Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Berlioz (bear-lee-ohz) was a French composer whose father was a doctor; to please his father, he went to medical school, but he spent more time going to concerts and to the theatre than studying medicine. Berlioz played flute and guitar, but is best known as a composer and orchestrator. As a student at the Paris Conservatory, he tried several times to earn the prestigious Prix de Rome, finally winning in 1830. During his medical school days, Berlioz attended performances of an English theatrical troupe. Hamlet was part of their repertory, and Hector became infatuated with the actress who played Ophelia. This was really a fixation on the character as played by Harriet Smithson, since Hector had not yet met the actress. (Imagine your own fantasies about your favorite actor!) Despite this infatuation, Berlioz became engaged to another woman before he went off to Rome to work (the other woman, Marie, married someone else while he was gone). Berlioz wrote several works during his sojourn in Rome, but the one that won him the most recognition was a program symphony, Symphonie fantastique. Berlioz used this symphony to express his feelings about Harriet Smithson. The symphony tells the story of a young poet who has taken an overdose of drugs and has a series of dreams about his beloved. The beloved is represented by a recurrent theme known as the idée fixe (French for "fixed idea"); this theme appears in several different permutations depending on how he feels about the woman at the time. The five movements are as follows, with Berlioz's descriptions: 1. Reveries, Passions. "He remembers the weariness of soul... ... middle of paper ... ...and Juliet choral symphony that Berlioz subsequently wrote was dedicated to Paganini, whose gift allowed Berlioz to give up his "day job" in journalism. Berlioz and Smithson later separated, and he married that first fiancee when Harriet died. Berlioz's great contribution to composition was his attention to the orchestra. He was a noted conductor who believed in teaching orchestra members to play the new music correctly. He also wrote an important book on orchestration that is still used today. Orchestration refers to the art of writing for instruments. Obviously, composers had been doing that for hundreds of years, but Berlioz was the one who focused on the specific capabilities of each instrument, the use of tone colors in various combinations, and on making the absolute best use of the instruments available.
Tiburcio Vasquez was Born in Monterey in 1835. He was descended from one of earliest settlers of California. His great-grandfather arrived in California as a young man with the DeAnza expedition of 1776. His criminal career began in 1852, at 17 when he attended a local fandango with his older cousin, Anastacio Garcia. When a fight broke out, Constable William Hardmount was killed. Even though they weren’t directly involved in the killing they still fled the scene. Jose Higuera, one of Vasquez’s friends who was at the fight didn’t flee and was hanged by vigilantes the next day. While hiding in the hills with his cousin he picked up the “outlaw business”. He joined a gang of other desperados, and eventually became the leader of his own group.
With a focus on articles written by Michele Cliff, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, and Sidney Mintz. Michelle Cliff, "If I Could Write This on Fire, I Would Write This on Fire," and Abeng Antonio Benitz-Rojo, "From plantation to Plantation"; Sidney Mintz, "The Caribbean: A Sociocultural Area";
Antonio López de Santa Anna was born on February 21, 1794 in Jalapa, Mexico. He served in the Spanish army and became a military captain. He fought for the Spanish against the Mexican war. Like many other army officers, he switched sides in 1821 in order to make sure Augustin de Iturbide is head of state of an independent Mexico. In 1823, he helped overthrow Iturbide. He supported and helped Vicente Guerrero become president in 1828, but also overthrew him later. Also in 1828, he fought against Spain’s attempt to reconquer Mexico. By 1833, he was elevated to president of Mexico.
Some leaders are known for their personality, styles, charisma and accomplishments, leaders who served as role models for past, present and future generations, leaders that make the difference anywhere they go, leaders that only need a balcony to become a president of a country, leaders from the people and for the people, leaders like Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, a man who became five times president of Ecuador because of the people’s decision.
Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer. Not a musical prodigy, nor professionally trained at any instrument, Berlioz was a self directed learner and studied the guitar and flute from books. He was sent to Paris to study medicine at age eighteen, but became repulsed by the medical profession after witnessing a human corpse being dissected. He strayed from that career path and took advantage of the many musical institutions he now had access to in the city. Berlioz went on to become a prolific composer, writing fifty pieces; the most widely appreciated of these being the Symphonie Fantastique. This piece is still recognised as one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period. Comprised of five movements, Sypmphonie Fantastique is a piece of programme music composed for 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling English horn), 2 clari...
Cortes ignored orders and traveled to Mexico with about 500 men and 11 ships in 1519 having his sights on overthrowing ruler Montezuma II in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs thought and drove the Spanish away but then in 1521 Cortes conquered the city and killed many natives.
Yesterday, beloved citizen Mikhail Alexandrovich (Berlioz) passed away in a horrific accident. According to witnesses, he slipped on an ice-like substance and was thrown onto the rails of the tramway. One witness said, “He fell flat on his back and hit the back of his neck against the cobblestones.” In the moments leading up to his death, Berlioz saw the “horror-stricken face” of the female streetcar driver. She pulled on the electric emergency brake, causing the car to jump and shattering the glass windows in the process. Sadly, the steel wheel of the streetcar had already run over Berlioz’ neck, decapitating him and causing his head to roll down onto the stones of Bronnaya Street.
His beloved is represented throughout the symphony by the symbolic idea fixe. There are five movements throughout the symphony. The program begins with the 1st movement: Reveries, Passions symbolizing the artist's life prior to meeting his beloved. This is represented as a mundane and indefinable search or yearning, until suddenly, he meets her and his longing abruptly ceases and is replaced by volcanic love. The soaring melody becomes the Idea fixe and is introduced in this section.
Premiering in 1931, Still’s Symphony No. 1 was the first African-American composed symphony. The tone poem expresses the African-American experience from slavery to triumph. The first movement, Moderato assai (“Longing”), is in A-flat and features a classic blues twelve-bar pattern. The second movement, Adagio (“Sorrow”) in F major, sounds more spiritual, but continues the blues theme. The third movement, Animato (“Humor”) in A-flat, has two themes and two variations. In this scherzo movement we hear similarities to “I’ve Got Rhythm”. The final movement, Lento con risoluzione (“Aspiration”) in F minor, creates the idea of African-American triumph and pride by utilizing the entire orchestra, which includes, horns, woodwinds, strings, and percussions.
The first thing I will talk about is the type of music he is know for which gave him that name. Most people listen to the type of music he composed but next to none know who or how it was composed. There seems to be an abundance of music fans who know little or nothing about the origin of their music. By discussing what he has accomplished it will explain why he is considered to be so important to his type of music.
Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, born in Trujillo, Estremadura, Spain, in 1471. He was the son of Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca Gonzalez, Francisco did not know how to read or write. He had little education throughout his life. His father was a captain of infantry and had fought in many battles. Pizarro always wanted to explore and sail.
Brunswick in 1792 when he was provided with a stipend to allow him to pursue his
In 1703 Vivaldi became a priest and acquired the nickname "The Red Priest", since he had red hair. He had become a priest against his own will because it was the only possible way for his poor family to obtain free schooling. In 1704 he was pardoned from celebrating the Holy Mass because of his ill health, and later became a violin teacher at an orphanage for girls called Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. The orphans soon started to gain appreciation and esteem as Vivaldi wrote most of his concertos, cantate and sacred music for them. In 1705 the first collection of his works was published. He was a prolific composer and is most well known for composing over 500 concertos, 46 Operas, sinfonias, 73 sonatas, chamber music, and sacred music. His most famous work is said to be the Four Seasons.
The second work performed was Gaubert’s, “Sonate No. 1 in A Major”, which was composed of three movements. The piece began, instantly setting the mood as a tranquil, majestic-like state. If I had to infer, I would say this particular piece fits well into the Romantic period (1825-1900), which was an age in which musical works contrasted with those from the Classical period, holding a much greater emphasis
Another significant female character is Ophelia, Hamlet's love. Hamlet's quest for revenge interferes with his relationship with Ophelia. There is much evidence to show that Hamlet loved her a great deal, but his pretense of madness drove her to her death. Ophelia drowned not knowing what was happening to her. This can be deduced by the fact that she flowed down the river singing and happy when in truth she was heartbroken. Ophelia was very much afraid when she saw Hamlet "with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). She described him as being "loosed out of hell" (Act #. Scene #. Line #). In addition to that he scared her when he left the room with his eyes still fixed on her. She is especially hurt when Hamlet tells her that he no longer loves her and that he is opposed to marriage. He advises her to go to a nunnery and avoid marriage if she can.