Composer Essays

  • Russian Composers

    1834 Words  | 4 Pages

    Russian composers are often mentioned in history as the most influential in the world. With style unlike any other, Russians are able to capture mood through a unique ability to capture exactly what they feel. Exactly how the Russians are able to do this is unknown, though through this, the greatest composers have turned out to be Russian. Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich are all able to write and portray the most detailed feelings and moods, and it is to them that we owe the advancement

  • A Great Composer

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness. Only one man could claim the title as probably the greatest composer in American history for writing so many unforgettable works: Aaron Copland. He lived a life inspired by many things as well as inspiring people all across the nation, and it really led to the opposite of being drawn into himself, as he described in the quote above. He was born

  • The 20th century's 3 greatest composers

    2350 Words  | 5 Pages

    The 20th century's 3 Greatest Composers The 20th century has watched many musicians break through their generation's bounds of normalcy to creat a completely new music. Musicians who initiated revolutions so grandiose that the impact—like an earthquake’s aftershocks—would reverberate for decades and influence scores of musicians to come. Such influences can be traced back to three specific composers. Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Nadia Boulanger: the triumvirate of 20th century music

  • Musicians and Composers of the Renaissance

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity

  • Influential Composers Of Early 20th Century

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    Influential Composers Of Early 20th Century missing works cited Zoltan Kodaly, Edgar Varese, Igor Stravinsky.Three foreign-born composers whose output ranges from unobtrusively important to riot inducing works.They encompass music’s three principles: education, exploration, experimentation. Deemed “Hungary’s greatest composer and music pedagogue” (Jeter) Zoltan Kodaly, was born December 16, 1882.As a child, Kodaly taught himself piano, violin, cello, and voice.Later, he pursued Composition/Education

  • Claudio Monteverdi vs. Domenico Scarlatti

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    A comparison of two major Baroque composers: Claudio Monteverdi and Domenico Scarlatti The purpose of this paper is to analyze two psalms by Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Giovanni Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) and compare and contrast the two pieces to find out how music changed throughout the Baroque period. While historians grouped music of the Baroque period together based on certain characteristics, the music did not remain the same throughout the period, as it would not

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    organist, composer, and musical scholar of the Baroque period, and is almost universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. His works, noted for their intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty, have provided inspiration to nearly every musician after him, from Mozart to Schoenberg. J. S. Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany, March 21, 1685. Bach’s uncles were all professional musicians ranging from church organists and court chamber musicians to composers. His father

  • changing self, context in song lyrics

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Text title: “Change You Or Change Me” Source/ Date: Medium: Rap song Composer: Fabolous Purpose: The main purpose of the text is indeed to entertain the listener in any way possible whether it be enjoying fab’s witty punch lines or being able to relate to the issues present. Another purpose suggested is to relate with the composer (Fabolous) and gain knowledge of the occurrences experienced by the composer e/g racism or incidents in the area . Fabolous says “I want to bring you in, and let you

  • OPERA AND DRAMA: DIFFERING VIEWS

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    opera and also later argues that although this is a marvellous event, the categories of music and drama must be coherent and specific to the desired product. …there is a long tradition associating opera with the marvellous… it is clear that the composer, or his librettist, must be able to condense… [1] This heightened style and its subsequent audience is discussed by Joseph Kerman in Opera as Drama, who compares the style of opera to its worth and subjectivity. Kerman recognises that ‘no distinction

  • How Music Works

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    distillation. The essence of music, certainly of great music, is more than its ingredients, it requires the passion of the soul and the logic of the intellect - a combination of nature's gifts and skilled human endeavour, an endeavour both of composer and of performer. BIBLIOGRAPHY Footnotes and other reference material 1. John Cage 4' 33'' (Probably his most provocative piece is 4' 33'' in which the performer, seated in front of the piano, plays nothing for 4 minutes and 33 seconds)

  • Ludwig Van Beethoven

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer, generally considered one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition. Born in Bonn, Beethoven was reared in to the capricious discipline of his father, a singer in the court chapel. In1789, because of his father's alcoholism, the young Beethoven became a court musician in order to support his family. His early compositions under the tutelage of German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, particularly the funeral on the death of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph

  • Ever Heard of Chance Music?

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    aleatory music (ā'lēətôr'ē) [Lat. alea=dice game], music in which elements traditionally determined by the composer are determined either by a process of random selection chosen by the composer or by the exercise of choice by the performer(s). At the compositional stage, pitches, durations, dynamics, and so forth are made functions of playing card drawings, dice throwings, or mathematical laws of chance, the latter with the possible aid of a computer. Those elements usually left

  • History Of Western Music

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    entertainment in the form of music and dance. Thus, the rise of the middle classes also gave way to the rise in composition and performance of secular music, which became the music of choice for composers of that day. Many of the songs we have today of the Middle Ages were in Latin, and are by anonymous composers. Many were written by wandering people, many of them men and churchmen without permanent residences of their own. Men who could not obtain a position in the Church and had to drop out were called

  • Folk in Nationalist Music

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Using a folk idiom in art music is a problematic practice for composers because folk and Art music traditions stem from fundamentally different origins. Art music is part of a literate tradition with recognized authorship, as opposed to the folk tradition, which is part of a communal tradition disseminated anonymously by means of oral communication. Thus, art music composers aspiring to leave a legacy often refrain from utilizing folk idioms in their music for several reasons; to compose cultured

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thuringia, Germany where he was raised and spent most of his life. Due to a shortage of expenses, he was confined to a very limited geographical space, as was his career. This greatly affected his, in that his music was not as widley known as other composers of the time. On traveling he never went farther north than Hamburg or farther south than Carlsbad. To look back on the life of Bach many have referred to him as “one of the greatest and most productive geniuses in the history of Western music”

  • Arnold Schoenberg's Musical Influence

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    cabaret orchestra, and teaching. Schoenberg influenced the music and art of the western culture in numerous ways. Some of the most successful composers were his students. These students were molded by Schoenberg and directly absorbed his knowledge and style. Schoenberg created different rhythms and tunes that were passed along to his students and other composers. He was able to catch the attention of a multitude through his writings, music, paintings, and post cards. This variety of talent gathered

  • Who is the real Shakespeare?

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaksper of Stratford (the spelling of his name originally) could not have been the true composer of the plays he is traditionally attributed with. Although the thought of someone besides Shakespeare composing the plays is not popular with the American and European world, there are excessive theories concerning the truth behind the possibility of the works being authentically his. Doubts about the true composer of Shakespeare’s works generally arise from the fact that there is no logical match between

  • Serialism

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    in classical music should attempt to understand it. Twelve tone music which was established by Schoenberg is often referred to as serialism, but strictly speaking serialism is the sequel to Schoenberg’s works, and came about in the late 1940’s. Composers, led by Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen started to apply Schoenberg’s 12-tone principle to more than just pitch. To recap, Schoenberg created tone rows, where the 12 different pitch classes of the scale are arranged in a particular order

  • Dvorak

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dvorak Antonin Dvorak was born in Nelahozeves on September 8, 1841. Dvorak was one of the greatest of the Czech composers. He grew up with an appreciation of local folk songs and demonstrated a talent for music at an early age. His first experience with music was of a violinist and violist. He got the attention of Johannes Brahms with his Moravian Duets and soon won a competition in Vienna that he would have never won if it had not been for the insistence of Brahms. Since his patriotic composition

  • Modern Music Composition

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    music, you may find yourself running out of ideas for further compositions. Music composition is the subject of this essay. Music, through the years, has changed in many ways. The musical "attitude" is determined through the overall feelings of the composer at the time, at which he or she wrote it. The "attitude" sets the overall feeling of the piece of music. If you fail to pass the feelings that you felt while you wrote the piece of music, you fail in the overall goal of the piece of music. Music