Franz Liszt

Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 14 November 1900, the youngest of five children to Harris Morris Copland and Sarah Mittenthal Copland, both of whom were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Copland's earliest musical training came in the form of piano lessons which he received from his sister Laurine. When he was only nine, he started to invent tunes on the piano. At the age of fifteen he decided he wanted to become a composer. Then went to a boy only high school and learned more…

Berlioz’s model of the Requiem Mass is considered to be the first true Romantic-era model. He had included elements from the traditional Requiem Mass, for example the Dies Irae, Tuba Mirum, Rex tremendae and Lacrymosa sections including the text. However, his version of Requiem was greatly different from that of previous Classical models. Berlioz’s work was more theatrical than for service, proving to include secular settings in a sacred frame, as he contrasted the loud and peaceful movements,…

Imagine a story in which instead of everything a King touches turning to gold, the things simply die. In Franz Schubert’s Erlkönig, a musical work based on a poem by Goethe, the legend goes that anyone touched by the Elf King dies. There are many aspects that help contribute to the work itself and the story heard throughout the piece. The composition and surrounding stylistic era influenced the work, the composer himself added touches of his own personal style, and the piece helped to represent…

Sonata in A minor, K. 110 Domenico Scarlatti Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples, Italy, on October 26, 1685. A brilliant musician at an early age, Scarlatti followed in the compositional footsteps of his father, Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1708, Scarlatti moved to Rome to become maestro di cappella to the exiled queen of Poland, Maria Casimira. He later became head of the Cappella Giulia, the choir of St. Peter’s Basilica that sings for all solemn functions of the Vatican. While in Rome,…

“It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it,” states Hans Selye. In The Metamorphosis, the novella by Franz Kafka and the graphic novel by Peter Kuper, Gregor Samsa does not react well to the daily stress of life. The stress causes him to feel isolated from others. The daily stress of Gregor Samsa’s work, family, and personal life choices are the reasons for his feelings of isolation. Due to the fact that Gregor is always working and rarely stops, he becomes isolated because of…

Franz Kafka writes in 3rd person point of view, this may limit a reader but it just makes the reader have to dig deep to find the style Franz Kafka presents. When the stories are looked at with more depth the readers find that Franz Kafka short stories “The Metamorphosis” and “A Hunger Artist” both present the same motif and how his main characters develop. Kafka has the same motif in both of his short stories, along with the same main character development. In Kafka readings there is a motif…

The setting is usually a major part of the meaning of stories since it usually represents a certain idea or strengthens one presented by a character. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the setting is an integral part of the novel because it helps strengthen and represent certain ideas, such as isolation, family life, and capitalism. A major portion of the book occurs in Gregor’s room. It is therefore only natural that the room represents a theme that is present in the novel. Gregor’s room…

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka are seemingly unrelated literary pieces upon first consideration. Delving deeper into the nature of the two protagonists, common themes become more apparent. These short stories convey themes of personal sacrifice, living a walled-in existence, and subscribing to the endless cycle of work with no personal gain. Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis works as a travelling salesman because his family owes a debt to the…

A bildungsroman is a novel about the coming of age, with the character experiencing difficulties which allow them to gradually gain maturity. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor slowly starts realizing that his family is dependent on him and that is something he does not want to accept. Through a series of events which contribute to the overall growth of the character, Gregor gains self realization, ending in his death. The Metamorphosis is an example of a bildungsroman, emphasizing the power of money…

In the beginning of the story Gregor is described as “squirming” (3) and “shocked to hear his own voice,” (5) which resembles his struggle of finding out who he is because he has turned into what family/society wants him to be. The fact that he is “shocked to hear his own voice” justifies that Gregor is not only confused on he has become, but it exposes the reality that Gregor never voices his concerns on being someone he isn’t. It startles him to realize that he is a prisoner within his own…