Wilhelm Richard Wagner was one of the greatest opera writers of all time. He helped to take opera to a whole new level from even Verdi and Puccini. Some say that Wagner was very egotistic, however; “his extreme egotism rested on conviction, Wagner had the ability to do great things” (Colles 207). He was extraordinary at composing music as well as formulating words. He was not a prodigy however his musical skills surpassed many other composers from his time period.
Richard Wagner was the son of Frau Karl Fredrich Wilhelm Wagner (Jacobs 1). He was born the youngest on May 22, 1813 in the town of Leipzig (Colles 205). Six months after Richard’s birth the Napoleonic War came to Leipzig (Jacobs 1). Because of the war there were many dead bodies that were not berried and therefore Richard’s father contracted and died of typhoid fever (Jacobs 1). Shortly after his father’s death Wagner’s mother got remarried to an actor named Geyer and the family moved to Dresden (Colles 205). Wagner began his schooling in Dresden at the age of nine (Colles 205). Being in school Wagner loved language he was drawn to poetry (Colles 205). He loved to read translations of Shakespeare and he even learned the English language (Colles 205). Before he was exposed to a lot music he even attempted to write his own tragedies based on Greek drama and Shakespeare (Colles 205). It seems that all of the literature that Wagner read helped to foster his creativeness.
One of the earliest musical influences Wagner had was Carl Maria von Weber (Colles 205). Weber was a friend with the Geyer family and therefore Wagner was able to see musicianship on a first hand basis. The family soon moved back to Leipzig, and through this move Wagner was able to expe...
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... than as a conjurer of fancies and emotions. When he heard the fifths of the violins he beheld ghosts. When he saw Weber conduct, what impressed him was not the music, but Weber’s gestures as personification of the music.”
Wagner was a phenomenal composer and writer he put himself out there and he was seen as extraordinary. He may have and several issues in his life but he channeled them extremely well and showed musicians that it is good to channel yourself into your own music.
Works Cited
Bonds, Mark. "Composer Profile." A History of Music in Western Culture. Third. London: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
Colles, H.C. From Bach to Stravinsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1933. 205-227.Print.
Jacobs, Robert. Wagner. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1947. Print.
Newman, Ernest. Wagner as Man and Artist. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1952. Print.
Johannes Brahms was a German Composer, Pianist and conductor of the 19th century or the Romantic period. He was one of the 3 B's or the Big three: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Johannes was a very self-critic man he burned many of his pieces before he could get anyone's opinion on them and he burned all of his compositions that he wrote before the age of 19.
This is the second volume of Richard Taruskin's historical work, and it highlights composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He examines the progression of different styles and eras of music.
When one considers the history of classical music, often images of Vienna, Prague, and other European cities come to mind. Centuries of European musical achievement and development have implanted in society the idea that classical music is an inherently European creation. Considering the accomplishments of countless composers such as J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Antonin Dvorak, this preconception is certainly not unfounded. However, Leonard Bernstein's rise to international fame proved that one cannot neglect American composers in a discussion of the development of Western music. Combining elements of a vast array of musical styles, Bernstein's unique compositions reached a wide variety of audiences and often bridged gaps between distinct musical genres. Through his long conducting career, profoundly influential compositional output, and televised music lectures, Leonard Bernstein left a lasting legacy which came to define American music in the 20th century.
All had great influence on later composers, Mozart on Beethoven, Bartók on Copeland and Bach on everyone including his twenty or so children
Burkholder, J. Peter, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A history of western music. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print.
...ed, including the Pulitzer Prize. Next, I talked about his composition styles and some other composers that he has been compared to and finally, I talked one of his many famous compositions, “Music for 18 Musicians” and how it greatly reflected his style of writing. After reading countless journals and articles about Steve Reich, it is easy to see that he is greatly admired by many. A large majority of the articles had only positive comments about his and this is well reflected in a quote by him: “Steve Reich has been creating music for almost five decades. How would he like to be remembered by future generations? 'I hope that, number one, my music is played by musicians because they love to play it,' he says. 'And, number two, that it's loved by audiences who love to hear it. If those two things happen, then I'll feel like my life has been worthwhile” (Weiss).
George Frideric Handel made an incredible impact on several other well known musical composers. “He has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since. Bach apparently stated, “ He is the only person I would wish to see before I die, and the only person I would wish to be, were I not Bach.” Mozart is reputed to have said of him, “Handel understands effect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt,” and to Beethoven he was “the master of us all…the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb.” (Classic Cat, Legacy)
Born on May 22nd, 1813 in Leipzig, Germany, Richard Wagner became one of the world’s most significant conductors and composers. As a child, Wagner was told he had no talent in a musical aspect, however he went on to write a drama at the age of eleven and a musical composition at the age of sixteen. His music career carried on to his University studies at Leipzig University where he wrote and performed his first symphony in 1833. Wagner showed much confidence and drive from a young age and that proved to be a personality trait he would keep for his lifetime. In his obituary The New York Times wrote “In the face of mortifying failures and discouragements, he apparently never lost confidence in himself”.
George Handel is among the greatest Baroque composers, and is recognized for his famous English oratories, which is essentially an opera lacking the scenery and costumes. Writing exquisite scores for instruments, combining the musical traditions of Italian, French, English and German to compose his own compositions, and a master of Italian-styles operas, Handel had a talent to unify a rich diversity of sounds that are still relished today (Handel Life and Music). He was born in Halle, Germany on February 23,1685 (George Handel). The elements of his life, the styles he used, and what he composed are all intriguing aspects of this famous composer and musician’s life.
Richard Wagner was one of the most influential and controversial classical composers of all time. Most of his works were operas and they addressed many aspects of his personal feelings: society, politics, religions, etc. Though many hated (and still hate) him and his work, most revere him to be a multitalented genius that brought 19th Century music to higher levels.
Burkholder, Peter J., Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2010. Print.
How did each deal with the past in music? Taruskin states, “Modernism is not just a condition but a commitment (Taruskin, 1).” This commitment to modernism is what each composer is bringing with them as we are “observing a symbiotic process of highly self-conscious technical innovation and expanded technical resources over the whole course of the nineteenth century (Taruskin, 2).” Richard Strauss, an innovative German Romantic composer and conductor, to many historians can receive such a label as the heir of Richard Wagner. Born into a musical family, father being a principal horn player with the Munich Court Orchestra, his compositional influences find root in Wagner’s opera’s and Liszt’s symphonic poems.
The. Burkholder, J. P., Donald J. Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music. Eight ed. of the book. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010.
There is a lot to be said of this man whose life was unfortunately ended short by insanity. His theories were groundbreaking, ideas one of a kind, and had a very distinct and difficult style of writing. He was able to ignore objective truths and untruths, right and wrong, and focus on the individual society and what it's made up of. He laid the foundation for numerous of other great thinkers, a new movement called existentialism, and even mistakenly the Nazis. His name is still uttered every day around the world in school buildings, books, discussions, and magazines not only because of what he said, but because of the impact what he said had on the world. Friedrich Nietzsche to this day is unsurprisingly regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of his time and will remain that way for centuries to come.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is often referred to as the greatest musical genius of all time in Western musical tradition. His creative method was extraordinary: his writings show that he almost always wrote a complete composition mentally before finally writing it on paper. Mozart created 600 works in his short life of 35 years. His works included 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, and 5 violin concerti, 25 string quartets, and 19 masses.