Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Romantic Russian composer who lived from 1873 to 1943. He experienced many tragedies in his life and suffered with melancholia for many years, but as a musician he has written some of the most powerful pieces of the Romantic period and is known as one of the most legendary pianists of all time. Rachmaninoff was also one of the most focused and hard-working composers, and because of his disciplined ways he was able to travel and perform all over Europe and America in his lifetime, becoming very famous, though he was always doubtful of himself and his abilities. But how did he come to recognize his musical talent? What is his music like that it is so famous? Who influenced him and who in turn did he influence? Sergei was born in Oneg, Russia, to an aristocratic family who was falling apart. His father was a gambler and a drinker and spent all of their family’s wealth on his addictions. Their family, which consisted of Sergei’s mother and five other siblings, were forced to move from their mansion to a small apartment in the city of Petersburg. But they moved just at the wrong time, for a sickness was spreading. Sergei’s sister Sophia died from the illness. Guilt heavy on his father’s shoulders, he abandoned his family, never to return. Sergei’s mother, Lubov, did her best to raise her children. She was a pianist, as was her father before her, and so she began to teach Sergei at the young age of four. He showed much talent for the piano, but when he was old enough to join school on a scholarship, Sergei began to show his father’s habits. He took up gambling and wasted his money, and his family members, including his cousin Alexander Siloti, were very concerned. Alexander was also a musician, and, to save ... ... middle of paper ... ...ope and eventually went to America with his wife and two daughters, but instead of composing he focused on being a pianist. He stayed there for the rest of his life, dying at the age of seventy from cancer, but not before becoming an American citizen, which he was able to do just five weeks before he died. Works Cited: 1. Smith, Jane Stuart and Betty Carlson. “The Gift of Music: Great Composures and Their Influence.” Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books Publishing. 1987. Print. 2. Pogue, David and Scott Speck. “Classical Music for Dummies.” Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1997. Print. 3. Rodman, Michael. “Sergey Rachmaninov”. 2014. The All Music website. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sergey-rachmaninov-mn0000505265/biography 4. “ Biography of Sergei Rachmaninov”. 2014. The Classical Cat website. http://www.classiccat.net/rachmaninov_s/biography.php
Peyser, J. (1986) The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations. New York: Charles Scribner’s and Sons. Sadie, S. (1980) New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980)9: 708-709
TitleAuthor/ EditorPublisherDate James Galways’ Music in TimeWilliam MannMichael Beazley Publishers1982 The Concise Oxford History of MusicGerald AbrahamOxford University Press1979 Music in Western CivilizationPaul Henry LangW. W. Norton and Company1941 The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Classical MusicRobert AinsleyCarlton Books Limited1995 The Cambridge Music GuideStanley SadieCambridge University Press1985 School text: Western European Orchestral MusicMary AllenHamilton Girls’ High School1999 History of MusicRoy BennettCambridge University Press1982 Classical Music for DummiesDavid PogueIDG Books Worldwide,Inc1997
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 20 vols. (London: Macmillan, 1980)16: 752-774
Willoughby, David. "Chapter 11." The World of Music. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 249-53. Print.
Taruskin, R., & Taruskin, R. (2010). Music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
John Warrack, author of 6 Great Composers, stated, “Any study of a composer, however brief, must have as its only purpose encouragement of the reader to greater enjoyment of the music” (Warrack, p.2). The composers and musicians of the Renaissance period need to be discussed and studied so that listeners, performers, and readers can appreciate and understand the beginnings of music theory and form. The reader can also understand the driving force of the composer, whether sacred or secular, popularity or religious growth. To begin understanding music composition one must begin at the birth, or rebirth of music and the composers who created the great change.
Hurwitz, David, and Dmitriĭ Dmitrievich Shostakovich. Shostakovich symphonies and concertos: an owner's manual. Pompton Plains, N.J.: Amadeus ;, 2006. Print.
Chopin’s mother played a key role in developing his love for music by introducing him to music at an early age. In addition to his mother introducing him to music, his father’s career which involved him tutoring Warsaw’s aristocratic families helped to spark Chopin’s love for music. Music was an integral part of most aristocratic families’ lives. So, it is not surprising that music had a great influence on Chopin, who was exposed to aristocratic families. The influence of Music on Chopin’s life had a lasting impact on himself and eventually the rest of
Johann was talented enough to be able to teach piano, violin and voice to make a living out of it and somewhat support his family. His alcoholism however showed when he was teaching Ludwig music. Some of the neighbors believe that they heard a little boy cry while he was playing the clavier and getting beating for every mistake. There were times h...
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
Sergei Prokofiev was an innovative composer born on the 23rd of April, 1891 in Sontsocka. His mother taught him piano and his father taught him to play chess when he was young. Both activities were major hobbies of his and allowed him to improve his intelligence. His studies were led by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and he graduated with some of the highest remarks of his class at St. Petersburg Conservatory (1914), and received a grand piano because of them. After the Russian revolution, he went on concert tours across Europe and the US. While in New York in 1918, he met a Spanish vocalist named Carolina Codina. They were married in 1923 and had two boys.
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian born composer. He was one of the best, and most respected pianist of his time. He was a very accomplished conductor, and one of the foremost educational instructors in history. In 1836, King Charles Halle described Franz Liszt as the following. "He is tall and very thin, his face very small and pale, his forehead remarkably high and beautiful; he wears his perfectly lank hair so long that it spreads over his shoulders, which looks very odd, for when he gets a bit excited and gesticulates, it falls right over his face and one sees nothing of his nose. He is very negligent in his attire, his coat looks as if it had just been thrown on, and he wears no cravat, only a narrow white collar. This curious figure is in perpetual motion: now he stamps with his feet, now waves his arms in the air, now waves his arms in the air, now he does this, now that." Franz Liszt, was born on October 22, 1811, In the Hungarian town of Raiding. Liszt was taught to play piano at a very young age by his father, who was also very involved in music. His father, Adam played the cello, and many other instruments, as he was a very passionate musician. Adam taught Franz to the extent that he was giving concerts by the age of nine and starting to compose his own pieces. His father, having obtained permission from his employer, Prince Nicholas Esterhazy, accompanied the young Franz to Vienna. Franz Liszt was financially supported by a man by the name of Antonio Salieri, who gave him free tuition in composition. The boy, Franz, gave some very successful performances before prominent people in Vienna and gained a lot of fame. He became very well known for his ability to take a melody provided by a member of the audience and work it into a...
Franz Liszt is said to be the most astounding piano virtuosos that existed during the Romantic era. This essay will discuss his achievements as a pianist as well as a composer. This essay will examine his life and will examine what influenced him at an early age. It will also look at his accomplishments as a pianist as well as a composer and examine how he became as well known as he is today. It will use his background to show what exactly influenced him to become a successful pianist and composer and it will discuss how essential he was during the Romantic era.