1.
1885 in art
–
July 13 – New building for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, designed by Pierre Cuypers, opens. August – First public display of works by Vincent van Gogh, Glasgow Boys first exhibit collectively, at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. Aberdeen Art Gallery opens in Scotland, birmingham Museum and Art Gallery opens in England. The Guildhall Art Gallery opens in the City of London, crocker Art Gallery is presented to the people of Sacramento, California. John Everett Millais is granted a baronetcy in the United Kingdom, the first artist to be honoured with a hereditary title
2.
Johann Strauss II
–
Johann Strauss II, also known as Johann Strauss Jr. the Younger, the Son, Johann Baptist Strauss, was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of music, as well as several operettas. In his lifetime, he was known as The Waltz King, Strauss had two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, who became composers of light music as well, although they were never as well known as their elder brother. Some of Johann Strauss most famous works include The Blue Danube, Kaiser-Walzer, Tales from the Vienna Woods, among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the best known. In other words, it is properly Strauss, not Strauß and his family called him Schani, derived from the Italian Gianni, a nickname. Strauss was born in St Ulrich near Vienna, Austria, on October 25,1825 and his paternal great-grandfather was a Hungarian Jew – a fact which the Nazis, who lionised Strausss music as so German, later tried to conceal. His father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker, nevertheless, Strauss Junior studied the violin secretly as a child with the first violinist of his fathers orchestra, Franz Amon. When his father discovered his son secretly practising on a one day. It seems that rather than trying to avoid a Strauss rivalry and it was only when the father abandoned his family for a mistress, Emilie Trampusch, that the son was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer with the support of his mother. Strauss studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann, who owned a music school. His talents were recognized by composer Joseph Drechsler, who taught him exercises in harmony. It was during that time that he composed his only sacred work and his other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann, who was the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera, also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform and he initially formed his small orchestra where he recruited his members at the Zur Stadt Belgrad tavern, where musicians seeking work could be hired easily. Johann Strauss Is influence over the local entertainment establishments meant that many of them were wary of offering the younger Strauss a contract for fear of angering the father. Strauss Jr. was able to persuade the Dommayers Casino in Hietzing, a suburb of Vienna, to allow him to perform. The elder Strauss, in anger at his sons disobedience, and at that of the proprietor, refused to play at the Dommayers Casino again. Strauss made his debut at Dommayers in October 1844, where he performed some of his first works, such as the waltzes Sinngedichte, Op.1 and Gunstwerber, Op.4, critics and the press were unanimous in their praise for Strausss music. Despite the initial fanfare, Strauss found his years as a composer difficult
3.
Theater an der Wien
–
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, since 2006, it has served primarily as an opera house, hosting its own company. Although Wien is German for Vienna, the Wien in the name of the theatre is actually the name of the Wien River, which flowed by the theatre site. In modern times, the river has been covered over in this location and the riverbed now houses the Naschmarkt. The theatre is operated in cooperation with Vereinigte Bühnen Wien which also operates the Raimund Theater, the theatre was the brainchild of the Viennese theatrical impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, who is best known as Mozarts librettist and collaborator on the opera The Magic Flute. Schikaneders troupe had already been performing for several years in Vienna in the smaller Theater auf der Wieden. As the troupes performances often emphasized spectacle and scenery, the librettist felt ready to move to a larger and better equipped venue. He had already granted an imperial licence to build a new theatre in 1786. The building was designed by the architect Franz Jäger in Empire style, the theatre has been described as the most lavishly equipped and one of the largest theatres of its age. The theatre opened on 13 June 1801 with a written by Schikaneder followed by a performance of the opera Alexander by Franz Teyber. The new theatre proved to be a sensation, adolf Bäurle, a local critic, wrote if Schikaneder and Zitterbarth had had the idea. To charge admission simply for looking at the glories of their Theater an der Wien, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung called it the most comfortable and satisfactory in the whole of Germany. In 1807 the theatre was acquired by a group of nobles that included Count Ferdinand Palffy von Erdöd. He is accompanied by the Three Boys, characters in the same opera, in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the theatre experienced a golden age during the flourishing of Viennese operetta, as referenced in the list below. From 1945 to 1955, it was one of the homes of the Vienna State Opera. However, in 1955, the theatre was closed for safety reasons and it languished unused for several years, and by the early 1960s, the threat had emerged that it would be converted to a parking garage. Fortunately, in 1962 the theatre found a new and successful role for itself as a venue for musical theatre. Many English-language musicals had their German premieres there, the musical Cats directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne played successfully for seven years
4.
Johannes Brahms
–
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
5.
Meiningen
–
Meiningen is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It has a population of around 21,000 and is the capital of the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, from 1680 to 1920, Meiningen was the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. Meiningen is considered the cultural, judicial and financial centre of southern Thuringia and is reliant on mechanical engineering, high-tech industry. The city lies in the linguistic and cultural area of Franconia, Meiningen originated during the formation of the Frankish Empire in the 6th or 7th century, which established trade routes, river crossings and boundary markers. An intersection of two routes and a ford was located at the present-day southern end of the old town near the Werra river. Meiningen was first mentioned in 982, the village was first a crown land in the Duchy of Franconia and later a possession of the king. Around the year 1000, construction of the Stadtkirche began and it was several times expanded and rebuilt over the centuries. German Emperor Henry II donated Meiningen in 1008 to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg, to protect their property, the Bishops of Würzburg built a moated castle in the 11th century. In 1153, the plague raged in Meiningen, which was also granted rights that year by the rulers. In 1222, Würzburg and the House of Henneberg fought for possession of Meiningen, Meiningen was first mentioned in 1230 as a Stadt and was granted wide-ranging autonomy in 1344. During this time the citizens built a fortification with a double wall. From 1239 to 1242 the Friars Minor of the Franciscan Order built a monastery between the castle and the Lower Gate, in 1380, a fire destroyed around a quarter of the city, including the archives of the town council. The city joined together with ten other cities of the Bishopric of Würzburg, Würzburg troops besieged Meiningen, until it capitulated in 1399. In an uprising on 10 August 1432, the destroyed the castle. In the years 1443-1455, the city church was enlarged in the Gothic style, Meiningen had about 2,000 inhabitants in 1450. A t the end of the 15th century two devastating fires destroyed almost the whole city, the city church was spared from the fire. Bishop Lorenz von Bibra built a new castle from 1509 to 1511, in the city textiles, metal working and trade became more important. In 1542, Meiningen came to the Henneberg family in exchange for the district of Mainberg from the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
6.
Tin Pan Alley
–
The start of Tin Pan Alley is usually dated to about 1885, when a number of music publishers set up shop in the same district of Manhattan. The end of Tin Pan Alley is less clear cut, the origins of the name Tin Pan Alley are unclear. One account claims that it was a reference to the sound of many pianos. Others claim it arose from songwriters modifying their pianos to produce a percussive sound. After many years, the term came to refer to the U. S. music industry in general, various explanations have been advanced to account for the origins of the term Tin Pan Alley. This article has not been found, simon Napier-Bell quotes an account of the origin of the name which was published in a 1930 book about the music business. In this version, popular songwriter Harry von Tilzer was being interviewed about the area around 28th Street and Fifth Avenue, von Tilzer had modified his expensive Kindler & Collins piano by placing strips of paper down the strings to give the instrument a more percussive sound. The journalist told von Tilzer, Your Kindler & Collins sounds exactly like a tin can, ill call the article Tin Pan Alley. With time, this nickname was popularly embraced and came to describe the American music publishing industry in general, the term then spread to the United Kingdom, where Tin Pan Alley is also used to describe Denmark Street in Londons West End. In the 1920s the street known as Britains Tin Pan Alley because of its large number of music shops. In the mid-19th century, copyright control of melodies was not as strict, with stronger copyright protection laws late in the century, songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers started working together for their mutual financial benefit. Songwriters would literally bang on doors of Tin Pan Alley to get new material, the two most enterprising New York publishers were Willis Woodard and T. B. Harms, the first companies to specialize in popular songs rather than hymns or classical music. Naturally, these firms were located in the entertainment district, which, Witmark was the first publishing house to move to West 28th Street as the entertainment district gradually shifted uptown, and by the late 1890s most publishers had followed their lead. When a tune became a significant local hit, rights to it were purchased from the local publisher by one of the big New York firms. The song publishers who created Tin Pan Alley frequently had backgrounds as salesmen, the background of Isadore Witmark was selling water filters. Leo Feist had sold corsets, and Joe Stern and Edward B, marks had sold neckties and buttons respectively. The music houses in lower Manhattan were lively places, with a stream of songwriters, vaudeville and Broadway performers, musicians. Aspiring songwriters came to demonstrate tunes they hoped to sell, when tunes were purchased from unknowns with no previous hits, the name of someone with the firm was often added as co-composer, or all rights to the song were purchased outright for a flat fee
7.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
8.
Gilbert and Sullivan
–
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known. Sullivan, six years Gilberts junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humour and pathos and their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have influenced political discourse, literature, film. Producer Richard DOyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration and he built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works and founded the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivans works for over a century. Gilbert was born in London on 18 November 1836 and his father, William, was a naval surgeon who later wrote novels and short stories, some of which included illustrations by his son. Director and playwright Mike Leigh described the Gilbertian style as follows, With great fluidity and freedom, First, within the framework of the story, he makes bizarre things happen, and turns the world on its head. Thus the Learned Judge marries the Plaintiff, the soldiers metamorphose into aesthetes, and so on and his genius is to fuse opposites with an imperceptible sleight of hand, to blend the surreal with the real, and the caricature with the natural. In other words, to tell a perfectly outrageous story in a deadpan way. Gilbert developed his theories on the art of stage direction. At the time Gilbert began writing, theatre in Britain was in disrepute, Gilbert helped to reform and elevate the respectability of the theatre, especially beginning with his six short family-friendly comic operas, or entertainments, for Thomas German Reed. At a rehearsal for one of these entertainments, Ages Ago, the composer Frederic Clay introduced Gilbert to his friend, two years later, Gilbert and Sullivan would write their first work together. Those two intervening years continued to shape Gilberts theatrical style, Sullivan was born in London on 13 May 1842. His father was a bandmaster, and by the time Arthur had reached the age of eight. In school he began to compose anthems and songs, in 1856, he received the first Mendelssohn Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music and then at Leipzig, where he also took up conducting. His graduation piece, completed in 1861, was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. Revised and expanded, it was performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862 and was an immediate sensation and he began building a reputation as Englands most promising young composer, composing a symphony, a concerto, and several overtures, among them the Overture di Ballo, in 1870
9.
The Mikado
–
The Mikado, or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, the Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. Setting the opera in Japan, a locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics. Gilbert and Sullivans opera immediately preceding The Mikado was Princess Ida, which ran for nine months, on 22 March 1884, Carte gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required within six months. Sullivans close friend, the conductor Frederic Clay, had suffered a stroke in December 1883 that effectively ended his career. Gilbert, who had started work on a new libretto in which people fall in love against their wills after taking a magic lozenge, was surprised to hear of Sullivans hesitation. Gilbert was much hurt, but Sullivan insisted that he could not set the lozenge plot, in addition to the improbability of it, it was too similar to the plot of their 1877 opera, The Sorcerer. Sullivan returned to London, and, as April wore on, Gilbert tried to rewrite his plot, but he could not satisfy Sullivan. However, by 8 May 1884, Gilbert was ready to back down, writing, am I to understand that if I construct another plot in which no element occurs. A consistent plot, free from anachronisms, constructed in perfect good faith & to the best of my ability, the stalemate was broken, and on 20 May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to The Mikado. It would take ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage. A revised version of their 1877 work, The Sorcerer, coupled with their one-act piece Trial by Jury, played at the Savoy while Carte, Gilbert eventually found a place for his lozenge plot in The Mountebanks, written with Alfred Cellier in 1892. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea, One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan, Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge. The story is an one, but it is largely fictional. Gilbert was interviewed twice about his inspiration for The Mikado, in both interviews the sword was mentioned, and in one of them he said it was the inspiration for the opera, although he never said that the sword had fallen. Gilbert scholar Brian Jones, in his article The Sword that Never Fell, notes that the further removed in time the writer is from the incident and it suggested the broad idea, as he said later
10.
London
–
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
11.
Anton Bruckner
–
Josef Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character. Bruckners compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, unlike other musical radicals such as Richard Wagner and Hugo Wolf who fit the enfant terrible mould, Bruckner showed extreme humility before other musicians, Wagner in particular. This apparent dichotomy between Bruckner the man and Bruckner the composer hampers efforts to describe his life in a way that gives a straightforward context for his music. On the other hand, Bruckner was greatly admired by subsequent composers including his friend Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner was born in Ansfelden on 4 September 1824. The ancestors of Bruckners family were farmers and craftsmen, their history can be traced to as far back as the 16th century and they lived near a bridge south of Sindelburg, which led to their being called Pruckhner an der Pruckhen. Bruckners grandfather was appointed schoolmaster in Ansfelden in 1776, this position was inherited by Bruckners father, Anton Bruckner senior and it was a poorly paid but well-respected position in the rural environment. Music was a part of the curriculum, and Bruckners father was his first music teacher. Bruckner learned to play the organ early as a child and he entered school when he was six, proved to be a hard-working student, and was promoted to upper class early. While studying, Bruckner also helped his father in teaching the other children, after Bruckner received his confirmation in 1833, Bruckners father sent him to another school in Hörsching. The schoolmaster, Johann Baptist Weiß, was a music enthusiast, here, Bruckner completed his school education and learned to play the organ excellently. Around 1835 Bruckner wrote his first composition, a Pange lingua – one of the compositions which he revised at the end of his life, when his father became ill, Anton returned to Ansfelden to help him in his work. Bruckners father died in 1837, when Bruckner was 13 years old, the teachers position and house were given to a successor, and Bruckner was sent to the Augustinian monastery in Sankt Florian to become a choirboy. In addition to practice, his education included violin and organ lessons. Bruckner was in awe of the great organ, which was built during the late baroque era and rebuilt in 1837. Later, the organ was to be called the Bruckner Organ, despite his musical abilities, Bruckners mother sent her son to a teaching seminar in Linz in 1841. After completing the seminar with an excellent grade, Bruckner was sent as an assistant to a school in Windhaag. The living standards and pay were horrible, and Bruckner was constantly humiliated by his superior, despite the difficult situation, Bruckner never complained or rebelled, a belief of inferiority was to remain one of Bruckners main personal characteristics during his whole life
