‘Soul Makossa’, 1973 Fusing jazz and makossa, the traditional Cameroonian music, Dibango is possibly Africa’s best-known jazz musician. However, anything ‘world’ in music finds it hard to sustain longevity in the pop world, so despite having a hit with ‘Soul Mokossa’, Dibango’s international fame was short lived. He remains a respected jazz musician, having played with ...
One of the best-known Renaissance music manuscripts, the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, was compiled by the musician Francis Tregian (1574–1619) during his imprisonment in London for recusancy from 1609 until his death. The manuscript contains an unusually wide-ranging collection of nearly 300 keyboard pieces by English composers (many of them also known for their Catholic sympathies), including Tallis, Byrd ...
(Kärl Fe’-lip E-ma’-noo-el Bakh) 1714–88 German composer In the eighteenth century, ‘Bach’ usually meant C. P. E. Bach, not his father Johann Sebastian. Born in Weimar, he studied under his father, then read law at the university in Frankfurt an der Oder. He took up a post in Berlin at the court of Prince Frederick, later Frederick ...
The term ‘manufactured pop’ is, in many ways, a red herring. Despite the changes in our perception of pop talent brought about by The Beatles, much mainstream pop has been based on the ‘Tin Pan Alley’ tradition, in which teams of producers, composers and music-business moguls find young, attractive performers (mainly singers) to front potential ...
(E-ma-el’ Shab-re-a’) 1841–94 French composer After hearing Wagner’s Tristan in Munich in 1879 with D’Indy and Duparc, Chabrier resigned his government post to become a full-time composer. The spectacular success of España (1883), a scintillating symphonic poem, proved him a master orchestrator. He composed two successful opéras comiques, L’étoile (‘The Star’, 1877) and Le roi malgré lui (‘King in ...
1751–1812, Austrian Emanuel Schikaneder spent his early years as a nomadic musician, until he encountered a travelling theatrical troupe in Augsburg. He married the director’s daughter and eventually took over the management of the troupe. However, Schikaneder was not just an opportunist with an eye for the boss’s daughter and the boss’s job. The eventual author of 50 ...
1775–1832, Spanish The Spanish tenor, composer and teacher Manuel Garcia founded a remarkable family of eight singers in four generations. He was best known for interpretations of Rossini – notably Otello – and created the part of Norfolk in Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra. The role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere was written for Garcia. After some six years ...
1841–94, French Chabrier’s father was determined that his son should enter the legal profession, even to the extent of moving the entire family to Paris in order that he could prepare for law school. In 1858, Chabrier entered law school and was soon employed in the Ministry of the Interior. His interest in music remained potent, however ...
(Man’-wel da Fa’-ya) 1876–1946 Spanish composer Falla first trained as a pianist and had written five zarzuelas (Spanish light operas) before studying composition with Felipe Pedrell (1841–1922), who influenced him profoundly with his insistence that Spanish composers should write ‘Spanish music with a view of Europe’. Falla then moved to Paris, where Ravel and Debussy influenced the exquisite orchestral colour ...
1902–42 American cellist Born in Austria, Feuermann made his debut in Vienna under Weingartner in 1912. He taught at the Berlin Hochschule 1928–33, and settled in the US in 1938. He played piano trios with Schnabel and Bronislaw Huberman, and with Rubinstein and Heifetz. He was noted for his warm tone and solid technique. Introduction | Modern Era ...
b. 1970 Swiss flautist Born in Geneva, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and was appointed principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 22, subsequently appearing as a soloist with major orchestras in the US, Europe and Japan. He has recorded all the instrument’s major solo and chamber repertoire and has premiered several new ...
‘Resurrection Shuffle’, 1971 Keyboardist/vocalist Tony Ashton and drummer Roy Dyke were seasoned 1960s beat group musicians who had played behind George Harrison on his Wonderwall Music LP. In 1969, they met bassist Kim Gardner to form AG&D, and had a No. 3 hit with ‘Resurrection Shuffle’. Having recorded three LPs by 1972, nothing else matched ‘Shuffle’’s hit appeal ...
African music dominates the world in the exported forms of blues, jazz, funk and their children, but the music within the continent is often overlooked. Africa still exports but it is also an importer, adapting salsa, rap and country to its own circumstances. Africa is a metaphorical and geographical crossroads, making the continent the home ...
Perverse as it may seem, Europe is an important centre for world music. All the prerequisites exist: large populations in a small area, transport, proximity to other continents, affluent consumers, communications … As rural migrants moved to urban areas and immigrants arrived, Europeans were leaving for the New World (making New York the best place ...
Commonly pitched in B flat like the standard orchestral clarinet, but sounding an octave below it, the bass clarinet began life as an eighteenth-century instrument that looked faintly like a dulcian, though with an upward-pointing bell. Adolphe Sax (1814–94) and L. A. Buffet (fl. 1839–43) both worked on the instrument in the nineteenth century. Sax developed one with ...
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