(Frants Shoo’-brt) 1797–1828 Austrian composer Described by Liszt as ‘the most poetic of all composers’, Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was both the heir to the great Viennese classical tradition of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and the first true Romantic composer. In his short life, spent almost entirely in Vienna, he was known almost exclusively as a composer of songs ...
1797–1828, Austrian Celebrated for his instrumental works and over 600 songs, Franz Schubert knew that musical fame and fortune in Vienna lay above all in the opera house. In his teens he completed several one-act comedies and the ‘magic opera’, Des Teufels Lustschloss (‘The Devil’s Pleasure Palace’, 1814). Thanks to his friend, the baritone Johann Michael Vogl, ...
, and Heinrich August Birnback (1782–1848), who wrote a concerto for it. The main reason for the arpeggione’s continuing fame, however, is a sonata written for Schuster by Schubert in November 1824. This piece is now normally played on either the cello or the viola. Styles & Forms | Early Romantic | Classical Instruments | Piccolo | Late Romantic ...
decades, pairs of flutes, trumpets and clarinets became permanent and string sections increased. This arrangement lasted from about 1800 to 1830, and composers such as Beethoven and Schubert wrote the majority of their orchestral works for this instrumentation. After a period of dominance by symphony orchestras, financial considerations led to chamber orchestras making a comeback in the ...
Steel pans or steel drums are a Caribbean instrument, originally made from oil drums beaten into shape and tuned. They originate from Port of Spain, Trinidad. The Origins of Steel Pans In the late 1930s, local people took to playing discarded metal objects like food tins and engine parts at carnivals and other celebrations, after the British ...
keyboard instruments is the piano. Its repertoire is vast, incomparably nourished by the works of Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Robert Schumann (1810–56), Frédéric François Chopin (1810–49), Franz Liszt (1811–86), Felix Mendelssohn (1809–47), Johannes Brahms (1833–97), Claude Debussy (1862–1918), Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), George Gershwin (1898–1937) and many more. Its ...
with most of the world’s major orchestras, he has focused increasingly on chamber and solo repertoire, recording the keyboard works of Bach (on the piano), the Mozart and Schubert sonatas, the complete solo piano music of Beethoven and Janáček, and works by Bartók and Kurtág (his former teacher in Budapest). Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | ...
b. 1931 Austrian pianist Austrian-born Brendel studied in Zagreb and Graz and later attended classes with Edwin Fischer. He made his debut in Graz in 1948 and became well known in the 1950s through his many recordings. He is widely admired for his performances of the sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Christophe Coin | ...
contralto Therese Behr, and appeared with many other performers including Casals, Feuermann and Fournier. He was an outstanding, deeply intellectual interpreter of the sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, and an inspiring teacher. He emigrated to the US in 1939. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Albert Schweitzer | Modern Era | Classical ...
Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Countess Geschwitz in the first complete production of Berg’s Lulu (Paris, 1979). She became equally established as a singer of Lieder, especially Schubert and Mahler. She retired from singing in 1995, continuing to work as an opera director. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau | Contemporary | Classical ...
(Kärl Lö’-ve) 1796–1869 German composer and singer Loewe studied first with his father and later with Daniel Türk at Halle. He was a gifted singer and performer and was appointed professor and Kantor at the Gymnasium and seminary in Stettin, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a devout Catholic, and his religion was an inspiration for ...
at Covent Garden in 1965 as Richard Strauss’s Mandryka (Arabella) and in 1967 as Verdi’s Falstaff. He was widely known as a Lieder singer, having extensively recorded Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf songs. Introduction | Contemporary | Classical Personalities | Renée Fleming | Contemporary | Classical ...
1925–2012, German In great demand as an opera singer and recitalist, Fischer-Dieskau was the most recorded baritone of the twentieth century. His opera work is remembered for roles such as Berg’s Wozzeck, Busoni’s Faust and Reimann’s Lear, for which he gave the first performance. He was not well suited to the Romantic Italian repertoire, but had ...
the rest of his life. He revived music by Baroque and classical composers including Bach and Mozart and promoted the works of his contemporaries, including Weber, Berlioz and Schubert, whose ‘Great’ C major Symphony he conducted at its premiere. In 1843 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory. Later Years His compositions written during the 1840s include his beautiful String ...
1930–66 German tenor In a career lasting little more than a decade, Wunderlich established himself as Germany’s leading lyric tenor. After his Stuttgart Opera debut in 1955, he was spotted by conductor Karl Böhm, under whom he later recorded Mozart (Tamino in The Magic Flute), Strauss and Berg (Andres in Wozzeck). His other records included Schubert’s Die schöne ...
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