Music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Academics have argued that categorizing music by genre is inaccurate and outdated. Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways; the artistic nature of music means that these classifications are subjective and controversial, some genres may overlap. There are varying academic definitions of the term genre itself. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between form, he lists madrigal, canzona and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."
Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language." Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can differentiate between genres. A music genre or subgenre may be defined by the musical techniques, the style, the cultural context, the content and spirit of the themes. Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will include a wide variety of subgenres. Timothy Laurie argues that since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects". Among the criteria used to classify musical genres are the trichotomy of art and traditional musics. Alternatively, music can be divided on three variables: arousal and depth.
Arousal reflects the energy level of the music. These three variables help explain why many people like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres. Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to a trichotomic distinction such as Philip Tagg's "axiomatic triangle consisting of'folk','art' and'popular' musics", he explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria. The term art music refers to classical traditions, including both contemporary and historical classical music forms. Art music exists in many parts of the world, it emphasizes formal styles that invite technical and detailed deconstruction and criticism, demand focused attention from the listener. In Western practice, art music is considered a written musical tradition, preserved in some form of music notation rather than being transmitted orally, by rote, or in recordings, as popular and traditional music are. Most western art music has been written down using the standard forms of music notation that evolved in Europe, beginning well before the Renaissance and reaching its maturity in the Romantic period.
The identity of a "work" or "piece" of art music is defined by the notated version rather than by a particular performance, is associated with the composer rather than the performer. This is so in the case of western classical music. Art music may include certain forms of jazz, though some feel that jazz is a form of popular music. Sacred Christian music forms an important part of the classical music tradition and repertoire, but can be considered to have an identity of its own; the term popular music refers to any musical style accessible to the general public and disseminated by the mass media. Musicologist and popular music specialist Philip Tagg defined the notion in the light of sociocultural and economical aspects: Popular music, unlike art music, is conceived for mass distribution to large and socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners and distributed in non-written form, only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of'free' enterprise... it should ideally sell as much as possible.
Popular music is found on most commercial and public service radio stations, in most commercial music retailers and department stores, in movie and television soundtracks. It is noted on the Billboard charts and, in addition to singer-songwriters and composers, it involves music producers more than other genres do; the distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in marginal areas such as minimalist music and light classics. Background music for films/movies draws on both traditions. In this respect, music is like fiction, which draws a distinction between literary fiction and popular fiction, not always precise. Country music known as country and western, hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s; the polka is a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and particular
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have focused on CD and MP3 formats; the audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s. An album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places; the time frame for recording an album varies between a few hours to several years. This process requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live" when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes. Recordings, including live, may contain sound effects, voice adjustments, etc..
With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, lyrics or librettos; the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums; when long-playing records were introduced, a collection of pieces on a single record was called an album. An album, in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees and other public notices were inscribed in black, it was from this that in medieval and modern times album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, sketches and the like are collected. Which in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item.
In the early nineteenth century "album" was used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Schumann's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. When 78rpm records came out, the popular 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, about 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of the seventeen-minute Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, it ran for 8m 59s. Deutsche Grammophon had produced an album for its complete recording of the opera Carmen in 1908. German record company Odeon released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky in 1909 on 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package; this practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records.
These albums came in both 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album; the 12-inch LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, it was adopted by the record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from minor refinements and the important addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums.
The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as Compact audio cassette, compact disc, MiniDisc, digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. While an album may contain as many or as few tracks as required, in the United States, The Recording Academy's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In the United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" i
Rezső Seress
Rezső Seress was a Hungarian pianist and composer. Some sources give his birth name as Rudolf Spitzer. Rezső Seress lived most of his life in poverty in Budapest, from where, being Jewish, he was taken to a labor camp by the Nazis during the Second World War, he survived the camp and after employment in the theatre and the circus, where he was a trapeze artist, he concentrated on songwriting and singing after an injury. Seress taught himself to play the piano with only one hand, he composed many songs, including Fizetek főúr, Én úgy szeretek részeg lenni, a song for the Hungarian Communist Party to commemorate the chain bridge crossing the river in Budapest, Újra a Lánchídon. His most famous composition is Szomorú Vasárnap, written in 1933, which gained infamy as it became associated with a spate of suicides. Seress felt a strong loyalty to Hungary, one reason for his poverty while having a world-famous song was that he never wished to go to the USA to collect his royalties; this restaurant had a pipe stove at the centre of its dining room, was remarkably cold for a restaurant.
The place was a favourite of prostitutes, Bohemian spirits and the Jewish working class. As his fame began to wane, along with his loyalty to the communist party, Seress plunged into depression. Though he himself survived the Nazi forced labour in the Ukraine, his mother didn't- which increased his gloom. Seress committed suicide in Budapest in January 1968, his obituary in the New York Times mentions the notorious reputation of "Gloomy Sunday": Rezső Seress on IMDb
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is the second album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in March 1990 on Ensign/Chrysalis Records. It contains O'Connor's version of the Prince song "Nothing Compares 2 U", released as a single and reached number one in multiple countries; the album was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1991, including Record of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Music Video, Short Form for "Nothing Compares 2 U", winning the award for Best Alternative Music Performance. However, O'Connor refused to accept award; the critically acclaimed album contains O'Connor's most famous single, "Nothing Compares 2 U", one of the best selling singles in the world in 1990, topping the charts in many countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. This rendition of the Prince song reflected on O'Connor's mother who lost her life in an auto accident five years earlier; the single "Emperor's New Clothes" found more moderate success, although it did top the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US.
The album includes O'Connor's rendition of "I Am Stretched on Your Grave", an anonymous 17th century poem written in Irish and translated into English by Frank O'Connor and composed by musician Philip King in 1979. The first song on the album, "Feel So Different", starts with The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr; the inner sleeve notes acknowledge Kabbalah teacher, Warren Kenton: "Special thanks to Selina Marshall + Warren Kenton for showing me that all I'd need was inside me." I Do Not Want. In 2003, the album was ranked number 406 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. All tracks written except where noted. Sinéad O'Connor – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, arranger, string arrangements Marco Pirroni – electric guitar David Munday – acoustic guitar, piano Andy Rourke – acoustic guitar, bass guitar Jah Wobble – bass guitar John Reynolds – drums Steve Wickham – fiddle Philip King – vocals, melody arrangement Nick Ingman – conductor, orchestra director, string arrangements Karl Wallinger – arrangerTechnicalNellee Hooper – producer Chris Birkett, Sean Devitt – producers, engineers Dave Hoffman, Dominique Leringoleur – photography John Maybury – cover design
Universal Mother
Universal Mother is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. It was sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. Note: "Famine" quotes the song "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. Sinéad O'Connor – vocals, piano John Reynolds – drums, bass guitar, programming Dave Clayton – keyboards Marco Pirroni, Ivan Gilliland – guitar Tim Simenon – programming Nicky Scott, John O'Cane – bass guitar Phil Coulter – piano John O'Cane – cello Voice Squad – backing vocals Irish Chamber Orchestra – strings
Don't Cry for Me Argentina
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a song recorded by Julie Covington for the 1976 concept album and was included in the 1978 musical of the same name. The song was written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice while they were researching the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón, it appears at the opening and near the end of the show as the spirit of the dead Eva exhorting the people of Argentina not to mourn her, during Eva's speech from the balcony of the Casa Rosada. Covington was signed based on her previous work in musicals; the Evita album had taken 3–4 months to record, since Rice was not satisfied with the intensity of the initial recordings. The song had a number of different titles before "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was decided as the final one; the song shares its melody with "Oh What a Circus" from the same show and lyrically consists of platitudes where Eva tries to win the favour of the people of Argentina. It was released in the United Kingdom on 12 November 1976 as the first single from the album, accompanied by national and trade advertising, full-colour posters, display sleeves as well as radio interviews.
The song reached number-one on the UK Singles Chart and earned a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry, with over a million copies sold. It reached the top of the charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Netherlands. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was critically appreciated, with Rice and Lloyd Webber winning the 1977 Ivor Novello award in the category of Best Song Musically and Lyrically. When Evita moved to a London theatre, Covington—who had become disenchanted with the whole project—refused to reprise the part of Eva and the role went to Elaine Paige. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" has been covered by multiple artists, including The Carpenters, Olivia Newton-John, Sinéad O'Connor as well as actors Lea Michele and Chris Colfer from the TV series Glee. In 1996, American singer Madonna starred in the film adaptation of the musical in the title role, her version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was released as the second single from the film soundtrack on 4 February 1997.
It received positive reviews from music critics. A separate version called the "Miami Mix", which included re-recorded vocals in English and Spanish and an Argentinean bandoneon in the song's intro, was promoted to radio; the song reached number one in France and the European Hot 100 Singles, while the remix topped the US Dance Club Songs chart. The song reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and several other nations, received gold certifications from five countries. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice while they were developing Evita for Broadway in 1976. Both were intrigued by the stories surrounding the life of Eva Perón while researching about her during the mid-1970s. Evita was produced as an album, before being adapted for the stage, following a formula that Lloyd Webber and Rice had employed during the production of Jesus Christ Superstar, their previous musical; the duo had written the songs for a female singer with good vocals. Rice and Webber's research showed that Eva had not in reality delivered any major oration on the day of her husband Juan Perón's inauguration ceremony, but not long after becoming Argentina's new First Lady she started making emotional speeches, the intensity of which they wanted to capture with "Don't Cry for Me Argentina".
The song was composed to appear at the opening and near the end of the show as the spirit of the dead Eva exhorting the people of Argentina not to mourn her, during Eva's speech from the balcony of Casa Rosada. Its melody is similar to the opening song of the musical, "Oh What a Circus", puts emphasis on Eva's funeral; as "Oh What a Circus" ended with the character Che's sarcastic questioning of the mourning behind Eva's death, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" started with only few lines being sung, while the rest of the song was reserved for the finale. After the song was composed, Lloyd Webber and Rice were struggling to find a suitable musical actress for the songs and the titular role, since the only one they knew, Yvonne Elliman, had moved to the United States. One day they were watching the British musical television show, Rock Follies, where they noticed actress and singer Julie Covington, who played an aspiring rock musician. Covington had played in London musicals like Godspell, her acting abilities in Rock Follies convinced Rice and Lloyd Webber to sign her for Evita.
Covington was intrigued by their proposal, considering Eva Perón to be a non-commercial idea for a musical. She thought that the songs were great compositions and signed on for recording them. Lloyd Webber and Rice started recording and the first demos were those of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" and "Buenos Aires", with just piano as an accompaniment, they moved on to sign a deal with MCA Records, to release an album based on the songs, however with poor royalty rates since the record company executives did not expect the album to be a success. In the meantime, singers for all the other roles of the musical were signed, the cast moved to Olympic Studios in 1975 to start recording. Personnel working on the Evita album included recording engineer David Hamilton-Smith, Simon Philips on drums, Mo Foster on bass, Joe Moretti and Ray Russell on guitars and Anne Odell on keyboards. David Snell played the harp while Anthony Bowles conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra, while another choir called the London Boy Singles was directed by Alan Doggett.
Members of The Grease Band, including bassist Alan Spenner and
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career has been marked by blending elements of reggae and rocksteady, as well as forging a smooth and distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Born in Nine Mile, British Jamaica, Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming Bob Marley & The Wailers; the group released its debut studio album The Wailing Wailers in 1965, which contained the single "One Love/People Get Ready". The Wailers subsequently went onto release eleven additional studio albums. During this period, Marley relocated to London, the group typified their musical shift with the release of the album The Best of The Wailers; the group attained international success after the release of the albums Catch a Fire and Burnin', forged a reputation as touring artists.
A year The Wailers disbanded, Marley continued to use band's name for which to release his solo material. His debut studio album, Natty Dread, received positive reception, as did its follow up Rastaman Vibration. A few months after the album's release, Marley survived an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica, which prompted permanent relocation to London soon after. There, he recorded the album Exodus. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, the singer sought to infuse his music with a sense of spirituality, he is considered a global symbol of Jamaican culture and identity, was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he advocated for Pan-Africanism. In 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma, in 1981, he died as a result of the illness. Marley's fans around the world expressed their grief, he received a state funeral in Jamaica; the greatest hits album, was released in 1984, subsequently became the best-selling reggae album of all-time.
Marley ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide, while his sound and style have influenced artists of various genres. He was posthumously honored by Jamaica soon after his death, as he was designated the nation's Order of Merit award. Bob Marley was born 6 February 1945 on the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Booker. Norval Marley was a white Jamaican from Sussex, whose family claimed Syrian Jewish origins. Norval claimed to have been a captain in the Royal Marines. Bob Marley's full name is Robert Nesta Marley, though some sources give his birth name as Nesta Robert Marley, with a story that when Marley was still a boy a Jamaican passport official reversed his first and middle names because Nesta sounded like a girl's name. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child but saw them as he was away. Bob Marley attended Stepney Primary and Junior High School which serves the catchment area of Saint Ann.
In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 70. Marley's mother went on to marry Edward Booker, a civil servant from the United States, giving Marley two step-brothers: Richard and Anthony. Marley and Neville Livingston had been childhood friends in Nine Mile, they had started to play music together while at Junior High School. Marley left Nine Mile with his mother when he was 12 and moved to Kingston. Cedella Booker and Thadeus Livingston had a daughter together whom they named Claudette Pearl, a younger sister to both Bob and Bunny. Now that Marley and Livingston were living together in the same house in Trenchtown, their musical explorations deepened to include the latest R&B from United States radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica, the new ska music; the move to Trenchtown was proving to be fortuitous, Marley soon found himself in a vocal group with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Junior Braithwaite. Joe Higgs, part of the successful vocal act Higgs and Wilson, resided on 3rd St. and his singing partner Roy Wilson had been raised by the grandmother of Junior Braithwaite.
Higgs and Wilson would rehearse at the back of the houses between 2nd and 3rd Streets, it wasn't long before Marley, Junior Braithwaite and the others were congregating around this successful duo. Marley and the others didn't play any instruments at this time, were more interested in being a vocal harmony group. Higgs was glad to help them develop their vocal harmonies, although more he had started to teach Marley how to play guitar—thereby creating the bedrock that would allow Marley to construct some of the biggest-selling reggae songs in the history of the genre. In February 1962, Marley recorded four songs, "Judge Not", "One Cup of Coffee", "Do You Still Love Me
