AUTHORITATIVE | CURATED | First 500 words Free

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Modern Era

(Zhak E-bâr’) 1890–1962 French composer Ibert won the coveted Prix de Rome, and shocked those who awarded it with the non-academic levity of the pieces he wrote in Rome. His best-known work is the uproarious Divertissement (1930), but it has distracted attention from an accomplished opera (L’Aiglon, ‘The Young Eagle’, 1937, written in collaboration with Honegger), some fine ...

• Instruments
• Woodwind

of the saxophone family. It was the alto that took the first orchestral parts and for which were written the two best-known concertos: by Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov (1865–1936) and Jacques Ibert (1890–1952). The alto saxophone is probably best known for the part it played in jazz. By the mid-1920s it was an established solo instrument and was brought to the forefront ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Modern Era

bûcher (‘Joan of Arc at the Stake’, 1938). Recommended Recording: Symphony No. 3, ‘Liturgique’, Czech PO (cond) Serge Baudo (Supraphon) Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Jacques Ibert | Modern Era | Classical ...

• Performance
• Classical
• Contemporary Classical

The twentieth century has seen a wealth of special effects employed in music, in much the same way as they are used in film, beginning with the intonarumori (‘noise-intoners’) invented by Luigi Russolo. A football rattle (called a ‘bird scare’ by the composer) was required by Havergal Brian (1876–1972) for his Gothic Symphony No. 1 (1927). The sound of ...

• Instruments
• Classical
• Late Romantic

Although two-keyed oboes continued to be made as late as 1820, it was around 1825 that a Viennese oboist of the court orchestra developed a 13-keyed instrument. Joseph Sellner’s development continued to be used in Germany throughout the nineteenth century, and is the basis of the modern Viennese instrument. In France, instrument-makers pursued a different path. Henri Brod ...

• Major Operas
• Opera
• Turn of the Century

Composed: 1896 Premiered: 1896, Milan Libretto by Luigi Illica Act I During the early days of the French Revolution, Gérard, a servant, is secretly in love with Maddalena, daughter of the Contessa de Coigny. Among the guests at the contessa’s soirée is the poet Andrea Chénier. The other guests are offended by his call for liberty ...

• Major Operas
• Modern Era
• Opera

Composed: 1974–75 Premiered: 1976, Avignon Libretto by Christopher Knowles, Lucinda Childs and Samuel M. Johnson Einstein on the Beach is divided into four acts, separated by five intermezzi, which allow for set changes. The performance is continuous and the audience are at liberty to leave and return as they wish. There is no plot, but there ...

• Major Operas
• Early & Middle Baroque
• Opera

‘The Coronation of Poppea’ L’incoronazione di Poppea, composed in 1642, has been called Monteverdi’s greatest opera. It was one of the first operas to be based on history rather than mythology. The action takes place in Rome in ad 65. The eponymous heroine is the mistress and, later, wife of the Emperor Nero. The libretto was by ...

• Personalities
• Alternative/Indie Rock
• Rock
• Twenty-First Century

(Vocal/instrumental group, 2004–present) In every way a vehicle for ex-Libertine Pete Doherty (vocals), Babyshambles – Adam Ficek (drums) and Drew McConnell (bass) – continually teeter on the edge of greatness but more often than not fail dismally, often as a result of their singer’s criminal misdemeanours. A shame, as debut Down In Albion (2005) had some fine moments ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Modern Era

1874–1954 American composer Ives was drawn to music largely by the example of his father George, who had been a bandsman in the American Civil War and who encouraged his son in such experiments as playing a tune in one key and its accompaniment in another. Ives studied with the conservative composer Horatio Parker (1863–1919), but soon turned to his ...

• Personalities
• Rock
• Sixties
• Sixties Pop

(Vocals, 1941–2006) This University of Connecticut graduate was first recognized in the music business as a composer of hits for Ricky Nelson and Bobby Vee. As a performer, Pitney made a US Hot 100 debut with 1961’s ‘(I Wanna) Love My Life Away’ before climbing higher with two successive film title songs – ‘Town Without Pity’ and ‘The Man ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Early Baroque

1659–95 English composer Henry Purcell was, without doubt, the most distinguished English composer of the seventeenth century. Equally at home writing for the church, the theatre or the court, he also set a number of bawdy catches for which it is likely he also wrote the words. Unfortunately, little is known about Purcell’s private life. His ...

• Personalities
• Alternative/Indie Rock
• Blues
• Folk Rock
• Guitar Heroes
• Soul

Alternative guitarist and singer Jeff Buckley (1966–97) was born in Anaheim, California. Jeff barely knew his father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, who died when he was eight. His mother, Mary Guibert, was a classically trained pianist and cellist, which meant that music was all around when Buckley was growing up. He started playing acoustic guitar at ...

• Personalities
• Noughties Pop
• Rhythm & Blues
• Rock
• Soul
• Twenty-First Century

(Vocals, b. 1985) Lewis was the third and most successful to date of Simon Cowell’s X-Factor reality TV show winners. She triumphed in 2006, her single ‘A Moment Like This’ an inevitable UK No. 1. After an 11-month recording break Lewis returned in 2007 with debut album Spirit, an international success that hit No. 1 in 10 countries ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Classical Era
• Composer

(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 ...