b. 1967 American violist and conductor Bell took up the violin at the age of four, and at 14 made his concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. A regular chamber musician (working with Isserlis and Kissin, among others), he has recorded concerto repertory as well as film soundtracks, including the Oscar-winning score for The Red Violin (1999). In ...
The bell may have been the instrument most widely and frequently heard in the European Middle Ages. Handbells had survived into the medieval period from antiquity; in addition, large bells were hung in church towers. Their loud sound was believed to keep away demons, so they may have offset the fear of churchyards. Bells were made of bronze; the ...
As a member of the first family of country music, Maybelle Carter (1909–78) distinguished herself far beyond her role as accompanist to her brother-in-law A.P. Carter and his wife Sara (Maybelle’s cousin) in the Carter Family, the first recording stars of country music. Maybelle was born Maybelle Addington in Nickelsville, Virginia. In 1926 she married Ezra J. ...
Twenty-first-century guitar hero Matthew Bellamy (b. 1978) was born in Cambridge, England. His father George was rhythm guitarist in the Tornadoes, who scored a massive transatlantic hit with the Joe Meek-produced ‘Telstar’. Before learning guitar, Bellamy took piano lessons as a boy, equally inspired by Ray Charles and classical music. In the mid-1980s, the family moved ...
(Ven-chant’-zo Bel-le’-ne) 1801–35 Italian composer One of the most important opera composers of the nineteenth century, Bellini cultivated a bel canto (literally ‘fine singing’) melodic style that influenced not only other opera composers but also Chopin and Robert Schumann. He studied first with his grandfather, composing youthful sacred works, ariettas and instrumental pieces, and in 1819 moved to ...
Bells are a feature of ceremony and ritual. They are used for meditation and prayer, and to mark significant life events such as funerals and weddings. Bells are used to mark out the timetable of our daily lives – appearing as alarm bells, warning signals and in mechanized chimes in clocks. In Japan, bonsho temple bells are rung ...
Tubular bells, also known as orchestral or symphonic chimes, are a set of tuned steel tubes with a chrome finish, hanging vertically in a stand with a pedal damper. The optimum range for a chromatic set of tubular bells is 11⁄2 octaves rising from middle C (c'–f''), as notes above or below this range are difficult to tune ...
Huddie Ledbetter was born in January 1888 in Mooringsport, Louisiana. He was exposed to music from an early age and began playing guitar before he was in his teens. The music he performed was composed of shouts, hollers and Native American songs, as well as ballads, religious songs and dance tunes from a variety of traditions. He ...
(Harmonica, vocals, b. 1936) Carey Bell is one of Chicago’s most distinctive harmonica players. He began playing with pianist Lovie Lee in Mississippi at the age of 13 and moved to Chicago at 20. Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter were key influences on his harmonica style, while tenures with Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters increased his ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1958) Bell grew up among Chicago legends, including his harmonica-playing father Carey Bell. The self-taught guitarist was 17 when he joined Willie Dixon’s band and 19 when he toured with Koko Taylor. He had already built a reputation for wiry, envelope-pushing improvisations when he formed Sons of Blues with Billy Branch in the mid-1970s. ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1952–93) Campbell, who was born in Louisiana and grew up in Texas, combined the traditional approach of Lightnin’ Hopkins with his own swampy, electrified New Orleans hoodoo spiritualism. His debut, the Ronnie Earl-produced A Man & His Blues (1988), is a superb summation of his acoustic roots, but its two electric follow-ups ...
(Tenor and soprano saxophones, b. 1969) Joshua Redman neé Shedroff grew up in Berkley, California and played reeds throughout high school. He was accepted by Yale Law School, but his victory at the 1991 Thelonious Monk competition persuaded him to take up music professionally. He was quickly accepted by jazz elders, peers and audiences due to his ...
(Vocal duo, 1933–58) In Chicago in the early 1930s, Myrtle Cooper (Lulu Belle, 1913–99) and Scott Wiseman (1909–81) were young North Carolinians performing on WLS’s National Barn Dance. When they fell in love, the station exploited them as sweethearts of the radio, increasing their fan mail and attracting record and movie companies. Their rapport and old-fashioned ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1936) Glen Campbell’s route to fame took him first to America’s West Coast, where he grew to be much in demand as a session musician, earning $50,000 to $70,000 a year. Signing to Capitol in 1962, he became a temporary member of The Beach Boys three years later, and ‘By ...
1801–35, Italian The musical abilities of Vincenzo Bellini were already well known in his home city of Catania in Sicily before he went to Naples at age 18 to study at the conservatory under Zingarelli. A competent pianist at age five, composer of his sacred music at six, the youthful Bellini’s ariettes and instrumental works were performed in ...
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David Bowie
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