1.
Jazz
–
Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements
2.
Classical music
–
Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions of Western music, including both liturgical and secular music. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common-practice period, Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches, tempo, meter and rhythms for a piece of music. This can leave less room for such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation. The term classical music did not appear until the early 19th century, the earliest reference to classical music recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836. This score typically determines details of rhythm, pitch, and, the written quality of the music has enabled a high level of complexity within them, J. S. The use of written notation also preserves a record of the works, Musical notation enables 2000s-era performers to sing a choral work from the 1300s Renaissance era or a 1700s Baroque concerto with many of the features of the music being reproduced. That said, the score does not provide complete and exact instructions on how to perform a historical work, even if the tempo is written with an Italian instruction, we do not know exactly how fast the piece should be played. Bach was particularly noted for his complex improvisations, during the Classical era, the composer-performer Mozart was noted for his ability to improvise melodies in different styles. During the Classical era, some virtuoso soloists would improvise the cadenza sections of a concerto, during the Romantic era, Beethoven would improvise at the piano. The instruments currently used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century and they consist of the instruments found in an orchestra or in a concert band, together with several other solo instruments. The symphony orchestra is the most widely known medium for music and includes members of the string, woodwind, brass. The concert band consists of members of the woodwind, brass and it generally has a larger variety and number of woodwind and brass instruments than the orchestra but does not have a string section. However, many bands use a double bass. Many of the used to perform medieval music still exist. Medieval instruments included the flute, the recorder and plucked string instruments like the lute. As well, early versions of the organ, fiddle, Medieval instruments in Europe had most commonly been used singly, often self accompanied with a drone note, or occasionally in parts. From at least as early as the 13th century through the 15th century there was a division of instruments into haut, during the earlier medieval period, the vocal music from the liturgical genre, predominantly Gregorian chant, was monophonic, using a single, unaccompanied vocal melody line. Polyphonic vocal genres, which used multiple independent vocal melodies, began to develop during the medieval era, becoming prevalent by the later 13th
3.
Karlheinz Stockhausen
–
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him one of the visionaries of 20th-century music. He is known for his work in electronic music, aleatory in serial composition. He was educated at the Hochschule für Musik Köln and the University of Cologne, later studying with Olivier Messiaen in Paris and with Werner Meyer-Eppler at the University of Bonn. One of the figures of the Darmstadt School, his compositions and theories were and remain widely influential, not only on composers of art music. His works, composed over a period of sixty years. His theoretical and other writings comprise ten large volumes and he received numerous prizes and distinctions for his compositions, recordings, and for the scores produced by his publishing company. He died of heart failure at the age of 79, on 5 December 2007 at his home in Kürten. Stockhausen was born in Burg Mödrath, the castle of the village of Mödrath, the village, located near Kerpen in the Cologne region, was displaced in 1956 to make way for lignite strip mining, but the castle itself still stands. Despite its name, the building is not actually a castle at all, because of its imposing size, locals began calling it Burg Mödrath. From 1925 to 1932 it was the maternity home of the Bergheim district, in 1950, the owners, the Düsseldorf chapter of the Knights of Malta, turned it into an orphanage, but it has subsequently returned to private ownership and is today a private residence again. His father, Simon Stockhausen, was a schoolteacher, and his mother Gertrud was the daughter of a family of farmers in Neurath in the Cologne Bight. A daughter, Katherina, was born the year after Karlheinz, from the age of seven, Stockhausen lived in Altenberg, where he received his first piano lessons from the Protestant organist of the Altenberg Cathedral, Franz-Josef Kloth. His new wife, Luzia, had been the familys housekeeper, in 1941 he learned that his mother had died, ostensibly from leukemia, although everyone at the same hospital had supposedly died of the same disease. It was generally understood that she had been a victim of the Nazi policy of killing useless eaters, Stockhausen dramatized his mothers death in hospital by lethal injection, in Act 1 scene 2 of the opera Donnerstag aus Licht. In the autumn of 1944, he was conscripted to serve as a bearer in Bedburg. In February 1945, he met his father for the last time in Altenberg, Simon, who was on leave from the front, told his son, Im not coming back. By the end of the war, his father was regarded as missing in action, a comrade later reported to Karlheinz that he saw his father wounded in action
4.
Frankfurt
–
The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
5.
Donnerstag aus Licht
–
Donnerstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the first of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht, die sieben Tage der Woche. It was written between 1977 and 1980, with a libretto by the composer and they had demanded soloists bonuses because of one brief passage in act 3, and had been turned down by the management. Further performances without the third act followed on 18,21,24, an agreement was finally reached and the complete opera was finally performed on 3 April, with two further performances on 5 and 7 April. The stage direction was by Luca Ronconi, with costume and stage design by Gae Aulenti, scenic realisation was by Giorgio Cristini, lighting by Vannio Vanni, light compositions by Mary Bauermeister. Péter Eötvös conducted, and played the Hammond organ in act 3, Karlheinz Stockhausen was the sound projectionist. On 19 December 1981, Donnerstag was awarded the Premio Critica Musicale F. Abbiati for best new work of contemporary music, a second staging was given by the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London, on 16,18,20,24, and 26 September 1985. The stage direction was by Michael Bogdanov, designed by Mari Bjornson, lighting, péter Eötvös conducted, and Stockhausen was the sound projectionist. The second act, Michaels Reise um die Erde was staged separately in 2008, by Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus and it was performed by Marco Blaauw, Nicola Jürgensen, and musikFabrik, directed by Peter Rundel. Video was by Franc Aleu, dramaturgy by Thomas Ulrich, lighting by Frank Sobotta and this was initially a production of the Wiener Taschenoper in collaboration with the Wiener Festwochen. In 2013, this production was revived for three performances at Avery Fisher Hall in New York as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, Paul Hübner performed the trumpeter-Michael, with Peter Tantsits, tenor, as the sing-Michael. Soprano Anu Komsi sang the part of the Mother, and bass Michael Leibundgut sang the Father, Donnerstag is an opera for 14 performers plus a choir, an orchestra, and tapes. It was composed between 1977 and 1980, in the larger context of Licht, Thursday is Michaels day. Thursdays exoteric colour is blue, and its esoteric colours are purple and violet (Stockhausen 1989a,182. Thursday is also the day of plants, the time and place are universal. The Thursday Greeting is performed in the foyer as the audience is arriving, the first act consists of three scenes that follow one another without a break. In Childhood Michael, a son of parents, demonstrates exceptional gifts. His father, a schoolteacher, teaches him to pray, hunt, shoot, from his mother he learns singing and merry-making, dancing—and seduction. His parents quarrel, and a brother, Hermannchen, dies in infancy
6.
Samstag aus Licht
–
Samstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting and four scenes, and was the second of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht, die sieben Tage der Woche. It was written between 1981 and 1983, to a written by the composer and incorporating a text by Saint Francis of Assisi. Samstag is an opera for 13 solo performers plus a band, ballet or mimes. It was composed between 1981 and 1983, the first scene, Lucifers Dream, was composed between May and September 1981 as a commission for the 10ème Rencontres Internationales de Musique Contemporaines Metz 1981. A second version of work, without the bass voice, is Stockhausens Klavierstück XIII. In this form it was premiered by Majella Stockhausen on 10 June 1982 in the Teatro Regio in Turin, Pasveer also performed in the staged premiere at La Scala on 25 May 1984, but with the Slagwerkgrorp Den Haag. The work was composed in collaboration with Kathinka Pasveer in February and March 1983 at Diani Beach near Mombasa, in May 1983 Stockhausen planned an alternate version of Kathinkas Gesang for flute and six-channel electronic music. In collaboration with Marc Battier, he realised this version using Giuseppe Digiugnios synthétiseur 4X at IRCAM in Paris, in December 1983, a third version, for flute with five-channel recording of piano sounds and a live, concertante piano also exists, but has not yet been premiered. The work can also be performed as a flute solo. It is dedicated to Francesco Siciliani, the separate premiere of Lucifers Farewell was performed by the Händel Collegium Köln on 28 September 1982 in the Chiesa di San Rufino in Assisi, where St. Francis was baptised. They were accompanied by Helmut Volke and seven trombonists led by Michael Struck, Samstag was given its staged premiere by the Teatro alla Scala on 25 May 1984, in the Palazzo dello Sport in Milan. Subsequent performances were on 26,29,30, and 31 May, the stage direction was by Luca Ronconi and Ugo Tessitore, with costume and stage design by Gae Aulenti. Karlheinz Stockhausen was the sound projectionist, the four scenes of Samstag clearly present in concentrated form a process of the opening of space and the liberation of sound. The first scene has the most restricted space, with just two characters appearing from nothingness, the second scene expands into the centre area, left and right, with seven characters. The third scene layers everyone in the dimension with a stilt dancer. Finally, the scene presents both static and rotating events surrounding the audience, as well as diagonal movements, and the release of a wild bird who flies away. The four scenes do not have a dramatic structure. This is an example of what the composer called moment form, in which the surface events give the impression of different situations
