1.
Virtuoso
–
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, music, singing, playing a musical instrument, or composition. This word also refers to a person who has cultivated appreciation of artistic excellence, the plural form of virtuoso is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine forms are virtuosa and virtuose. According to Music in the Western civilization by Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, the defining element of virtuosity is the performance ability of the musician in question, who is capable of displaying feats of skill well above the average performer. Especially in music, both critics and musicians have mixed opinions on virtuosity, while the skill implied is clearly positive, musicians focused on virtuosity have been criticized for overlooking substance and emotion in favor of raw technical prowess. For instance, Ken Jennings initial success on Jeopardy was described as a virtuoso performance, the meaning of virtuoso has its roots in the Italian usage of the 16th and 17th centuries, signifying an honorific term reserved for a person distinguished in any intellectual or artistic field. The term evolved with time, simultaneously broadening and narrowing in scope as interpretations went in and out of fashion, originally a musician was honored the classification by being a composer, theorist or famous maestro, more importantly than being a skilled performer. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the word shifted in meaning, sébastien de Brossard in his Dictionnaire de Musique approached the word virtuoso by its Latin root virtu emphasizing exceptional training, especially in theory. This position was defended in Johann Gottfried Walthers Musicalisches Lexicon favoring the theorist over the performer. Johan Matthensons Der brauchbare Virtuoso maintained the respect for the traditional theoretische Virtuosen, in the late 18th century, people began to use the term to describe a instrumentalist or vocalist who pursued a career as a soloist. The tension about the merit of practical virtuosity started to grow at the time and intensified in the 19th century. Franz Liszt, considered one of the greatest of all virtuosos, declared that virtuosity is not an outgrowth, media related to Musicians at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Hamburg
–
Hamburg, officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is the second smallest German state by area and its population is over 1.7 million people, and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region covers more than 5.1 million inhabitants. The city is situated on the river Elbe, the official long name reflects Hamburgs history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a sovereign state. Prior to the changes in 1919, the civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten. Though repeatedly destroyed by the Great Fire of Hamburg, the floods and military conflicts including WW2 bombing raids, the city managed to recover and emerge wealthier after each catastrophe. On the river Elbe, Hamburg is a port and a global service, media, logistics and industrial hub, with headquarters and facilities of Airbus, Blohm + Voss, Aurubis, Beiersdorf. The radio and television broadcaster NDR, Europes largest printing and publishing firm Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of Germanys oldest stock exchange and the worlds second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. The city is a fast expanding tourist destination for domestic and international visitors. It ranked 16th in the world for livability in 2015, the ensemble Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2015. Hamburg is a major European science, research and education hub with several universities and institutes and its creative industries and major cultural venues include the renowned Elbphilharmonie and Laeisz concert halls, various art venues, music producers and artists. It is regarded as a haven for artists, gave birth to movements like Hamburger Schule. Hamburg is also known for theatres and a variety of musical shows. St. Paulis Reeperbahn is among the best known European entertainment districts, Hamburg is on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, between Continental Europe to the south and Scandinavia to the north, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the north-east. It is on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster, the city centre is around the Binnenalster and Außenalster, both formed by damming the River Alster to create lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two neighbouring islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn, in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region, neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburgs highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres AMSL. Hamburg has a climate, influenced by its proximity to the coast
3.
Felix Mendelssohn
–
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family and he was brought up without religion until the age of seven, when he was baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a prodigy, but his parents were cautious. Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, where he revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Leipzig Conservatoire, which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook, Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions and he is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. Mendelssohns father was the banker Abraham Mendelssohn, the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his mother was Lea Salomon, a member of the Itzig family and a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy. Mendelssohn was the second of four children, his older sister Fanny also displayed exceptional, the family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise fearing French revenge for the Mendelssohn banks role in breaking Napoleons Continental System blockade. Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix, Paul, Fanny became a well-known pianist and amateur composer, originally Abraham had thought that she, rather than Felix, would be the more musical. However, at time, it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to have a career in music, so Fanny remained an active. Abraham was also disinclined to allow Felix to follow a career until it became clear that he seriously intended to dedicate himself to it. Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment, Sarah Rothenburg wrote of the household that Europe came to their living room. Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion, he and his wife decided not to have Felix circumcised. Felix and his siblings were first brought up without religious education, Abraham and his wife Lea were themselves baptised in 1822, formally adopting the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy for themselves and their children. The name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Leas brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, in 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of Bartholdy this name that we all dislike. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him, Mendelssohn was regarded as a child prodigy and he began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris. After the family moved to Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger, from at least May 1819 Felix studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. This was an important influence on his future career, Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy, who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach
4.
Louis Spohr
–
Louis Spohr, baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Spohr was the inventor of both the violin chinrest and the orchestral rehearsal mark and his output occupies a pivotal position between Classicism and Romanticism, but fell into obscurity following his death, when his music was rarely heard. The late 20th century saw a revival of interest in his oeuvre, Spohr was born in Braunschweig in the duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel to Karl Heinrich Spohr and Juliane Ernestine Luise Henke, but in 1786 the family moved to Seesen. Spohrs first musical encouragement came from his parents, his mother was a singer and pianist. A violinist named Dufour gave him his earliest violin teaching, the pupils first attempts at composition date from the early 1790s. Dufour, recognizing the musical talent, persuaded his parents to send him to Brunswick for further instruction. The failure of his first concert tour, a badly planned venture to Hamburg in 1799, a successful concert at the court impressed the duke so much that he engaged the 15-year-old Spohr as a chamber musician. In 1802, through the offices of the duke, he became the pupil of Franz Eck. Eck, who completely retrained Spohr in violin technique, was a product of the Mannheim school, Spohrs first notable compositions, including his Violin Concerto No. After his return home, the duke granted him leave to make a tour of North Germany. A concert in Leipzig in December 1804 brought the music critic Friedrich Rochlitz to his knees, not only because of Spohrs playing. This concert brought the young man overnight fame in the whole German-speaking world, in 1805, Spohr obtained a position as concertmaster at the court of Gotha, where he stayed until 1812. There he met the 18-year-old harpist and pianist Dorette Scheidler, daughter of one of the court singers and they were married on 2 February 1806, and lived happily until Dorettes death 28 years later. They performed successfully together as a violin and harp duo, touring in Italy, England and Paris, in 1808, Spohr practiced with Beethoven at the latters home, working on the Piano Trio, Op.70 No. Spohr wrote that the piano was out of tune and that Beethovens playing was harsh or careless, in 1812, Spohr conducted a concert in the Predigerkirche of the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt to celebrate Napoleons 43rd birthday. In Kassel on 3 January 1836, he married his second wife and she survived him by many years, living until 1892. In 1857 he was pensioned off, much against his own wish, and in the winter of the year he broke his arm. Nevertheless he conducted his opera Jessonda at the anniversary of the Prague Conservatorium in the following year
5.
Moritz Hauptmann
–
Moritz Hauptmann, was a German music theorist, teacher and composer. Hauptmann was born in Dresden, and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz Lanska, composition under Grosse and he completed his education as a violinist and composer under Louis Spohr, and until 1821 held various appointments in private families. In addition, he studied mathematics and acoustics, Hauptmann was initially employed as an architect before finding success as a musician. Notable in his musical output is a grand tragic opera. He joined the orchestra of Kassel in 1822 under Spohrs direction, there, he first taught composition and music theory. His pupils included Ferdinand David, Friedrich Burgmüller, Friedrich Kiel, Ernst Naumann, Oscar Paul, Isidor Seiss and others. In 1842, Hauptmann became Kantor of the Thomanerchor at St. Thomas Church, in this capacity, his unique gift as a teacher developed and it was readily acknowledged by his enthusiastic and quite-often distinguished pupils. Hauptmanns compositions are marked by symmetry and craftsmanship rather than spontaneous invention and his vocal output include two masses, choral songs for mixed voices and numerous part songs. He was a member and editor of the Bach Gesellschaft edition of the complete works of Bach. His musical philosophy embodied in his book Die Natur der Harmonik und Metrik and his theory is described as Hegelian and he emphasized concepts of unity, opposition, and reunion, which he finds in chords, scales, key relationships, and meter. He conceived of minor and major triads as opposite and this theory influenced harmonic dualists including Hugo Riemann. He also advocated just intonation and considered enharmonic progressions unnatural, in this sense, he could be considered a conservative in relation to the compositional trends of his time. He displayed a taste for classical proportion, formal order, metrical clarity, unlike the Romantic trends of continuous legato, he considered any metrical first to be automatically accented. Moritz Hauptmann, The Letters of a Leipzig Cantor, London, Novello, Ewer and Co.1892 ] Moritz Hauptmann, The nature of harmony and metre. New York, Da Capo Press,1991, Reprint of the ed. London, ] Dale A. Jorgenson, Moritz Hauptmann of Leipzig. Studies in History and Interpretation of Music, Vol.2, lewiston, NY, The Edwin Mellen Press,1986. ISBN 0-88946-427-8 William Mason, Memories of a Musical Life, new York, The Century Company,1902. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Hauptmann
6.
Karl Eduard von Liphart
–
Baron Karl Eduard von Liphart or Carl Eduard von Liphart was a noted art expert and collector from Estonia. The family manor was near Dorpat, Liphart was born in Kambja Parish in Tartu County in 1808. He was one of the three children of Carl Gotthard von Lindhardt and Annette von Loewenwolde and he came from a noble family based at Raadi Manor who were members of the Estonian intelligentsia and owned a significant art collection. In 1853 Liphart was the founding President of the Estonian Naturalists Society, the society still operates and claims to be the oldest scientific society in the Baltic states. In 1862 Liphart moved to Florence because of the health of his son. However, in Florence he was able to add to his expertise and he was financed and supported by Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. The bas-relief of St Jerome by Desiderio da Settignano now in the National Gallery of Art, Liphart became an acknowledged expert on the history of art. In 1867, following a theory put forward by Gustav Waagen, in 1871 he realised that another painting in the Uffizi was by the seventeenth century artist Hercules Seghers. It was Liphart and his friend the Director of the Berlin State Museums, Wilhelm von Bode and he died in Florence in 1891. After his death his art collection was moved to Estonia where it was combined with his familys collection at Raadi Manor, Liphart wrote numerous articles and published brief notes, but never published a book-length monograph. He corresponded with all the art historians of his time, in Europe, Great Britain. Lipharts son, Ernst Friedrich von Liphart, was disinherited by his father in 1873 for converting to marry a Roman Catholic, however his son was an accomplished artist, painting portraits including one of Tsar Nicholas II. He went on to be a curator of the Hermitage Museum, the graphic art that was collected by the Liphart family came into the possession of Tartu University in the 1920s. The university still conserves the collection includes examples of Japanese art as well as noted European printmakers like Albrecht Dürer
7.
Tartu
–
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia, following Estonias political and financial capital Tallinn. Tartu is often considered the centre of the country, especially since it is home to the nations oldest and most renowned university. The city also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research and it is the birthplace of Estonian Song Festivals. Situated 186 kilometres southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres northeast of Riga, Tartu lies on the Emajõgi, the city is served by Tartu Airport. Since 1918 the Estonian name Tartu has been used, but as the town has come under control of rulers throughout its history. Most of them derive ultimately from the earliest attested form, the Estonian Tarbatu, in German, Swedish and Polish the town has been known and is sometimes still referred to as Dorpat, a variant of Tarbatu. In Russian, the city has known as Юрьев and as Дерпт. Similarly, the city has known as Tērbata in Latvian. Archaeological evidence of the first permanent settlement on the site of modern Tartu dates to as early as the 5th century AD, by the 7th century, local inhabitants had built a wooden fortification on the east side of Toome Hill. The first documented record of the area was made in 1030 by chroniclers of Kievan Rus, yaroslav I the Wise, Prince of Kiev, invaded the region that year, built his own fort there, and named it Yuryev. Kievan Rus again controlled Tartu from 1133 for an unknown period, in the 12th century Tartu was the most notable Slavic settlement in Chud territory. His views have been criticized by historian Ain Mäesalu, subsequently, known as Dorpat, Tartu became a commercial centre of considerable importance during the later Middle Ages and the capital of the semi-independent Bishopric of Dorpat. In 1262 the army of Prince Dmitri of Pereslavl, son of Alexander Nevsky launched an assault on Dorpat and his troops did not manage to capture the bishops fortress on Toome Hill. In medieval times, after the Livonian Order was subsumed into the Teutonic Knights in 1236, in the 1280s Dorpat joined the Hanseatic League. For example, the hall of Dorpat was designed by an architect from Rostock in Mecklenburg, while the university buildings were designed by Johann Wilhelm Krause. Most Germans left during the first half of the 20th century, in particular as part of the Heim ins Reich program of the Nazis, in 1558 the forces of Muscovy led by tsar Ivan the Terrible invaded the region in what became known as the Livonian War. Dorpat was captured without a fight and the bishop was imprisoned in Moscow. In the effect of the Truce of Jam Zapolski of 1582 the city along with southern regions of Livonian Confederation became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1598 it became the capital of the Dorpat Voivodeship of the Duchy of Livonia
8.
Riga
–
Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
9.
Saint Petersburg
–
Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
10.
Concertmaster
–
The Concertmaster is the second-most significant person in an orchestra, symphonic band or other musical ensemble after the conductor or director. Another common term in the U. S. is First Chair, in the U. K. the term commonly used is leader. In an orchestra, the concertmaster is the leader of the first violin section, there is another violin section, the second violins, led by the principal second violin. Any violin solo in a work is played by the concertmaster. The concertmaster sits to the left, closest to the audience, in what is called the first chair. The concertmaster makes decisions regarding bowing and other details of violin playing for the violins. He or she leads the orchestra in tuning before concerts and rehearsals, leading the orchestral tuning is not just a mere formality, if the concertmaster believes that a section is not adequately tuned, he or she will signal to the oboe player to play another A. Several larger orchestras have one or more assistant concertmasters, who lead the orchestra in the concertmasters absence, the concertmaster, along with the conductor and section principals, will normally participate in the auditions of important musicians in the orchestra. The concertmaster in a concert band is the principal clarinet, oboe, flute or saxophone. The first-chair clarinet concertmaster will, in practice, play all solos for their instrument. Often the lead flautist will receive similar responsibilities to the concertmaster, depending on several factors such as age, skill. The concertmaster will, in orchestral and wind band settings, also coordinate with other principals and section leaders, in most cases being their senior in terms of group pecking order. In brass bands, the role of concertmaster is often filled by the solo cornet or trumpet. The duties and tasks of the concertmaster are myriad, primarily, he or she acts as the conduit between conductor and orchestra and is accountable to both parties. One of the tasks of the concertmaster is to provide bowings for the 1st violins prior to rehearsal. This entails a great knowledge of playing styles in addition to complete idiomatic understanding of the mechanics of string playing. Ensemble cohesion emanates directly from the contact and connection between these vital front desk positions, the concertmaster assumes responsibility for the tone and execution of the entire section of 1st violins, in addition to performing any solo passages that occur in a given piece. Another primary duty of the concertmaster is to translate instructions from the conductor into specific technical language for the strings, full-time professional orchestras work with several conductors through the course of a regular season
