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 ...
A leading figure on America’s West Coast music scene, Jerry Garcia was born in San Francisco in 1942. His father was a retired professional musician, his mother a pianist. The musically inclined Jerry began taking piano lessons as a child. The emergence of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran inspired him to learn guitar at 15, ...
(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 ...
(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 ...
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 ...
1813–83, German Though German-born, Friedrich von Flotow studied in Paris and became largely identified with French opera. His first operas in the French style were written for private salon performances. Alessandro Stradella (1844), his first international success, revealed his penchant for building a work around one ‘hit tune’, in this case ‘Jungfrau Maria’. After leaving Paris for Vienna ...
1808–36, Spanish Mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran was the elder daughter of Manuel Garcia and made her debut at age 17 singing in the chorus of the King’s Theatre in London. Shortly afterwards, she replaced the indisposed Giuditta Pasta as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Malibran was a brilliant, charismatic performer and was so successful as Rosina that she ...
Bugle Best known in its military guise, the bugle is one of the simplest of brass instruments in terms of construction, but it is very difficult to play. The single tube of metal has no valves to help create different notes, so players have to do all the work by changing their embouchure – a combination of the ...
The guitar is a plucked stringed instrument played resting on the lap. Although it has a long history – thought by many to reach as far back as the ancient Greek lyre known as the kithara – it is best-known today in the design of the Spanish guitar-maker Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–92). The modern or classical guitar developed from the ...
In one form or another, the harpsichord ruled the domestic keyboard roost throughout Europe – and later in America – from the late-sixteenth to the early-nineteenth centuries. Apart from the organ, it was the grandest and most versatile of all keyboard instruments until the advent of the mature fortepiano in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. Rise and Fall of ...
Many musical cultures have made use of wooden concussion sticks. Their history goes back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and they are played by the Aboriginal people of Australia. This group of instruments includes pairs of sticks struck together like claves (3 cm/1 in wide, 20 cm/8 in long), which are cylindrical wooden dowels widely used in Latin-American, ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.