Opera Australia

Every day, I try to listen to a new piece of music. Whether it be a string group, unaccompanied choir, or even a percussion consort, I believe that by doing this, so much can be learned from just listening. About the mid-month of July, I came across this piece of music. I thought it was extremely fun and quirky at the same time! I had continued to listen to it, read some background information on the piece, and do a small amount of study on the work. When it came time to choose the piece for…

Ludwig Van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are the two most important and talented composers of all times. These two composers are very respected and very known in classical music around the world. For instance, we are still studying their work today because of how important there were. However, the two composers have many similarities but when it comes to their music they are totally different. These two famous composers are different such as their nature of music, the use of a different…

The scene that I have composed a song to appears in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’. The scene takes place after (SPOILER ALERT!) Severus Snape is killed and Harry collects some of his memories into a vial. Harry then pours Snape’s memories into a pensieve to re-watch them. Snape’s memories take us back to his childhood and when he first meets Harry’s mother, Lily. The full scene is absolutely heart-wrenching as you watch Snape’s feelings grow for a girl that does not reciprocate…

“Why don’t you add the motif to your composition?” His voice echoed through the large, empty classroom. Dmitri Shostakovich, my tutorial partner, is critiquing my music! What a dream! Dmitri Shostakovich, a Russian composer and pianist, is my classmate at Williams College. He has been assigned as my partner in the Music Composition Tutorial. I am looking forward to learn more about why and how he composes music in the style that he chooses. His music represents curiosity and…

pieces is Requiem Mass in D minor. His works were considered the high point in symphonies, operas, and chamber music (“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart”). According to Patrick Castillo, Mozart was known for his piano concertos and many people labeled him as the finest piano player in Vienna. His playing abilities on the piano was superior because he had to play it often due to composing, conducting, and organizing operas. Although he was skilled on the piano, he enjoyed the violin more because it…

ARS Trio is a darkly twisted experimental Portuguese project composed of Renato Diz on piano, Sergio Tavares on double bass, and Jorge Queijo on drums and percussion. Despite the plans regarding this project had started in 2009, only recently the band members have reunited in Portugal to record their debut album, Poetics of Sight, strongly influenced by film and released on the W&J Productions, a new record label from New York. Using imaginative techniques and resorting to unconventional sounds,…

In 18th century, the Enlightenment era was taking over in the form of innovations and experiments. During the second half of the 18th century, music was taking over in the form of classical music. The emotion and character are the important aspect of the music. Music during the Enlightenment period was clearly composed and played to please the listeners. Before the music was only for the high-class people of the society. In this era, music became the art and the musicians wanted it to be more…

Johannes Brahms is considered the greatest composer of the Romantic period. Being the son of a musician and forced to play music to earn money for the family bills, Johannes grew a very strong connection to music and eventually made music and composing for his entire career. Johannes Brahms was viewed as the leader of music and best at composing in the Romantic time period while on the same skilled level as Mozart, Beethoven, and Hyden. Johannes Brahms was born May 7th, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany…

"Ombra mai fu" is the opening aria from the 1738 opera Serse by George Frideric Handel. It has often been arranged for other voice types and instruments, including solo organ, solo piano, violin and piano, and string ensembles, often under the title "Largo from Xerxes", although the original tempo is marked larghetto. For most of the piece the vocalist is in piano (soft) and only forte (loud) one time close to the end of the piece. Even though many composers write on the music sheet how the…

learn what affect his interest had on Wagner’s legacy. While doing research, I learned that Wagner was behind the very famous opera titled Tristan and Isolde. I had previously heard of that opera throughout my life, but I never knew who the musical genius was behind it. Wagner often referred to his pieces as a total work of art and he enjoyed incorporating politics into his operas. Wagner’s involvement in German politics influenced him to begin writing articles about the revolution…