Leslie Van Houten

“A real musical culture should not be a museum culture based on music of past ages... It should be the active embodiment in sound of the life of a community- of the everyday demands of people’s work and play and of their deepest spiritual needs.” (Wilfred Mellers, pg. 54). Music is always changing and adapting based on how people feel and what people like. Some people prefer to listen to choral works, while others are more interesting in instrumental music. Throughout history we have been able…

George Frederick Handel was born on February 23rd, 1685. His parents were George and Dorothy Handel of Halle Saxony Germany. His father was 73 when he was born and he was an eminent barber-surgeon who served in the court of Saxony Weissenfels and Margraviate of Brandenburg. Handel was inspired by music. Unfortunately, his father was very surprised and urged him to study law instead. His father restricted his use of any musical instruments. Luckily his mother, on the other hand, was very…

Neurologically, there is a chemical called Dopamine. Dopamine is released whenever we as humans find enjoyment in an activity. I will not pretend to be an expert on the chemical compounds and neurological travel of Dopamine, but I know my strongest reaction to it. All of my life I have felt the most happy when I have been surrounded by music. I’m not by any means an expert on music or even remotely gifted in it, but music has consistently been the most important part of my life. The earliest…

Being a musician takes lots of skill. Many different styles have different challenges and can make or break an artist career. Talent plays a big part in a musician’s life. Many capable artists including, soul singer, pianist and songwriter, Aretha Franklin have made many accomplishments in their lifetime. Aretha’s career is such a big success from every part of her early life,the many awards she has earned to her life now. The beginning of Franklin’s childhood is March 25, 1942. He is the…

Transformation is the first step in accepting one’s true potential. In Finding Forrester, Jamal, a talented high schooler, meets William Forrester, a hermit author. At first they seem to be two sides of the same coin, but as conflict occurs they rise above their fears and grow for the better. In chaotic confrontations, people’s faults become apparent, and they transform into who they really are. During confrontation, people realize their transformation into who they really are. Professor…

Bach’s three sets of six suites for keyboard, titled Partitas, French Suites, and English Suites have caused specialists to fruitlessly comb each set for some sense of distinct national characteristics. It was the publishers, however, not Bach, who provided the titles and Bach’s original manuscripts are lost. The English Suites, or Suites pour les Anglois, for example, were published with this name after Bach’s death. The basic style of Baroque suites, including Bach’s instrumental suites, was…

Giuseppe Verdi's Early Life And Childhood Verdi was born to Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in Le Roncole in the Parma region of Italy, near Busseto, on 10 October 1813. Carlo Verdi was an innkeeper and owned a small farm. Verdi’s parents decided to move to Bussetto and Verdi was brought up and educated there. Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died at 17 years of age in 1833. Verdi went to Milan when he was twenty years old, where he continued his studies. Personal Life After…

In Who Is Gustav Mahler - Young People's Concert - Bernstein & NY Philharmonic Youtube video, he shows an amazing symphony playing Gustav Mahler’s amazing pieces in the same concert hall Gustav conducted in. Mahler was an Austrian who stated conducting at a very young age. His main music was in the Romanticism era. He developed strongly and became popular of many, but how would his name still be known many years later? Gustav Mahler isn’t as known as Beethoven, but is a popular person among…

Duke Ellington is an originator of big-band jazz, Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and band leader who composed thousands of scores over his 50 year career. Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 In Washington, D.C. At the age of 7 he started learning piano and got the nickname duke. He wrote his first composition ‘soda fountain rag’ at the age of 15. He was awarded an art Scholarship in the Pratt institute in Brooklyn, New York, Ellington followed his passion for ragtime…

The Jacksonian Democracy is a political movement during the Second Party System trying to get a better democracy for the common man by the American politicians and Andrew Jackson’s supports (History.com Staff). The Jacksonian democracy went from the 1820’s which was the time Andrew Jackson was elected president, and till around the 1840’s (History.com Staff). The Jacksonian Democracy was also in the united states only (Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Age of Jackson). Jackson was a intelligent man…