Imagine this: it’s the night of your cousin’s big wedding. After walking down the aisle and saying their “I do’s,” it’s time for the reception. After everyone get’s their glass of champagne or other various mixed drink, the DJ comes on stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announces, “it’s time to announce the wedding party.”
He goes through the whole list of people, stopping just after the bride and groom are announced.
“And now the new bride and groom would like to do a special dance!”
It’s time for the first dance; something they have been waiting for their whole lives. As the song starts to play, you start to recognize the bass and piano, and then suddenly as the singer starts, you instantly realize what it is. It is “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones, one of the most popular first dance songs of all time. It’s these feelings and images of life and love that continue throughout Norah Jones’ debut album.
Whether in front of a fire in the winter or at a Sunday brunch with the family, Come Away With Me is an album that would be perfect for many occasions. With its somewhat melancholic tone to its romantic and nostalgic lyrics, you get a sense of elegance without any of the schmaltz
Norah Jones’ album Come Away With Me is a breakthrough album for not only her, but for jazz music alike. Evoking a combination of folk, blues, pop, and of course jazz, this album is an amazing feat of vocals and instrumentation. Norah Jones assured phrasing and timing are things often found in singers of the past, combining the likes of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, while still sounding uniquely her own. With her soft and serene sound, you still get the sense that she is not messing around. She has that bite that lets us know she is a singer to be re...
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...s the best, hence the name Gershwin Plays Gershwin.
One track on the album stands out in a way different from the others. It is the unusual 1933 piece, for it is a two-piano rendition of “An American in Paris” that lasts over 16 minutes that was not arranged by Gershwin, but rather by Frank Milne. Gershwin’s original composition was an orchestral arrangement that used the typical orchestral instruments as well as a saxophone, a celesta, and automobile horns. However, the version on this album is one of the only versions for piano, and what a good version it is.
Overall, Gershwin Plays Gershwin: The Piano Scrolls is a wonderful album full of unique and obscure recordings of George Gershwin. These songs are brilliant works of jazz piano that evoke the spirit of the time and showcase exactly what George Gershwin does best. This is definitely an album worth exploring.
Debussy was the first modernist composer; and considered by many to be the greatest French writer, this was because he was not a part of the common fundamental German tradition in music. Instead of following to the rules created at an earlier time for common practice harmony, he liked to make up his own chords, which he called "chords with no names." He is known for composing "Voiles" and "The Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun." He was connected to the symbolist poetic movement and known for using selective orchestration. Debussy's famous opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, was completed in 1895. It became a sensation when it was first performed
Grove, George. The Musical Times Volume 47. United Kingdom: Musical Times Publications Ltd. 1906, Print.
Country music is one of the most popular genres of music throughout America. There are many influential figures that have changed the way country music sounds, and how people interpret it. Two important people who have made a huge impact on country music overtime are Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan. From their early life, their career, and how society views them, they have opened the minds of people and country musicians all over the country. Johnny Cash’s songs help people to experience his life growing up through the Great Depression and how people lived back then. Through Luke Bryan’s songs people could understand what life was like for Luke growing up in Georgia and all the hardships he faced. Johnny Cash and Luke Bryan are two of the many country singers that have influenced country fans to be more optimistic and hopeful.
I can remember being a young boy, spending several hours throughout the days watching cartoons. I can definitely relate to classical music being played in these cartoons, like the mentioned classic, Bugs Bunny. “Bugs Bunny was quite the concert musician”(“Classical Masterpieces Turn Up”). I vaguely remember Bugs Bunny attempting to play classical music tunes, but I did not know they were classicals at a young age. The music I was hearing contributed to everything I was feeling. This classical tune that had a rising tempo when something dramatic was happening, caused me to feel excited and thrilled. This classical tune that began to get louder and stronger when intense moments in the cartoon came about, caught my attention. I was physically unable to turn away, my favorite character was running from the evil man, and the tempo sped. I had no idea how much of an impact classical music played into my childhood until this assignment.
Clara Schumann was a concert pianist born to Frederick Wieck and Marianne Tromlitz in Leipzig, Germany on September 13, 1819 (Comminfo). Clara was the second of five children and the daughter of a prominent music teacher and piano proprietor (Friedrich Wieck) and an opera soprano singer (Marianne Tromlitz). She died in 1896, renowned as a classical pianist and composer in the nineteenth-century Romantic style. During her height of popularity, the press deemed Clara as the “Queen of the Piano” (Schumann, Clara [Josehpine], The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music).
Many jazz artists as we know it are quite talented. Their talents are unique in that they can translate human emotion through singing or playing their instruments. Many have the ability to reach and touch people’s souls through their amazing gifts. Although this art of turning notes and lyrics into emotional imagery may somewhat come natural, the audience must wonder where their influence comes from. For Billie Holiday, her career was highly influenced by personal experience, the effects of the Great Depression, and the racial challenges of African Americans during her time.
George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26 1898. He began playing piano when he was 11 after his parents bought a piano for their other son Ira. Gershwin, realizing his own talent, took it upon himself to find a mentor so he could hone his own skills. He found a mentor in Charles Hambitzer, who was a popular piano instructor in his time. Hambitzer was extremely impressed with his pupil and in a letter to his sister Hambitzer wrote “I have a new pupil who will make his mark if anybody will. The boy is a genius.” Throughout his life Gershwin would study under other noted teachers such as Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger, Edward Kilenyi, and Joseph Schillinger.
- Norris, Jeremy Paul. The development of the Russian piano concerto in the nineteenth century. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1988. Print.
The brilliant composer Clara Schumann was born as Clara Josephine Wieck on 13 September 1819. Even before her birth, her destiny was to become a famous musician. Her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a piano teacher and music dealer, while her mother, Marianne Wieck, was a soprano and a concert pianist and her family was very musically gifted. Her father, Friedrich, wanted to prove to the world that his teaching methods could produce a famous pianist, so he decided, before Clara’s birth, that she would become that pianist. Clara’s father’s wish came true, as his daughter ended up becoming a child prodigy and one of the most famous female composers of her time.
Wilson, August. "The Piano Lesson." Drama: A Pocket Anthology. Ed. R. S. Gwynn. 5th ed. New York: Pearson, 2012. 362-442. Print.
Classical music can be best summed by Mr. Dan Romano who said, “Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. Its hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art, speaking with your heart to the hearts of others.” Starting at a young age Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven have done just that with their musical compositions. Both musical composers changed the world of music and captivated the hearts of many. Their love of composing shared many similar traits, though their musical styles were much different.
Wells, E A. (2011) West Side Story Cultural Perspectives on an American musical. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
“Young and Menace” by Fall Out Boy is the everyman who is reminiscing about their past.
The two songs which shall be scrutinized shall be Roxanne. Originally released in 1978, it was performed by ‘The Police’. The cover version El Tango de Roxanne was rearranged by Mariano Mores in Moulin Rouge, 2001.
Rihanna in her childhood was inspired by Bob Marley, Madonna, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey. This reflected most in her very first single “Pon de Replay”, which was a reggae inspired dance track, immediately hitting the top 2 on billboard singles chart. The song not only reached a second place but also shout out to the world: Rihanna is coming! It was 2005, the year she kick