MUSIC MODULES 12
MUSIC
MUSIC IS THE ART OF COMBINING AND REGULATING SOUNDS OF VARYING PITCH TO PRODUCE MELODIUS HARMONY MUSIC IS HIGHLY A SUBJECTIVE MATTER
FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC
A WAY OF EXPRESSING OUR EMOTIONS SPEEDS UP THE HEALING PROCESS GOOD MUSIC RADIATES JOY
FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC— according to Herskovits
Material culture—making a living Social institutions Enculturation/Acculturation More uses and functions Man and the Universe Aesthetics Language
Properties of Music
PITCH DURATION VOLUME TIMBRE OR TONE COLOR RANGE
ELEMENTS OF MUSIC
Rhythm Melody Harmony Dynamics Style Texture Tone Color or Timbre Form
Medium in Music (Vocal) Female Soprano Mezzo-soprano Alto/contralto Male Tenor Baritone Bass
Female Coloratura soprano Lyric Dramatic soprano Mezzo soprano Contralto Male Tenor Lyric tenor Dramatic tenor Baritone Bass
Medium in Music (Instrumental)
String instrument wind instrument brass woodwind percussion keyboard
String Instrument
String Instrument
String Instrument
String Instrument
String Instrument
String Instrument
Wind Instrument
Wind Instrument
Wind Instrument
Wind Instrument
Wind Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Percussion Instrument
Keyboard Instrument
Keyboard Instrument
Keyboard Instrument
Orchestra
Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750)
German organist and composer of the baroque era, one of the greatest and most productive geniuses in the history of Western music. Bach was born on March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Thuringia, into a family that over seven generations produced at least 53 prominent musicians, from Veit Bach to Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach. Johann Sebastian received his first musical instruction from his father, Johann Ambrosius, a town musician. When his father died, he went to live and study with his elder
Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827)
German composer, generally considered one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition. Born in Bonn, Beethoven was reared in stimulating, although unhappy, surroundings. His early signs of musical talent were subjected to the capricious discipline of his father, a singer in the court chapel. In 1789, because of his father's alcoholism, the young Beethoven became a court musician in order to support his family. His early compositions under the tutelage of German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe —particularly the funeral cantata on the death of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in 1790— signaled an important talent, and it was planned that Beethoven study in Vienna, Austria, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although Mozart's death in 1791 prevented this, Beethoven went to Vienna in 1792 and became a pupil of Austrian composer Joseph
Frédéric Chopin (18101849)
Polish composer and pianist of the romantic school, regarded by some as the greatest of all composers of music for the piano. Born Fryderyk Chopin in Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, of a French father and a Polish mother, he preferred to use the French name Frédéric. He began to study the piano at the age of four, and when he was eight years old he played at a private concert in Warsaw. Later he studied harmony and counterpoint at the Warsaw Conservatory. Chopin was also precocious as a composer: His first published composition is dated 1817. He gave his first concerts as a piano virtuoso in 1829 in Vienna, where he lived for the next two years. After 1831, except for brief absences, Chopin lived in Paris, where he became noted as a pianist, teacher, and composer. He formed an intimate relationship in 1837 with French writer George Sand. In 1838 Chopin began to suffer from tuberculosis and Sand nursed him in Majorca, in the Balearic Islands, and in France until continued differences between the two resulted in an estrangement in 1847. Thereafter his musical activity was
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
One of the greatest composers of the late baroque period (1700-1750) and, during his lifetime, perhaps the most internationally famous of all musicians. Handel was born February 24, 1685, in Halle, Germany, to a family of no musical distinction. His own musical talent, however, manifested itself so clearly that before his tenth birthday he began to receive, from a local organist, the only formal musical instruction he would ever have. Although his first job, beginning just after his 17th birthday, was as church organist in Halle, Handel's musical predilections lay elsewhere. Thus, in 1703 he traveled to Hamburg, the operatic center of Germany; here, in 1704, he composed his own first opera, Almira, which achieved great success the following year. Once again, however, Handel soon felt the urge to move on, and his inclinations led him to Italy, the birthplace of operatic style. He stopped first at Florence in the autumn of 1706. In the spring and summer of 1707 and 1708 he traveled to Rome, enjoying the patronage of both the nobility and the clergy, and in the late spring of 1707
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Austrian composer, recognized as a dominant force in the development of the musical style of the classical era (circa 1750-circa 1820). Of humble origins, Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau, near Vienna, on March 31, 1732. When eight years old he was accepted into the choir school of Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, where he received his only formal education. Dismissed from the choir at the age of 17, he spent the next several years as a struggling freelance musician. He studied on his own the standard textbooks on counterpoint and took occasional lessons from the noted Italian singing master and composer Nicola Porpora. In 1755 Haydn was engaged briefly by Baron Karl Josef von Fürnberg, for whom he apparently composed his first string quartets. A more substantial position followed in 1759, when he was hired as music director by Count Ferdinand Maximilian von Morzin. Haydn's marriage in 1760 to Maria Anna Keller proved to be unhappy as well as childless.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91)
Austrian composer, a centrally important composer of the classical era, and one of the most inspired composers in Western musical tradition. Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, and baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, he was educated by his father, Leopold Mozart, who was concertmaster in the court orchestra of the archbishop of Salzburg and a celebrated violinist, composer, and author.
Johann Strauss (1825-99)
Born in Vienna. He made his first appearance conducting his own orchestra at the age of 19. After the death of the elder Strauss, he united his group with the orchestra his father had made famous. His many tours through Europe and a tour in the U.S. in 1876 featured his own dance music, especially his waltzes. Strauss composed such famous waltzes as “The Blue Danube” (1867), “Tales from the Vienna Woods” (1868), “Roses from the South” (1878), and “Voices of Spring” (1881). Between 1871 and 1897 he composed 16 operettas for Viennese theaters, of which the best known today are Die Fledermaus (The Bat, 1874) and Der Zigeunerbaron (The Romani, or Gypsy, Baron, 1885). His two brothers, Josef Strauss (1827-70) and Eduard Strauss (1835-1916), often substituted as conductors of his orchestra and also composed many dance
Ilyich Tchaikovsky (18401893)
Russian composer, the foremost of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, in the western Ural area of the country. He studied law in Saint Petersburg and took music classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. There his teachers included Russian composer and pianist Anton Rubinstein, from whom Tchaikovsky subsequently took advanced instruction in orchestration. In 1866 composer-pianist Nicholas Rubinstein, Anton's brother, obtained for Tchaikovsky the post of teacher of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory. There the young composer met dramatist Aleksandr Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, who wrote the libretto for Tchaikovsky's first opera, The Voyevoda (1868). From this period also date his operas Undine (1869) and The Oprichnik (1872); the Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat Minor (1875); the symphonies no. 1 (called “Winter Dreams,” 1868), no. 2 (1873; subsequently revised and titled “Little Russian”), and no. 3 (1875); and the overture Romeo and Juliet (1870; revised in 1870 and 1880). The B-flat piano concerto was dedicated originally to Nicholas Rubinstein, who
Richard Wagner (181383)
German composer and musical theorist, one of the most influential figures of 19th-century Europe. Born May 22, 1813, in Leipzig, Wagner studied at the University of Leipzig. Between 1833 and 1839 he worked at provincial opera houses in Würzburg, Magdeburg, Königsberg, and Riga. During these years he wrote the operas Die Feen (The Fairies, 1833) and Das Liebesverbot (The Forbidden Love, 1836) and several orchestral works. In 1836, while at Königsberg, Wagner married the actor Minna Planer. At Riga he completed the libretto and the first two acts of his first important opera, Rienzi. In 1839 Wagner sailed to London. During the tempestuous voyage across the North Sea, he conceived the idea for his second major opera, Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman, completed in 1841). After eight days in London, he traveled to France, settling eventually in Paris, where he became acquainted with the music of Hector Berlioz. He remained in Paris until April 1842, at times reduced to the direst poverty. On October 20, 1842, Rienzi was produced at the Court Theater at Dresden,
Kinds of Music
Program Imitative Descriptive Narrative Folk Art Jazz Classical Opera