1.
1862 in music
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February 1 – The Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe is published in Atlantic Monthly. March 17 – Anton Rubinstein is named first director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, march 24 – Fromental Halévys funeral, in Paris, is attended by an estimated 15,000 people. April 24 – A letter from Giuseppe Verdi is published in The Times, may 17 – Teatro Comunale Florence inaugurated as an open-air amphitheatre, the Politeama Fiorentino Vittorio Emanuele, with a production of Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor. May 21 – Edvard Grieg gives his first concert in his town of Bergen. August 4 – Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray wins the Prix de Rome in the Musical Composition category, jules Massenet is one of the runners-up. August 9 – Béatrice et Bénédict, opera by Hector Berlioz, is premièred in Baden-Baden, november 2 - The overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner is publicly performed in Leipzig, conducted by the composer. November 10 – Giuseppe Verdis opera La forza del destino is premièred in Saint Petersburg, november 18 – Antonín Dvořák is a member of the orchestra at the opening of the Provisional Theater in Prague. Date unknown Stephen Heller and Charles Hallé perform Mozarts E-flat concerto for two pianos at The Crystal Palace, ludwig von Köchel publishes Chonologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amadé Mozarts. Heres Your Mule – C. D. Benson Kingdom Coming – Henry C. Work The Merry, Merry Month of May – Stephen Foster We Are Coming, Father Abraam,300,000 More, a poem by James S. Gibbons, set to music by eight different composers, including Stephen Foster
2.
1863 in music
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January 6 – Johannes Brahms Piano Sonata no.3 is premièred in Vienna, played by the 29-year-old composer. Richard Wagner is among the audience, january 29 – Established composer Giacomo Meyerbeer presents the young Jacques Offenbach to Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the queen consort of Prussia. February 8 – Richard Wagner conducts a concert of his own music in Prague, february-April – Richard Wagner conducts a concert of his own music in Saint Petersburg. Works performed included excerpts from Tristan und Isolde, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, february 25 – Johann Strauss II is appointed musical director of the Hofball. March 15 – In Vienna, Franz Schuberts Der Entfernten D.331 for a vocal quartet is performed in public for the first time,35 years after the composers death. April 19 – Hector Berlioz is presented with the Cross of the Order of Hohenzollern, may 10 – Violinist Joseph Joachim marries contralto Amalie Schneeweiss. May 12 – Richard Wagner takes up residence at Penzing, near Vienna, june 20 – Franz Liszt takes up residence at the Dominican monastery of the Madonna del Rosario, Monte Mario, near Rome. July 11 – Pope Pius IX visits Franz Liszt at Monte Mario, august 3 – 21-year-old Jules Massenet is awarded the First Grand Prix de Rome for his setting of the cantata David Rizzio. September 30 – Georges Bizets opera, Les pêcheurs de perles receives its première at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, november 2 – John Knowles Paine performs at the inauguration of a new organ at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. In the same year, he work on an opera, Salammbô. All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight w. Ethel Lynn Beers m, John Hill Hewitt Eton Boating Song w. William Johnson Cory m. Capt. Algernon Drummond Just Before the Battle, Mother by George F, root Mother Would Comfort Me w. m. Charles C. Sawyer Oh My Darling, Clementine by Percy Montrose & H S. Thompson Sweet and Low words by Alfred Tennyson, music by Joseph Barnby Tenting on the Old Camp Ground w. m. Walter Kittredge Weeping Sad And Lonely w. Charles Carroll Sawyer m. Henry Tucker When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again by Louis Lambert & Patrick Gilmore You Are Going to the Wars, Willie Boy. w. m. John Hill Hewitt The Young Volunteer w. m.1 in F major opus 18, Spartacus overture in E♭ major Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso Op
3.
1864 in music
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February 24 – Bedřich Smetanas symphonic poem Hakon Jarl premieres in Prague February 29 – Composer Gioachino Rossini celebrates his 72nd birthday with a party. December 17 – Jacques Offenbachs operetta La Belle Hélène receives its first performance at the Paris Variétés Hans von Bülow takes over from Franz Lachner at the Munich opera, anton Bruckner composes his Symphony No.0. Mili Balakirev begins his Symphony No.1 and it would not be performed till 1898. Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster Der Deitchers Dog by Septimus Winner The Picture on the Wall by Henry Clay Work Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green w. Harry Clifton m. traditional, shall We Gather at the River
4.
1866 in music
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January – Gabriel Fauré becomes organist at the Church of Saint-Sauveur, at Rennes in Brittany. March–December – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky writes his Symphony No, may 30 – Bedřich Smetanas opera The Bartered Bride debuts at the Provisional Theatre. August – Sir William Sterndale Bennett becomes Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in London, august 4 – First performance of Gabriel Faurés Cantique de Jean Racine. August 9 – Marie Trautmann marries fellow musician Alfred Jaëll, october 21 – Jacques Offenbachs operetta La Vie parisienne debuts in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais Royale. November 17 – Ambroise Thomass opera] Mignon debuts in Paris at the Opéra-Comique, theodore Thomas conducts the New York Philharmonic in the American premiere of the Prelude to Act 1 of Wagners Tristan und Isolde. Georges Bizet completes the opera La jolie fille de Perth, it is premiered the following year, claribel We Parted By The River w. m. William Shakespeare Hays When You and I Were Young, Maggie by James A. Butterfield & George Washington Johnson Write Me A Letter Home w. m
5.
1875 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1875. January 5 – Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, designed by Charles Garnier, march 3 – Georges Bizets opera Carmen debuts, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. May 6 – Richard Wagner conducts portions of Götterdämmerung in concert in Vienna, october 25 – The first performance of Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No.1 is given in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans von Bülow as soloist. Robert Volkmann becomes professor of harmony and counterpoint at the National Academy of Music in Budapest, composer Zdeněk Fibich marries operatic contralto Betty Hanušová, sister of his first wife Růžena Hanušová. Angels, Meet Me At the Cross Road w. m, will Hays Carve Dat Possum by Sam Lucas & Herbert Hershy Dreaming Forever of Thee w. m. John Hill Hewitt Ill Take You Home Again, Kathleen w. m,3, ballet Swan Lake Camille Saint-Saëns – Piano Concerto No.4 Má vlast – Six symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana Carmen first performed in Paris. Music by Georges Bizet and libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, die Königin von Saba, music by Karl Goldmark and libretto by Salomon Mosenthal
6.
1876 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1876. February – Baritone Lithgow James joins the English Opera Company, where he begins a partnership with his future wife Florence St. John, february 24 – Incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsens Peer Gynt premieres. May 17 – Antonín Dvořák begins composing his Moravian Duets, august 16 – Richard Wagners Siegfried debuts in the new Bayreuth Festspielhaus. August 17 – Richard Wagners Götterdämmerung debuts in the new Bayreuth Festspielhaus, soprano Rosa Hasselbeck marries the conductor and composer Josef Sucher. Gabriel Faure - Violin Sonata No
7.
1877 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1877. December 30 The premiere of Brahms Symphony No.2 is given in Vienna by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Hans Richter, peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky marries Antonina Milyukova. Ludwig Thuille and Richard Strauss meet as students at Innsbruck, G. W. Hunt Chopsticks m. Arthur de Lulli Dear Old Pals w. m. G. W. Hunt Early In De Mornin w. m, will Hays In The Gloaming w. Meta Orred m. Annie Fortescue Harrison Little Daisys Request by Arabella M. Root The Lost Chord w. Adelaide Anne Procter m, leon Minkus – La Bayadère Joachim Raff – Violin Concerto no.2 op.206 in A minor Josef Rheinberger – Violin Sonata no.2 op
8.
1869 in architecture
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The year 1869 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings. Construction of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, designed by Christian Jank, is begun, february 3 - Booths Theatre, New York City, United States. May 12 - Chapel of St Johns College, Cambridge, England, designed by George Gilbert Scott, june - Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo, Japan. November 6 - Blackfriars Bridge, London, England, november 17 - The modern Suez Canal. The Rotes Rathaus in Berlin, Germany, the Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England. Royal Gold Medal - Karl Richard Lepsius, grand Prix de Rome, architecture, Ferdinand Dutert
9.
1869 in science
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The year 1869 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below. November 4 – The first issue of scientific journal Nature is published in London, march 6 – Dmitri Mendeleev makes a formal presentation of his periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society. June 15 – John Wesley Hyatt patents celluloid, in Albany, hippolyte Mège-Mouriès patents margarine in France as a beef tallow and skimmed milk substitute for butter. Publication of Adolphe Wurtzs Dictionnaire de chimie pure et appliquée begins in Paris, april 6 – The American Museum of Natural History is founded in New York. Paul Langerhans discovers the pancreatic islets, friedrich Miescher discovers deoxyribonucleic acid in the pus of discarded surgical bandages. Found in the nuclei of cells, Miescher names it nuclein, alfred Russel Wallace publishes The Malay Archipelago. W. Stanley Jevons publishes The Substitution of Similars and has a Logic Piano constructed to work out problems in symbolic logic. Copley Medal, Henri Victor Regnault Wollaston Medal for Geology, Henry Clifton Sorby February 14 – C. T. R. Wilson, april 8 – Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon. July 18 – Maria von Linden, German bacteriologist and zoologist, august 23 – Robert Gunther, English historian of science. October 3 – Robert W. Paul, English pioneer of cinematography, december 16 – Bertha Lamme, American electrical engineer. Helen Boyle, British physician and psychologist, july 22 – John A. Roebling, German American bridge engineer. September 11 – Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist
10.
1869
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As of the start of 1869, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, january 5 – Scotlands oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F. C. is founded. January 20 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton is the first woman to testify before the United States Congress, sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization for women, is founded at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. January 27 – The Republic of Ezo is proclaimed on the northern Japanese island of Ezo by remaining adherents to the Tokugawa shogunate, february 5 – Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discover the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the Welcome Stranger. February 20 – Ranavalona II, the Merina Queen of Madagascar, is baptized, february 26 – The 2½-year-old Mahbub Ali Khan begins a 42-year reign as Nizam of Hyderabad. March 1 – North German Confederation issues 10gr and 30gr value stamps, march 4 – Ulysses S. Grant is sworn in as President of the United States. March 6 – Dmitri Mendeleev makes a presentation of his periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society. March 9 – Southern Illinois University Carbondale is founded, march 24 – Titokowarus War ends with surrender of the last Māori troops at large in the South Taranaki District of New Zealands North Island. April 6 – The American Museum of Natural History is founded in New York, may – In France, the opposition, consisting of republicans, monarchists and liberals, polls almost 45% of the vote in national elections. May 4–10 – Naval Battle of Hakodate, The Imperial Japanese navy defeats adherents of the Tokugawa shogunate, may 6 – Purdue University is founded in West Lafayette, Indiana. May 10 – The First Transcontinental Railroad in North America is completed at Promontory, Utah, may 15 – Womens suffrage, In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association, may 18 – One day after surrendering at the land Battle of Hakodate, Enomoto Takeaki turns over Goryōkaku to Japanese forces, signaling the collapse of the Republic of Ezo. May 22 – Sainsburys first store, in Drury Lane, London, is opened, may 26 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. June 1 – The Cincinnati Red Stockings open the season as the first fully professional team. June 2 – Sherwood College is founded in Nainital, India, june 15 – John Wesley Hyatt patents celluloid, in Albany, New York. June 27 – The fortress of Goryōkaku is turned over to Imperial Japanese forces, bringing an end to the Republic of Ezo, the Battle of Hakodate, june 30-July 2 – The first Estonian Song Festival takes place in Tartu. July 10 – The Swedish town Gävle is destroyed in a city fire, August 9 – August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht found the Social Democratic Workers Party of Germany. August 27 – The University of Oxford win the first international race held on the River Thames against Harvard University
11.
Johannes Brahms
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Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his life in Vienna. Brahms composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works and he worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished, Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg, the diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahmss works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs, Brahmss father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was from the town of Heide in Holstein. The family name was sometimes spelt Brahmst or Brams, and derives from Bram. Against the familys will, Johann Jakob pursued a career in music, arriving in Hamburg in 1826, where he work as a jobbing musician. In 1830, he married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen, a seamstress 17 years older than he was, in the same year he was appointed as a horn player in the Hamburg militia. Eventually he became a player in the Hamburg Stadttheater and the Hamburg Philharmonic Society. As Johann Jakob prospered, the family moved over the years to better accommodation in Hamburg. Johannes Brahms was born in 1833, his sister Elisabeth had been born in 1831, Fritz also became a pianist, overshadowed by his brother he emigrated to Caracas in 1867, and later returned to Hamburg as a teacher. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training, Johannes also learnt to play the violin, from 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms could be such a good player, at the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as a performer in a private concert including Beethovens quintet for piano and winds Op.16 and a piano quartet by Mozart. He also played as a solo work an étude of Henri Herz, by 1845 he had written a piano sonata in G minor
12.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
13.
Gustav Walter
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Gustav Walter was a Bohemian operatic tenor who sang leading roles for more than 30 years at the Vienna Staatsoper in Austria. He was a highly regarded interpreter of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Walther also created the role of Assad in the premiere of Karl Goldmarks Die Königin von Saba and performed in some Italian. After retiring from the stage in 1887, Walter toured Europe as a lauded recitalist of lieder, premiering numerous songs by Johannes Brahms and he became a celebrated pedagogue, teaching voice at the Vienna Conservatory for more than two decades. Notably, too, he is one of the very earliest singers to have left a legacy of gramophone recordings, as a young man, Walter studied violin at the Prague Conservatory. However, under pressure from his parents, he abandoned his musical pursuits, after finishing his studies, he became the engineer for a sugar factory in his hometown of Bílina. He sang part-time in a quartet in Prague while working as an engineer. His excellent natural voice was discovered by Franz Vogl who immediately offered to become his teacher, for many years, music historians believed he had studied with Johann Friedrich Samuel Johann but recent scholarship has confirmed that his studies were entirely with Vogl. In 1855, in Brno, Walter made his operatic début as a tenor in the role of Edgardo in Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor. The following year he moved to Austria due to the persuasion of soprano Rosa Czillag and he promptly joined the Vienna Staatsoper, singing there for the next thirty one years in primarily leading roles. His first role with the company was Gomez in Conradin Kreutzers Das Nachtlager in Granada, Walter became a highly popular Mozart singer and notably performed the role of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in 1869 for the opening of the new opera house in Vienna. He also found success in several Wagner roles and he sang Walther von Stolzing in the somewhat ill-fated Viennese premiere of Wagners Die Meistersinger, the title role in Lohengrin, and the role of Loge in both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. In 1875 he originated the role of Assad in the premiere of Karl Goldmarks Die Königin von Saba opposite Amalie Materna as the Queen of Sheba. In 1882, he sang Alfonso in Viennas first performance of Franz Schuberts Alfonso und Estrella, Walter also periodically performed in opera houses in Germany and Bohemia. Walter retired from the stage in 1887, with his last performance being as Wilhelm Meister in Ambroise Thomass Mignon at the Vienna Staatsoper and he was appointed an honorary member of the Vienna Staatsoper upon his retirement. Walter then embarked on a series of lieder recitals throughout Europe, notably premiering several songs by Johannes Brahms. He had previously sung in the premiere of Brahms Liebeslieder-Walzer and Dvořák dedicated his Cigánské melodie to him and his recital tour took him to London in 1872 and he appeared with the London Philharmonic in a concert of songs by Mozart, Carl Riedel, and Anton Rubinstein. In 1891, Walter performed at the Salzburg Festival for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mozarts death and he gave numerous concerts in Munich and Dresden between 1881-1888
14.
Edvard Grieg
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Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, the Edvard Grieg Museum in Troldhaugen is dedicated to his legacy. Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, on 15 June 1843 and his parents were Alexander Grieg, a merchant and vice-consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup, a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup. The family name, originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins, after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Griegs great-grandfather, Alexander Greig, traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical milieu and his mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of six. Grieg studied in schools, including Tanks Upper School, Tanks School. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the eminent Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, Bull recognized the 15-year-old boys talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, the piano department of which was directed by Ignaz Moscheles. Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on the piano, and enjoyed the many concerts and he disliked the discipline of the conservatory course of study. An exception was the organ, which was mandatory for piano students, in the spring of 1860, he survived two life-threatening lung diseases, pleurisy and tuberculosis. Throughout his life, Griegs health was impaired by a left lung. He suffered from respiratory infections, and ultimately developed combined lung. Grieg was admitted many times to spas and sanatoria both in Norway and abroad, several of his doctors became his personal friends. In 1861, Grieg made his debut as a concert pianist in Karlshamn, in 1862, he finished his studies in Leipzig and held his first concert in his home town, where his programme included Beethovens Pathétique sonata. In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years and he met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He also met his fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who became a good friend, Nordraak died in 1866, and Grieg composed a funeral march in his honor. On 11 June 1867, Grieg married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup, the next year, their only child, Alexandra, was born. Alexandra died in 1869 from meningitis, in the summer of 1868, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere performance on 3 April 1869 in the Casino Theater in Copenhagen, Grieg himself was unable to be there due to conducting commitments in Christiania
15.
Piano Concerto (Grieg)
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The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works and among the most popular of all piano concerti. The concerto is in three movements, Allegro molto moderato The first movement is noted for the roll in the first bar that leads to a dramatic piano flourish. Then the key changes in C major, for the secondary theme, later, the secondary theme appears again in the recapitulation, but in A major. The movement finishes with a cadenza and a similar flourish as in the beginning. The movement is in the Sonata form, adagio The second movement is a lyrical movement in D-flat major, which leads directly into the third movement. Allegro moderato molto e marcato – Quasi presto – Andante maestoso The third movement opens in A minor 2/4 time with an energetic theme, the movement returns to Theme 1. Following this recapitulation is the 3/4 A major Quasi presto section, the movement concludes with the Andante maestoso in A major, which consists of a dramatic rendition of Theme 2. Performance time of the concerto is usually just under 30 minutes. The concerto was originally scored for 2 flutes,2 oboes,2 clarinets in A and B flat,2 bassoons,2 horns in E and E flat,2 trumpets in C and B flat,2 trombones, tuba, timpani and strings. He later added 2 horns and changed the tuba to a third trombone, the work is among Griegs earliest important works, written by the 24-year-old composer in 1868 in Søllerød, Denmark, during one of his visits there to benefit from the climate. Incidentally, both wrote only one concerto for piano and this specific motif occurs in other works by Grieg, including the String Quartet No.1. In the last movement of the concerto, similarities to the halling, the work was premiered by Edmund Neupert on April 3,1869 in Copenhagen, with Holger Simon Paulli conducting. Some sources say that Grieg himself, an excellent pianist, was the intended soloist, among those who did attend the premiere were the Danish composer Niels Gade and the Russian pianist Anton Rubinstein, who provided his own piano for the occasion. Neupert was also the dedicatee of the edition of the concerto. The Norwegian premiere in Christiania followed on August 7,1869, at Griegs visit to Franz Liszt in Rome in 1870, Liszt played the notes a prima vista before an audience of musicians and gave very good comments on Griegs work, which influenced him later. The work was first published in Leipzig in 1872, but only after Johan Svendsen intervened on Griegs behalf, the concerto is the first piano concerto ever recorded — by pianist Wilhelm Backhaus in 1909. Due to the technology of the time, it was heavily abridged at only six minutes, Grieg revised the work at least seven times, usually in subtle ways, but amounting to over 300 differences from the original orchestration
16.
Copenhagen
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Copenhagen, Danish, København, Latin, Hafnia) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. Copenhagen has an population of 1,280,371. The Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants, the city is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand, another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road, originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a centre of power with its institutions, defences. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century and this included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing, since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure. The city is the cultural, economic and governmental centre of Denmark, Copenhagens economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology. Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmö. With a number of connecting the various districts, the cityscape is characterized by parks, promenades. Copenhagen is home to the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark. Copenhagen is home to the FC København and Brøndby football clubs, the annual Copenhagen Marathon was established in 1980. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, the Copenhagen Metro serves central Copenhagen while the Copenhagen S-train network connects central Copenhagen to its outlying boroughs. Serving roughly 2 million passengers a month, Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup, is the largest airport in the Nordic countries, the name of the city reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce. The original designation, from which the contemporary Danish name derives, was Køpmannæhafn, meaning merchants harbour, the literal English translation would be Chapmans haven. The English name for the city was adapted from its Low German name, the abbreviations Kbh. or Kbhvn are often used in Danish for København, and kbh. for københavnsk. The chemical element hafnium is named for Copenhagen, where it was discovered, the bacterium Hafnia is also named after Copenhagen, Vagn Møller of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen named it in 1954. Excavations in Pilestræde have also led to the discovery of a well from the late 12th century, the remains of an ancient church, with graves dating to the 11th century, have been unearthed near where Strøget meets Rådhuspladsen
17.
Vienna State Opera
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The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria and it was originally called the Vienna Court Opera. In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian Republic, the members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from its orchestra. The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese city expansion fund, work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect, the somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, the staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble. The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building, due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour, Eduard Hauser, Anton Wasserburger, the foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863. The building was, however, not very popular with the public, on the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II. Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building, the opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on May 25,1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth were present, towards the end of World War II, on March 12,1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the stairways, the vestibule. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor, the State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the house as it had been. The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have an opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern, in order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre was reduced, and the fourth gallery, the façade, entrance hall and the Schwind foyer were restored and remain in their original style. In 1947, the company went on tour to London, due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, Germany, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule. When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces
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Don Giovanni
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Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and it was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater, now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. Da Pontes libretto was billed as a dramma giocoso, a designation of its time that denotes a mixing of serious. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa, although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements. A staple of the operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni for the five seasons 2011/12 through 2015/16 was ninth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers, the opera was commissioned as a result of the overwhelming success of Mozarts trip to Prague in January and February 1787. The subject matter may have chosen in consideration of the long history of Don Juan operas in Prague. For Bertati, the setting was Villena, Spain, whereas Da Pontes libretto only specifies a city in Spain, the score was completed on 28 or 29 October 1787 after Da Ponte was recalled to Vienna to work on another opera. Reports about the completion of the overture conflict, some say it was completed the day before the premiere. More likely it was completed the day before, in light of the fact that Mozart recorded the completion of the opera on 28 October. The score calls for double woodwinds, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, basso continuo for the recitatives, and the string section. The composer also specified occasional special musical effects, in act 2, Giovanni is seen to play the mandolin, accompanied by pizzicato strings. In the same act, two of the Commendatores interventions are accompanied by a chorale of oboes, clarinets, bassoons. The instrumentation and vocal writing are very reminiscent of Mozarts treatment of the voice of Neptune in Idomeneo, the opera was first performed on 29 October 1787 in Prague under its full title of Il Dissoluto Punito ossia il Don Giovanni – Dramma giocoso in due atti. The work was received, as was often true of Mozarts work in Prague. The Prager Oberpostamtzeitung reported, Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has never heard the like, the Provincialnachrichten of Vienna reported, Herr Mozart conducted in person and was welcomed joyously and jubilantly by the numerous gathering. Mozart also supervised the Vienna premiere of the work, which place on 7 May 1788. These cuts are very seldom performed in theatres or recordings, the operas final ensemble was generally omitted until the early 20th century, a tradition that apparently began very early on
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Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
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Opera
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Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
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Das Rheingold
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Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen, or in English, The Ring of the Nibelung. Das Rheingold premiered at the National Theatre Munich on 22 September 1869, with August Kindermann in the role of Wotan, Heinrich Vogl as Loge, and Karl Fischer as Alberich. Wagner wanted this work to premiere as part of the entire cycle, the work was first performed as part of the complete cycle on 13 August 1876, in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Although Das Rheingold comes first in the sequence of Ring operas, so in August 1851, Wagner wrote in Eine Mittheilung an meine Freunde, I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas. However, by October, he had decided that this required a prelude. To the sentence quoted above he added the words, which will be preceded by a great prelude, a letter Wagner wrote to Theodor Uhlig confirms that at this time the opera was intended to have three acts. Wagner continued to develop the text and storyline of the prelude in parallel with those of Die Walküre, the prose draft of Das Rheingold was completed between 21 March and 23 March 1852 and its verse draft between 15 September and 3 November. A fair copy of the text was finished by 15 December, during the early years of the 1850s Wagner produced some musical sketches for parts of the Ring and noted down various motifs that were to be used in the work. There also exist three sets of isolated musical sketches for Das Rheingold which were composed between 15 September 1852 and November 1853. The first of these was entered into the draft of the text, the second into Wagners copy of the 1853 printing of the text. All three were used by Wagner. Proper sequential development of the score started on 1 November 1853, by 14 January, Wagner had completed the first draft of the opera on between two and three staves. The next stage involved the development of a detailed draft that indicated most of the vocal and instrumental details. This was completed by 28 May, in parallel with this, Wagner started work on a fair copy of the score on 15 February, a task he completed on 26 September 1854, by which time he had also started work on the sketches of Die Walküre. Das Rheingold was first performed at Munich on 22 September 1869 and its first performance as part of the complete Ring cycle took place at Bayreuth on 13 August 1876. It continues to be performed on a regular basis both in Bayreuth and elsewhere, Das Rheingold, considerably shorter than its three successors, consists of four scenes performed without a break. It has been noted as one of the best-known drone examples in the concert repertory, the curtain rises to show, at the bottom of the Rhine, the three Rhine maidens, Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde, playing together. The key shifts to A flat as Woglinde begins an innocent song whose melody is used to characterise the Rhine maidens later in the cycle
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Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
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Flamenco
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Flamenco, in its strictest sense, is a professionalized art-form based on the various folkloric music traditions of Southern Spain. It includes cante, toque, baile, jaleo, palmas, the oldest record of flamenco dates to 1774 in the book Las Cartas Marruecas by José Cadalso. The genre originated in the music and dance styles of Andalusia, Flamenco has been influenced by and become associated with the Romani people in Spain, however, unlike Romani music in Eastern Europe, its origin and style is uniquely Andalusian. In recent years, flamenco has become popular all over the world and is taught in many countries, especially the United States. In Japan, there are more flamenco academies than there are in Spain, on November 16,2010, UNESCO declared flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. There are many suggestions for the origin of the word flamenco as a musical term, the word was not recorded as a musical and dance term until the late 18th century. The Spanish word flamenco could have been a derivative of fire or flame, the word flamenco may have come to be used for fiery behaviour, which could have come to be applied to the Gitano players and performers. Palos are flamenco styles, classified by criteria such as rhythmic pattern, mode, chord progression, stanzaic form, there are over 50 different palos, some are sung unaccompanied while others have guitar or other accompaniment. Some forms are danced while others are not, there are many ways to categories Palos but they traditionally fall into three classes, the most serious is known as cante jondo, while lighter, frivolous forms are called cante chico. Forms that do not fit either category are classed as cante intermedio, Cante jondo has clear traces of Arabic and Spanish folk melodies, as well as vestiges of Byzantine, Christian and Jewish religious music. Each song of a set of verses, which are punctuated by guitar interludes called falsetas, the guitarist also provides a short introduction which sets the tonality, compás and tempo of the cante. Flamenco uses the Flamenco mode, in addition to the major and minor scales used in modern Western music. The Phrygian mode occurs in such as soleá, most bulerías, siguiriyas. A typical chord sequence, usually called the Andalusian cadence may be viewed as in a modified Phrygian, according to Manolo Sanlúcar E is here the tonic, F has the harmonic function of dominant while Am and G assume the functions of subdominant and mediant respectively. Guitarists tend to use two basic inversions or chord shapes for the tonic chord, the open 1st inversion E. Montoya also created a new palo as a solo for guitar, later guitarists have further extended the repertoire of tonalities, chord positions and scordatura. There are also palos in major mode, most cantiñas and alegrías, guajiras, some bulerías and tonás, the minor mode is restricted to the Farruca, the milongas, and some styles of tangos, bulerías, etc. In general traditional palos in major and minor mode are limited harmonically to two-chord or three-chord progressions, however modern guitarists have introduced chord substitution, transition chords, and even modulation
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884, by Emperor Alexander III, although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a career in Russia at that time. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Tchaikovskys training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From this reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style—a task that did not prove easy, Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great. This resulted in uncertainty among the intelligentsia about the countrys national identity—an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovskys career, despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovskys life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. His homosexuality, which he kept private, has also been considered a major factor. Tchaikovskys sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera, there is a debate as to whether cholera was indeed the cause of death. While his music has remained popular among audiences, critical opinions were initially mixed, some Russians did not feel it was sufficiently representative of native musical values and expressed suspicion that Europeans accepted the music for its Western elements. Others dismissed Tchaikovskys music as lacking in elevated thought, according to longtime New York Times music critic Harold C, schonberg, and derided its formal workings as deficient because they did not stringently follow Western principles. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, a town in Vyatka Governorate in the Russian Empire. His father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, had served as a lieutenant colonel and engineer in the Department of Mines and his grandfather, Pyotr Fedorovich Tchaikovsky, served first as a physicians assistant in the army and later as city governor of Glazov in Viatka. His great-grandfather, a Ukrainian Cossack named Fyodor Chaika, distinguished himself under Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Tchaikovskys mother, Alexandra Andreyevna, was the second of Ilyas three wives,18 years her husbands junior and French on her fathers side. Both Ilya and Alexandra were trained in the arts, including music—a necessity as a posting to an area of Russia also meant a need for entertainment. Of Tchaikovskys six siblings, he was close to his sister Alexandra and twin brothers Anatoly, alexandras marriage to Lev Davydov would produce seven children and lend Tchaikovsky the only real family life he would know as an adult, especially during his years of wandering. One of those children, Vladimir Davydov, whom the composer would nickname Bob, in 1844, the family hired Fanny Dürbach, a 22-year-old French governess. Four-and-a-half-year-old Tchaikovsky was initially too young to study alongside his older brother Nikolai. By the age of six, he had become fluent in French, Dürbach saved much of Tchaikovskys work from this period, which includes his earliest known compositions, and became a source of several childhood anecdotes
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Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)
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Romeo and Juliet, TH42, ČW39, is an orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy, and is based on Shakespeares play of the same name, like other composers such as Berlioz and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky was deeply inspired by Shakespeare and wrote works based on The Tempest and Hamlet as well. Unlike Tchaikovskys other major compositions, Romeo and Juliet does not have an opus number and it has been given the alternative catalogue designations TH42 and ČW39. Although styled an Overture-Fantasy by the composer, the design is a symphonic poem in sonata form with an introduction. The work is based on three strands of the Shakespeare story. The first strand, written in F-sharp minor, following Mily Balakirevs suggestion, is the representing the saintly Friar Laurence. Here there is a foreboding of doom from the lower strings, the Friar Laurence theme is heard in F minor, with plucked strings, before ending up in E minor. There are agitated, quick sixteenth notes, the forceful irregular rhythms of the street music point ahead to Igor Stravinsky and beyond. The love theme signifies the couple first meeting and the scene at Juliets balcony, the English horn represents Romeo, while the flutes represent Juliet. Then the battling strand returns, this time with more intensity and build-up, a final battle theme is played, then a soft, slow dirge in B major ensues, with timpani playing a repeated triplet pattern, and tuba holding a B natural for 16 bars. In 1869 Tchaikovsky was a 28-year-old professor at the Moscow Conservatory, having written his first symphony and an opera, he next composed a symphonic poem entitled Fatum. Initially pleased with the piece when Nikolai Rubinstein conducted it in Moscow, Tchaikovsky dedicated it to Balakirev, Fatum received only a lukewarm reception. Balakirev wrote a letter to Tchaikovsky explaining the defects, but also giving some encouragement. There wasnt much applause, probably because of the appalling cacophony at the end of the piece and it is not properly gestated, and seems to have been written in a very slapdash manner. The seams show, as all your clumsy stitching. Above all, the form itself just does not work, the whole thing is completely uncoordinated. I am writing to you with complete frankness, being convinced that you wont go back on your intention of dedicating Fatum to me. Your dedication is precious to me as a sign of sympathy towards me—and I feel a great weakness for you
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Little Brown Jug (song)
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Little Brown Jug is a song written in 1869 by Joseph Winner, originally published credited to Eastburn by J. E. It was originally a drinking song and it remained well known as a folk song into the early 20th century. Like many songs which make reference to alcohol, it enjoyed new popularity during the Prohibition era, the same melody was used for the song My Dingaling written by Richard Barthomew, which became a Number 1 hit in 1972 for Chuck Berry. In 1939, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra released a hit version of the song on RCA Bluebird, as an A side 78 single, B-10286-A, the recording was an early chart hit for Glenn Miller. The song was performed in Glenn Millers Carnegie Hall concert that year and became a staple of the Glenn Miller Orchestra repertoire and a classic of the Big Band era. Subsequently, in 1947 it was recorded by the accordionist John Serry Sr. and it was also sung by Carl Alfalfa Switzer and Harold Slim Switzer in an Our Gang short. The songs lyrics are about a man and his wife and their life due to alcoholism. The tone and tune, however, are bright and cheerful. The first verse of the song is, My wife and I live all alone, In a little log hut, we called our ownShe loved gin, and I loved rumI tell you what wed lots of fun. The Chorus of the song goes, Ha ha ha, You and me, Little Brown Jug, Dont I love Thee As a childrens song, sometimes a verse is modified to fit the melody and rhythm of the tune. The song has been recorded by the performers, Joe Biviano, his Accordion. Arthur Godfrey released a version with lyrics on Crown Records accompanied by Archie Bleyer, art Van Damme released a version as a 78 on Capitol Records as 57-570. Louise Massey and the Westerneers released it as a Polka instrumental on Columbia as 20245, lenny Dee released the song on Decca as an organ solo. John Kirby and his Orchestra released it on Okeh Records, chubby Parker released Little Brown Jug as a 78 on Silvertone as 25013. Ken Griffin released the song on Rondo Records, stuart Robertson released it on HMV. Phil Cardew and his Corn Huskers as a dance on Parlophone. Frank Crumit released it on HMV, george Wade on RCA Victor as a square dance. Bluebird Foreign Band on RCA Bluebird, the Billy May Orchestra released the song on Capitol
