AUTHORITATIVE | CURATED | First 500 words Free

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Modern Era

1894–1976 American composer Piston studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Dukas, then taught at Harvard University (Leonard Bernstein and Elliott Carter, 1908–2012, were among his pupils), publishing several composition textbooks. His music, including eight symphonies, is neo-classical, athletically energetic and graceful. Recommended Recording: The Incredible Flutist, New York PO (cond) Leonard Bernstein (Sony) ...

• Instruments
• Classical
• Late Romantic

means ‘wing’ in German) is a cornet-like valved brass instrument, a member of the bugle family. It has a conical bore and three valves; in Britain these are invariably piston valves, but German and Austrian ones have rotary valves. The flugelhorn’s ancestor was a type of semicircular hunting horn carried by the hunt-master who directed the wings of a ...

• Instruments
• Classical
• Late Romantic

tried. Rotary valves, which are to be found in the modern instrument, were only one of several available systems until some way into the twentieth century. While the piston valve works as a plunger, the rotary valve is operated by a lever and the internal mechanism swivels, not unlike a stopcock. Styles & Forms | Late Romantic ...

• Instruments
• Brass

chromatic range, and many new instruments flooded the market. Two makers, Stölzel and Blühmel, both devised valved horns between 1811 and 1814. The former used a tubular piston valve and the latter a box-shaped piston valve. Not long after, in 1822, Luigi Pini invented the first horn to use rotary valves. Band players and soloists quickly ...

• Instruments
• Brass

The tuba is a youngster among brass instruments; it is one of a number of instruments developed in the furiously inventive atmosphere of the early-nineteenth century. The invention of the piston valve around 1815 breathed new life into brass-instrument design. Ten years later an entirely new range of tenor and soprano instruments had appeared, but the valves were too long ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Contemporary Classical
• Instrumentalist

recordings, and through broadcasting a weekly programme from Harvard on national radio 1942–58. He played organ music of all periods including his own, with new works by Walter Piston (1894–1976) and others. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | James Blades | Contemporary | Classical ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Modern Era

music and many fine songs. Recommended Recording: Palestrina, soloists, Bavarian Radio Chorus and Orchestra (cond) Rafael Kubelík (Deutsche Grammophon) Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Walter Piston | Modern Era | Classical ...