Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881-1950) was considered one of the three most important composers in the Soviet Union, together with his friend Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. He was awarded the Stalin Prize five times, more than any other Russian composers. His music composition on symphony played a remarkable role in the music history of Soviet Union, and made unsurpassable contributions to the development of Soviet music. He was therefore called the “Father of the Soviet Symphony”. The end of 20th century to the beginning of 21st century is the peak proliferation period of Soviet music. This featured not only the enrichment of music forms and genres, but also further development of symphony music with adding timbres on the basis of traditional music. Myaskovsky composed a large amount of excellent works during this period, including his 27 symphonies, which therefore made him known as a master of symphony. Most of these symphony works derived from Soviet’s real life at the time, and reflected the social background and status, and therefore embedded considerable theoretical significance and practical significance in the content. …show more content…
The No.25 Symphony, to many critics, is considered a pastoral work, or imagined as the voice of someone celebrating his, and all mankind’s survival. Although his Symphony No.6 is more widely known as the largest and most ambitious one among his 27 symphonies, this late work, the Symphony No. 25 is still a non-negligible one. The Symphony is in D-flat Major and has 3 movements. Interestingly, it shares exactly the same structure as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata: a slow opening, a moderately paced intermezzo, and a quick
Prior to the competition, he had had a far greater success as a composer with the First Symphony (1924-25), which quickly achieved worldwide recognition. The symphony was influenced by composers as diverse as Tchaikovsky, Paul Hindemith, and Sergey Prokofiev. The cultural climate in the Soviet Union was, compared to the Soviet Union at its peak, free at the time. Even the music of Igor Stravinsky and Alban Berg, then in the avant-garde, was played. Bela Bartok and Paul Hindemith visited Russia to perform their own works, and Shostakovich toyed openly with these novelties. His first opera, The Nose, based on the satiric Nikolay Gogol story, displayed a thorough understanding of what was popular in Western music combined with his "dry" humor. Not surprisingly, Shostakovich's undoubtedly finer second opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (later renamed Katerina Izmaylova), marked a stylistic retreat. However, this new Shostakovich was too avant-garde for Stalin.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the author of six symphonies and the finest and most popular operas in the Russian repertory. Tchaikovsky was also one of the founders of the school of Russian music. He was a brilliant composer with a creative imagination that helped his career throughout many years. He was completely attached to his art. His life and art were inseparably woven together. "I literally cannot live without working," Tchaikovsky once wrote, "for as soon as one piece of work is finished and one would wish to relax, I desire to tackle some new work without delay." The purpose of this paper is to give you a background concerning Tchaikovsky's biography, as well as to discuss his various works of art.
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
It never occurred to me that one simple song could hold as much power as Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, “Leningrad,” did. The greatest strength of Shostakovich’s biography is his ability to recreate the vivid setting of 1940’s Leningrad. The artful descriptions of the city help bring out the contrast between the fallen city and the hope that Shostakovich’s symphony brought. Memoirs are becoming so popular today because they provide in-depth looks into snippets of history, like M.T. Anderson does with “Symphony for the City of the
Now in time there are many great composer that have outlived their dying age by making an impact and leaving a permanent seal on this planet with the great symphonies they have composed, which in turn has inspired many composers throughout the preceding centuries.
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, composed by the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven, is one of the most famous orchestral musical compositions done by the German-born composer. The symphony is broken down into four movements. The symphony has such a profound effect on so many people because of its use drama by introducing sudden and powerful chords which quickly grabs the audience’s attention as well as creating a variety of musical ideas through his use of excitement by way of fast and slow tempos. The first movement, Allegro con brio, which utilizes the Sonata form, contains an opening sequence or Exposition, which initially compels my attention during its first 6 seconds due to its powerful entry and introduction of the basic four-note motive (short-short-short-long) of the piece. The quick repetition in a lower step using strings in unison keeps me engaged due to its energy, as it sort of
I attended Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on October 14, at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Southwestern Seminary Oratorio Chorus, directed by C. David Keith, performed it. Ludwig Van Beethoven composed the work. He composed it between 1811-1824. Beethoven composed the work in D minor, Op. 125 (“Choral”). His Ninth Symphony was his last symphony to compose. It was preceded by eight other symphonies. I was attracted to this work because it was the first symphony to include a choral. I found it astonishing that Beethoven was completely deaf when he finished this work.
In terms on contributions to Classical-Era music, Stamitz is credited with many innovations. As the concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra, he lead it to a standard unparalleled in it's day. Another extremely influential contribution...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed an exemplary piece of classical music that can be seen in television and films of the twenty-first century. Mozart would hear a complete piece in his head before he would write it down. He created pieces that had simple melodies, but also the orchestration sounded rich. Out of the forty-one symphonies Mozart composed, I have chosen Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor or better known as The Great G Minor Symphony, written in 1788. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is considered the most popular out of all forty-one symphonies because the opening movement is very memorable. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is effectively composed through the use of a specific form, elements of music, and using the appropriate instruments so one can see brilliant scenes unfolding.
5 has the largest impact on me. What stands out to me the most in Beethoven’s symphony is the dramatic tone it creates from the very beginning of the piece. I feel as if I can connect better to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 rather than Mozart’s Symphony No, 41 because the loud, dramatic tone represents my everyday life. Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 is more boring and quiet, which makes the piece not seem as interesting. Not only does it impact me by the tone, but I also find it amazing how many instruments can be playing at one time to make a piece of music sound so
Among the many musical types of the period, the classical period is best known for the symphony, a form of a large orchestral ensemble. The symphonic pieces generally had three movements, the sonata, the minuet, and the finale. Building of the achievements of earlier composers, Haydn, and Mozart brought the symphony to it's peak in the last 20 years of the 18th century. Haydn excelled in rhythmic drive and development of theme-based music. Mozart also added to the symphony by contrasting memorable lyric themes in very full sounding orchestral settings.
The year is 1788 as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began to work on his last three symphonies during a time of strife for musicians as the Austro-Turkish War continues to war on in Austria. Tired from moving his family from central Vienna to the suburbs of Alsergrund all while in debt to his ears as he continued to borrow money from friends including a fellow mason, Michael Puchberg, Mozart finished his final symphony on August 10, 1788. This piece, nicknamed the “Jupiter Symphony,” coined by impresario Johann Peter Saloman, was Mozart’s longest symphony with a total of four movements, a typical symphonic form during the Classical era. The Jupiter Symphony totals to about forty five minutes of music ending with a quintuple fugato that brings back the five melodies introduced in the final movement making the closer one of the most complex examples of counterpoint that has ever been created. My goal shall be to give the reader a sense of Mozarts life at the time of this composition, a detailed analysis of all four of these movements, as well as a look at why this piece was seen as a work of innovation.
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 is the forerunner of the romantic symphony. It is programmatic, telling a story. It is based on nature, a common theme in the romantic era. While a typical romantic symphony still had four movements, Beethoven stretched this by adding a fifth movement.
In their books: Copland: 1900 through 1942 and Copland: Since 1943, Aaron Copland and Vivian Perlis give a detailed account of the life of one of America’s most influential composers. The books are arranged similarly to the Shostakovich biography that our class reviewed earlier this semester. That is, through personal accounts by Copland himself along with accounts of Copland’s friends and acquaintances, the authors manage to paint an accurate and interesting picture detailing the life of the great composer. When combined, the two books recount Copland’s entire life, dividing it into two periods for the purpose of easier organization and reading.
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.