Beijing opera

The musical piece Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, by Claude Debussy was one of the composer's most famous works and is considered a turning point in the history of music. The piece was made in the start of the twentieth century when compositional style of impressionism was first being introduced. The piece was first composed in 1894, and first performed in Paris on December 22, leaving his audience amazed and impressed by the revolution of this new music. The type of music reminded me of…

I force my small, trembling legs to step onto my giant makeshift stage, which is really just a gazebo, but feels like Madison Square Garden to my four year old brain. I watch the piercing eyes of my preschool classmates as my chest rises and I take a huge inhalation; and I begin my shaky, a cappella rendition of “Sk8r Boi” by Avril Lavigne. As I finish the song, my peers applaud and I am greeted with a feeling of pride and accomplishment that I had yet to know in my previous four years of life.…

Stevie Wonder, one musician that sees the world through music, not eyes. Stevie went through many hard times with his disability. He overcame his disabilities by doing what he loves most. From Singing to Harmonica to Piano, Stevie showed how much he loved the vocal and instrumental arts. Stevie was blind his entire life. The young super star was born May 13,1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. By the age of 13 he began to sing to his hearts content. He attended Detroit, Public Schools. Growing up was…

In the poem, “Player Piano”, John Updike demonstrates a lot of feeling and emotion of an unhuman piano. By having detailed imagery of sounds, figures of speech, and rhyme, he portrays the reader into the picture of a machine-like device that has its own natural music language. This 12-line poem recalls the life and achievements of a player piano. In the first and second line, there is a lot of assonance (the repetition of sound in a vowel) and consonance (reassurance of similar sound) that are…

Dark Elegies: A Masterpiece Antony Tudor choreographed and wrote the libretto for Dark Elegies. The world premiere took place in 1937. It was held as part of the Ballet Rambert, in the Duchess Theatre, London on February 19th. In addition to Tudor, there were many other influential members involved in creating this dance work. Gustav Mahler composed the five songs that make up the score and Friedrich Ruckert wrote all of the lyrics. Nadia Benois created scenery and costumes, while Jean…

of the Classical era. Mozart was a prodigy that performed for European royalty, and basically grew up to become a famous musician that had Classical style. Although he was a versatile composer that wrote in almost every genre including: symphony, opera, solo concerto, and chamber music. Even though these genes were nothing new his piano concerto is what made him so famous. First of all, Mozart’s music was a typical example of Classical style. If you listen to one of his works you can recognize…

Attention Getter: I will start by saying something to the effect of “From Beethoven to Bieber, an incredibly wide variety of music has been recognized as ‘good,’ but why are these songs good? Why is Trout Mask Replica, an awful sounding cacophonous mash of notes, seen as good?” Interest Explained. (What experiences have caused the writer to become interested?) I first heard Trout Mask Replica on a video I saw on Facebook, and since then I have been enthralled in finding out why the video…

Sing a Song of Significance: Keyword Definition Argument Everybody loves music. Everybody loves the performance arts. Combining those two facts create an extremely popular genre of entertainment known as the musical. However, combining those two aspects might be more challenging than one might initially suspect, as the idea of a musical is surprisingly difficult to categorize, and the reasons for their existence must be analyzed in order to properly identify their role in modern entertainment.…

Franz Jospeh Haydn was crucial figure within musical history. Born 1732, he was an essential figure in the growth of chamber music and his influence within musical form earned him the name of the father of the classical period. A symphony typically refers to a large work for an orchestra that was usually in four movements. During the 18th century, the symphony had been developing and by this point most composers had established a pattern of four sections that became known as movements.…

What is a woodwind instrument? The woodwind instruments are instruments that produce sound as a result of air flowing through them. Instruments that belong to this family include the oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon and flute. While all of the other instruments mentioned are actually classified as reed instruments because that is the way that the air flows through them, the flute is an instrument that makes its sound from air being blown across an opening. The openings are closed or kept open…