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Essay on the life of Mozart
The life of Mozart
Essay on the life of Mozart
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On January 31, 1797, Franz Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria. He was the fourth surviving son of Franz Theodor and Elisabeth Schubert. His musical gift was demonstrated ever since his youth. His family’s love of music influenced Schubert from early on. As a child, he already had the ability to play the “piano, organ, and violin.” (Thompson) He also had excellent talent as a singer. And because of his father’s occupation as a schoolmaster, he was able to receive a comprehensive musical education.
In 1808, Schubert enrolled at the Stadtkonvikt, a school that trained young vocalists for church and court, with a scholarship that gave him a spot at the court’s chapel choir. At the school, he was taught by Wenzel Ruzicka, the imperial court organist, and Antonio Salieri, highly esteemed composer who venerated Schubert’s talents in music. Salieri adored Schubert and his skills as a musician that he is known to have said, “He knows everything already, he said; he has been taught by God.” (Wechsberg) Then, in 1812, Schubert’s voice broke, which resulted in his forced leave...
As a boy Johannes worked and studied with his father and learnt lessons from books with his mother, with whom he would play ?four-hands? at the piano, ?just for fun.? There were never any doubts as to his becoming a musician. From early childhood he learn everything his father could teach him, read everything he could lay hands on, practiced with undeviating enthusiasm, and filled reams of paper with exercises and variations. The soul of the child went out in music. He played scales long before he knew the notes, and great was his joy when at the age of six he discovered the possibility of making a melody visible by placing black dots on lines at different intervals, inventing a system of notation of his own before he had been made acquainted with the method which the musical world had been using for some centuries.
Johannes Brahms, a striking individual of unmistakable character, is defined by his compositions as meticulous and enlightened. His comprehensive grasp on classical and baroque form, with his familiarity of counterpoint and musical development, allowed him to effortlessly traverse and cultivate upon the musical architecture laid out by the likes of Bach and Beethoven. Born in Hamburg in 1833, he was the son of Johann Jacob Brahms, who travelled from North Germany, in which the family name “Brahms(t)” propagated (Musgrave 4). His father, being a musician by profession, instigated Brahms into his own domain of music. With Brahms’ first instruments being the violin, cello and the natural horn (predecessor of the French horn), it was discovered that the genius possessed absolute pitch and had also developed a system of notation on his own even before formal introductions into music (Musgrave 9).
Clara Schumann like most women of her day, faced a myriad of obstacles to becoming recognized composers in the 18th and early 19th century.
From the very beginning, Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck, a well respected German music teacher, intended for her to become a famous musician (Harding, 9). At a young age, he recognized that Clara had the gift of music. According to Bertita Harding, who wrote a biography of Clara Schumann, Wieck took cues from Mozart, in hopes to turning his daughter into a well known child prodigy. He began to rigorously train and cultivate Clara’s natural talent at the age of five and turned it into something extraordinary (Harding, 12)....
Beethoven’s early life was one out of a sad story book. For being one of the most well-known musicians one would think that sometime during Beethovens childhood he was influenced and inspired to play music; This was not the case. His father was indeed a musician but he was more interested in drinking than he was playing music. When his father saw the smallest sliver of music interest in Beethoven he immediately put him into vigorous musical training in hopes he would be the next Mozart; his training included organ, viola, and piano. This tainted how young Beethoven saw music and the memories that music brought. Nevertheless Beethoven continued to do what he knew and by thirteen he was composing his own music and assisting his teacher, Christian Neefe. Connections began to form during this time with different aristocrats and families who stuck with him and became lifelong friends. At 17 Beethoven, with the help of his friends, traveled to Vienna, the music capitol of the world, to further his knowledge and connection...
Clara Schumann was born September 13, 1819 in Leipzig, Germany. Clara was born into a musical family in school her father Friedrich Weick studied theology but made his career in music. He later settled in Leipzig where he taught piano, opened a business selling instruments, and began a music lending library. He taught his wife Marianne and his future son-in-law Robert Schumann, he also received the reputation as a first-rate piano teacher. Wieck an and Marianne divorced after eight years of marriage when Clara was five years old, leaving Clara’s father to raise her and her four brother when her mother moved to Berlin. Unfortunately her father felt he neglected her general education but recognized her talents and saw that Clara had the finest musical education. In Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin Clara studied piano with her father and violin, theory, and different areas of composition with the best teachers. In Leipzig she attended all of the important performances and learned about business of music.
The brilliant composer Clara Schumann was born as Clara Josephine Wieck on 13 September 1819. Even before her birth, her destiny was to become a famous musician. Her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a piano teacher and music dealer, while her mother, Marianne Wieck, was a soprano and a concert pianist and her family was very musically gifted. Her father, Friedrich, wanted to prove to the world that his teaching methods could produce a famous pianist, so he decided, before Clara’s birth, that she would become that pianist. Clara’s father’s wish came true, as his daughter ended up becoming a child prodigy and one of the most famous female composers of her time.
Many prominent musicians produced major works during the romantic period. Among these are Beethoven, Strause, and Bach. But the musician that I think had the most impact, was Franz Schubert. Franz Peter, born on 31 January 1797 was one of fourteen children born of Franz Theodore Schubert and Elisabeth Vietz, four of which survived. He grew up in an apartment that daily converted to a classroom in which his father taught several elementary school classes. He received a thorough basic education; his father being a good teacher, and son being a bright student. From his father Franz also learned to play the violin, and from his brother he learned the piano. The family, indeed, was a very musical one; family "String Quartet Parties" were well known in the part of Vienna in which they lived. But soon young Franz learned all that his family had to teach him. Later, any neighbors who could play any instruments were drawn in and the quartet became a little orchestra. At nine years old, this inquisitive little boy auditioned and was accepted for a position as a chorister in the Royal Court Chapel Choir (which would later become the 'Vienna Boys' Choir). The young chorister gained the attention of Antonio Saliere, who saw to the nurture the young boy's education. After leaving the choir, he continued as a student at the school for one unhappy year. Schubert returned to live at home where it was decided that he would help his father teach. This did not last long. A disastrous episode with an unruly pupil was the last straw and Schubert at age nineteen left teaching and his home to pursue what he loved, composing. He moved in to the...
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
When researching various romantic composers, it is easy to see how different they are and the reflection pinpointed during the romantic era. Although Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt have some minor similarities, the differences between the romantic composers are remarkable.
Franz Schubert is one of the best known and most prolific composers of the nineteenth-century German Lied. His reputation is based not only on his extensive output of songs, but also on the uniquely beautiful style characteristics he infused into each one. His lyrical melodies, descriptive accompaniments, and ability to capture the mood of a poem make his songs rich material for analysis, but also very accessible to the performer. Du bist die Ruh, which Schubert composed in 1826, exemplifies these characteristics and serves well as a representative study in performance preparation for Schubert’s Lieder.
Even from early childhood Tchaikovsky showed a strong passion and fascination for music. Born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia, and the son of a successful mining engineer, Tchaikovsky received a strong education and took piano lessons from the age of 5. In his youth and for the rest of his life Tchaikovsky idolized Mozart’s music, which was not very famous or well-known at the time in Russia. His parents, who were supportive of their child’s musical ...
At the time the Austrian capital of Vienna was the musical center for composers, which soon became reason for many of the changes that were made to musical style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in Vienna in the classical time period. One of the great composer that came to Vienna is Franz Schubert he soon started a style of music called Viennese School that made many changes to the style of music as well as changes to instrumentation. The arrangements became one form to another while keeping certain similar characteristics, music became lighter and more complex, and melodies and harmonies became more complicated with more separate parts happening all at once. The instrumentation that was popular also changed. Solos, trios, quartets, and quintets became popular, beside large orchestras.
Born in a small town just inside Austrian borders, Haydn did not have much of a chance to be anything other than a wheelwright like his father. However, his father was a man who loved to sing and when Haydn was a boy, he memorized almost every song his father sang. This was his beginning in music. Later on, he received an education from his uncle where he gained more of an interest in music. Participation in a choir gave him the opportunity to go to Vienna and there, he studied the piano sonatas of Emanuel Bach and was given the chance to finally get a chance to compose; something he had always wanted to do. This is when the first string quartet was developed. Later on, he was employed by the Esterhazy family and was given the chance to conduct an orchestra and write symphonies. It was at this time and place that Haydn was “completely isolated from the world…he could experiment…improve, alter, add, or cut as boldly as he pleased.'; This was the start of a magnificent career.
Ludwig van Beethoven was an extraordinary music composer, especially considering he was deaf most of his life and career. He was born in Germany on December 16, 1770. Many obstacles were hurled at him, but he triumphed over them, and even deafness didn’t stop him from composing some of the worlds greatest, and most recognized music compositions (Rosenwald 167). His life, music, and his musical styles and techniques all contribute to his life story.