would be complete without looking at Gustav Mahler (1860–1911). Although he is known primarily for his expansive, neurotically tinged symphonies and orchestral song cycles, he contributed hugely to the development of opera through his work as a conductor. Mahler was born in 1860 and he began his conducting career at Bad ...
1860–1956, French Born in 1860, Charpentier studied the violin at the Lille Conservatory and subsequently entered the Paris Conservatoire where he studied both violin and composition. Having begun composition studies with Hector Pessard, he later studied under Massenet, whose advice contributed to Charpentier’s victory in the Prix de Rome in 1887. Part of the prize involved a ...
Composed: 1889–96 Premiered: 1900, Paris Libretto by the composer or Saint-Pol-Roux Act I From the balcony of her parents’ house in Montmartre, Louise can see Julien, a poet. He has written two letters to her father, asking to marry her, although she says she loves her parents too much to elope. Her mother drags her away ...
(Goos’-tav Holst) 1874–1934 English composer As young men, Holst and Vaughan Williams were musically and personally close, collecting folk songs together and playing through each other’s works. Unlike Vaughan Williams, Holst had no private income; he made his living first by playing the trombone, then as an inspiring teacher, at St Paul’s Girls’ School, London ...
b. 1981 Venezuelan conductor From the age of five Dudamel was educated within the Venezuelan network of children’s orchestras known as El Sistema. In 1999 he was appointed music director of its leading orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra (now the Simón Bolívar Symphony). After appearing as guest conductor with orchestras such as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic, he ...
1928–2012 Dutch harpsichordist After studying at the Schola Cantorum in Basle, Dutch-born Leonhardt made his debut as a harpsichord player in Vienna in 1950. He was professor of harpsichord at the Vienna Academy of Music 1952–55. From 1954 he taught at the Conservatory in Amsterdam, where he was organist of the Nieuwe Kerk. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities ...
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