Essays on Classical Music Page 4

            Ragtime compositions are intermingled with the rise of jazz and popular music during the late 19th century. As the romantic and contemporary musical eras became known for its specific contributions to music, ragtime composition set itself as purely an American composition, wherein it originated from African-American communities in the United States. Ragtime music established…

            Impressionism, Neoclassicism, and Expressionism are three art movements and styles that occurred nearly simultaneously but are different from one another. Impressionism in music is basically a movement in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century that mainly focused on creating impressions instead of explicitly describing something. It basically focuses…

Hector Berlioz composed the Symphonie fantastique when he was 27 years old. He drew inspiration from his own passionate life and transformed his memoirs into his most famous program symphony. The story revolves around a young artist who is love-stricken and depressed, leading him to poison himself with opium. The beloved is symbolically represented throughout…

A comparative study of the use of the barqoue and modern flute in composition, with specific reference to V Sonata IV for flute and continuo by J.S Bach, and Sonata for flute and piano by HindemithThe baroque, or transverse flute is of great interest to me, mainly because of my own flute playing experience. Since…

Contrasting motives and different lines are the main themes in the second movement of Stravinsky´s “Three pieces for String quartet”. The movement divides into 5 different sections that all have different materials and tempos. The first section (bars 1-14) begins with repeated descending movements in all voices. The movement goes down a semitone in I…

Richard Wagner is considered as the greatest German composer of opera. He wrote both the scenario and the libretto of his operas; and more than that he is also a conductor, theatre director and essayist. He is known for his works like Die Feen (The Fairies), Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), and Der Ring…

“Franz Schubert was a programmatic composer”. Discuss this statement with reference to two pieces studied and refer to three of the concepts of music in your answer. Composers of the Romantic Period were attracted to programme music – music that provides a story, idea or scene. Franz Schubert, one of the earliest 19th Century composers,…

Franz Josef Haydn wrote quite a few concerti for piano, which have neverreally enjoyed the popularity of such pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Whilesome accuse Haydn’s piano concerti of being too ‘light’ or having ‘no meaning’,I find those to be inaccurate surface impressions. I have found a great deal ofenjoyment from these pieces of Haydn,…

Brittan’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” Kamien gives the reader his observations on The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, by introducing the reader to Brittan’s guide as an introduction to the instruments of an orchestra. Kamien explains in his writing how the theme composed by Henry Purcell is used as the base…

Although I have never been a fan of romantic orchestra music, attending a live concert is truly awe-inspiring. Recently, I had the opportunity to experience the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra’s Masterpieces concert, which was conducted by music director Fouad Fakhouri. The concert featured phenomenal renditions of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No….