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1600 - 1750
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The period called "Baroque" in music history extends roughly from 1600 to 1750. Baroque music is tuneful and very organized and melodies tend to be highly decorated and elaborate. Conflict and contrast between sections in a piece and between instruments are common, and the music can be quite dramatic.
1685 - 1759
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Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle, Germany. But since he spent most of his professional life in England, he's better known as George Frederick Handel.
Even though Handel was very interested in music, his father (who was a barber and surgeon) was not. There's a story that Handel smuggled a clavichord -- a VERY quiet instrument -- into the house so that he could practice in secret. Handel's father insisted that his son become a lawyer, until the day that Handel sat down at the keyboard and dazzled a duke. The duke convinced Handel's father to let his son study music.
1685 - 1750
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Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, where his father was a town musician. Bach came from a long line of composers - over 300 years' worth of Bachs all worked as professional musicians. By the time Johann was 10, both his parents had died, so he was brought up by his older brother, who was a church organist. Johann became a very good organist, too.
Johann Sebastian Bach held three major jobs in his life: first he worked for a duke, then for a prince, and finally, he became director of music at the St. Thomas Church and School in Leipzig, Germany. Even though his job in Leipzig kept him very busy, in his spare time, Bach conducted a group of musicians who liked to get together to perform at a local coffee house.
During his lifetime, people thought of Bach as just an ordinary working musician. No one really knew much about his music until 100 years after his death, when another composer, Felix Mendelssohn, conducted a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion.
Bach is now seen as one of the greatest geniuses in music history. He wrote all kinds of music -- for organ and other keyboard instruments, orchestras, choirs, and concertos for many different instrumental combinations.
1750 - 1825
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The term "classical" is often used to describe music that is not rock, pop, jazz or another style. However, there is also a Classical era in music history that includes compositions written from about 1750 to 1825. Music from this period is orderly, balanced and clear. Its form is very important as is its harmony and tonality—that is, the musical key in which a piece was written.
1756 - 1791
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, where his father Leopold was a violinist and composer. Wolfgang (or Wolferl, as his family called him) was a child prodigy. He composed his first piece of music at age five; he had his first piece published when he was seven; and he wrote his first opera when he was twelve. By the time Wolfgang was 6, he was an excellent pianist and violinist. He and his sister Maria Anna (known as Nannerl) traveled all over Europe performing for royalty.
When he grew up, Mozart moved to Vienna, and tried to earn a living as a pianist and composer. But he had a lot of trouble handling the fact that he was no longer a child prodigy. Mozart was still a musical genius, but after he stopped being a cute kid, people stopped making a big fuss over him. Back then, musicians were treated like servants, but Mozart did not, and could not think of himself as a servant.
Mozart was only 35 when he died. During his short life, he composed in all different musical forms, including operas, symphonies, concertos, masses, and chamber music. Today, he is still considered a genius!
1770 - 1827
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Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. His father, who was a singer, was his first teacher. After a while, even though he was still only a boy, Ludwig became a traveling performer, and soon, he was supporting his family.
In his early twenties, Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he spent the rest of his life. Beethoven was one of the first composers to make a living without being employed by the church or a member of the nobility. At first, he was known as a brilliant pianist. But when he was around 30 years old, Beethoven started going deaf. Even though he could no longer hear well enough to play the piano, Beethoven composed some of his best music after he was deaf!
Beethoven is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses who ever lived. He may be most famous for his nine symphonies, but he also wrote many other kinds of music: chamber and choral music, piano music and string quartets, and an opera.
1810 - 1849
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Frédéric Chopin born Poland and was one of the greatest pianists of his day. Chopin was born in a town just outside of Warsaw, Poland. His mother introduced him to the piano; by the time he was six, Chopin played extremely well and was starting to compose. He gave his first concert at the age of eight.
When Chopin was 20, he left Poland to seek fame and fortune in other European cities. When Chopin got to Paris, he decided to stay.
There's a story that when Chopin left his native country, his friends gave him some Polish soil, which he carried around with him for the rest of his life. That's probably not true, but Chopin did continue to be passionatly patriotic about Poland, even though he never went back there.
Chopin was never healthy, and he was only thirty-nine when he died of tuberculosis. When he was buried -- in France -- a special box of earth was brought from Poland to sprinkle on his grave. But Chopin's heart is in Poland -- literally. His heart was put in an urn and taken to the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.
1810
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As a musical movement, nationalism emerged early in the 19th century in connection with political independence movements, and was characterized by an emphasis on national musical elements such as the use of folk songs, folk dances or rhythms, or on the adoption of nationalist subjects for operas, symphonic poems, or other forms of music (Kennedy 2006). As new nations were formed in Europe, nationalism in music was a reaction against the dominance of the mainstream European classical tradition as composers started to separate themselves from the standards set by Italian, French, and especially German traditionalists (Miles n.d.).
1813 - 1883
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German born composer Richard Wagner is best known for his operas. Before composing his own works, he was a theatrical and operatic producer. He was also a conductor and wrote articles and essays on drama and music, something he continued to do throughout his lifetime.
Wagner was largely self-trained as a musician, but had tremendous talent. In 1837 he composed Rienzi, his first successful operatic work. This was followed by The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser and Lohengrin. His masterpiece, however, is the Ring of the Nibelung, a cycle of four operas that tells the story of mythological German gods and beings. Composition of this series took over twenty-five years. The use of leitmotifs helps to unite these four operas. A leitmotif is a musical phrase that is related to some aspect of the drama - perhaps a character, place, thought or thing. Another important aspect of his music is infinite melody; in his Ring operas, the music never stops until the final curtain has dropped. And, the orchestra is equally as important as the singers and drama. Wagner wanted a theatre that would meet the considerable needs of these operas and eventually built Bayreuth, a theater in which his works are still performed today.
As is the case with many geniuses, Wagner could be a difficult person. He ran up enormous debts, which he expected others to pay off. When he did have money, he spent it recklessly. He had a huge ego and once asked a man whom he barely knew for money. When this was denied, he was incensed and replied, "It probably will not happen again that a man like me will apply to you."
Wagner's music was loved by some and hated by others, but it had, and continues to have, a tremendous effect on all audiences and musicians.
1820 - 1910
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Romantic music came into its own at the beginning of the 19th century. Music from this era sounds almost boundless and free from any limitations of form. Much of this music is programmatic—that is, it is meant to describe something, perhaps a scene in nature or a particular feeling.
1825 - 1899
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Johann Strauss II (Jr.) was born in Vienna, where his father was an enormously famous musician. When the elder Strauss decided that Johann, Jr. should be a banker, his mother encouraged him to go into music.
When he was 19, Johann Strauss, Jr. started his own orchestra, and conducted his first public concert. Eventually, people began to realize that the younger Strauss was even better than his father.
Strauss toured internationally with his orchestra. And everywhere he went, he wrote new music dedicated to the places he visited. In addition to all the waltzes and marches he wrote, Johann Strauss, Jr. composed 16 operettas -- a very popular form of entertainment in his day.
1833 - 1897
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Johannes Brahms was born in 1833 in the German city of Hamburg. His father was a musician who played several instruments. Brahms loved music, too. By the time he was six, he'd invented his own system for writing notes down on a page. Of course, he took instrument lessons, learning to play cello, horn, and piano. By the time he was ten, he was such a good pianist that he performed in public, as part of a chamber music concert. Brahms also loved books and read everything he could find including novels, poetry, and folk tales.
When Brahms was older, he toured as an accompanist, playing piano for a Hungarian violinist. That music -- and the gypsy bands Brahms heard later on when he traveled to Hungary -- inspired his Hungarian Dances, which were a hit with the public. He wrote 21 dances in all. The most famous one is the Hungarian Dance No. 5.
Many people considered Brahms to be the successor to Beethoven. For a long time, he didn't want to write a symphony, because he was afraid his work would not be as good as Beethoven's. Brahms ended up writing four symphonies, plus pieces in every musical form except opera. You may know one of his most famous pieces, the Lullaby.
In fact, Brahms became so famous, he is now known as one of the 3 B's -- Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms -- of classical music.
1854 - 1932
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John Philip Sousa -- the most American of composers -- was the son of immigrants to the United States. Because of his love for bands and band music, John Philip Sousa wrote many wonderful marches. As a result, he is known as the "March King."
American bandmaster and composer John Philip Sousa was born in Washington D.C. He was the son of Portuguese and German immigrants. His father played trombone in the United States Marine Band, and the younger Sousa was always interested in bands. When he was 13, he nearly ran off to join a circus band. His father found out about the plan, and stuck him in the Marine Band instead.
In addition to playing band instruments, Sousa played violin, and that's how he met his wife. She was a singer, and he was playing in the orchestra of the theater where she worked. Sousa was also a theater composer -- he wrote 15 operettas.
Eventually, John Philip Sousa went back to bands. He spent 12 years as conductor of the Marine Band, and then left to start a concert band of his own. The Sousa Band toured all over the world, playing to sold-out houses.
John Philip Sousa literally continued conducting up until his death. He died suddenly after leading a band rehearsal. The final piece he conducted at the rehearsal was "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
1862 - 1918
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Claude Debussy was born in a suburb of Paris, and it was his aunt who first noticed how musical he was. She got him started taking piano lessons. When he was only ten, Debussy started studying at the very strict Paris Conservatory.
As a child, Debussy was fascinated by visual art, and as he grew up, he loved the new style called "Impressionism." Instead of painting realistic, lifelike paintings with hard outlines, Impressionists used thousands of dots, or many different shades of color to create the "impression" of what they wanted to depict. Debussy took that idea and applied it to music, creating Impressionism in music.
1870 - 1900
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The aim of Impressionist art was to suggest rather than to clearly draw objects. Impressionist music does much the same thing, focusing on creating a sense of the piece's topic by using blurred harmony and delicate shadings of sound rather than relying on standard forms and a strong, clear rhythmic beat. There is an air of mystery, magic and wonder that surrounds Impressionistic music.
1898 - 1937
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George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York. He taught himself to play the piano at a friend's house by following how the keys moved on a player piano. When the Gershwins finally got their own piano, George surprised everyone by sitting down and playing the songs he had learned by himself.
George liked to compose both classical and popular music, and found a unique way to combine the two. He composed his most famous work, Rhapsody in Blue, in 1924, the same year he also had a hit show on Broadway. Gershwin also wrote the opera Porgy and Bess. He is considered one of the greatest American composers.
1900 - 2000
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This era was without a dominant style and composers have created highly diverse kinds of music. Modernism, impressionism, post-romanticism, neoclassicism, expressionism, and, later, minimalism were all important movements.
1900 - 1990
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Aaron Copland is one of the most famous American composers of all time. Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, and went to France as a teenager to study music with Nadia Boulanger, who helped Copland create his own style.
Copland wrote music with a very "American" sound. Some of his most famous pieces are his ballets -- Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring. Billy the Kid and Rodeo are about the Wild West. Copland also wrote music for movies -- Of Mice and Men and Our Town, among others.
One of Copland's best known compostions is Fanfare for the Common Man. Copland wrote it after the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra asked several composers to write fanfares during World War II. Copland's music has become a great part of American history.
1912 - 1992
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John Cage is among the most famous of 20th century composers. While his earliest compositions were written in a traditional style, he quickly moved on to create unique kinds of works. One of his first inventions was the "prepared piano," which is an instrument modified so that it can produce new, percussive sounds.
John Cage wanted music to escape from any sort of control and, in some cases, to express the idea of zero thought. He therefore created purposeless music based on the throw of some dice, a star chart, or some other such random device so that his personal preferences were not part of the compositional process. He called this method indeterminacy. One such work, Imaginary Landscape No. 4, includes 12 radio sets, each of which is tuned to a different station. Every performance is therefore unique.
4'33", one of Cage’s most famous pieces, is “performed” by a pianist who sits unmoving in front of a keyboard for four minutes and 33 seconds. The members of the audience are expected during this time to listen to the sounds that occur around them.
Cage was always experimenting. He was one of the first musicians to create electronic music, using tape and making musical collages that combine many different sounds. Some of his compositions allow the performer to choose the order in which the sections of the piece are played as well as the number of musicians. Still others are “action” pieces that involve the audience and “happenings” that are simultaneous but uncoordinated. HPSCHD, which consists of seven harpsichord solos created from computer-generated sounds, also uses lights, films and slides, making performances of this work multimedia events.
A true innovator, Cage wanted to break down the barriers between art and living, to make audiences aware that they are surrounded by sounds and that everything they do is actually music. He was very influential in the 20th century musical world and in his later years was honored with many formal awards and recognitions.
1932 - Present
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John Williams was born on February 8, 1932, in Floral Park, New York. In 1948 John moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. He later attended college near his home in Los Angeles where he began to study composition. After college he was drafted into the United States Air Force where he had the opportunity to conduct and arrange music for the Air Force band.
In 1954, when his service ended, Williams moved to New York City and enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music. After completing his education at Juilliard, Williams moved back to Los Angeles to begin working as a film studio orchestrator. Eventually he was given the opportunity to compose the theme to the television series Lost in Space. This marked the beginning of a career that has spanned six decades. During this time Williams produced some of the best music ever written for film, including his music for Star Wars which was selected by the American Film Institute as the greatest film score of all time.
His film scores include:
Jaws (1975)
Star Wars (1977)
Superman (1978)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Home Alone (1990)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
In total John Williams has received 5 Academy Awards and 50 Academy Award nominations. He is the second most nominated individual after Walt Disney.
1937 - Present
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Philip Glass discovered music in his father's radio repair shop. In addition to servicing radios, Ben Glass carried a line of records. When some didn’t sell he took them home to play them for his three children, trying to discover why the customers didn’t like them. Thus, as a youngster, Glass became familiar with works by Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich and others. He also learned how to play the flute.
At 19, Glass graduated from the University of Chicago with a major in mathematics and philosophy. (He skipped the last two years of high school.) He wanted to be come a composer, however, so he moved to New York City and attended the Juilliard School there. He also studied in Paris.
Glass took some time to find his own style. His early works were known as "minimalist" because they repeated and varied a very small number of basic musical ideas. However, this period was short-lived as Glass became very interested in Indian music and started writing in a very different manner. His later compositions include several operas, symphonies and film scores. He has collaborated with a variety of artists, including writers, dancers and other musicians.