Introduction
paper is to compare and contrast two versions of popular musical works, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. A brief description of the two composers and the circumstances of how these pieces were produced will also be given. Finally, contemporary versions produced by Disney will be compared to the originals.
Composers
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer whose full name is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was born in 1840 and was known for producing classical music in the romantic era (“Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,” n.d.). Although he completed his musical education at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, his compositions were influenced by his exposure to the west. Willoughby (2017) asserted that he produced music that was “tuneful, accessible, sometimes exciting, and sometimes sentimental (p. 266). This might have made him popular with international audiences, but it is believed that Russian nationals did not feel that his music properly represented their culture
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He was born in Oranienbaum, a small city near St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1882 (“Igor Stravinsky Russian Composer,” n.d.). His aptitude for music was not immediately apparent. He initially majored in philosophy and law, and his path to becoming a musical composer was seemingly incidental. (“Igor Stravinsky Russian Composer,” n.d.). After meeting Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, he realized his potential in music, and was finally commissioned as a composer after Serge Diaghilev attended the performance of Scherzo fantastuqie (“Igor Stravinsky Russian Composer,” n.d.). Stravinsky’s first major success, which established his mastery of music in the romantic era, was his premiere of The Firebird in 1910 (“Igor Stravinsky Russian Composer,” n.d.). He is accredited with being a major influence on contemporary
Mussorgsky’s importance to and influence on later composers are quite out of proportion to his relatively small output. The 65 songs he composed, many to his own texts, describe scenes of Russian life with great vividness and insight and realistically reproduce the inflections of the spoken Russian language. "Mussorgsky was recognized by both the Kuchka and Tchaikovsky as a powerful musical force." Rimsky-Korsakoff, for example, regarded some of his friend's boldest strokes as "mistakes, particularly in his harmonies."
Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.
This is the second volume of Richard Taruskin's historical work, and it highlights composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He examines the progression of different styles and eras of music.
The fact that his contemporaries gave him many awards proves that he was one of the greatest composers of his time. Still, the strongest point in proving his greatness is that fact that he was able to adapt to the changes around him. By his own admission, "...an entirely new public for music had grown up around the radio and phonograph. It made no sense to ignore them and to continue writing as if they did not exist. I felt that it was worth the effort to see if I couldn't say what I had to say in the simplest possible terms." His success in changing to the times speaks volumes about his ingenuity. Many people have an extremely difficult time dealing with
In terms on contributions to Classical-Era music, Stamitz is credited with many innovations. As the concertmaster of the Mannheim orchestra, he lead it to a standard unparalleled in it's day. Another extremely influential contribution...
Sergei Rachmaninoff is considered to be the final, magnificent composer of the Romantic era in Russian classical music, ushering forward its traditions into the twentieth century. His four concertos are a reflection of his development as a composer and pianist, with regard to maturity and compositional style. The evolution of music during the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century had no significant effect on Rachmaninoff; rather he continued to produce ingenious works reflective of his Russian upbringing and the Romantic era.
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.
Dmitri Shostakovich was one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. He achieved fame, but with much hardship along the way. He was censored and threatened with not only his life but that of his wife and children by playing the role of a public figure in Soviet Russia. The question is was he a committed communist or a victim? The events in his life, good or bad, shaped the music that he created and led to one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, his Fifth Symphony.
The music he produced had a lot of control with a lot of flair. He liked improvisation, but did not leave that up to the performer. Instead, he wrote very virtuosic passages for his pieces, with which the performer did not have much room for imaginative playing. Then there is his knowledge on how to writ...
Taylor, Jake. “Igor Stravinsky – Le Sacre du Printemps.” SputnikMusic. 10 August 2008. Web. 17
'It seems to me, my dear friend, that the music of this ballet will be one of my best creations. The subject is so poetic, so grateful for music, that 1 have worked on it with enthusiasm and written it with the warmth and enthusiasm upon which the worth of a composition always depends." - Tchaikovsky, to Nadia von Meck.
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev was born in Tobolsk, Siberia, on February 7, 1834. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy was the son of Maria Dmitrievna Korniliev and Ivan Pavlovitch Mendeleev and the youngest of 14 children. Dmitri’s father, Ivan died when Dmitri was still very young and Dmitri’s mother, Maria was left to support her large family. Maria needed money to support all her children, so she took over managing her family’s glass factory in Aremziansk. The family had to pack up and move there.
Walsh, Stephen. "Stravinsky, Igor, §11: Posthumous Reputation and Legacy." Grove Music Online. Oxford UP. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
"Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is widely considered the most popular Russian composer in history," says an editor with biography.com. Known for his works such as "The Nutcracker" and "The Sleeping Beauty," Tchaikovsky faced many challenges in his life, but is seen as a man who changed the world of music forever. Tchaikovsky's argued most famous piece, "The Nutcracker" is an eight piece suite played mostly during Christmas time and performed by ballet companies all over the world. Another one of Tchaikovsky's famous pieces, "The Sleeping Beauty," is also performed as a ballet consisting of three acts. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was an incredible musician and changed what people knew as music and impacted the world of ballet tremendously.
Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular of all composers. The reasons are several and understandable. His music is extremely tuneful, opulently and colourfully scored, and filled with emotional passion. Undoubtedly the emotional temperature of the music reflected the composer's nature. He was afflicted by both repressed homosexuality and by the tendency to extreme fluctuations between ecstasy and depression. Tchaikovsky was neurotic and deeply sensitive, and his life was often painful, but through the agony shone a genius that created some of the most beautiful of all romantic melodies. With his rich gifts for melody and special flair for writing memorable dance tunes, with his ready response to the atmosphere of a theatrical situation and his masterly orchestration, Tchaikovsky was ideally equipped as a ballet composer. His delightful fairy-tale ballets, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker are performed more than any other ballets. Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky's first ballet, was commissioned by the Imperial Theatres in Moscow in 1875. He used some music from a little domestic ballet of the same title, composed for his sister Alexandra's children in 1871.