Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

Eugen d'Albert was born on April 10, 1864 in Glasgow/Scotland. His father was the very known dance composer Charles d'Albert (1809-1886), an Italian grand duke's descendant. D'Albert studied in London, then in Vienna with Hans Richter (1843-1916) and in Weimar with the unforgettable Franz Liszt. As a blessed pianist, he went on several concert tours. D'Albert admired very much Ludwig van Beethoven (by the way: me too!), whom he gave the real monstrous pathos, which Beethoven really deserves. Johannes Brahms became an intimate friend. From his compositions are still known and part of stage performances such as "The Concerto for Cello in c-major" from 1899 and "The Concerto for Piano in e-major" from 1893. Out of 21 operas the following pieces are more then remarkable: "Die Abreise" (The departure, 1898), "Die toten Augen" (The dead eyes, 1916), and most especially "Tiefland" (The Plain, 1903). Eugen ...

Born on November 7, 1866 in Berlin, the German Paul Lincke has become a popular composer. Lincke's father was a known and successful municipal authorities civil servant. In Wittenberg's Piper College in Eastern Germany, Paul Lincke studied violin and bassoon play. Then, Linncke became the Director General of the Berlin Apollo Theater. 1897 marked Lincke's first big stage success with a during those times so called "equipment revue" entitled "Venus on Earth". National traditions mixed with a unique and real "Berlinian operetta sound" has been the reasons of Lincke's entire success: "Frau Luna" (Madame Luna, 1899), "Lysistrata" (1902, with the evergreen "The glimmering glow-warm", one of my late grandmother's favourites), or "Casanova" (1914, badly on stage, because World War I just started). "Berliner Luft" (Air from Berlin) remained as unofficial anthem of Berlin till ...

What are the greatest moments in classical music history? The bits that make you immediately rewind and play them again? Simply, the most surprising, shocking, beautiful or weird bits in classical music? Here are 10 moments that will make you say 'OMG'…  1. The top C in Allegri's Miserere There you are, just chilling out with a bit of 17th century choral music like any self-respecting person would do, and then all of a sudden, BAM! High C! Emotional overload! Skip straight to it by pressing play below… 2. The climax of Beethoven's 9th Symphony Everyone sing along! "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium!" This is such a fist-pumping moment. How fist-pumping? Well, it's supposed to encapsulate the joy of humanity, of being alive, Germanic might, the brotherhood of man and basically all worldly positivity, which is a pretty tall order. Does Beethoven manage it? Take a listen… (the answer's...

Lassus, also known by the Italian form of his name Orlando di Lasso, belonged to the Franco-Flemish school of composers whose work was of supreme international importance in the 16th century. He was born at Mons, in Hainaut, in 1532, and as a boy entered the service of a member of the Gonzaga family (hereditary dukes of Mantua). Employment elsewhere in Italy and a stay in Antwerp was followed by a position in the musical establishment of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in Munich, where Lassus remained from 1556 until his death. With Palestrina and Victoria, he is one of the most important composers of the period. Church Music Lassus wrote a considerable quantity of church music, including over 70 settings of the Mass, settings of the Passions from the four evangelists, and a very large number of motets. From this considerable body of high-quality work, selection is invidious; but mention may be made of the Requiem for four voices, the Missa Qual donna , motets suc...

Born in Naples on March 8, 1858, the Italian composer studied at the Naples College of Music and became a private music teacher and touring pianist in between those careers. In 1892, Leoncavallo came out with the opera "I Pagliacci" (The Barber) in two acts. Together with the one act opera "Cavalleria Rusticana" by Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945), "The Barber" constitutes a wonderful one evening stage play in many concert houses and theatres.  I have been blessed to experience several stage performances in different European cities. The barber's part, the cheated comedian, has been holding great attractions for many world known tenors. Unbelievable for me: all other operas of Leoncavallo flopped, even containing wonderful and incredible melodies, who might break your hearts. "Der Roland von Berlin" (1904, dedicated to the last German Emperor II).  Leoncavalo passed away on August 9, 1919 in Montecatini Toscana County/Italy.

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Born on March 19, 1883, the Austrian Josef Matthias Hauer, a simple elementary school teacher who wanted to be treated as the composition inventor of the so-called "12-tones-numbers-technique" or - in Greece - Dodecaphony. Since 1908, Hauer used that technique in all his compositions. Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), the "real Dodecaphony inventor never accepted Hauer's theory and work, Hauer calculated 479,001,600 combination possibilities of those sound or tones. 44 main types became the fundaments of Hauer's compositions: "About the colors of sounds" (1919), "Melodies interpretations" (1923, one of my favourite pieces of Hauer), or "From the melody to kettle-drum" (1925). Hauer's opinion has remained till today as "embodiment and portrayal of an impartial melody" such as in the "Transubstantions Oratorio" from 1928 or "Salambo", an opera from 1930. Hauer passed away in Vienna on Sep...

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George Gershwin, born on September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn/New York, passed away on July 11, 1937 in Hollywood, California, U.S.A. Gershwin loved to study music seriously with Rubin Goldmark, a relative of Karl Goldmark (1830-1915). At the age of 16, Gershwin composed his first hits, The co-operation with Paul Whiteman ("King of Jazz", born in Denver/Colorado on March 28, 1890) influenced Gershwin definitely and fruitful. 1924, the "Rhapsody in Blue" became a world hit. 1925, the "Piano Concerto in F" came into being - performed by George Gershwin himself under the baton of Walter D. Damrosch (1862-1950, Poland und USA). More incredible successful compositions followed: "An American in Paris" (1928), "The Cuban Overture" (1932) and the "negro opera" "Porgy and Bess" (1935). Who doesn't know "Summertime" or " I ain't got no shame"? A successful mixture of naivety, wizene...

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music , encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times. [ 1 ] The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period . European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation , in use since about the 16th century. [ 2 ] Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch , speed , meter , individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation , which are frequently heard in non-European art music and popular music. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian...

Born on October 25, 1838, in Paris, the French George Bizet passed away -also in Paris- on June 3, 1875. As a music professor's son, Bizet started to study at the Parisienne College of Music at the age of 9!!! During the ten academic years Bizet passed many examinations with distinctions. One of his teacher was Jacques Halevy a.k.a. Elias Levy (1799-1862), his then future father-in-law. At the age of 17 (1855), Bizet composed his first symphony in c-major. The premiere took place only in 1935 through Felix von Weingaertner (1863-1942) in Basel, Switzerland. Bizet considered this composition as immature 'schoolboy-work". In 1857, his operetta "Le Docteur Miracle" (The Wonder Doctor0 won the first prize. In Italy, Bizet composed the comic opera "Don Procopio" with its premiere only 1906 in Monte Carlo. The following operas remained as very unsuccessful, even they content many wonderful classic compositions: "Le Pecheurs de Perle...

Born on December 11, 1803 in La Cote-Saint-Andre, Dauphine, the French Hector Berlioz passed away in Paris on March 8, 1869. His father, a blessed doctor, wanted his son to follow him in his footsteps. But in 1826, Berlioz shifted his medicine study to the College of Music. His father cut off all his supports. But Berlioz earned a lot of money with his early compositions such as "Waverly" (1828) - eight scenes "Doktor Faustus" (1829) and - also during the same year - his most successful composition "Symphony fantastique, Episode de la vie d'un Artiste" (Episodes from an artist's life). When Ludwig van Beethoven passed away, it was a hazardous business to compose symphonies, "Dias Irae" and "Lello ou le retour de la vie" (Return to live, 1832), flopped. In his symphony "Romeo and Juliet" (1839), Berlioz utilized solos and chorus parts and call it "his first dramatic symphony". "Le Carne...

Born on February 9, 1885 in Vienna, the Austrian Alban Berg passed away on December 24, 1935 - also in Vienna. Berg became a civil servant, but gave up this unique career while becoming a student of Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951, Los Angeles). He was a down to earth person and thought himself to be part of the restored classical composers. His first compositions had been in rapture over disarming sounds and tones. The highlight became the "Four Clarinet Pieces" from 1913. "Wozzeck", Berg's only opera reflected his experiences as a soldier during World War I. His supposed last opera "Lulu", composed in a 12-sound-technique, remained unfinished up to its premiere 1937 in Zurich/Switzerland.

Franz von Suppe, born on April 18, 1819, was one of the founders of Viennese operetta, attaining a position in Austria comparable to that of Jacques Offenbach in France.  Suppe wrote over 200 compositions for the stage, including 30 operettas, farces, and incidental music. Nearly all these works have slipped into oblivion, but some of their sparkling overtures have survived and remain popular as light music, especially "Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna" (1844), "Poet and Peasant" (1846), and "Light Cavalry" (1866). In the United States, Suppe's music is probably best known for its frequent appearance on the soundtracks of old Hollywood movies and cartoons. Suppe was born in Split, Dalmatia, of Italian and Belgian descent. His real name was Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Suppe-Demelli. He spent most of his life in Vienna and was Kapellmeister of the prestigious Theatre an der Wien from 1845 to 1862. Suppe was also a note...

Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, born January 29, 1782 in Caen/France and passed away May 12, 1871, was a leading composer of French opera from the 1820s onwards, collaborating from then for some thirty years with the librettist Augustin- Eugène Scribe. He is particularly known for his contributions to the genre of opéra- comique, although one of his most famous works is Masaniello or La muette de Portici (The Dumb Girl of Portici), of which the first title is preferred in English. This work, staged in Paris in 1828, began the era of French grand opera. Auber wrote a considerable quantity of music, vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular. He was respected by Rossini and Wagner, and much honoured by the state in his life-time. Operas Auber's most popular operas are Fra Diavolo, Le cheval de bronze (The Bronze Horse), Les diamants de la couronne (The Crown Diamonds), and the seminal grand opera Masaniello or La muette de Portici (The Dumb Girl of Porti...