Whenever there is talk of violins, the name Stradivarius always comes to mind. Questions have been asked over the centuries as to how the violins have their unique sound. Is it the varnish? Is it the water? Is it the shape? Or is it perhaps the provenance? Scientists have studied the violins and musicians have studied and debated the sound quality and the superiority of the instruments for centuries.
Stradivarius violins are commonly hailed worldwide as the best violins in the world. The sound quality of Stradivarius violins is of unprecedented superiority when compared to other violins, and it is commonly believed that no one has been able to match it in the past three centuries since their maker, Antonio Stradivari, died in 1737. Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644 in Italy, where he operated out of Cremona as a luthier, the term for someone who makes string instruments. His violins became known as Antonius Stradivarius violins, because he inscribed his labels in Latin, rather than Italian. His violins have become legendary and he is known as history’s greatest violin maker, living to be 93 years old. Over his career, he crafted over eleven hundred instruments, not only violins, but other string instruments as well. Only about six hundred have survived through the centuries to the present day. There are many violins, and other instruments, not of his making with his name ascribed to them such as knockoffs and designs inspired by Stradivari, which proved difficult in the finding, authenticating, and cataloguing of his genuine creations. There are about 243 known violins.
Stradivarius violins in their time were unique compared to other violins with Stradivari presenting his originality in their construction, through more exact mea...
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To this day, many of Stradivarius violins remain in the human world, but only one can resound with the beauty of Stradivari's soul; this one Hermes keeps for himself. But to honor Stradivari's life and to share his gift with the world, Hermes joins with Apollo every night and plays the symphonies of nature; these can be heard in the winds, in the oceans, indeed, in the fabric of everyday life.
Giuseppe Torelli, was an Italian violinist, teacher and composer, is considered one of the early developers of the Baroque concerto and concerto grosso. Torelli also composed a significant number of works for the trumpet during the Baroque period (1600-1750). Around 1690, one can begin to see the first works for the trumpet. He was familiar with the virtuoso trumpeter, Giovanni Pellegrino Brandi. Brandi would sometimes play with the San Petronio orchestra, of which Torelli was violin player. This acquaintance could explain Torelli’s awareness of the trumpet’s timbre, dynamic range, and expressive capabilities.
It was not only until the spring of that year that he for first time left Hamburg professionally. He undertook a tour with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi for the purpose of introducing himself and his works. At Gottingen they gave a concert in which the young pianist made a deep impression upon the musicians present. He and Remenyi were to play Beethoven?s Kreutzer sonata, but at the last moment it was discovered that the piano was half a tone too low.
...n 1705, his first composed pieces where published. These pieces were his Opus 1 which was twelve Sonatas for two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. His second collection, Opus 2 was published it was the same as the format of the first. Twelve sonatas meant for the two violins and basso continuo in conventional style. Opus 3 was the breakthrough that he was looking for. It was twelve concerti for one, two and four violins. This piece was dedicated and sponsored to the Grand Prince of Tuscany, Ferdinand. Stabat Mater was one of his earliest masterpieces. Even though the piece looked like it was written in haste, the string parts were simple, movements one, two, and three were repeated in the next three, and not all the text was set it was a wonderful piece. Perhaps he wrote it that way on purpose and it was just the forced essentiality of the music.
Harman, Alec, and Anthony Milner. Late Renaissance and Baroque Music. London: Barrie Books LTD., 1959. ML193.H37
Born as Jan Václav Antonin Stamic and later Germanized as Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz, he was an influential composer and violinist. He was born on June 19, 1717 in Deutschbrod, Bohemia, now called Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic. Stamitz received a musical education from his father from a young age, and attended the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Prague for the academic year of 1734 – 1735, and shortly thereafter left the university to become a violin preformer. In 1741, he was employed as a string player in the court orchestra of Mannheim, Germany. Stamitz went on to marry Maria Antonia Luneborn on July 1, 1744, the couple had 5 children, two of which died in infancy. One of their children, named Carl Phillip Stamitz went on to have a successful musical career. By 1745, he was appointed as the concertmaster of the court orchestra at Mannheim, with a role as the conductor and lead violinist. In the years of 1754 – 1755, he travelled to France to conduct for the Concert Spirituel and the Concert Italien, which were the two most important concert series of 18th – century Paris. He returned to Mannheim in 1755, his health rapidly deteriorated and he died in Mannheim on March 27, 1757 at the age of 39. The entry of his death contains the following quote: “March 30, 1757. Buried, Jo'es Stainmiz, director of court music, so expert in his art that his equal will hardly be found “. Overall, he was an accomplished individual and died at a very young age.
It is clear that Beethoven’s stands as being significant in development of the string quartet to a massive extent in creativity and innovation. His early quartets show great influence of those from the Classical period and with his own, has influenced his contemporaries and later composers. The quartets published later in his life show even greater imagination and use of expression. It is also through similar uses of texture, harmony, rhythm and counterpoint that composers of the Romantic period and the 20th century wrote their own string quartets. Beethoven’s however prove a huge advancement in how string quartets are written and the intensity of emotions that they portray.
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.
Baroque music is characterized by its development of tonality, elaborate use of ornamentation, application of figured bass, and the expression of single affections. A considerable philosophical current that shaped baroque music is the interest in Renaissance ideas that spawn from ancient Greece and Rome. Ancient Greeks and Romans considered music to be an instrument of communication that could easily stimulate any emotion in its listeners. Therefore, musicians became progressively knowledgeable of the power one’s composition could have on its audiences’ emotions. Because of this, one of the primary goals of baroque art and music was to provoke emotion in the listener, which is closely connected to the “doctrine of affections”. This doctrine, derived from ancient theories of rhetoric and oratory, was the theory that a single piece of art or a single movement of music should express one single emotion. Intrinsically, instead of music reflecting the emotions, composers aspired to cause emotions in the listener. Ma...
These two men are known as two of the greatest composers of all time. They were both child prodigies. They had completely different childhoods, but were a lot alike at the same time. I have compared and contrasted their music. I have told you of the time periods they lived in. I have also told of their musical styles, other famous composers and the purpose of Mozart and Beethoven’s music. These two musical geniuses will never be
Strozzi, Barbara. Cantate, ariete a una, doce, e tre voci, Opus 3. Ed. Gail Archer. In Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era. vol. 83. Ed. Christoph Wolff. Madisono: A-R Editions, Inc., 1997.
Historical. This brilliant composition is considered as one of the two most important violin concertos of the German Romantic period, with Mendelssohn’s vi...
Being the son of a professional violinist enabled Vivaldi to meet and learn from outstanding musicians and composers. As a result, alo...
In “Domestic Violins” from John Leguizamo’s Freak, Leguizamo sets the scene with a couple and parents of two boys arguing about their marriage and whatnot. John describes his house as a “construction site”, highlighting their social class: low-income. Through the use of satire elements such as surprise, ‘Us v Them’, and sarcasm, Leguizamo denotes a woman’s challenges in their everyday life in relation to gender equality reminding us that women allows suffer more. As we are introduced to one of the characters, John, who is one of the kids, speaks about his mother and how she has become “her own woman”.
Antonio Vivaldi is a famous Italian baroque composer, known by most Suzuki violin students who study his concertos or by audiences everywhere who have heard and love his composition of the Four Seasons. Having grown up as students of the Suzuki Violin Method, we recognize this composer and have experience performing his pieces. In addition to his many concertos written for solo violin, Vivaldi composed many concertos intended to be performed by two solo violins, accompanied by a small orchestra. Because we are both violinists, we chose to analyze the second movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in A minor, RV 522, included in his L’Estro Armonico works.