George Frideric Handel is one of the best composers of the Baroque era. He is best known for being the master of oratorios. G.F. Handel was born in Halle, Germany on February 23, 1685. He was known as being a “boy genius” of his time (Sherrane). “Handel was very brilliant in several different musical works, including operas, oratorios, and concertos grossos. In the late Baroque period he combined German, French, Italian, and English musical styles in his operas (40), oratorios (20), and…
Johann Sebastian was quite young during this time, therefore did not receive any direct teachings from Pachelbel. However, as Bach grew older, his brother became his teacher. Therefore, Pachelbel had a great influence on Bach’s musical style and his pieces. This demonstrates that Pachelbels career was not solely based off his Canon in D. His legacy was made well before this…
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer born on March 21st, 1685. Bach grew up in a musical family, being the son of Johann Ambrosius, who was a trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach. He was taught to play the violin and harpsichord by his father, and the organ by his uncle. At the time, germs and sickness was common. And as a result, Bach lost his sister, brother, mom, and father by the age of nine. After the loss of his parents, he lived with his older brother. While living with his…
In the 16th century, composer Johann Sebastian Bach, created The Brandenburg Concertos, a six-part series. The concertos are a unique composition of music, utilizing instruments like the harpsichord, flute and violin to create a melodic conversation. Bach’s Bradenberg Concerto No. 5 in D Major is a particularly unique piece as it is the first to feature a keyboard solo. In this composition, the harpsichord stepped into the spotlight and ditched its normally supportive role. The three movements…
England’s premiere Renaissance composer, William Byrd, “lead the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries” (Burkholder, Grout, Palisca 224) well before Purcell and was best known for secular vocal and instrumental music. William Byrd was famous as a religious composer, writing for many church services including both Anglican and Catholic. England’s most prolific composer, William Byrd, was “the first English composer to absorb Continental imitative techniques.” (Burkholder, Grout, Palisca…
The Baroque Harpsichord During the Baroque-era, the harpsichord was an extremely popular instrument. It was heard in many musical pieces throughout the 1600’s. Harpsichord is defined as “a keyboard instrument that produces sound by depressing a key that drives a lever upward and forces a pick to pluck the string” (Wright 462). Harpsichords all work the same way, no matter the size. With each string connecting to a key, a piece of material is placed in a small and thin piece of wood called a…
Alban Berg born in 1885 through 1935 was one of the composers of the Second Viennese School founded by Arnold Schoenberg. The most Romantic of these tokened European modern composers like Berg, he successfully combined late Romanticism elements with adaptations of Schoenberg’s twelve tone techniques. Berg wrote his most famous and widely performed instrumental work, the Violin Concerto, in 1935 and it’s premiere was held shortly after his death in 1936 by renowned violinist Louis Krasner. His…
Forward and the Cultural Revolution, but also through the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Anti-Rightist Campaign as well as the Socialist Education Campaign. Heng provides a look into these historical pillars in Chinese history in a way that the Golf and Overfield texts could only dream of. It’s a truly breathtaking account of events that are still being felt throughout the nation today. Heng’s account first takes us through the Hundred Flowers Campaign. One of the major struggles of the…
The Hundred Flowers movement did effectively “coax the snakes out of their holes” and in June of 1957 Mao pivoted, editing his message and recasting it as a call to arms against all who dared speak against him and the party. Half a million individuals felt the wrath…
change some of his rules. When the power began to go to Mao’s head, he made many poor decisions like overproducing items and encouraging violence among the Chinese citizens. The Hundred Flowers Campaign was one of the first bad moves from Mao and one of the first ways Mao turned to be 70% bad. The Hundred Flowers Campaign was a movement from Mao that launched an anti-rightist campaign and sent tons more people to be re-educated by the peasants and eliminated intellectuals (Green 243) when he…