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Tomaso Giovanni
Albinoni
1671-1750
A Baroque
composer, who was also a gifted singer
and violinist.
Only a few of the 50 operas
he wrote survived, and nowadays Albinoni is
mainly famous for the Adagio in G minor,
reconstructed from his manuscript by Remo
Giazotto in the 20th
century,
and has become one of the most popular classical works around the world.
Gregorio
Allegri
1582-1652
A forgotten Italian
composer; the "Miserere"
a long 9 part religious
piece he wrote was solely in the possession of the Catholic Church, never
notated nor copied; Mozart
memorized and later notated this long, polyphonic
piece, with no mistakes whatsoever.
Leroy Anderson
1908-1975
An American
composer of classical music, including the
"Syncopated Clock"
and "The Typewriter",
written for the famous "Boston Pops"
orchestra.
Louis
Armstrong
1900-1971
Among the giants of jazz.
A singer, a trumpet
player and a popular composer who became the
ambassador of jazz music around the world. Famous for his rugged bass
voice
and warm trumpet improvisation (credited with starting the tradition of
improvised solos that’s considered one of jazz music’s signs). Among his
famous songs - "Hello Dolly"
and "What a Wonderful World".
Aged 11, he was sent to an orphanage by the young delinquents' court. It
was there where he learned to play the trumpet
and the clarinet.
When he was 17, he joined his first jazz band, starting a glamorous career,
begun as an instrumentalist, later switching to singing, due to a medical
condition preventing him from playing for a few months. Armstrong invented
a style of singing, where the vocalist uses meaningless syllables to emulate
an instrumental solo. He became a successful artist and a leader of great
jazz bands, especially the "Louis Armstrong
Stars" which toured the world and swept
up millions in the love of jazz.
Farid
El Atrache
1915-1974
An Egyptian
composer and singer
who became one of the pillars of art and popular
music of the Arab nations, and participated in hundreds of films, in which
he performed his songs.
Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach
1714-1788
Johann Sebastian Bach's
third son, and an independently important composer. A pioneer in the allegro-sonata
form and the symphony,
and a skillful pianist
and harpsichord
player. Was court musician for the King of
Prussia,
Friedrich the Great.
Johann
Christian Bach
1735-1782
Johann Sebastian Bach's
youngest son, who lived many years in London
and was called, therefore, "the English"
Bach. He taught music to the royal family and wrote music in many forms,
from opera
to instrumental forms as symphonies. After hearing his music in London,
young Mozart
admired him and copied his composition style in his works.
Wilhelm
Friedemann Bach
1710-1784
Johann Sebastian Bach's
eldest son, and a composer himself.
Samuel
Barber
1910-1981
American
composer. His works include two symphonies and the operas
"A Hand of Bridge" and "Antony
and Cleopatra" . But his most famous work is the Adagio
for Strings.
Count
William "Bill" Basie
1904-1984
A well-known jazz
composer and leader of a successful Swing
band in the 1930's and 1940's in the United
States.
"The Beatles"
1960-1970
British
Rock band from Liverpool.
One of the most important popular music bands of all times. Members of
the band, Paul McCartney,
John Lennon,
George Harrison
and Ringo Starr,
became famous for their sweeping Rock and
Roll
music, but later in their career, the band was not just satisfied with
the astonishing admiration they gained, and was in constant search for
new musical sources of inspiration, from traditional Hindu
music, to the psychedelic music of the end
of the 1960's. The great legacy of this band continues to fascinate pop
fans till now, but the hopes for their reunion were dashed with John Lennon's
assassination by a lunatic fan in 1980. Their best album, considered one
of the best pop records of all times, is "Sergeant
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Among
their greatest hits: "Let it be"
and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Vicenzo Bellini
1801-1835
A well-known opera
writer who, together with Donizetti
and Rossini,
was a central artist in the Italian
opera of early Romanticism.
He composed captivating melodies that allowed singers to display their
high ability. "Norma"
is one of his famous operas.
Paul Ben-Haim
1897-1984
An Israeli
composer, born in Germany,
who was affected by Jewish music and its tradition, already in his native
country. Having immigrated to Palestine in
1933, he became the pillar of Israeli music and one of the leaders of the
school, combining oriental
elements with western writing and orchestration.
He won the state award in Israel for his "Neim
Zmirot Israel", and his first symphony
is one of his important works.
Alban
Berg
1885-1935
An Austrian
born composer who wrote in the dodecaphonic
system,
and was one of the leaders of this trend. His works, such as the opera
"Wozzeck"
are considered the most important 12-tone pieces.
Luciano Berio
1925-
An Italian
composer who uses a graphic notation
technique and quotations from other musical
pieces in his works (sort of a musical collage). Was engaged in electronic
music,
too, for a while.
Leonard
Bernstein
1918-1990
A well known Jewish American
pianist
and conductor, who was also an intriguing
composer; he wrote in a variety of styles, from musicals
(such as the successful "Westside Story"),
ballets
(music in a free, light style), to symphonic
music, like "Jeremiah".
Was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gilles
Binchois
1400 - 1460
Composer from the Netherlands,
who worked at the court of Burgundy. Along with Dufay (whom he knew) and
Dunstable, Binchois is generally regarded as a major figure in 15th-century
music. Although he composed much simple sacred music (masses,
magnificats,
hymns
and motets),
he is mainly remembered for his secular chansons,
mostly in the rondeau form, with texts dealing with courtly love.
Hildegard
von Bingen
1098-1179
Medieval
composer, healer and prophet. Hildgegard of Bingen began having
visions as a child, but it wasn't until she was in her forties that her
revelations in Christianity made her turn to composing. She founded convents
and wrote plays, liturgies and hymns in praise of saints. Her compositions
continue to be performed and recorded today. Incredibly prolific, she was
also considered a healer and early theologian and she was venerated by
the church.
Ernest Bloch
1880-1959
A Jewish Swiss composer,
many of whose works drew their inspiration from Jewish themes. He was a
clock and watch merchant who wrote music in his free time. After moving
to the United States
he composed many pieces, among which "Israel"
- a Symphony
on a Jewish theme, and a rhapsody
for cello
and orchestra
called "Solomon".
Luigi Boccherini
1743-1805
An Italian
composer who operated most of his life in
Madrid, Spain.
He was a virtuoso cellist
and composed many and diverse chamber
works. He also wrote 10 cello concertos
that demanded extraordinary skill from the
soloist, and 18 symphonies,
although less known.
Max Bruch
1838-1920
A German
composer who won most of his fame for the
concerti for cello and violin,
and less for his pieces for choirs
and orchestras; viewed as a Romantic
composer, although he lived long into the
20th century.
Ferruccio
Benvenuto Busoni
1866-1924
A composer and an excellent pianist.
Opposed Romanticism
and supported the return to melody and Neo-classicism,
unlike the atmosphere of his time, of trying to keep from melody towards
something else, new directions.
Dietrich Buxtehude
1637-1707
A virtuoso organist
who had a tremendous impact on Johann
Sebastian Bach
(who walked 200 miles on foot in order to hear him play), and a conductor
in Lubeck,
Germany.
William Byrd
1543-1623
An English
composer who, alongside Palestrina,
was a grand polyphonist
in his time, the late Renaissance.
His work is diverse in nature, but he particularly excelled in madrigals.
John
Cage
1912-1992
An
American
20th century
composer, whose artistic path was full of fascinating musical experiments,
known for developing aleatory
music (music created by the combination of
random sounds).
Giacomo
Carissimi
1605-1674
A Baroque
Italian
composer, mostly remembered for his contribution
to the development of oratorio
and cantata,
by deploying greater instrumental diversity than before, and by further
developing recitative.
"Jephte"
is his most famous oratorio.
Ernest Chausson
1855-1899
A Romantic
French
composer, who worked in many forms, instrumental
and vocal, inspired by Wagner
and César
Franck,
but nowadays his work is rarely performed, except for a one-movement violin
concertino, called "Poème".
Carlos Chávez
1899-1978
A 20th century
Mexican composer,
who founded the first symphonic
orchestra in his country.
Luigi
Cherubini
1760-1842
A fruitful Italian
composer who wrote operas
and religious music, nowadays remembered for
Beethoven's
admiration to him, and less for his operas.
Domenico
Cimarosa
1749-1801
An Italian
composer of the Classic
period,
mainly remembered for his operas buffa.
Was very successful in his time.
John
Coltrane
1926-1967
Among the leading saxophone
players of American
jazz,
bandleader and composer who heavily influenced 60's and 70's jazz. Known
as an artist of a unique sound in his improvisations. He was known as a
writer of wonderful jazz ballads, and his improvisation technique, rich
in complex harmonies, saved him a place of honor in jazz history. Among
his famous pieces - "Giant Steps",
"Naima" and
"Equinox".
His study of African
and Indian
music eventually led to him to popularize
the soprano saxophone.
Aaron
Copland
1900-1990
An American
composer, who combined in his works folk
music, jazz
and serial
techniques. Among his important pieces, "Lincoln's
Portrait" and "Rodeo".
Chick Corea
1942-
A jazz
composer and pianist,
who incorporates elements of Latin music and classical
music in his art, familiar to him no less than jazz. He works in a variety
of styles, from free jazz,
fusion,
and in the past he played in Bebop
ensembles, with Miles
Davis
and others. Among his famous works is "Spain"
(with an introduction of a short quotation
from Joaquín Rodrigo's
"Concierto de Arajuez".
Arcangelo
Corelli
1653-1713
A virtuoso violinist,
who, as a composer, created the concerto grosso
and had a tremendous impact on Bach.
His influence on the development of the violin in his period was very significant.
He also composed many sonatas,
and 12 concerti grossi for string orchestras.
Peter Cornelius
1824-1874
A Romantic
German
composer, particularly remembered for his
opera comique
"The Barber of Baghdad",
one of the very few German operas in his time that does not imitate Wagner's
style.
François
Couperin
1668-1733
A Baroque
composer known for his harpsichord
textbook, and for the excellent harpsichord
works. He is also the father of a great dynasty of musicians in France,
just like the Bach
family.
Carl Czerny
1791-1857
A composer who owes most of his publicity today
to the piano
exercises, an inseparable part of modern piano
teaching.
Emile- Jaques
Dalcroze
1865-1950
A diverse Swiss
composer and teacher, whose significance is
mostly in being the developer of Eurhythmics,
a system of physical training by rhythmical movement to music. In 1915,
he founded the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva.
Miles Davis
1926-1991
Trumpeter,
bandleader and composer whose straightforward trumpet
playing set him apart from the virtuoso Bebop
players of the 50's. One of the first to experiment with “modal
jazz improvisation”,
where extended solos are played on top of one - or two - note accompaniments.
Used electronic instruments to create an original kind of jazz-rock fusion
music that was featured on his influential 1969 album "Bitches
Brew".
Léo
Delibes
1836-1891
A successful French
composer of operas
("Lakmé")
and graceful ballets ("Coppelia").
Frederick
Delius
1862-1934
A German
composer, born in England,
who wrote Romantic
music affected by impressionism.
He was also influenced by the music of Afro-Americans, having stayed in
the United States
for a while. At the end of his life he became blind and crippled, yet continued
to compose various pieces.
Anton Diabelli
1781-1858
A German
composer who won his place in the history
books mainly for Beethoven's
"Diabelli" Variations.
In 1819, the Viennese music publisher Anton Diabelli circulated a waltz
of his own invention to 50 composers, each
of whom was requested to contribute a variation to the collective project.
Beethoven at first disdained the theme, but then overreacted to Diabelli's
invitation, conceiving not one, but 33 variations.
Gaetano
Donizetti
1797-1848
One
of the greatest artists of Italian
opera
in the early 19th
century.
Wrote technically demanding works, that allowed opera singers of his period
to show off their remarkable vocal capacity. Among his important operas:
the eternal "The Elixir of Love"
(L'Elisir d'amore),Lucia
di Lammermoor" and "The
Daughter of the Regiment" (La
fille du régiment).
John
Dowland
1562-1626
An Irish renaissance
composer, who wrote many madrigals
and was one of the best lute players of his
era.
Guillaume Dufay
~1400-1474
Among the significant Flemish
composers in the 15th century. He was a priest,
and wrote many masses
and motets,
but also a lot of secular music (more than 70 chansons).
The mass "Se la face ay pale",
based on a chanson he himself composed, is his most important piece. His
other famous mass is based on the most popular secular cantus
firmus,
"L'homme armé".
Paul Dukas
1865-1935
A French
composer mainly famous for his programme
music,
and especially for his brilliant "The
Sorcerer's Apprentice", one of best-known
program pieces ever written.
John Dunstable
1390-1453
An English
composer and a great polyphonist,
who wrote different sorts of religious music, from masses
to motets,
and some secular work as well. Very famous in his time, and a gifted mathematician.
Duke Ellington
1899-1974
Among the predominant American
jazz
composers of the 20th
century.
Wrote many of the famous jazz songs, such as "Satin
Doll" and "Take
the A Train", constituting masterpieces
of jazz legacy to this very day. He founded and ran excellent jazz bands,
which he also conducted, and is considered the most fruitful of jazz composers
in history (more than 1,000 orchestral pieces). As one of the founders
of big-band jazz, he wrote scores based on each band member’s unique sound.
Georges
Enescu
1881-1955
A Rumanian composer;
many of his works incorporate Rumanian folk elements.
Gabriel
Fauré
1845-1924
A French
composer, whose best-known piece is his Requiem.
It was his biggest success, although he composed other wonderful pieces,
such as the 13 nocturnes
for piano, and the opera
"Penelope"
- all peaks of his art, yet less popular.
Lukas Foss
1922-
A contemporary German
composer who writes in a variety of styles,
from serial music
to American folk music.
César
Auguste Franck
1822-1890
A Romantic
Belgian composer,
who served as an organist
in Paris
most of his life. Only in his old age, did
he become successful, thanks to a string quartet, even though he also wrote
some orchestral works and versatile organ music.
Andrea Gabrieli
1510-1586
A late Renaissance
Italian
composer. Was the church organist
of Saint Marcus Cathedral in Venice.
Among his works, organ music, motets
and madrigals,
and many pieces for woodwinds.
Giovanni
Gabrieli
1557-1612
Andrea Gabrieli's
nephew, who inherited his place as church organist
of Saint Marcus Cathedral in Venice.
Was the teacher of composer Heinrich Schütz,
and a writer of both vocal and instrumental music. He created the first
known instrumental work to have markings in the score to indicate changes
in volume dynamics.
Gabrieli is also one of the first to specify the instruments to be employed
for the various parts of a musical work.
John Gay
1685-1732
An English
composer, among Handel's
contemporaries, whose piece "The Beggar's
Opera" won tremendous success, mocking
different phenomena in English society of his time, including the music
and melodies of Handel, who closed his opera house because of him.
Carlo Gesualdo
1560-1613
A composer of madrigals
and motets,
who varied his music through novel, bold chromaticism, that was one of
the elements delivering the end to the old-fashioned ancient mode system.
Dizzy Gillespie
1917-1993
Trumpeter,
bandleader and composer who, with Charlie
Parker
and Thelonious Monk,
were the architects of the modern jazz style known as Bebop.
His dazzlingly fast syncopated solos, bold harmonies and formidable range
made audiences gasp. His improvisations chopped melodies into unprecedented
chord progressions and rhythms. Through his work with Cuban percussionists,
he helped introduce Afro-Cuban rhythms such as the mambo, to American jazz
audiences.
Philip
Glass
1937-
A predominant American
composer in the 20th century
minimalist
school.
Alexander Glazunov
1865-1936
An important Russian
composer who was also Rimsky-Korsakov's
student. Wrote national
Russian music, and later in his life, also universal and cosmopolitic music.
Michael
(Mikhael) Glinka
1804-1857
A Russian
composer, considered the father of Russian national
music. His national works include the opera
"Ruslan and Lyudmila"
and the folk fantasy
"Kamarinskaya".
Benny
Goodman
1909-1986
A well known jazz
clarinet
player, and the manager of a successful jazz band in the 1930's. Was the
central figure in the school of Swing in American
jazz, and one of the only white people who led jazz during those years.
François-Joseph Gossec
1734-1829
Belgian composer and teacher, lived, since
he was 17 years old, in France
(where he died). Gossec was a pioneer in writing symphonies
in France. Some of his greatest works were written for giant outdoor performances
celebrating the French Revolution, including his Te
Deum for 1,200 voices and 300 wind instruments. He also composed
many operas and ballets.
Pope Gregory
(c. 540 - 604)
Pope (as Gregory I) credited with the introduction of 'Gregorian
chant',
although it is likely that his contribution was one of standardization
and organization rather than composition.
Guido
d'Arezzo
c. 990 - c. 1050
Italian
monk and musical theorist from Arezzo. While training singers for
the cathedrals, he developed the hexachord, a six-note scale used to aid
sight-singing. The notes were named after the first syllables of the first
six lines of the "Hymn to St. John the Baptist":
ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la. This became the basis of later systems of
solmization. Guido also developed the Guidonian hand, a mnemonic device
that gave note names to the tips and joints of the fingers, and popularized
the use of coloured lines in written music to indicate pitch.
Adam
de la Halle
1220-1287
A French
composer and poet (trouver). Composed many
motets
and rondeaus.
"Robin et Marion" is
his most important work.
Abdel
Halim Hafez
1929-1977
A popular Egyptian
musician. Mostly sang national,
anti-colonialist and love songs. He joined the Arabic Music Institute in
Cairo in 1941 and became famous for singing the songs of Mohamed
Abdel Wahab.
He sang expressive poems by poets such as Ahmed
Shafeeq Kamel, Abdul
Rahman Al Abnoudi and Salah
Jaheen.
Coleman
Hawkins
1904-1969
Among the greatest American
jazz
players of the 20th
century,
remembered as the first tenor saxophonist
to have led the tenor to the center-stage.
Thanks to him, the tenor saxophone turned from an accompanying instrument,
to an improviser equal to other members of the jazz band. Hawkins also
turned out to be a gifted composer, and his 1939 record "Body
and Soul" is particularly remembered.
Arthur Honegger
1892-1955
A French
composer who was a member of the famous "Le
Six",
consisting of French composers who challenged the conservative music of
their time. His music was versatile and included the oratorio
"King David"
and the orchestral "Pacifique 231".
Engelbert
Humperdinck
1854-1921
A German
composer mostly involved in opera.
A friend of Wagner
and Kurt Weill's
teacher, whose "Hänsel und Gretel"
is the best known of his operas.
Jacques-François
Ibert
1890-1962
A 20th century
composer who was Gabriel Faure's
student. Wrote music in light style; among his works, operas
and orchestral pieces (a flute
concerto and a chamber
concertino for saxophone), and film
music,
too.
Charles
Ives
1874-1954
An American
composer, who, in addition to being a successful,
wealthy insurance agent, wrote fascinating music that included multi-metre
and multi-rhythm, use of collage and microtones. Of his famous works is
the orchestral "Three Places in New-England".
Michael Jackson
1958-
An American
Pop
superstar. When five years old, joined his four brothers in the
family band called "The Jackson Five", and his talent for singing
and dancing made him the star of the band. In 1971, he issued his first
record as an independent artist, and his success ever since is one of the
biggest in the history of pop music. His album "Thriller"
became the all time best selling record in history, and gave him his superstar
status. His music videos are staged as real movies, and he uses them to
demonstrate his dancing and vocal gift. Jackson's concert tours are a huge
success.
Leos
Janácek
1854-1928
A Czech
composer who only became famous in his old
age. He taught himself music (an autodidact),
and his work, influenced by Czech folk music, includes 11 operas,
such as the famous "Jenufa".
He also composed instrumental music such as the orchestral "Sinfonietta";
his work was also inspired by literature, like Dostoyevsky's
"From the House of the Dead".
He was a choir conductor and wrote the "Glagolitic
Mass", and many other vocal pieces.
Scott Joplin
1868-1917
Founder of the pianist
"Ragtime" style, which is one of jazz's
forefathers. Wrote famous ragtime pieces, like "The
Entertainer"
(mostly remembered from the movie
"The Sting").
Kabalevsky, Dmitri
1904-1987
Russian
composer, pianist
and writer. Composed operas,
4 symphonies,
violin concerto, cello
concerto and 3 piano concerti, piano pieces and songs.
Jerome Kern
1885-1945
A composer of popular
music
and musicals,
who also wrote several "serious" works such as the orchestral
"The Portrait of Mark Twain".
Edouard Lalo
1823-1892
French
composer of Spanish
descent. Best remembered for his Symphonie
espagnole (for violin
and orchestra) and the cello concerto.
Landini, Francesco
1325-1397
Italian
composer, who lost his sight as child and
played organ,
lute and flute. A Florentine by
birth, Landini was a leading figure in the ars
nova.
Composed over 140 ballatas
(polyphonic
songs), caccias
(2 part canons), and many madrigals.
He created the "Landini Cadence",
in which the 6th degree is inserted between the leading-note and the octave.
This cadence was used in works of Guillaume
de Machaut,
Josquin des Préz,
Palestrina,
Victoria,
and Monteverdi.
Orlando
di Lasso, Orlande de Lassus
1532-1594
A particularly fertile Flemish composer, who
wrote over 2000 pieces, including madrigals,
motets,
chansons
and German lieder.
Ruggiero
Leoncavallo
1857-1919
An Italian
opera
composer who became famous for his "The
Clowns" (I Pagliacci),
one of the best operas of the "opera
verismo"
style, a school that believed in writing operas on realistic topics from
the lives of contemporary people, instead of mythological and medieval
themes. His late operas were less successful, as "La
Boheme", that failed facing an opera
on the same plot by Puccini.
Léonin, Leonin
c. 1135 - Paris, c. 1201
Great French
composer active as church musician in Paris.
Also called 'Magister Leoninus'. The most important composer of organum.
He wrote a 'Magnus liber' - a large book of
chants used at a Paris church (later rebuilt as Notre Dame) for all the
principal feasts of the year. The music of this book is an extension of
a primary improvisatory tradition. A main figure in the 'Ars Antiqua' (Old
Art - The medieval European style, based on plainsong and organum, centered
in the Notre Dame church or Parisian school). Followed by Pérotin.
György
Ligeti
1923-
A contemporary Hungarian-Jewish
origin composer who makes much use of clusters
in his work. The "Kyrie" from the
requiem he wrote
was used in the film soundtrack
of "2001 Space Odyssey".
Guillaume
De Machaut
1300-1377
French
musician and poet, considered the chief exponent
of 'Ars nova'
in France.
One of the most widely celebrated composers in the field of polyphonic
song-writing, his 'Messe
de Notre Dame' is considered the earliest
surviving polyphonic
mass
which is composed entirely by one composer,
and also the first written for four voices. He also wrote motets
to religious texts and dozens of secular love
songs, some in a very intricate scheme of construction, and developed the
ballade
and rondeau.
Also was involved in diplomacy.
Madonna
1958-
A successful American
pop
star, whose records are sold in the millions around the world. Madonna
owes her success to her provocative music videos, but no less to her ability
to run her business affairs wisely and constantly change her public image.
She is also a capable performer and an actress in movies and musicals,
such as "Evita". Among her greatest
hits: "Like a Virgin", "Frozen",
"Papa don't Preach". Madonna dominates
the media to an unprecedented extent, and she has managed again and again
to raise global interest, provoke the Church and conservative people in
general - which, of course, contributed to her record sales by millions.
Luca Marenzio
1554-1599
Italian
composer who wrote 200 madrigals.
Although he never held a church appointment (exceptional for an Italian
of his period), he wrote Mass
and other church music.
Bohuslav
Martinu
1890-1959
A 20th century
Czech
composer, affected by Czech folk music, but
was also a firm believer in the Classic forms (neo-classicism)
and in musical impressionism.
Pietro Mascagni
1863-1945
An Italian
composer known for his operas,
and especially "the Envy of the Villager"
(Cavalleria Rusticana), that became one of the classics
of the realist school of late Romanticism
(called verismo).
Jules Massenet
1842-1912
A brilliant French
composer of excellent melodic skill and a
dramatic ability, particularly remembered for his operas, like "Mannon",
and "Werther",
according to Goethe's
work.
Max Matthews
1926-
A 20th century
composer, most of whose writing is in the electronic
music
area.
Olivier Messiaen
1908-1992
French
composer and organist.
His music shows various influences, from Greek
to Indian rhythms, and Stravinsky
and Debussy.
His "Quartet for
the End of Time" was written and first
performed in 1941 in a prison camp in Silesia,
during World War II.
Giacomo
Meyerbeer
1791-1864
A Germany-born
composer who was very successful in Paris
thanks to his operas,
written in the spirit of the Italian school. A composer who won tremendous
adoration in his life as excellent and innovative, revered even by Wagner,
for his amazing mastering of the opera craft. Nowadays snuffed at by experts,
with some exaggeration, who view him as an effect frantic. "The
Huguenots" (Les Huguenots)
and "The Prophet"
(Le Prophète) are two of the operas he wrote and remained
successful after his death.
The Mighty Handful
(Moguchia Kuchka)
The Mighty Five. A group of Russian
composers united around the idea of national
Russian music in the 19th
century.
The group consisted of Borodin,
Cui, Balakirev,
Mussorgsky,
and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Darius Milhaud
1892-1974
A modern composer who used polytonality in many
of his works. Among his prominent pieces, "The
creation of the world" (La
Création du Monde), combining Blues
and jazz.
Member of the "Le six"
group. Read more here
Charles
Mingus
1922-1979
A jazz
composer and a famous bass
player, who was also a pianist
and a poet; one of the most important jazz artists of the 20th
century,
with over 300 excellent pieces. He was an amazingly inventive bass player.
Mingus created counter-melodies and sophisticated harmonies, and possessed
a unique sound of his own. His original works are saved in the American
Library of Congress, side by side with manuscripts
of Mozart
and Beethoven.
Thelonious
Monk
1917-1982
A jazz
composer and pianist,
one of the most important in the 20th century.
Known as the man who, together with Charlie Parker
and Dizzy Gillespie,
developed the Bebop
style in American
jazz. As a pianist, he possessed a unique sound, lacking in virtuosity
and even strange, compared to other leading pianists in his era, but his
playing is considered sophisticated, and demands the listener's attentiveness;
only then, is the geniusy of thematic development and pianistic improvisations
exposed. He used many dissonances and unconventional melodies, and the
audience rejected his music for a long time, whereas jazz musicians worshipped
him. Nowadays his greatness is widely recognized.
Jacob Obrecht
1450-1505
Dutch composer,
among the greatest of the Flemish school,
who was also a professional and successful wandering singer, who traveled
through Europe,
and is especially remembered for his religious music, including motets
and masses.
Johannes
Ockeghem
1430-1495
Franco-Flemish
composer and singer - one of the greatest counterpoint
composers of the Renaissance.
His most imposing works are his mass settings. He wrote ten complete masses,
some settings of the Ordinary, and a few motets.
The masses are of two kinds; those based on pre-existing material, like
the Missa "L'homme armé",
and those which are freely composed. He also wrote some secular works and
was the teacher of Josquin des Préz.
His 'Missa pro Defunctis'
is the earliest surviving requiem.
Jacques
Offenbach
1819-1880
A composer born in Germany
(Jewish by descent) who worked in France
and became famous through his popular operettas
such as the successful "Hoffman Stories".
Johann Pachelbel
1653-1706
A German
composer and an organist who had a vast influence
on Johann Sebastian Bach's
organ
writing. Particularly known is his passacaglia "Cannon
in D major".
Charlie
Parker
1920-1955
A saxophonist
and a jazz
composer, who, together with the pianist
Thelonious Monk
and trumpet
player Dizzy Gillespie,
created the Bebop
style. In many people's opinion, he was a
genius and the greatest alto saxophone player in jazz. He left school at
15, and became a famous professional musician, known to all as "Bird".
He died at only 35 years of age, and became a jazz legend.
Krzysztof Penderecki
1933-
Polish composer. He frequently uses sounds
drawn from extra-musical sources, note clusters
and unorthodox effects, as in his "Threnody
for the Victims of Hiroshima". Penderecki's religious works
like the "Polish Requiem" and "Stabat
Mater", include a unique mix of conventional and avant-garde
elements.
Giovanni
Battista Pergolesi
1710-1736
A genius late Baroque
artist, who died at only 26 years of age. His famous works are the intermezzo
"The Mistress Servant"
(La Serva Padrona), one of the brillinat exemplars
of Opera buffa,
that impressed Verdi
and Puccini.
Jacopo Peri
1561-1633
The Italian
composer who invented recitative
in the opera.
"Daphne"
and "Euredice"
were the first operas ever played on stage, and those were his creation.
Pérotin, Perotin, Perotinus
~1155-1200
French
composer, active in Paris
as choirmaster of today's Notre
Dame Cathedral. A leading exponent of organum,
he composed complex music in the "Ars
antiqua"
(ancient art) style and took a leading part in the
revision of Léonin's theoretical book - the
'Magnus liber'. Among his finest vocal works is the Beata
viscera. Pérotin is also one of the
earliest composers known by their name.
Astor
Piazzola
1921-1992
The Argentinean
composer and player of the bandoneon
who has successfully taken the tango
music from the working-class dancehalls and nightclubs of Buenos
Aires to the international concert stage.
Francis Poulenc
1899-1963
A French
composer, member of the famous "Le
Six",
grouped in Paris,
and although he was of poor musical education, composed many and diverse
pieces, such as the musical joke "The
Policeman Nobody Appreciated".
Michael Praetorius
1571-1621
German
composer of a large number of madrigals,
motets,
and hymns.
He also described the musical theory and instruments of his time in the
book "Syntagma musicum".
Elvis
Presley
1935-1977
One of the biggest successes in Rock and Roll,
known as the pioneer of Rock music. Born in Mississippi,
and a devout Christian, Elvis was exposed to the religious black music
- the gospel,
and also to blues
and country
music. As a young man, he was a truck driver, but later he decided
to start recording songs. The result was amazing: the young white man who
dared to sing in the black style (formerly considered corrupt and decadent)
became the most successful singer
in American
history. He created a new style of performance, and his music was
a breath of fresh air, compared to everything else young people had known
before. His hits "Hound Dog" and
"Don't be cruel" were the onset
to an astonishing career of singing and acting in movies. In the 1960's,
he became addicted to drugs, and during the 1970's he tried to restore
his career, and succeeded in doing so. Yet, his compulsive eating, that
replaced drugs, made him very fat and he lost his beauty and charm. His
death from a heart attack struck his fans, and his Memphis
mansion called "Graceland" became no less than a pilgrimage site.
He is said to have sold more records than any other singer in history.
Johann Joachim
Quantz
1697-1773
The composer who holds the record of 300 flute
concerti
- more than any other composer in music history.
Max Reger
1873-1916
A
late Romantic
German
composer, considered Brahms's
follower, for his meticulous keeping of Classic
patterns and pre-Classic forms, including
theme and variations (like in "Variations
and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart"). He
was a talented organ
improviser, a quality that explains his tendency
toward variations
derived from improvisation.
Steve Reich
1936-
A 20th century
composer, most of whose writing is minimalist.
Ottorino
Respighi
1879-1936
A brilliant Italian
composer who used symphonic
music well, to describe Rome in "Fountains
of Rome" (Fontane di Roma)
and "Pines of Rome"
(Pini di Roma) and other topics, in symphonic
poems
like "The Birds" (Gli
uccelli), describing a bird singing in Roman forests. In his operas,
he was affected by impressionism,
as in "The Flame"
(La Fiamma) and "The
Sunken Bell" (La campana
sumersa).
Solomon Rossi
1570-1628
A Jewish Renaissance
composer, who was one of the central artists
who created the monodic
style in European
instrumental music. He tried to revive the
Jewish synagogue music and bring the spirit of Renaissance to it - by writing
prayers and psalms
music in the contemporary polyphonic
style. This bold attempt was rejected by the
conservative rabbinical establishment of his time.
Albert Roussel
1869-1937
A French
composer of late
Romanticism
and early 20th century,
one of the neo-classicist
composers, who believed in writing in Classic forms. An important piece
he wrote is "Bacchus and Arian"
(Bacchus et Ariane).
Antonio
Salieri
1750-1825
A versatile composer, conductor and a master
teacher, among whose students were Beethoven,
Schubert
and Liszt.
Nowadays, however, he is remembered by many for the evil gossip spread
in Vienna
after Mozart's
death, according to which is said that he caused the genius' death, because
of jealousy.
Domenico
Scarlatti
1685-1757
Son of Alessandro
Scarlatti,
and an important composer himself, who wrote mostly for the harpsichord.
He was born in the same year as J.S. Bach
and Handel.
He met Handel in Rome
when they were both 23, and lost in an organ
competition against him whilst they were both equal on the harpsichord.
Clara
Schumann (Josephine Wieck)
1819-1896
German
pianist,
teacher and composer, mostly for the piano. The wife of the composer Robert
Schumann.
Well known as a leading performer of Schumann's
works.
Fernando
Sor
1778-1839
A Spanish
composer, mostly remembered for his guitar
teaching technique, and the pieces he wrote
for this instrument.
John Philip Sousa
1854-1932
American
composer of marches ('The Stars and Stripes
Forever' is the most well known) and band-conductor. Also wrote
a few operettas (including "El capitán").
The sousaphone
is associated with his name, but was not invented by him.
Bruce
Springsteen
1949-
An American
Rock and Roll
star, known for his songs, which talk of the lives of the American working
class. His protest songs and the energies he transmits in his singing brought
him his unique place in American Rock, which gave him the ultimate nickname,
"The Boss". His albums "Born to Run"
and "Born in the USA" are two of
the most successful in his career, and he is viewed as one of the original,
authentic artists America gave the world.
Morton Subotnik
1933-
American
composer and pioneer in the field of electronic
music.
Innovator in works involving instruments and other media, including interactive
computer music systems. Maker of computer software products for music education
and creativity for children, such as the "Making
Music" and "Making More Music".
Arthur Sullivan
1842-1900
An English
composer who particularly excelled in his
Opera Comique
(comic operas) "The Mikado"
and "Patience".
Thomas Tallis
1505-1585
A central English
composer of the Renaissance.
Among his works, one should mention his 40 (!) voice motet,
"Spem in alium".
Francisco
Tárrega
1852-1909
A Spanish
master composer mostly remembered for his
guitar
works and transcriptions for this instrument,
which still remain in the concert repertoire.
Michael Tippett
1905-1998
A 20-century
English
composer who wrote in a variety of vocal and
instrumental forms. His fame came mostly from his opera
"The Midsummer Marriage"
and the oratorio
"A Child of Our Time".
Joaquin Turina
1882-1949
A Spanish
pianist
and composer of the Spanish national
music
school. His famous piece is "The Dew
Parade" (Le procesión
del Rocio).
Tomás
Luis de Victoria
1548-1611
A Spanish
composer, one of the important composers of
religious music in the late Renaissance.
Ralph
Vaughan Williams
1872-1958
An English
composer who was one of the last Romanticists,
and a great believer in melodic music. Among his important works are the
"Three Norfolk Rhapsodies"
and "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis".
Mohamed
Abdel Wahab
1907-1992
One of the most important Arab composers in the
history of Arab music. An Egyptian,
who wrote more than a thousand musical pieces in his life, and was among
the grand innovators of Arab art music. He combined many Western classical
elements in his works, many of which were dedicated for the praised Egyptian
singer
Um Kalsum. He
performed many of his own songs, and orchestrated the Egyptian national
anthem, for which he was given a general's rank from the late President
Anwar Sadat.
Abdel Wahab is the prominent figure in creating
the pattern of the classic Arab musical film,
combining an extremely emotional, tears-swept story with popular songs,
and throughout the years he also incorporated western styles, such as the
tango
and rumba,
in the sound-scores of those films.
In 1964, his biggest hit came out: "Inta
Omri" (You are my life),
in Um-Kalsum's exciting performance. This song, half an hour long, accompanied
by a large orchestra, became the best selling song in the history of Arab
music, and has had many other performances and interpretations since, by
the best Arab musicians and orchestras.
Anton
Webern
1883-1945
A 20-century
composer who wrote in pieces in the 12-tone
system,
such as the "Orchestral Variations".
Like Alban Berg,
he was a pupil and one of the most evident sympathizers of Schoenberg.
Adriaan Willaert
1480-1562
One of the greatest polyphonists
of Northern Europe.
A Flemish composer
who contributed a great deal to the development of the madrigal.
Hugo
Wolf
1860-1903
A Romantic
composer who was one of the greatest writers
of German
art-song - the lied.
He composed the poetry of some of the greatest German poets of his time,
including Goethe.
A famous piece he wrote is the "Italian
Serenade" for a small orchestra.
Le-Monte Young
1935-
A modern composer who tried new composition techniques,
with various influences, such as free jazz.
He focused on the recurrence phenomenon, thus generating minimalism
as a meaningful trend in the music of the
20th century.
MusixCool© By
Nadav Dafni