Portal:Classical music

Introduction String quartet performing for the Mozart Year 2006 in Vienna Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western culture, including both liturgical (religious) and secular music. While a more precise term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 (the Classical period), this article is about the broad span of time from before the 6th century AD to the present day, which includes the Classical period and various other periods. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period. Selected article Sylvia, originally Sylvia ou La Nymphe de Diane, is a full-length ballet in two or three acts, first choreographed by Louis Mérante to music by Léo Delibes in 1876. Sylvia is a typical classical ballet in many respects, yet it has many interesting features which make it unique. Sylvia is notable for its mythological Arcadian setting, creative choreographies, expansive sets and, above all, its remarkable score. The ballet's origins are in Tasso's 1573 poem "Aminta," which describes the basic plot of Delibes' work. Jules Barbier and Baron de Reinach adapted this for the Paris Opera. The piano arrangement was composed in 1876 and the orchestral suite was done in 1880. When Sylvia premiered on June 14, 1876 at the Palais Garnier, it went largely unnoticed. In fact, the first seven productions of Sylvia were not successful. Selected biography Wilhelm Richard Wagner (/ˈrɪtʃ.ərd ˈvɑːɡ.nər/; German pronunciation: [ˈʁi.çaʁt ˈvaɡ.nɐ]; 22 May 1813, Leipzig, Germany – 13 February 1883, Venice, Italy) was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas", as they were later called). Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works. Richard Wagner was born at no. 3 ('the House of the Red and White Lions'), the Brühl, in Leipzig, on 22 May 1813, the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service. Wagner's father died of typhus six months after Richard's birth, following which Wagner's mother, Johanna Rosine Wagner, began living with the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer, who had been a friend of Richard's father. In August 1814 Johanna Rosine married Geyer, and moved with her family to his residence in Dresden. For the first 14 years of his life, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. Wagner may later have suspected that Geyer was in fact his biological father, and furthermore speculated incorrectly that Geyer was Jewish. Geyer's love of the theatre was shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography, Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel. The boy Wagner was also hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Weber's Der Freischütz. In late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzel's school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He could not manage a proper scale but preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Geyer died in 1821, when Richard was eight. Consequently, Wagner was sent to the Kreuz Grammar School in Dresden, paid for by Geyer's brother. The young Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright, his first creative effort (listed as 'WWV 1') being a tragedy, Leubald begun at school in 1826, which was strongly influenced by Shakespeare and Goethe. Wagner was determined to set it to music; he persuaded his family to allow him music lessons. Archive • Read more... Quotes “ Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all. ” — Igor Stravinsky “ Emphasis on the common emotive or affective origins of music and words in the first cries of humankind undermines words. ” — Jean Philippe Rameau “ Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken. ” — Ludwig van Beethoven “ Without music, life would be a mistake. ” — Friedrich Nietzsche “ I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them, make rhythms for those who know only military marches or jazz, and paint colors for those who see none. ” — Olivier Messiaen “ Music is enough for a life — but a life is too short for music. ” — Richard Strauss “ Music, moody food of us that trade in love. ” — William Shakespeare “ The aim of music is not to express feelings but to express music. ” — Pierre Boulez “ Music conveys a prophetic message, revealing a higher form of life towards which mankind evolves. ” — Arnold Schoenberg Archive Subcategories Category:Classical music Category:Classical musicians Category:Conductors (music) Category:Orchestras Category:Classical compositions Category:Concert halls Category:Classical music by country Category:Classical music lists Category:History of European art music Things you can do Wikipedia:WikiProject Classical music/To-do list Category:Classical music articles needing attention Wikipedia:Requested articles/music Wikipedia:Requested_articles/music#Compositions Selected sound The Well-Tempered Clavier (Das Wohltemperirte Clavier in the original old German spelling), BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. He first gave the title to a book of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, dated 1722, composed "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study". Archive • Read more... Topics Major periods: Early: Medieval (500 – 1400) Renaissance (1400–1600) Common practice: Baroque (1600–1750) Classical (1750–1830) Romantic (1830–1920) Modern and contemporary: 20th century classical (1900–2000) Contemporary classical (1975–present) Notable composers: Guillaume de Machaut Johannes Ockeghem Josquin des Prez Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Claudio Monteverdi Johann Sebastian Bach George Frideric Handel Antonio Vivaldi Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Joseph Haydn Ludwig van Beethoven Franz Schubert Frédéric Chopin Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Johannes Brahms Antonín Dvořák Richard Wagner Giuseppe Verdi Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel Gustav Mahler Jean Sibelius Richard Strauss Giacomo Puccini Arnold Schoenberg Béla Bartók Dmitri Shostakovich Igor Stravinsky Benjamin Britten Music theory Rhythm Harmony Melody Musical form Texture Selected image The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building, often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Archive • Read More... In the news 14 March 2016, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composer, conductor and former Master of the Queen's Music, has died at the age of 81 of leukaemia.[1] 17 February 2016, "Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia", a lost composition by Mozart, Salieri and an unknown third composer, Cornetti, has received its first performance in over 200 years. Acquired by the Czech Museum of Music in the late 1940s the manuscript went unrecognised until 2015.[2] Archive Did you know... ... that Johann Sebastian Bach is only one of 53 "musical Bachs" in several generations? ... that the longest non-repetitive piano piece is The Road, composed by Frederic Rzewski, and it lasts about 10 hours? ... that Gioachino Rossini wrote his comic opera The Italian Girl in Algiers in less than three weeks? ... that Stockhausen's Helikopter-Streichquartett is played by a string quartet and four helicopters? Related portals and projects Music portal Gilbert and Sullivan portal Opera portal WikiProject Classical music WikiProject Composers WikiProject Contemporary music WikiProject Opera WikiProject Richard Wagner WikiProject Gilbert and Sullivan Associated Wikimedia