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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
2.
Giuseppe Verdi
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Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. Verdi was born near Busseto to a family of moderate means. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works influenced him. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy and he also participated briefly as an elected politician. He surprised the world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo, additionally, it lists Verdi as being born yesterday, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Verdi himself, following his mother, always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. From the age of four, Verdi was given lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdis gift for music was apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while. After Baistrocchis death, Verdi, at the age of eight, Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his sons education. something which Verdi tended to hide in later life. He picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by a father and of a sustained, sophisticated. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, at age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the music school. This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi, a grocer and distiller. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic, by June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic, none of us could rival him reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè
3.
Charles Lecocq
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Alexandre Charles Lecocq was a French musical composer. Lecocq was born in Paris, where he was admitted into the Conservatoire in 1849 and he studied under François Bazin, François Benoist, and Fromental Halévy, winning the first prize for harmony in 1850, and the second prize for fugue in 1852. He first gained notice by sharing with Georges Bizet the first prize for an operetta in a competition instituted by Jacques Offenbach and his opéra comique, Le Docteur Miracle, was performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in 1857. After that he wrote constantly for theatres, but produced nothing especially successful until Fleur-de-thé, les cent vierges was also favorably received. After 1873, Lecocq produced a number of operettas, though he never equalled his early triumph in La fille de Madame Angot. Camille Saint-Saëns was a friend of Lecocqs, and never ceased to admire the latters music, Lecocq died in his home city of Paris, aged 85. See List of operas and operettas by Lecocq, warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera,782 pp. ISBN 0-19-869164-5 Free scores by Charles Lecocq at the International Music Score Library Project
4.
Francesco Maria Piave
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Francesco Maria Piave was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Piaves career spanned over twenty years working with many of the significant composers of his day, including Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, Federico Ricci, and even one for Michael Balfe. He is most well known as Giuseppe Verdis librettist, for whom he was to write 10 librettos, the most well-known being those for Rigoletto and La traviata. But Piave was not only a librettist, he was a journalist and translator in addition to being the resident poet, later, Verdi was helpful in securing him the same position at La Scala in Milan. His expertise as a manager and his tact as a negotiator served Verdi very well. Verdi helped to support his wife and daughter, proposing that an album of pieces by famous composers be compiled, the composer paid for his funeral when he died nine years later in Milan aged 65 and arranged for his burial at the Monumental Cemetery. The composer completely dominates and enslaves the librettist, who becomes more than an instrument in his hands. Notes Sources Baldini, Gabriele, The Story of Giuseppe Verdi, Cambridge, et al, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29712-5 Black, John, Piave, Francesco Maria in Stanley Sadie, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Three, ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5 Budden, Julian, Verdi. ISBN0028646169 ISBN9780028646169 Kimball, David, in Holden, Amanda, The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York, ISBN 0-140-29312-4 OGrady, Deidre, Piave, Boito, Pirandello, From Romantic Realism to Modernism. ISBN 978-0-7734-7703-2 ISBN 0-7734-7703-9 Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, Verdi, A Biography, London & New York, ISBN 0-19-313204-4 Werfel, Franz and Stefan, Paul, Verdi, The Man and His Letters, New York, Vienna House. ISBN 0-8443-0088-8 Works by or about Francesco Maria Piave at Internet Archive
5.
Bolshoi Theatre, Saint Petersburg
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The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was a theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldis Neoclassical design as the Kamenny Theatre and it was rebuilt in 1802 according to the designs of the architect Thomas de Thomon and renamed the Bolshoi, but burned down in 1811. The building was restored in 1818, and modified between 1826 and 1836 by Alberto Cavos to accommodate more modern machinery, until 1886, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was principal theatre for both the Imperial Ballet and the Imperial Russian Opera. It was there that the first Russian operas — Glinkas A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan, many of the great 19th century ballets of Marius Petipa and Arthur Saint-Léon were given for the first time on the stage of the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. The Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was then torn down to place for the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. The only surviving sections of the theatre are the grand staircase and landing. Operas A Life for the Tsar — Mikhail Glinka Ruslan and Lyudmila — Mikhail Glinka La forza del destino — Giuseppe Verdi Ballets The Pharaohs Daughter — chor, cesare Pugni The Beauty of Lebanon or The Mountain Spirit chor. by Marius Petipa mus. The Little Humpbacked Horse — chor, cesare Pugni La Bayadère — chor
6.
Libretto
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A libretto is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term libretto is also used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as the Mass, requiem and sacred cantata. Libretto, from Italian, is the diminutive of the word libro, sometimes other language equivalents are used for libretti in that language, livret for French works and Textbuch for German. A libretto is distinct from a synopsis or scenario of the plot, in that the libretto contains all the words and stage directions, while a synopsis summarizes the plot. The relationship of the librettist to the composer in the creation of a work has varied over the centuries, as have the sources. In the context of a modern English language musical theatre piece, Libretti for operas, oratorios and cantatas in the 17th and 18th centuries generally were written by someone other than the composer, often a well-known poet. Metastasio was one of the most highly regarded librettists in Europe and his libretti were set many times by many different composers. Another noted 18th-century librettist was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who wrote the libretti for three of Mozarts greatest operas, as well as for other composers. Eugène Scribe was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, providing the words for works by Meyerbeer, Auber, Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. The French writers duo Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote a number of opera and operetta libretti for the likes of Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet. Arrigo Boito, who wrote libretti for, among others, Giuseppe Verdi and Amilcare Ponchielli, the libretto is not always written before the music. Some composers wrote their own libretti, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous in this regard, with his transformations of Germanic legends and events into epic subjects for his operas and music dramas. Hector Berlioz, too, wrote the libretti for two of his works, La Damnation de Faust and Les Troyens. Alban Berg adapted Georg Büchners play Woyzeck for the libretto of Wozzeck, sometimes the libretto is written in close collaboration with the composer, this can involve adaptation, as was the case with Rimsky-Korsakov and his librettist Belsky, or an entirely original work. In the case of musicals, the music, the lyrics, thus, a musical such as Fiddler on the Roof has a composer, a lyricist and the writer of the book. In rare cases, the composer writes everything except the dance arrangements - music, lyrics and libretto, Other matters in the process of developing a libretto parallel those of spoken dramas for stage or screen. A famous case of the latter is Wagners 1861 revision of the original 1845 Dresden version of his opera Tannhäuser for Paris, since the late 19th century some opera composers have written music to prose or free verse libretti. The libretto of a musical, on the hand, is almost always written in prose
7.
Friedrich Schiller
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Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, physician, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life, Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and they frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents to their philosophical vision. Friedrich Schiller was born on 10 November 1759, in Marbach, Württemberg as the son of military doctor Johann Kaspar Schiller. Schiller grew up in a religious family and spent much of his youth studying the Bible. His father was away in the Seven Years War when Friedrich was born and he was named after king Frederick the Great, but he was called Fritz by nearly everyone. Kaspar Schiller was rarely home during the war, but he did manage to visit the family once in a while and his wife and children also visited him occasionally wherever he happened to be stationed. When the war ended in 1763, Schillers father became an officer and was stationed in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Due to the high cost of living—especially the rent—the family moved to nearby Lorch, although the family was happy in Lorch, Schillers father found his work unsatisfying. He sometimes took his son with him, in Lorch, Schiller received his primary education. The quality of the lessons was fairly bad, and Friedrich regularly cut class with his older sister, because his parents wanted Schiller to become a pastor, they had the pastor of the village instruct the boy in Latin and Greek. Pastor Moser was a teacher, and later Schiller named the cleric in his first play Die Räuber after him. As a boy, Schiller was excited by the idea of becoming a cleric and often put on black robes, in 1766, the family left Lorch for the Duke of Württembergs principal residence, Ludwigsburg. Schillers father had not been paid for three years, and the family had been living on their savings but could no longer afford to do so, so Kaspar Schiller took an assignment to the garrison in Ludwigsburg. There the Schiller boy came to the attention of Karl Eugen and he entered the Karlsschule Stuttgart, in 1773, where he eventually studied medicine. During most of his life, he suffered from illnesses that he tried to cure himself. While at the Karlsschule, Schiller read Rousseau and Goethe and discussed Classical ideals with his classmates, the plays critique of social corruption and its affirmation of proto-revolutionary republican ideals astounded its original audience
8.
Wallenstein (trilogy of plays)
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Wallenstein is the popular designation for a trilogy of dramas by German author Friedrich Schiller. It consists of the plays Wallensteins Camp, a prologue, The Piccolomini. Schiller himself also structured the trilogy into two parts, with Wallenstein I including Wallensteins Camp and The Piccolomini, and Wallenstein II consisting of Wallensteins Death and he completed the trilogy in 1799. In this drama Schiller addresses the decline of the famous general Albrecht von Wallenstein, Wallenstein fails at the height of his power as successful commander-in-chief of the imperial army when he begins to rebel against his emperor, Ferdinand II. The action is set some 16 years after the start of the war, in the winter of 1633/1634 and begins in the Bohemian city of Pilsen, where Wallenstein is based with his troops. For the second and third acts of the play the action moves to Eger, where Wallenstein has fled. Introducing the second and third parts, Wallensteins Camp is by far the shortest of the three, whilst the main action takes place among the higher ranks of the troops and nobility, Wallensteins Camp reflects popular opinion, particularly that of the soldiers in Wallensteins camp. They are enthusiastic about their commander, who to all appearances has managed to bring together mercenaries from a variety of locations. They also praise the war for improving their own lives despite its toll on the civilian population, still, we hear a peasant complain that the troops steal from him, and a monk criticize their wicked life. At the end of part, the soldiers find out that the emperor intends to place a section of the army under the command of Spanish Habsburgs. Unhappy, they agree to ask Max Piccolomini, one of their commanders, the Capuchins sermon in Wallensteins Camp is based on the Discalced Augustinian Abraham a Sancta Claras 1683 book, Auf, auf, ihr Christen. The main action of the trilogy begins with the second play, the viewpoint changes from that of the ordinary soldiers to that of the commanders who, awaiting orders, meet in an encampment near Pilsen. Most of them prefer Prince Wallenstein to the emperor, the former has repeatedly ignored the latters orders, which is why he has ordered the prince to cede part of his huge army. Unwilling, Wallenstein considers resignation and, to pressure the emperor into making peace, is negotiating with the Swedish enemy. Spurring him on are his closest comrades, his brother-in-law Terzky and Illo, Wallenstein lets his comrades in on his plans but – unknown to him – one of them, Octavio Piccolomini, remains loyal to the emperor, for whom he is spying. The emperor has authorised Piccolomini to replace Wallenstein as commander-in-chief, imperial informers having managed to capture one of Wallensteins negotiators en route to the Swedes, his removal becomes imminent. The situation comes to a head because Octavios son Max Piccolomini, a devotee of Wallenstein, who treats him well, Max cant believe his fathers claim that Wallenstein intends to betray the emperor. Piccolomini ends with Maxs decision to challenge Wallenstein directly about his plans, in the last part of the Wallenstein trilogy the conflict anticipated in the second play erupts and leads to a tragic conclusion
9.
Saint Petersburg
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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.
Orchestra
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The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of a stage in ancient Greek theatre reserved for the Greek chorus. A full-size orchestra may sometimes be called an orchestra or philharmonic orchestra. The actual number of employed in a given performance may vary from seventy to over one hundred musicians, depending on the work being played. The term chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles of about fifty musicians or fewer, the typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak with the large orchestras called for in the works of Richard Wagner, and later, Gustav Mahler. Orchestras are usually led by a conductor who directs the performance with movements of the hands and arms, the conductor unifies the orchestra, sets the tempo and shapes the sound of the ensemble. The first violin, commonly called the concertmaster, also plays an important role in leading the musicians, the typical symphony orchestra consists of four groups of related musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the instruments in each group. Chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles, a chamber orchestra might employ as many as fifty musicians. The term concert orchestra may also be used, as in the BBC Concert Orchestra, the so-called standard complement of doubled winds and brass in the orchestra from the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by Beethoven. The composers instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, the exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No,4, which each specify a single flute. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral palette in Symphonies 3,5,6, the third horn in the Eroica Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of choral brass in the Trio movement. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the finale of his Symphony No.5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver the effect of storm and sunshine in the Sixth, for several decades after his death, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethovens well-established model, with few exceptions. Apart from the core orchestral complement, various instruments are called for occasionally. These include the guitar, heckelphone, flugelhorn, cornet, harpsichord. Saxophones, for example, appear in some 19th- through 21st-century scores.6 and 9 and William Waltons Belshazzars Feast, and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th-century works, usually playing parts marked tenor tuba, including Gustav Holsts The Planets, cornets appear in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys ballet Swan Lake, Claude Debussys La Mer, and several orchestral works by Hector Berlioz
11.
Antonio Ghislanzoni
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Ghislanzoni was born in Lecco, Lombardy, and studied briefly in a seminary, but was expelled for bad conduct in 1841. He then decided to study medicine in Pavia, but abandoned this after a time to pursue a singing career as a baritone. In 1848, stimulated by the nationalist ideas of Mazzini, Ghislanzoni founded several newspapers in Milan. While travelling to Rome, where he wanted to defend the nascent republic, Ghislanzoni was arrested by the French. He also founded Luomo di pietra the magazine Rivista minima, collaborating with, among others, in 1869, Ghislanzoni retired from journalism and returned to his native Lombardy, where he dedicated himself to literature and writing libretti for operas. He wrote many stories in verse and diverse novels including Un suicidio a fior dacqua, Angioli nelle tenebre, La contessa di Karolystria, Abracadabra. His novel of theatrical life Gli artisti da teatro, was republished into the 20th century and he also published musical essays, the most important being Reminiscenze artistiche. Ghislanzoni wrote some eighty-five libretti, including Edmea for Catalani, Aida, Fosca and Salvator Rosa for Gomes, I Lituani for Ponchielli and he also contributed a few verses to the revised translation into Italian of Verdis Don Carlos. Ghislanzoni died in Caprino Bergamasco, Bergamo in 1893 at age 69, Works by Antonio Ghislanzoni at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Antonio Ghislanzoni at Internet Archive Works by Antonio Ghislanzoni at LibriVox Scapigliatura
12.
La Scala
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La Scala is an opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieris Europa riconosciuta, most of Italys greatest operatic artists, and many of the finest singers from around the world, have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. The theatre is regarded as one of the opera and ballet theatres in the world and is home to the La Scala Theatre Chorus, La Scala Theatre Ballet. The theatre also has a school, known as the La Scala Theatre Academy. La Scalas season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambroses Day, all performances must end before midnight, and long operas start earlier in the evening when necessary. La Scala also hosts the Accademia dArti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo and its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers. A fire destroyed the theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced a design but it was rejected by Count Firmian. A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa, the new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of 3,000 or so seats organized into 678 pit-stalls and its stage is one of the largest in Italy. Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were decorated by their owners. La Scala soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people, in the tradition of the times, the platea had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in sight, as the golfo mistico had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the loggione—where the less wealthy can watch the performances, the gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers perceived successes or failures. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a casino, conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840, At the Opera they were giving Otto Nicolais Templario. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico, to prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets
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Musicology
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Musicology is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology is part of the humanities, a scholar who participates in musical research is a musicologist. Traditionally, historical musicology has been the most prominent sub-discipline of musicology, in the 2010s, historical musicology is one of several large musicology sub-disciplines. Historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and systematic musicology are approximately equal in size, Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context. Cognitive musicology is the set of surrounding the computational modeling of music. Musical knowledge is applied in medicine, education, and music therapy—which, Music history or historical musicology is concerned with the composition, performance, reception, and criticism of music over time. Like the comparable field of art history, different branches and schools of historical musicology emphasize different types of musical works, there are also national differences in various definitions of historical musicology. In theory, music history could refer to the study of the history of any type or genre of music, in practice, these research topics are more often considered within ethnomusicology and historical musicology is typically assumed to imply Western Art music of the European tradition. The methods of historical musicology include source studies, paleography, philology, style criticism, historiography, musical analysis, Music historians may examine issues in a close focus, as in the case of scholars who examine the relationship between words and music for a given composers art songs. New musicology is a term applied since the late 1980s to a body of work emphasizing cultural study, analysis. Such work may be based on feminist, gender studies, queer theory, or postcolonial theory, or the work of Theodor Adorno. Charles Rosen, however, retorts that McClary, sets up, like so many of the new musicologists, a man to knock down, the dogma that music has no meaning. Ethnomusicology, formerly comparative musicology, is the study of music in its cultural context and it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music. Jeff Todd Titon has called it the study of making music. Some ethnomusicologists primarily conduct historical studies, but the majority are involved in long-term participant observation, or combine ethnographic, therefore, ethnomusiological scholarship can be characterized as featuring a substantial, intensive fieldwork component, often involving long-term residence within the community studied. Closely related to ethnomusiology is the branch of sociomusicology. For instance, Ko proposed the hypothesis of Biliterate and Trimusical in Hong Kong sociomusicology, the first journal focusing on popular music studies was Popular Music, which began publication in 1981. The same year an academic society devoted to the topic was formed
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University of Chicago
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The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It holds top-ten positions in national and international rankings and measures. The university currently enrolls approximately 5,700 students in the College, Chicagos physics department helped develop the worlds first man-made, self-sustaining nuclear reaction beneath the viewing stands of universitys Stagg Field. The university is home to the University of Chicago Press. With an estimated date of 2020, the Barack Obama Presidential Center will be housed at the university. Both Harper and future president Robert Maynard Hutchins advocated for Chicagos curriculum to be based upon theoretical and perennial issues rather than on applied sciences, the University of Chicago has many prominent alumni. 92 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the university as professors, students, faculty, or staff, similarly,34 faculty members and 16 alumni have been awarded the MacArthur “Genius Grant”. Rockefeller on land donated by Marshall Field, while the Rockefeller donation provided money for academic operations and long-term endowment, it was stipulated that such money could not be used for buildings. The original physical campus was financed by donations from wealthy Chicagoans like Silas B, Cobb who provided the funds for the campus first building, Cobb Lecture Hall, and matched Marshall Fields pledge of $100,000. Organized as an independent institution legally, it replaced the first Baptist university of the same name, william Rainey Harper became the modern universitys first president on July 1,1891, and the university opened for classes on October 1,1892. The business school was founded thereafter in 1898, and the law school was founded in 1902, Harper died in 1906, and was replaced by a succession of three presidents whose tenures lasted until 1929. During this period, the Oriental Institute was founded to support, in 1896, the university affiliated with Shimer College in Mount Carroll, Illinois. The agreement provided that either party could terminate the affiliation on proper notice, several University of Chicago professors disliked the program, as it involved uncompensated additional labor on their part, and they believed it cheapened the academic reputation of the university. The program passed into history by 1910, in 1929, the universitys fifth president, Robert Maynard Hutchins, took office, the university underwent many changes during his 24-year tenure. In 1933, Hutchins proposed a plan to merge the University of Chicago. During his term, the University of Chicago Hospitals finished construction, also, the Committee on Social Thought, an institution distinctive of the university, was created. Money that had been raised during the 1920s and financial backing from the Rockefeller Foundation helped the school to survive through the Great Depression, during World War II, the university made important contributions to the Manhattan Project. The university was the site of the first isolation of plutonium and of the creation of the first artificial, in the early 1950s, student applications declined as a result of increasing crime and poverty in the Hyde Park neighborhood
15.
San Francisco Opera
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San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola, in fact, Merolas initial visits to the city were as conductor of some of these troupes—the first in 1909 with the International Opera Company of Montreal. Continued visits for the next decade convinced him that a San Francisco company was viable, while it was a popular and critical triumph, the five-day season was not a financial success. It was clear to Merola that a solid financial base was needed. Appealing to more than the elite, Merola raised 2441 contributions of $50 each from many founding members. After the opening of La bohème, the first 1923/24 season included productions of Andrea Chénier, Mefistofele, Tosca (with Giuseppe de Luca and Martinelli, during the nine years following the opening season, the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House was conceived. The building was designed by Arthur Brown, Jr. the architect who also created San Franciscos Coit Tower, the company inaugurated the new opera house with a performance of Tosca on 15 October 1932 with Claudia Muzio in the title role. However, until well after Merolas death, the main San Francisco season rarely extended beyond late October and he died while conducting an open-air concert at Stern Grove on 30 August 1953. Edwin MacArthur led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in several 78-rpm recordings for RCA Victor in the late 1930s, some of these were later reissued by RCA on LP and CD. Short versions of all the works in the season were broadcast on about 30 California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia radio stations, starting about 1941. Kurt Herbert Adler came to the United States in 1938 after early experience and training in aspects of music and theatre in Austria, Germany. For five years, he worked to build the chorus of the Chicago Opera Company, Merola heard of him and, over the telephone, invited him to San Francisco opera in 1943 as chorus director. Adler was often regarded as a difficult, sometimes tyrannical person to work for, however, as Chatfield-Taylor notes, singers, conductors, directors, and designers came back season after season…. Among those who were offered new and exciting challenges were Geraint Evans, the Welsh baritone, Leontyne Price, and Luciano Pavarotti. He took on more and more details as Merolas health and energy diminished. After three months of acting as Artistic Director, and with the assistance of its president, Robert Watt Miller, Adler was confirmed as General Director, Adlers aims Adlers aims in taking over the company were several. Eventually, as seen in the 1961 SFO season, eleven operas were given five or six performances each on average while the season ran to late November. He heard Leontyne Price on the radio, and offered her a role in Dialogues of the Carmelites in 1957, thus providing her with her the first performance on a major operatic stage
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Voice type
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Other considerations are physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vocal register. A singers voice type is identified by a known as voice classification, by which the human voice is evaluated. The discipline of voice classification developed within European classical music and is not generally applicable to other forms of singing, voice classification is often used within opera to associate possible roles with potential voices. Voice classification is a tool for singers, composers, venues, while useful, voice classification systems have been used too rigidly, i. e. a house assigning a singer to a specific type and only casting him or her in roles they consider belonging to this category. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits his or her instrument, many different voice types are used in vocal pedagogy in a variety of voice classification systems. Most of these types, however, are grouped into seven major categories that are, for the most part. Women are typically divided into three groups, soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto, men are usually divided into four groups, countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. Some women fall into the tenor or baritone groups, while men identified as countertenors can be grouped as contralto, mezzo-soprano, when considering the pre-pubescent voice, an eighth term, treble, is applied. Within each of these categories, subcategories identify specific vocal qualities such as coloratura facility. The vocal range of classical performance covers about five octaves, from a low G1 to a high G6, any individuals voice can perform over a range of one and a half to more than two octaves. Vocal ranges are grouped into overlapping types that each span two octaves. Many singers fall between groups and can perform some parts in either type, soprano range, The soprano is the highest singing voice. The typical soprano voice lies between C4 and C6, the low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3. Most soprano roles do not extend above C6 although there are several standard soprano roles that call for D6, at the highest extreme, some coloratura soprano roles may reach to F6. Soprano tessitura, The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all the other voices except the sopranino, in particular, the coloratura soprano has the highest tessitura of all the soprano subtypes. Soprano subtypes, As with all types, sopranos are often divided into different subcategories based on range, vocal color or timbre, the weight of voice. Sopranos are often broken down into five subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, two types of soprano especially dear to the French are the Dugazon and the Falcon, which are intermediate voice types between the soprano and the mezzo soprano. A Dugazon is a darker-colored soubrette, a Falcon a darker-colored soprano drammatico
17.
Bass (voice type)
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A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C. Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the basso cantante, basso buffo, the American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German fach system offers further distinctions, Spielbaß, Schwerer Spielbaß, Charakterbaß, rare is the performer who embodies a single fach without also touching repertoire from another category. Cultural influence and individual variation create a variation in range. Many British composers such as Benjamin Britten have written parts for bass that center far higher than the bass tessitura as implied by the clef, the Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the range as being from the E below low C to middle C. The bass has the lowest vocal range of all voice types, the low extreme for basses is generally C2. However, several extreme bass singers, referred to as basso profondos, within opera, the lowest note in the standard bass repertoire is D2, sung by the character Osmin in Mozarts Die Entführung aus dem Serail, but few roles fall below F2. The high extreme, a few roles in the standard repertoire call for a high F♯ or G. In the operatic repertoire, the highest notes are a G♯4 and, in the aria Fra lombre e glorrori in Handels serenata Aci. Basso cantante is a higher, more lyrical voice and it is produced using a more Italianate vocal production, and possesses a faster vibrato, than its closest Germanic/Anglo-Saxon equivalent, the bass-baritone. Hoher Bass or high bass or often a dramatic bass-baritone, jugendlicher Bass denotes the role of a young man sung by a bass, regardless of the age of the singer. They are usually the blustering antagonist of the hero/heroine or the fool in bel canto operas. English equivalent, dramatic bass Basso profondo is the lowest bass voice type, steane in Voices, Singers & Critics, the basso profondo voice derives from a method of tone-production that eliminates the more Italian quick vibrato. In its place is a kind of tonal solidity, a front, which may nevertheless prove susceptible to the other kind of vibrato. Dramatic basso profondo is a basso profondo voice
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Soprano
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A soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The sopranos vocal range is from approximately middle C =261 Hz to high A =880 Hz in choral music, in four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto. The lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice, the word soprano comes from the Italian word sopra, as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. The term soprano is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, the word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3 or B♭3, within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F3. Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, however, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing a low note in a song within a soprano role. The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is soprano C, a couple of roles have optional E♭6s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E♭6 on up to F6, in rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G6 or G♯6, such as Mozarts concert aria Popoli di Tessaglia. Or the title role of Jules Massenets opera Esclarmonde, while not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of voices, a singers tessitura is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume, and most comfort. Within the soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, the coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura, Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately low B to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, the soubrette voice is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre
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Teresa Stolz
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Teresa Stolz was a Bohemian soprano, long resident in Italy, who was associated with significant premieres of the works of Giuseppe Verdi, and may have been his mistress. She has been described as the Verdian dramatic soprano par excellence, powerful, passionate in utterance, Teresa Stolz was born Tereza Stolzová in Kostelec nad Labem in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1834. This is now in the Czech Republic and she studied under Josef Neruda then at the Prague Conservatoire under Giovanni Battista Gardigiani. She was expelled from the Conservatoire in October 1851 but continued her study with Vojtěch Čaboun and she moved to Trieste to be with her brother, and where she studied with Luigi Ricci. She made her debut in Tiflis in 1857 and also appeared in Odessa, Constantinople, Nice, Granada, in 1864 she went to Italy, where she was a pupil of Francesco Lamperti in Milan. She made her European debut in Turin in 1864 and she appeared regularly at La Scala, Milan, between 1865 and 1877. She created the role of Leonora in the version of Verdis La forza del destino in Milan on 27 February 1869. She was the first to sing the role of Aida in Italy. Verdi did not attend the premiere in Cairo the previous December. Stolz was also the soprano soloist at the premiere of Verdis Requiem on 22 May 1874 and she also appeared in the Requiem under Verdis direction at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1875. She reprised Aida under Verdi in Vienna in 1875 and in Paris in 1876 and her career took her to such places such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Cairo, the major Italian opera houses, as well as Vienna, Paris and London. She was the mistress and later the fiancée of the conductor and that relationship ended around 1871 but there were a number of complicating factors that led up to it. Mariani had formerly been a friend of Verdis, but they parted company in 1871 after Marianis indecision when he was asked by Verdi to conduct the premiere of Aida in Cairo. Stolz was accused of having an affair with Verdi, but whether this charge is true cannot be said with certainty, Verdi did spend an unusual amount of time working with her leading up to the Milan premiere of Aida in 1872. Mariani died of cancer in 1873 and it was a very complicated affair, made even more complicated by the publication of supposed letters by Strepponi which referred to my dear friend Teresina. Who has always behaved as a faithful friend should and these letters are now known to be forgeries, and the exact truth of the matter has been debated ever since. Stolz became Verdis companion after Strepponis death in 1897, but whether this was platonic or romantic is not known and she died in Milan in 1902, the year after Verdi, and is buried there. A hall in Kostelec is named after her and she had identical twin elder sisters, Francesca and Ludmila, both singers
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Baritone
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A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice types. It is the most common male voice, the baritone voice type is generally divided into the baryton-Martin baritone, lyric baritone, Kavalierbariton, Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, baryton-noble baritone, and the bass-baritone. The first use of the term baritone emerged as baritonans, late in the 15th century, at this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices, but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the average male choral voice. Baritones took roughly the range as it is today at the beginning of the 18th century. Indeed, many works of the 18th century have roles marked as bass that in reality are low baritone roles. Examples of this are to be found, for instance, in the operas, the greatest and most enduring parts for baritones in 18th-century operatic music were composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They include Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute and these included the likes of Filippo Galli, Giovanni Inchindi, and Henri-Bernard Dabadie. The basse-taille and the bass were commonly confused because their roles were sometimes sung by singers of either actual voice part. The bel canto style of vocalism which arose in Italy in the early 19th century supplanted the castrato-dominated opera seria of the previous century and it led to the baritone being viewed as a separate voice category from the bass. More often than not, however, baritones found themselves portraying villains, the principal composers of bel canto opera are considered to be, Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the young Giuseppe Verdi. Figaro in Il barbiere is often called the first true baritone role, however, Donizetti and Verdi in their vocal writing went on to emphasize the top fifth of the baritone voice, rather than its lower notes—thus generating a more brilliant sound. The major international baritone of the first half of the 19th century was the Italian Antonio Tamburini and he was a famous Don Giovanni in Mozarts eponymous opera as well as being a Bellini and Donizetti specialist. Commentators praised his voice for its beauty, flexibility and smooth tonal emission, Tamburinis range, however, was probably closer to that of a bass-baritone than to that of a modern Verdi baritone. His French equivalent was Henri-Bernard Dabadie, who was a mainstay of the Paris Opera between 1819 and 1836 and the creator of several major Rossinian baritone roles, including Guillaume Tell. Dabadie sang in Italy, too, where he originated the role of Belcore in Lelisir damore in 1832, the most important of Tamburinis Italianate successors were all Verdians. In France, Paul Barroilhet succeeded Dabadie as the Paris operas best known baritone, like Dabadie, he also sang in Italy and created an important Donizetti role, in his case, Alphonse in La favorite. Antonio Pini-Corsi was the standout Italian buffo baritone in the period between about 1880 and World War I, reveling in comic roles by Rossini, Donizetti and Paer. In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdis last opera, notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle, Victor Maurel, Paul Lhérie, and Maurice Renaud
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Francesco Graziani (baritone)
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Francesco Graziani was an Italian baritone and voice teacher. Graziani has been called the first modern baritone because his vocal attributes were well suited to the operatic parts composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Graziani was born in 1828 in Fermo, Italy and his older brother, Lodovico Graziani, was a dramatic tenor. He studied with Cellini and made his debut In Italy in 1851 at Ascoli Piceno in Donizettis Gemma di Vergy, the next season he sang in Macerata, performing Francesco in Verdis I masnadieri. In the summer of 1854, he performed with Max Maretzeks Italian opera company at Castle Garden in New York City and he appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1855 to 1880. He performed the role of Nelusco in the 1865 London premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeers LAfricaine, among the other roles he sang in London were the title role in Rigoletto, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Posa in Don Carlo, and Amonasro in Aida. His last performance at the house was as Germont in La traviata with Adelina Patti on July 17 in the performance of the 1880 season. At St Petersburg, on 10 November 1862, he had cemented a spot in history by creating the role of Don Carlos in the first performance of Verdis La forza del destino. Graziani later moved to Berlin where he became a voice teacher, among his pupils was the American soprano Geraldine Farrar. He died on June 30,1901 at his birthplace, Fermo, during his career, Graziani had faced strong competition on stage from a number of other outstanding Italian baritones. Probably the greatest of his rivals was Roman-born Antonio Cotogni, whose voice was of similar quality. Francesco Graziani had three brothers who also sang professionally, Giuseppe Graziani was a bass and he studied with Saverio Mercadante in Naples and performed primarily in concerts. Lodovico Graziani became a well-known tenor and he created the role of Alfredo in Verdis La traviata at La Fenice. His debut in 1862 was as Belcore in Donizettis Lelisir damore and he gave up his career early, after an illness caused him to become partially deaf. Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden, the New Grove Dictionary of Opera. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition
22.
Tenor
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Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
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Enrico Tamberlik
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Enrico Tamberlik was an Italian tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and Americas leading opera venues. He excelled in the roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes. Born in Rome, some claim that Tamberlik might have been of Romanian descent. Nonetheless, his training was entirely Italian. He studied first in Naples with Zirilli and Borgna, then in Bologna with Guglielmi and he appeared, too, in Madrid and Barcelona. In 1850, Tamberlik debuted at the Royal Opera House in Londons Covent Garden and he was to appear regularly at Covent Garden until 1870, enjoying star billing each time. Tamberlik sang often at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg from 1850 until 1863 and he made his initial guest appearance at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1858, returning there many times until 1877. Tamberlik portrayed Alfredo in La traviata to the Violetta of Sofia Vera Lorini for the opening of the original Teatro Colón opera house in Buenos Aires in 1857 and he also appeared in North America, singing at the Academy of Music in New York City during the 1873-74 season. He last singing engagements in London were at Her Majestys Theatre in 1877 and he toured Spain again in 1881 and retired from the operatic stage shortly afterwards. Tamberliks death occurred in Paris, three days before his 69th birthday, other notable roles of his included Otello, Pollione, Arturo, Ernani, Robert le diable, Faust, Don Ottavio, Florestan, Max, Poliuto and Cellini. The heroic tenor Francesco Tamagno was regarded as being Tamberliks foremost successor, grove Music Online, entry by Elizabeth Forbes, July 2008. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, second edition, edited by Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack, Oxford University Press, the Great Singers, revised edition, by Henry Pleasants, Macmillan Publishing, London,1983
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Mario Tiberini
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Mario Tiberini was an Italian tenor who sang leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and the Americas in a career spanning 25 years. Tiberini was born in San Lorenzo in Campo in Italys Marche region, after study in Rome with Domenico Lucilla and in Naples with Emanuele de Roxas, he made his stage debut in 1851 as Idreno in Rossinis Semiramide at Romes Teatro Argentina. He performed in a few theatres in Italy until 1854 when he toured North and South America with Italian opera companies. He also gave concerts in New York and Boston launched by the opera impresario Bernard Ullman who billed Tiberini as a descendant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. After his return to Europe in 1858, Tiberini was engaged as primo tenore at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, there he met and fell in love with the soprano Angiolina Ortolani who was singing the title role in Linda di Chamounix. They married soon after and for the rest of their careers, by 1875, Tiberinis voice began showing signs of decline, and shortly afterwards he also began showing symptoms of mental illness. He spent his days in a sanatorium in Reggio Emilia where he died at the age of 54. An inscription on a lithograph in the Biblioteca Trivulziana in Milan states that he died believing he was Manrico, the protagonist of Il trovatore. However, according to Denise Gallo writing in The Cambridge Verdi Encyclopedia, there is no mention of this delusion in the records of the asylum, Tiberini was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano. The funerary sculpture on his grave is by Pietro Fumeo and depicts a broken column entwined with ivy, the inscription lists his greatest roles, Edgardo, Arturo, Corradino, Raul, Lohengrin, and Alvaro. In 1880, four months after his death, the Teatro Trionfo in San Lorenzo in Campo was renamed the Teatro Mario Tiberini in his honour as was the street on which it stands
25.
Mezzo-soprano
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A mezzo-soprano or mezzo is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-sopranos vocal range extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C, the mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in music, early music. Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, such roles include Despina in Mozarts Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni. Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana, Lady Macbeth in Verdis Macbeth, the vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a heavier, darker tone than sopranos, the mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal quality difference. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories, coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano, a coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented. They have a range from approximately the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C, some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C or high D, but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in the middle of their range, many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi, originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles, coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas, The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G below middle C to the A two octaves above middle C. This voice has a smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano is ideal for most trouser roles and this voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano
26.
Ignazio Marini
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Ignazio Marini was a celebrated Italian operatic bass. Ignazio Marini was born in Tagliuno near Bergamo and made his debut in Brescia in 1832. He also created the role in Verdis Attila in its 1846 premiere at La Fenice. Marini died in Milan in 1873 at the age of 61 and his wife and frequent stage partner was the soprano Antonietta Marini-Rainieri
27.
Achille De Bassini
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Achille De Bassini was an Italian baritone, particularly noted for his performances in Verdis operas. He created the roles of Francesco Foscari in I due Foscari, Pasha Seid in Il corsaro, Miller in Luisa Miller, Bassini was born and studied in Milan, and is thought to have made his début at Voghera in 1837 in the title role of Donizettis Belisario. Although he had a talent for portraying noble, suffering characters, Verdi also recognized his capacity for humorous roles and he sang throughout Italy and from 1852–1863 in St. Petersburg as well. He made his London debut in Covent Garden in 1859, De Bassini was married to the soprano Rita Gabussi. Their son, Alberto De Bassini, was also an singer, first as a tenor. Achille died, aged 62, at Cava de Tirreni, J. Warrack and E. West, De Bassini, Achille, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press,1992. Francesco Regli, Dizionario biografico dei più celebri poeti ed artisti melodrammatici, E. Dalmazzo,1860, pp. 151–152
28.
Alessandro Polonini
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Alessandro Polonini was an Italian bass-baritone. He created the roles of Benoît and Alcindoro in Puccinis opera La bohème, Polonini also created the role of the surgeon in Verdis La forza del destino. During his career Polonini sang throughout Italy, and also appeared in Barcelona, Saint Petersburg, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. In 1881, he sang at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in the theatres first performances of Rossinis The Barber of Seville, Bellinis La sonnambula and he returned there in 1894 for the Costanzis first performance of Manon Lescaut. Polonini appeared frequently at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Polonini was also Beckmesser in the Teatro Regios first performance of Wagners Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Alessandro Poloninis father, Eutimio Polonini, was also a singer who sang in Italy, Paris, Saint Petersburg. In Italy, Eutimio Polonini sang in the premieres of Saverio Mercadantes Il bravo, ossia La veneziana and he made his London debut in 1847 and for 21 years sang with the Royal Italian Opera. In April 1855 he appeared there in Beethovens Fidelio in the presence of Queen Victoria and Napoleon III, Eutimio Polonini also performed in other cities in Britain and Ireland with impresario Thomas Willert Beales touring opera company. De Angelis, Alberto LItalia musicale doggi, dizionario dei musicisti, Ausonia, golicz, Roman The English Life of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, Chapter 8, Don Namor Press. Gregorio, Mariano Historia del teatro en Buenos Aires, El Comercio, grove, George Polonini, Entimio in A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, p.11, volume 3, Macmillan and Co. Salgado, Susana The Teatro Solís,150 Years of Opera, Concert, ISBN 0-8195-6594-6 Maynard, Walter, The Enterprising Impresario, London, Bradbury, Evans and Co.1867. This book of Thomas Willert Beales memoirs contains several anecdotes about Eutimio Polonini, Alessandro Poloninis father
29.
Western concert flute
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The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute, a musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, flute player, or fluter. This type of flute is used in ensembles including concert bands, military bands, marching bands, orchestras, flute ensembles. Other flutes in this include the piccolo, alto flute. A large repertory of works has been composed for flute, the flute is one of the oldest and most widely used wind instruments. The precursors of the concert flute were keyless wooden transverse flutes. These were later modified to include one and eight keys for chromatic notes. The most common pitch for keyless wooden traverse flutes is six-finger D, keyless traverse flutes continue to be used in folk music and in historically informed performances of Baroque music. Throughout the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, transverse flutes were very uncommon in Europe, the transverse flute arrived in Europe from Asia, via the Byzantine Empire, where it migrated to Germany and France. These flutes became known as German flutes, to them from others. The flute became used in music, along with the viol. It would not spread to the rest of Europe for nearly a century, the first literary appearance of the transverse flute was made in 1285, by Adenet le Roi in a list of instruments he played. After this, a period of 70 years ensues, where there are few references to the flute, beginning in the 1470s, a military revival in Europe led to a revival in the flute. The Swiss army used flutes for signaling, and this helped the spread to all of Europe. In the late 16th century, flutes began to appear in court and theatre music, following the 16th century court music, flutes began appearing in chamber ensembles. These flutes were used as the tenor voice. However, flutes varied greatly in size and range and this made transposition necessary, which led flutists to use Guidonian hexachords to transpose music more easily. At this stage, the flute was usually made in one section and had a cylindrical bore
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Piccolo
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The piccolo /ˈpɪkəloʊ/ is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The modern piccolo has most of the same fingerings as its sibling, the standard transverse flute. This gave rise to the name ottavino, the name by which the instrument is referred to in the scores of Italian composers, piccolos are now manufactured in the key of C or D♭. It was for this D♭ piccolo that John Philip Sousa wrote the solo in the final repeat of the closing section of his march The Stars. In the orchestral setting, the player is often designated as piccolo/flute III. The larger orchestras have designated this position as a position due to the demands of the literature. Piccolos are often orchestrated to double the violins or the flutes, adding sparkle, in concert band settings, the piccolo is almost always used and a piccolo part is almost always available. Historically, the piccolo had no keys, and should not be confused with the fife, the piccolo is used in conjunction with marching drums in traditional formations at the Carnival of Basel, Switzerland. It is a myth that one of the earliest pieces to use the piccolo was Beethovens Symphony No.5 in C Minor, although neither Joseph Haydn nor Mozart used it in their symphonies, some of their contemporaries did, including Hoffmeister, Süssmayr and Michael Haydn. Also, Mozart used the piccolo in his opera Idomeneo, opera orchestras in Paris sometimes included small transverse flutes at the octave as early as 1735 as existing scores by Rameau show. Finely made piccolos are often available with a variety of similar to the flute. Most piccolos have a body with a cylindrical head, which is like the Baroque flute. There are a number of pieces for piccolo alone, by composers as Samuel Adler, Robert Dick, Michael Isaacson, David Loeb, Polly Moller, Vincent Persichetti. Additionally, there is a selection of chamber music that uses the piccolo. One example is the Quintet for Piccolo and String Quartet by Graham Waterhouse, another is Stockhausens Zungenspitzentanz, for piccolo and two euphoniums, with optional percussionist and dancer. Bryn Mawr, Theodore Presser Company,2008, the Symphonic Debutante Piccolo, Was it Really Beethovens Fifth. The Woodwind Fingering Guide, with piccolo fingerings
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Oboe
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Oboes /ˈoʊboʊ/ OH-boh are a family of double reed woodwind musical instruments. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range, oboes are usually made of wood, but there are also oboes made of synthetic materials. A soprano oboe measures roughly 65 cm long, with keys, a conical bore. Sound is produced by blowing into the reed and vibrating a column of air, the distinctive oboe tone is versatile, and has been described as bright. When the term oboe is used alone, it is taken to mean the standard treble instrument rather than other instruments of the family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called a hautbois, hoboy. The spelling of oboe was adopted into English c.1770 from the Italian oboè, a musician who plays the oboe is called an oboist or simply an oboe player. In comparison to other woodwind instruments, the treble oboe is sometimes referred to as having a clear. The Sprightly Companion, a book published by Henry Playford in 1695, describes the oboe as Majestical and Stately. Humorously, the sound of the oboe is described in the play Angels in America as like that of a if the duck were a songbird. The rich timbre of the oboe is derived from its conical bore, as a result, oboes are readily audible over other instruments in large ensembles. The highest note of the oboe is a lower than the nominally highest note of the B♭ clarinet. Since the clarinet has a range of notes, the lowest note of the B♭ clarinet is significantly deeper than the lowest note of the oboe. Music for the oboe is written in concert pitch. Orchestras normally tune to a concert A played by the oboe, according to the League of American Orchestras, this is done because the pitch of the oboe is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning purposes. The pitch of the oboe is affected by the way in which the reed is made. The reed has a significant effect on the sound of the instrument, Variations in cane and other construction materials, the age of the reed, and differences in scrape and length all affect the pitch of the instrument. German and French reeds, for instance, differ in many ways, weather conditions such as temperature and humidity also affect the pitch
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Clarinet
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The clarinet is a musical-instrument family belonging to the group known as the woodwind instruments. It has a mouthpiece, a straight cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore. A person who plays a clarinet is called a clarinetist, the word clarinet may have entered the English language via the French clarinette, or from Provençal clarin, oboe. It would seem however that its roots are to be found amongst some of the various names for trumpets used around the renaissance. Clarion, clarin and the Italian clarino are all derived from the medieval term claro which referred to a form of trumpet. This is probably the origin of the Italian clarinetto, itself a diminutive of clarino, according to Johann Gottfried Walther, writing in 1732, the reason for the name is that it sounded from far off not unlike a trumpet. The English form clarinet is found as early as 1733, while the similarity in sound between the earliest clarinets and the trumpet may hold a clue to its name, other factors may have been involved. The trumpet parts that required this speciality were known by the term clarino, Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet in Germany around the year 1700 by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and these days the most popular clarinet is the B♭ clarinet. However, the clarinet in A, just a lower, is commonly used in orchestral music. Since the middle of the 19th century the clarinet has become an essential addition to the orchestra. The clarinet family ranges from the BBB♭ octo-contrabass to the A♭ piccolo clarinet, the clarinet has proved to be an exceptionally flexible instrument, equally at home in the classical repertoire as in concert bands, military bands, marching bands, klezmer, and jazz. The cylindrical bore is primarily responsible for the clarinets distinctive timbre, the tone quality can vary greatly with the musician, the music, the instrument, the mouthpiece, and the reed. The most prominent were the German/Viennese traditions and the French school, the latter was centered on the clarinetists of the Conservatoire de Paris. The proliferation of recorded music has made examples of different styles of clarinet playing available, the modern clarinetist has a diverse palette of acceptable tone qualities to choose from. The A clarinet and B♭ clarinet have nearly the same bore, orchestral players using the A and B♭ instruments in the same concert could use the same mouthpiece for both. The A and the B♭ instruments have nearly identical tonal quality, the tone of the E♭ clarinet is brighter than that of the lower clarinets and can be heard even through loud orchestral or concert band textures. The bass clarinet has a deep, mellow sound, while the alto clarinet is similar in tone to the bass
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Bass clarinet
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The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B♭ clarinet, it is pitched in B♭. Bass clarinets in other keys, notably C and A, also exist, Bass clarinets regularly perform in orchestras, wind ensembles/concert bands, occasionally in marching bands, and play an occasional solo role in contemporary music and jazz in particular. Someone who plays a clarinet is called a bass clarinetist. Most modern bass clarinets are straight-bodied, with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell, Early examples varied in shape, some having a doubled body making them look similar to bassoons. The bass clarinet is fairly heavy and is supported either with a strap or with an adjustable peg attached to its body. While Adolphe Sax imitated its upturned metal bell in his design of the larger saxophones, Bass clarinet bodies are most often made of grenadilla or plastic resin, while saxophones are typically made entirely of metal. More significantly, all including the bass have a bore that is basically the same diameter along the body of the instrument. This cylindrical bore differs from the saxophones conical one and gives the clarinet its characteristic tone, causing it to overblow at the twelfth compared with the saxophones octave. A majority of modern bass clarinets, like other clarinets in the family, have the Boehm system of keys and fingering, most modern Boehm system bass clarinets have an extension key allowing them to play to the E♭. This key was added to allow easy transposition of parts for the relatively rare bass clarinet pitched in A. A significant difference between soprano and bass clarinet key work is a key pad played by the index finger with a vent that may be uncovered for certain high notes. This allows a form of half-hole fingering that allows notes in higher registers to be played on the instrument, in addition, older bass clarinets have two register keys, one for middle D♯ and below, the other for middle E and higher. Newer models typically only have one, the second register key makes the altissimo range much easier to play. In addition to differences in keywork, many professional and advanced bass clarinetists own instruments with extensions down to a C a full two octaves below written middle C. At concert pitch this note is the B♭ below the second ledger line below the bass staff, overall, the instrument sounds an octave lower than the B♭ soprano clarinet. As with all instruments, the upper limit of the range depends on the quality of the instrument. According to Aber and Lerstad, who give fingerings up to written C8, the bass clarinet has been regularly used in scoring for orchestra and concert band since the late 19th century, becoming more common during the middle and latter part of the 20th century
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Bassoon
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The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble. Appearing in its form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band. The bassoon is an instrument known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, variety of character. Listeners often compare its warm, dark, reedy timbre to that of a baritone voice. Someone who plays the bassoon is called a bassoonist, the word bassoon comes from French basson and from Italian bassone. However, the Italian name for the instrument is fagotto. B♭1–C5 The range of the bassoon begins at B♭1 and extends upward over three octaves, roughly to the G above the treble staff, higher notes are possible but difficult to produce, and rarely called for, orchestral and concert band parts rarely go higher than C5 or D5. Even Stravinskys famously difficult opening solo in The Rite of Spring only ascends to D5, a1 is possible with a special extension to the instrument—see Extended techniques below. The bassoon disassembles into six pieces, including the reed. Bassoons are double reed instruments like the oboe and the English horn, a modern beginners bassoon is generally made of maple, with medium-hardness types such as sycamore maple and sugar maple preferred. Both bore and tone holes are precision-machined, and each instrument is finished by hand for proper tuning and this ensures coverage by the fingers of the average adult hand. Wooden instruments are lined with hard rubber along the interior of the wing and boot joints to prevent damage from moisture, the end of the bell is usually fitted with a ring, either of metal, plastic or ivory. The joints between sections consist of a tenon fitting into a socket, the tenons are wrapped in either cork or string as a seal against air leaks. The bocal connects the reed to the rest of the instrument and is inserted into a socket at the top of the wing joint, bocals come in many different lengths and styles, depending on the desired tuning and playing characteristics. Folded upon itself, the bassoon stands 1.34 m tall, there are also short-reach bassoons made for the benefit of young or petite players. The origins of the dulcian are obscure, but by the century it was available in as many as eight different sizes. Otherwise, dulcian technique was rather primitive, with eight finger holes, the dulcian came to be known as fagotto in Italy. However, the etymology that equates fagotto with bundle of sticks is somewhat misleading
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French horn
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The French horn is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B♭ is the horn most often used by players in professional orchestras, a musician who plays any kind of horn is generally referred to as a horn player. Most horns have lever-operated rotary valves, but some, especially older horns, use piston valves, the backward-facing orientation of the bell relates to the perceived desirability to create a subdued sound, in concert situations, in contrast to the more piercing quality of the trumpet. A horn without valves is known as a horn, changing pitch along the natural harmonics of the instrument. Pitch may also be controlled by the position of the hand in the bell, the pitch of any note can easily be raised or lowered by adjusting the hand position in the bell. Three valves control the flow of air in the single horn, the more common double horn has a fourth valve, usually operated by the thumb, which routes the air to one set of tubing tuned to F or another tuned to B♭. Triple horns with five valves are made, tuned in F, B♭. Also common are descant doubles, which typically provide B♭ and alto F branches and this configuration provides a high-range horn while avoiding the additional complexity and weight of a triple. A crucial element in playing the horn deals with the mouthpiece, when playing higher notes, the majority of players exert a small degree of additional pressure on the lips using the mouthpiece. It is the goal of all serious brass musicians to develop their technique such that additional mouthpiece pressure is avoided altogether, or at the very least, the name French horn is found only in English, first coming into use in the late 17th century. At that time, French makers were preeminent in the manufacture of hunting horns, as a result, these instruments were often called, even in English, by their French names, trompe de chasse or cor de chasse. The International Horn Society has recommended since 1971 that the instrument be simply called the horn, there is also a more specific use of French horn to describe a particular horn type, differentiated from the German horn and Vienna horn. In this sense, French horn refers to an instrument with three Périnet valves. It retains the narrow bell-throat and mouthpipe crooks of the orchestral hand horn of the late 18th century, and most often has an ascending third valve. This is a whole-tone valve arranged so that with the valve in the up position the valve loop is engaged, the horn is the third-highest-sounding instrument in the brass family, below the trumpet and the cornet. Horns are mostly tuned in B♭ or F, or a combination of both, in some traditions, novice players use a single horn in F, while others prefer the B♭ horn. The F horn is used more commonly than the B♭ horn, sound is produced by vibrating the players lips into the mouthpiece of the instrument. Different partials in the series can be played by adjusting the air pressure and lip tension
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Trumpet
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A trumpet is a musical instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family, trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through almost-closed lips, producing a sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, there are many distinct types of trumpet, with the most common being pitched in B♭, having a tubing length of about 1.48 m. Early trumpets did not provide means to change the length of tubing, most trumpets have valves of the piston type, while some have the rotary type. The use of rotary-valved trumpets is more common in orchestral settings, each valve, when engaged, increases the length of tubing, lowering the pitch of the instrument. A musician who plays the trumpet is called a trumpet player or trumpeter, the earliest trumpets date back to 1500 BC and earlier. The bronze and silver trumpets from Tutankhamuns grave in Egypt, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, trumpets from the Oxus civilization of Central Asia have decorated swellings in the middle, yet are made out of one sheet of metal, which is considered a technical wonder. The Shofar, made from a ram horn and the Hatzotzeroth and they were played in Solomons Temple around 3000 years ago. They were said to be used to blow down the walls of Jericho and they are still used on certain religious days. The Salpinx was a straight trumpet 62 inches long, made of bone or bronze, Salpinx contests were a part of the original Olympic Games. The Moche people of ancient Peru depicted trumpets in their art going back to AD300, the earliest trumpets were signaling instruments used for military or religious purposes, rather than music in the modern sense, and the modern bugle continues this signaling tradition. Improvements to instrument design and metal making in the late Middle Ages, the natural trumpets of this era consisted of a single coiled tube without valves and therefore could only produce the notes of a single overtone series. Changing keys required the player to change crooks of the instrument, the development of the upper, clarino register by specialist trumpeters—notably Cesare Bendinelli—would lend itself well to the Baroque era, also known as the Golden Age of the natural trumpet. During this period, a vast body of music was written for virtuoso trumpeters, the art was revived in the mid-20th century and natural trumpet playing is again a thriving art around the world. The melody-dominated homophony of the classical and romantic periods relegated the trumpet to a role by most major composers owing to the limitations of the natural trumpet. Berlioz wrote in 1844, Notwithstanding the real loftiness and distinguished nature of its quality of tone, there are few instruments that have been more degraded. The attempt to give the trumpet more chromatic freedom in its range saw the development of the keyed trumpet, the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven, and as late as Brahms, were still played on natural trumpets
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Trombone
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The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the players vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate, nearly all trombones have a telescoping slide mechanism that varies the length of the instrument to change the pitch. Many modern trombone models also utilize a rotary valve as a means to lower pitch of the instrument, variants such as the valve trombone and superbone have three valves like those on the trumpet. The word trombone derives from Italian tromba and -one, so the name means large trumpet, the trombone has a predominantly cylindrical bore like its valved counterpart the baritone and in contrast to its conical valved counterparts, the euphonium and the horn. The most frequently encountered trombones are the trombone and bass trombone. The most common variant, the tenor, is an instrument pitched in B♭, an octave below the B♭ trumpet. A person who plays the trombone is called a trombonist or trombone player, the trombone is a predominantly cylindrical tube bent into an elongated S shape. Rather than being completely cylindrical from end to end, the tube is a series of tapers with the smallest at the mouthpiece receiver. The design of these affects the intonation of the instrument. As with other instruments, sound is produced by blowing air through pursed lips producing a vibration that creates a standing wave in the instrument. The detachable cup-shaped mouthpiece is similar to that of the baritone horn and it has the venturi, a small constriction of the air column that adds resistance greatly affecting the tone of the instrument, and is inserted into the mouthpiece receiver in the slide section. The slide section consists of a leadpipe, the inner and outer tubes. Modern stays are soldered, while sackbuts were made with loose, the slide, the most distinctive feature of the trombone, allows the player to extend the length of the air column, lowering the pitch. To prevent friction from slowing the action of the slide, additional sleeves were developed during the Renaissance, and this part of the slide must be lubricated frequently. Additional tubing connects the slide to the bell of the instrument through a neckpipe, for example, second position A is not in exactly the same place on the slide as second position E. Many types of trombone also include one or more rotary valves used to increase the length of the instrument by directing the air flow through additional tubing. This allows the instrument to reach notes that are not possible without the valve as well as play other notes in alternate positions. Like the trumpet, the trombone is considered a cylindrical bore instrument since it has sections of tubing, principally in the slide section
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Types of trombone
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There are many different types of trombone. See trombone for information about the instrument in general, the cimbasso is a brass instrument in the trombone family, with a sound ranging from warm and mellow to bright and menacing. It has three to six piston or rotary valves, a cylindrical bore, and is usually pitched in C, F or E♭. It is in the range as a tuba or a contrabass trombone. The early use of cimbasso referred to a serpent of a narrower bore than the basson russe. Later, this term was extended to a range of instruments including the ophicleide. In general, after the advent of the more conical bass tuba, the term cimbasso was used to refer to a more blending voice than the basso tuba or bombardone and this causes a very direct, concentrated sound to be projected towards conductor and audience. The cimbasso in its form had a bell pointed upwards like the wider-bored tuba. Verdi disliked the wide-bore damned Bombardoni Austriche, not only because of the hoarse, broad tone, but also because of the Austrian origin of those wide-bore Bombardone-tubas. This attitude was inspired by the hated Austrian occupation of northern Italy in the years before the Risorgimento and these instruments were, however, well appreciated in the military brass and reed bands, playing the bass role of the string basses. It is a challenge for instrument builders and players of low-brass, to begin with the Bas-valve horns were derived from Basson Russe until the tuba formed Trombone Basso as used after 1867 until Otello/Falstaff. The cimbasso in its form as developed by Verdi and atelier Pelitti. The contrabass trombone is pitched in 12 F a perfect fourth lower than the modern tenor or bass trombone and has been through a number of changes in its history. Its first incarnation during the Renaissance was in 18 B♭ as the Octav-posaune, during this period it was built as an oversized bass trombone with a long slide and extension handle to reach the lower positions. The innovation of the double slide took place towards the end of period and was applied to the bass and contrabass trombones. The slide was wound back on itself to produce four tubes, each of which moved in tandem with its partner, during the nineteenth century, the contrabass trombone enjoyed a revival and it was constructed according to the double slide principle. At the turn of the 20th century, Conn manufactured a number of contrabass trombones. Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen employed the contrabass trombone for the first time in the opera house
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Timpani
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Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper and they are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet. Timpani evolved from military drums to become a staple of the orchestra by the last third of the 18th century. Today, they are used in many types of ensembles, including concert bands, marching bands, orchestras. Timpani is an Italian plural, the singular of which is timpano and they are also often incorrectly termed timpanis. A musician who plays the timpani is a timpanist, alternative spellings with y in place of either or both is—tympani, tympany, or timpany—are occasionally encountered in older English texts. Although the word timpani has been adopted in the English language. The German word for timpani is Pauken, the French and Spanish is timbales, the Ashanti pair of talking drums are known as atumpan. The tympanum is defined in the Etymologiae of St. Isidore of Seville, est enim pars media symphoniae in similitudinem cribri. Tympanum autem dictum quod medium est, unde, et margaritum medium tympanum dicitur, et ipsum ut symphonia ad virgulam percutitur. The tympanum is skin or hide stretched over a wooden vessel which extends out. It is said by the symphonias to resemble a sieve, but has also likened to half a pearl. It is struck with a wand, beating time for the symphonia, the reference comparing the tympanum to half a pearl is borrowed from Pliny the Elder. The basic timpani drum consists of a drumhead stretched across the opening of a bowl made of copper or, in less expensive models, fiberglass. In the Sachs–Hornbostel classification, the timpani are thus considered membranophones, the heads tension can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the rods. Most timpani have six to eight tension rods, the shape of the bowl contributes to the quality of the drum. For example, hemispheric bowls produce brighter tones while parabolic bowls produce darker tones, another factor that affects the timbre of the drum is the quality of the bowls surface. Copper bowls may have a smooth, machined surface or a surface with many small dents hammered into it
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Snare drum
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The snare drum or side drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick. Snare drums are used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps. It is one of the pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer. Snare drums are played with drum sticks, but the use of other beaters such as the brush or the rute can be used to achieve very different sounds. The snare drum is a versatile and expressive percussion instrument due its sensitivity, the snare drum originates from the tabor, a drum first used to accompany the flute. The tabor evolved into more modern versions, such as the kit snare, marching snare, tarol snare, each type presents a different style of percussion and size. The snare drum that one might see in a music concert is usually used in a backbeat style to create rhythm. In marching bands, it can do the same but is used mostly for a front beat, in comparison with the marching snare, the kit snare is generally smaller in length between the two heads, while the piccolo is the smallest of the three. The snare drum is easily recognizable by its loud cracking sound when struck firmly with a stick or mallet. The depth of the sound varies from snare to snare because of the different techniques, some of these qualities are head material and tension, dimensions, and rim and drum shell materials and construction. The snare drum is constructed of two heads—both usually made of plastic—along with a rattle of metal wires on the head called the snares. The wires can also be placed on the top, as in the tarol snare, the top head is typically called the batter head because that is where the drummer strikes it, while the bottom head is called the snare head because that is where the snares are located. The tension of each head is constant by tension rods. Tension rod adjustment allows the pitch and tonal character of the drum to be customized by the player, the strainer is a lever that engages or disengages contact between the snares and the head, and allows snare tension adjustment. If the strainer is disengaged, the sound of the drum resembles a tom because the snares are inactive. The rim is the ring around the batter head, which can be used for a variety of things. The drum can be played by striking it with a stick or any other form of beater, including brushes, rute and hands. When using a stick, the drummer may strike the head of the drum, when the top head is struck, the bottom head vibrates in tandem, which in turn stimulates the snares and produces a cracking sound
