Classical Music

[hectorberlioz]

For those of you who do not listen to this genre of music i have decided to try and give a history lesson.

Johann Sebastian Bach is basically the father of classical music. there were other guys before him, but not as important. Bach also was the father of a ton of kids, five or six whom were also composers later on. his eldest son: Johannn Christian, later tutored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart tutored Beethoven for a slight while(and Beethoven was also tutored by Antonio Salieri, the supposed rival and murderer of Mozart-but the chances of his bieng murdered by salieri are slight- Salieri also tutored Franz Schubert.
Hector Berlioz. this guy is french and was his music was persecuted in his home city of paris in his best years. he also was a part time friend/rival of Richard Wagner. however, Berlioz was an influence on the "great five" of Russia who were the fathers of music in Russia.
John Cage. this guy decided that piano music should be written through some complicated mathematical method of his. not many followed his footsteps.
Igor Stravinsky. this guy decided that all classical music should sound superflous monotonous and boring. many did follow his footsteps, thats why no modern classical music composer to date is good or famous.
i hope my history lesson has been helpful and fun. there is a ton more interesting history to give if any body wants to know.
i hope there is a lot of classical music fans out there that are willing to discuss this subject.


Contributed by hectorberlioz
There is a funny story about josquin de prez. de prez had been under the service of a king for some time and he wanted a raise. the king promises him one. after a while though he still has not given it and de prez really needs it. one day the king commissions a cantata(a piece for the church to be sung as a praise to god) and de prez writes it and calls it "remember thy promise unto thy servant oh lord"(subtly reminding the king of his promise of a raise) the king gives him his raise and de prez writes a cantata entitled "we gives thanks oh lord" . I love that story.


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Contributed by Elfhelm
Do you know the one about Mozart and Palestrina? The Pope was not allowing Palestrina's music to leave the Vatican. I guess he wanted people to have to visit there in order to hear it. When Mozart was a child his father took him to the Vatican. They performed a mass by Palestrina. He went back to the hotel room and wrote it down! Then his father took it back to the Vatican and showed it to them. This got them invited to meet the Pope, who asked him never to do it again!
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Contributed by hectorberlioz
have you heard that while...
a concert of berlioz' requiem was bieng performed. the conductor took a break right at a crucial moment to take a snuff. berlioz grabbed the baton and finished conducting himself.
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Contributed by hectorberlioz
"before he became a student at the conservatory,Hector(Berlioz) discovered that he might go to the library to study his beloved Gluck scores. He came into conflict with the school's teacher "Czar" cherubini, because he broke rules heedlessly, and helped himself to all the privileges to which he was not entitled, such as entering by doors forbidden to students, and taking home scores to study. He was in constant conflict with Cherubini, who once chased the boy around the tables in an effort to get him out of the building,probably after hours."
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Contributed by B.Banner
i just discovered a new composer.his name is william vincent wallace he was irish.anyone heard of him ?well if you dont here is information he was born march 11th 1812 . he became a professional violintist at age 15 his most well known operas are maritana and lurline. his other famous music where piano stuff there names where la gondolo and tarantelle. well thats all i know.
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Contributed by Silme Christian
one thing I hate about Rusian composers is the fact that I can never pronounce their names!
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Contributed by Elfhelm
Goethe felt that only Mozart could have done justice to it, but he died too young. Beethoven expressed an interest in setting it. It was Mephistopheles who they liked. He had that anti-heroic appeal that was similar to Milton's Satan. I guess they thought it took a lot of nerve to wager with God himself. This romantic figure, if I may turn into Commander Data (RIP), recurs in Byron's Childe Harold who less malicious, and Shaw's Devil. Mephisto also inspired some piano pieces and possibly even inspired the diablo violin tuning. (Enough Mr. Data!).
The ending of Goethe's Faust, as opposed to Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, is one of hope in salvation. And the second part of Mahler's 8th is a setting of that ending. So, it's the closest thing we have to a Mahler opera.
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Contributed by hectorberlioz
someone once said: "The Magic Flute is the only opera that i've heard that could have concievably been composed by God."
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Contributed by hectorberlioz
"Berlioz was reproached with the monumentalism of his "Grand Messe des Morts" (1837) calling for a main orchestra of 300 musicians, 4 side orchestras, and a big choir. At its first performance at Les Invalides in Paris 25 choir members fainted or had nervous breakdowns when choir, the main orchestra, and the side orchestras together with 16 drums and 10 cymbals striked in simultaneously to bring up a sound portrait of the end of the world."
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Contributed by Last Child of Ungoliant
My anecdote for the week:
Gustav Holst is often described as being one
of Sweden's greatest composers, despite
being born in Cheltenham!!

those of you who don't know, Cheltenham is a
large Town in Gloucestershire, England, a short
walk (11 miles) from its sister-town of Gloucester.
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Contributed by Grey Wolf
Despite the fact his father was a rich man, Wolfgang Amade Mozart died a pauper and thus got a pauper's funeral.
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Contributed by Mercutio
There was a famous guy (lets call him A). A was going to direct another famous guy's (B) orchestra piece. A got to the stand, and on it was not B's work, but C's. The two (B's and C's) looked exactly the same from the outside. A directed the entire piece with no mistakes from memory . Impressive, huh?
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Contributed by hectorberlioz
When the soprano Francesa Cussoni absolutely refused to sing a certain aria in the way it was supposed to be sung
-in a certain opera-the composer, Handel took her aside to a window(I imagine it was several stories up) and told her :
"Madam, if you do not sing this aria the way I want you to, I will throw you out this window".
she sang it the way wanted by the composer.
singers back then were infamous for adding and changing parts from the way the composer had set them.
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