Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was a Russian composer and considered an innovator of Russian music during the romantic era. Mussorgsky began to receive piano lessons from his mother, a trained pianist, at the age of six . The production and popular success of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov early in 1874 had marked the peak of Mussorgsky’s career. However, during this time, many problems arose from betrayal and harsh criticism towards many of his works that caused a negative attribute to his life.. Mussorgsky expressed this feelings of loneliness though his dark pessimistic sounding song cycle, Bez solntsa, completed in August 1874, prior to that composition, Mussorgsky wrote Pictures from an Exhibition revealed by a memorial exhibition of the architectural drawings, stage designs and various watercolors of his friends Viktor Hartmann, whom died the year before. -Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a French composer and one of the most sophisticated musicians of the early 20th century. He began receiving lessons at the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 from pianist, Emile Decombes. During the 1920s, this was an emaciated period for Ravel, composing very little, although he did complete concert tours around the world, from Amsterdam, London, Milan, Madrid, and Vienna, which allowed him to become better known. Circa 1922, Ravel completed his well-known orchestrated version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky, which allowed widespread popularity and brought Ravel great fame and substantial income. Ravel is well known for his melodies and textures within his pieces. He composed what is now to be considered standard concert repertoire. Ravel greatly admired the past which resulted in his music in havin... ... middle of paper ... ... Hartmann’s design for the city gates at Kiev in ancient Russian. In the key Eb major, 2/2 meter and marked alla breve. Maestosos, con grandezza and features a monumental main theme that advances the opening promenade. V. Conclusion Many of Mussorgsky’s works were inspired by Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include his opera: Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem: Night on Bare Mountain and the multi-movement piano suite: Pictures at an Exhibition. For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have recently come into their own in their original forms, and although many versions have become famous as well such as Ravel’s version of Pictures at an Exhibition through his use of color combinations, dynamic contrast and richness of sound.
Mussorgsky’s importance to and influence on later composers are quite out of proportion to his relatively small output. The 65 songs he composed, many to his own texts, describe scenes of Russian life with great vividness and insight and realistically reproduce the inflections of the spoken Russian language. "Mussorgsky was recognized by both the Kuchka and Tchaikovsky as a powerful musical force." Rimsky-Korsakoff, for example, regarded some of his friend's boldest strokes as "mistakes, particularly in his harmonies."
While Tchaikovsky is known for his compositions of classical ballet, he was overall great as a pianist. Like most composers of music, his compositions reflected that of his feelings greatly, which helped him connect to the public and spread his music quite well. As a child, he became better than his teacher in one year, and at the age of ten went to the School of Jurisprudence and quickly completed the upper division classes. After graduating, he did four years at the Ministry of Justice, which didn’t really suite him well. Once out of the Ministry of Justice in the 1860s, he joined the Music Conservatory at the age of 22. Shortly after joining, he composed his first orchestral score in 1864. Two years later, he settled down in Moscow and started to increase his fame as a composer. In the following years he would tour around Europe and even into the United States. In 1893, six days after the premiere of his last piece he
Gottschalk was a child prodigy, showing astonishing musical abilities at a young age. His father, against his mother’s wishes, sent him off to study music more intensively in Paris. During his time in Paris, Gottschalk studied piano with Charles Hallé, Camille Stamaty, and later studied composition with Pierre Maleden. Paris was just the beginning of the many places where he would compose some of his finest works.
It was a freezing January day in the city of Archangelsk, Russia. A man by the name of Dmitri Shostakovich picked up the newest issue of Pravda from the newsstands, which were unusually busy today. “Wow, this is really harsh!” “Are Pravda’s expectations THAT high?” people whispered to one another. After reading it briefly, Shostakovich flew into a fit of frustration and rage. This paper called his music “degenerate and decadent” (Stevens)! There is no way that Pravda would trash his music as badly as this. In fact, the article was written under orders by an upset Josef Stalin. These two Russian titans impacted Russia’s culture between 1930 and 1950. They absolutely hated each other! The tension between the two radiated throughout Shostakovich’s music and Stalin’s iron-fisted attitude towards his symphonies. Stalin manipulated composers to the point of suicide for defying his wishes, and he was not afraid to do that to Shostakovich. Somehow, Shostakovich dared to resist Stalin’s evil ways and went on to become a “brilliant and internationally famous composer.
Schwartz, Boris. Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, 1917-1981. 2nd edition. Indiana University Press, 1983.
Architecture is one important aspect of Byzantine culture. One of the most famous Byzantine architectural achievements is the Hagia Sophia, which is located in modern-day Istanbul. The basic design of the cathedral has a dome over a square base, which required a new innovation. At the time, it was kn...
painting, and I react as such. There is a clear blue middle that he seems to draw attention to.
Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He achieved fame, but with much hardship along the way. He was censored and threatened with not only his life but that of his wife and children by playing the role of a public figure in Soviet Russia. The question is was he a committed communist or a victim? The events in his life, good or bad, shaped the music that he created and led to one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, his Fifth Symphony.
These two men are known as two of the greatest composers of all time. They were both child prodigies. They had completely different childhoods, but were a lot alike at the same time. I have compared and contrasted their music. I have told you of the time periods they lived in. I have also told of their musical styles, other famous composers and the purpose of Mozart and Beethoven’s music. These two musical geniuses will never be
This paper will explore Vladimir Tatlin and Naum Gabo differences on the role of the Avant-Garde artists and how their beliefs influence the kind of work they produced. A pioneer of Russian design Vladimir Tatlin is a representative of Russian Realism. He left home when he was fifteen and served on the shipboard. When he became a painter, he often represented sailors in his pictures Art and culture in Russia after Revolution was a tool for creating industrially aesthetical reality. Tatlin’s project The Monument to the Third International (1920) one that so much can be considered an architectural work as a sculptural piece, it constituted by a spiral of iron that is expanded diagonally and enclosed by walls of glass of a much higher height to that of the Eiffel tower. It was never embodied into life, but this project shows that socialist order propagation was of primary concern for artists of the beginning of 20th century in Russia (Avant-Garde, Tatlin). Thus, in accordance with Tatlin, avant-garde artist transfers ideas of social reality of his modernity. In his project Tatlin wanted to reflect technological progress of post-revolutionary Russia. He was called “artist of great culture, a true master, who is a devoted worker for the proletarian revolution” (Avant-Garde – Abstraction in Constructivism).
Felix Mendelssohn was one of the most famous composers during the 19th century. Although in his music he did show some features of romanticism, he was strongly influenced by traditional genres such as counterpoint etc. In this essay, the biography of the composer, background of the genre and analysis of the piece will be investigated
Vivaldi's music is particularly innovative as he gave brightness to the formal and the rhythmic structure of concertos. He repeatedly looked for harmonic contrasts, creating innovative melodies and themes. Vivaldi’ main goal was to create a musical piece meant to be appreciated by the wide public, and not only by an intellectual minority. The joyful appearance of his music reveals a transmittable joy of composing. These are among the causes of the vast popularity of his music. This popularity soon made him famous also in countries like France, at the time very closed into its national schemes. He is considered one of the authors that brought Baroque music to evolve into an impressionist style.
The first big piece in which Berlioz confessed his unique artistic vision was Symphonie Fantastique. He wrote it when he was 26 years old, and it is an epic for huge orchestra. It is about the life of an artist and his passions. Particularly, the artist’s self-destructive passion for a beautiful woman who has no idea he even exists! So unhappy is
During the hard and cruel era of Stalinism, Shostakovich had the courage to express the desolation of his people by method of remarkable dramatic feeling; hence, his music became a moral support for all who were persecuted. Sofia Gubaidulina reflected, "The circumstances he lived under were unbearably cruel, more than anyone should have to endure." With Stravinsky and Prokofiev, Shostakovich embodies the culmination of 20th Century Russian music, but unlike his contemporaries, he is unique in having composed his entire opus within the framework of Soviet aesthetics. When forced onto the defensive, he did not dispute; but instead overcame the limitations of socialist realism and infused throughout his works his belief in the final victory of justice, which transformed his music into a powerful stimulus to the spirit of resistance and freedom.
Sigmund Freud, probably the most famous psychologist and most controversial of the twentieth century, has helped shaped how we consider our views of the world. His theories bring forth a new kind of thinking to the psychology world and show why we think them. It’s a way many don’t think but may put forth the reasoning to it. There are many though that think Freud was just another crazy psychologist that was on drugs. Though his many proofs behind his major theories such as: the conscious and unconscious mind, the Id, Ego, and Superego, psychosexual theory, and others as well, can prove why it wasn’t just a drug trip Freud was on.