It's Christmas - It's a Nutcracker

Christmas time is nearly upon us, and that can only mean one thing: productions of the world's most festive ballet, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Take a look at the spectacular pictures from this year's Royal Ballet performance, running in London from 9 December until 16 January.

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Albinoni's Adagio in G minor (Herbert von Karajan)

Franz Schubert - His Music and His Life

Born on January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria, Franz Peter Schubert, the son of a schoolmaster, received a thorough musical education and won a scholarship to boarding school. Although he was never rich, the composer's work gained recognition and popularity, noted for bridging classical and romantic composition. He died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria.

 

Quotes

"A mind that is too easy hides a heart that is too heavy."

– Franz Schubert

Early Life

Born on January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria, Franz Peter Schubert demonstrated an early gift for music. As a child, his talents included an ability to play the piano, violin and organ. He was also an excellent singer.

Franz was the fourth surviving son of Franz Theodor Schubert, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Elisabeth, a homemaker. His family cultivated Schubert's love of music. His father and older brother, Ignaz, both instructed Schubert early in his musical life.

Eventually, Schubert enrolled at the Stadtkonvikt, which trained young vocalists so they could one day sing at the chapel of the Imperial Court, and in 1808 he earned a scholarship that awarded him a spot in the court's chapel choir. His educators at the Stadtkonvikt included Wenzel Ruzicka, the imperial court organist, and, later, the esteemed composer Antonio Salieri, who lauded Schubert as a musical genius. 

Schubert played the violin in the students' orchestra, was quickly promoted to leader, and conducted in Ruzicka's absence. He also attended choir practice and, with his fellow pupils, practiced chamber music and piano playing.

In 1812, however, Schubert's voice broke, forcing him to leave the college, though he did continue his instruction with Antonio Salieri for three more years. In 1814, under pressure from his family, Schubert enrolled at a teacher's training college in Vienna and took a job as an assistant at his father's school.

Young Composer

Schubert worked as a schoolmaster for the next four years. But he also continued to compose music. In fact, between 1813 and 1815, Schubert proved to be a prolific songwriter. By 1814, the young composer had written a number of piano pieces, and had produced string quartets, a symphony, and a three-act opera.

Over the next year, his output included two additional symphonies and two of his first Lieds, "Gretchen am Spinnrade" and "Erlkönig." Schubert is, in fact, largely credited with creating the German Lied. Boosted by a wealth of late 18th-century lyric poetry and the development of the piano, Schubert tapped the poetry of giants like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, showing the world the possibility of representing their works in musical form.

In 1818, Schubert, who had not only found a welcome audience for his music but had grown tired of teaching, left education to pursue music full-time. His decision was sparked in part by the first public performance of one of his works, the "Italian Overture in C Major," on March 1, 1818, in Vienna.

The decision to leave school teaching seems to have ushered in a new wave of creativity in the young composer. That summer he completed a string of material, including piano duets "Variations on a French Song in E minor" and the "Sonata in B Flat Major," as well as several dances and songs.

Franz Schubert is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the first romantic ones. Schubert's music is notable for its melody and harmony.

Composer Franz Schubert received a thorough musical education and won a scholarship to boarding school. Although he was never rich, the composer's work gained recognition and popularity, noted for bridging classical and romantic composition. He died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria.

 Franz Peter Schubert demonstrated an early gift for music. As a child, his talents included an ability to play the piano, violin and organ. He was also an excellent singer.

Franz was the fourth surviving son of Franz Theodor Schubert, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Elisabeth, a homemaker. His family cultivated Schubert's love of music. His father and older brother, Ignaz, both instructed Schubert early in his musical life.

Eventually, Schubert enrolled at the Stadtkonvikt, which trained young vocalists so they could one day sing at the chapel of the Imperial Court, and in 1808 he earned a scholarship that awarded him a spot in the court's chapel choir. His educators at the Stadtkonvikt included Wenzel Ruzicka, the imperial court organist, and, later, the esteemed composer Antonio Salieri, who lauded Schubert as a musical genius. Schubert played the violin in the students' orchestra, was quickly promoted to leader, and conducted in Ruzicka's absence. He also attended choir practice and, with his fellow pupils, practiced chamber music and piano playing.

In 1812, however, Schubert's voice broke, forcing him to leave the college, though he did continue his instruction with Antonio Salieri for three more years. In 1814, under pressure from his family, Schubert enrolled at a teacher's training college in Vienna and took a job as an assistant at his father's school.

Schubert worked as a schoolmaster for the next four years. But he also continued to compose music. In fact, between 1813 and 1815, Schubert proved to be a prolific songwriter. By 1814, the young composer had written a number of piano pieces, and had produced string quartets, a symphony, and a three-act opera.

Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik (1936) - His Music and His Life

The German Paul Hindemith was born in Hanau nearby Frankfurt/Main on November 16, 1895 and studied with Arnold Mendelsohn (1855-1933) and Bernhard Sekles (1872-1934).

Hindemith became the first important composer coming from a string instrument since Ludwig Spohr (1784-1859). In 1915, Hindemith became concert master at the Frankfurt Opera.

Since 1922, Paul Hindemith started his incredible career as the founder of the New German Classical Music. His operas "Murders - Women Hope" (1921) and "Sancta Susanna" (also 1921) have been witnesses of Hindemith's assault on classical music. The radicalizing "Piano Suite 1922" has been denied categorically. Hindemith's compositions have been remained as a matter of taste. His book "A Composer's World - Horizons and Limitations", published in 1952, seems like a stylish report or even justification.

Paul Hindemith passed away on December 28, 1963 in Frankfurt/Main. 

Karl Amadeus Hartmann- His Music and His Life

 

The German Karl Amadeus Hartmann was born in Munich on August 2, 1905 and came from a Silesian painter family. Hartmann studied with Hermann Scherchen (1891-1969) and Anton von Webern (1883-1945).

Hartmann is a figure unique in German music - the only composer to stay put and defy Adolf Hitler for the duration of the Third Reich.

"Unending was the stream, unedning the misery', unending the sorrow, "wrote Hartmann at the head of a fresh sheet of paper, on which, over the following tense days, he composed a piano sonata titled "27th April 1945"; its opening rhythm dictated by the shuffling feet of the final victims of Nazi tyranny.

Hartmann's First Symphony (1940) "composed in spirit and adoration to Zoltan Kodaly" came into being from a symphonic fragment with the lyric of the North American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

The "Concerto Funebre" (funebre=funeral) for solo violin strings was composed during the first four days of World War II in 1939. Hartmann's Fourth Symphony required only the celli and basses.

His Seventh Symphony became one of the Highlights during the 34th World Music Festival 1960 in Cologne/Germany.

Hartmann's last composition has been the "Chant Scene" for baritone and orchestra with words from "Sodom and Gomorrah" by Jean Giraudoux, the French poet, who lived from 1882-1944.

Karl-Amadeus Hartmann, who impressed through musical picture imagination and colors, passed away on December 5, 1963, also in Munich.

 

Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Concerto Funebre

The 13 Worst Things to Happen to a Classical Musician

A compendium of horrible things that can only happen to classical musicians. Because sometimes, reeds break. Prepare yourself. 

1. Well, that's the Five Bagatelles ruined.

Clarinettists of the world, we feel your pain. Nothing smarts like a busted reed on concert day. Any attempt to blow through this one is only going to end up with a split lip, animalistic squeaking and a weeping audience.

2. So close.

Come on oboe, everyone's watching! Everyone's waiting! Purse those lips a little tighter, you'll get it in tune.

3. That's fine, I didn't need my eardrums anyway.

That Wagner, he knew how to write a quiet, reflective passage, eh? This less-than-tranquil snapshot from the Ring Cycle suggests that if the brass section have to put their fingers in their ears then it's probably only measureable on the Richter scale.



4. Fiddlesticks.

The change in a violinist's facial expression as their faithful string pings back towards their chin is one of the scariest things that can happen in classical music. Hell hath no fury like a violinist with a broken E string.








(Violin Combustionality )

5. Oh that's nice, you've flattened a flat. Thanks a lot D flat minor.

Apparently Verdi was a fan of D flat minor. Both La Traviata and Rigoletto end in D flat minor, with its brain-melting array of confusing fingerings. Never liked him.




6. Just… why. Why would you do that.

  Good thing those bars are empty, otherwise we'd have to count. Just give us a wave when we're supposed to come in, yeah?

(Myriad online )

7. OK, so, from the… err… top?
Ah, Brian Ferneyhough, scourge of musicians who value their sanity. His piece 'La Terre est un Homme' is, by the composer's own admission, close to unplayable for most musicians. Which is nice when you have to perform it.

(Brian Ferneyhough )

8. You mean I just play it again? And then again? And again? Until the piece is over?
Seriously, what did the cellist ever do to Pachelbel? If you're being charitable you could say Pachelbel is just providing a solid anchor for one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever. But if you're a cellist, then Pachelbel's picture is on your dartboard.

(Pianoguitar.com )


9. Midi? For Mozart? Really?
Ah, YouTube. Always on hand to give us the classics whenever we want. So, you're mid-trawl and you happen upon a great little clip to enjoy, and it turns out to be the computerised ramblings of a Midi version. Because nothing says 'masterpiece' like synthetic, beeping versions of the classics. Seriously, why do people even make these?


10. What are you actually doing? Sit down, page-turner guy!
If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times - wait for the nod!



11. Great news - you're spending the next 6 weeks being deafened in a cramped underground hole!

Pit orchestras - because who wants to see a musician anyway? It's a staple of the jobbing musician's life, but working in a pit orchestra for a theatrical run has its drawbacks, namely DVT and a humped back from ducking to get to your seat.


12. Get comfortable, brass players.
Ten years of intense, academic study, practising for six hours a day and lip-busting physical exertion in countless ensembles. For this.












13. Seriously, that's my conducting face?
I thought I looked cool when I was on stage...

(Photo: Chris Christodolou)

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Karl Goldmark - His Music and His Life

Karl Goldmark, also known originally as Károly Goldmark and later sometimes as Carl Goldmark ; May 18, 1830, Keszthely – January 2, 1915, Vienna) was a Hungarian composer. Life and career Goldmark came from a large Ashkenazi Jews|Jewish family, one of 20 children. His father, Ruben Goldmark, was a chazan to the Jewish congregation at Keszthely, Hungary. Karl Goldmark's older brother Joseph Goldmark became a physician and was later involved in the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire|Revolution of 1848, and forced to emigrate to the United States. Karl Goldmark's early training as a violinist was at the musical academy of Sopron (1842–44). He continued his music studies there and two years later was sent by his father to Vienna, where he was able to study for some eighteen months with Leopold Jansa before his money ran out. He prepared himself for entry first to the Vienna Technische Hochschule and then to the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna|Vienna Conservatory to study the violin with Joseph Böhm and harmony with Gottfried Preyer. The Revolutions of 1848|Revolution of 1848 forced the Conservatory to close down. He was largely self-taught as a composer. He supported himself in Vienna playing the violin in theatre orchestras, at the Carlstheater and the privately supported Viennese institution, the Theater in der Josefstadt, which gave him practical experience with orchestration, an art he more than mastered. He also gave lessons: Jean Sibelius studied with him briefly. Goldmark's first concert in Vienna (1858) met with hostility, and he returned to Budapest, returning to Vienna in 1860. To make ends meet, Goldmark also pursued a side career as a music journalist. "His writing is distinctive for his even-handed promotion of both Brahms and Wagner, at a time when audiences (and most critics) were solidly in one composer's camp or the other and viewed those on the opposing side with undisguised hostility." (Liebermann 1997) Johannes Brahms and Goldmark developed a friendship as Goldmark's prominence in Vienna grew. Goldmark, however would ultimately distance himself because of Brahms' prickly personality. Among the musical influences Goldmark absorbed was the inescapable one, for a musical colorist, of Richard Wagner, whose anti-semitism stood in the way of any genuine warmth between them; in 1872 Goldmark took a prominent role in the formation of the Vienna Wagner Society. He was made an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, received an honorary doctorate from the Eötvös Loránd University|University of Budapest and shared with Richard Strauss an honorary membership in the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia|Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome. Goldmark's opera Die Königin von Saba ("The Queen of Sheba"), Op. 27 was celebrated during his lifetime and for some years thereafter. First performed in Vienna on 10 March 1875, the work proved so popular that it remained in the repertory of the Vienna State Opera|Vienna Staatsoper continuously until 1938. He wrote six other operas as well (see list). The Rustic Wedding Symphony ( Ländliche Hochzeit ), Op. 26 (premiered 1876), a work that was kept in the repertory by Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham, includes five movements, like a suite composed of coloristic tone poems: a wedding march with variations depicting the wedding guests, a nuptial song, a serenade, a dialogue between the bride and groom in a garden, and a dance movement. His Violin Concerto No. 1 (Goldmark)|Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28, was once his most frequently played piece. The concerto had its premiere in Bremen (city)|Bremen in 1877, initially enjoyed great popularity and then slid into obscurity. A very romantic work, it has a Magyars|Magyar march in the first movement and passages reminiscent of Antonín Dvorák|Dvorák and Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn in the second and third movements. It has started to re-enter the repertoire, through recordings by such prominent violin soloists as Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell. Nathan Milstein also championed the work and Milstein's recording of the Concerto (1963) is widely considered the definitive one. Goldmark wrote a second violin concerto, but it was never published. A second symphony in E-flat, Op. 35, is much less well-known. (Goldmark also wrote an early symphony in C major, between roughly 1858 and 1860. This work was never given an opus number, and only the scherzo seems to have ever been published.) Goldmark's chamber music, in which the influences of Robert Schumann|Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn are paramount, although critically well received in his lifetime, is now rarely heard. It includes the String Quintet in A minor Op. 9 that made his first reputation in Vienna, the Violin Sonata in D major Op. 25, two Piano Quintet s in B-flat major Opp. 30 and 54, the Cello Sonata Op. 39, and the work that first brought Goldmark's name into prominence in the Viennese musical world, the String Quartet in B-flat Op. 8 (his only work in that genre). Goldmark also composed choral music, two Suites for Violin and Piano (in D major, Op. 11, and in E-flat major, Op. 43), and numerous concert overture s, such as the Sakuntala Overture Op. 13 (a work which cemented his fame after his String Quartet), the Penthesilea Overture Op. 31, the In the Spring Overture Op. 36, the Prometheus Bound Overture Op. 38, the Sappho Overture Op. 44, the In Italy Overture Op. 49, and the Aus jungendtagen Overture, Op. 53. Other orchestral works include the symphonic poem Zrínyi, Op. 47, and two orchestral scherzos, in E minor, Op. 19, and in A major, Op. 45. Karl Goldmark's nephew Rubin Goldmark (1872–1936), a pupil of Antonín Dvorák|Dvorák, was also a composer, who spent his career in New York. Goldmark died in Vienna and is buried in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), along with many other notable composers. Many of his autograph manuscripts are in the collection of the National Széchényi Library, with "G" catalogue numbers attached to various works (including those without opus number.)

Karl Goldmark - Sakuntala Overture, Op. 13 (1865)

Alexander Glassunoff - His Music and His Life

ALEXANDER KONSTANTINOVICH GLAZUNOV  

Born on August 10, 1865 in Saint Petersburg

Glazunov, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, received encouragement also from Belyayev, an influential patron and publisher, whose activities succeeded and largely replaced the earlier efforts of Balakirev to inspire the creation of national Russian music. Glazunov joined the teaching staff of the St Petersburg Conservatory in 1899 and after the student protests and turmoil of 1905 was elected director, a position he retained until 1930 (although from 1928 he had remained abroad, chiefly in Paris, where he died in 1936). His music represents a synthesis between the Russian and the so-called German—the technical assurance introduced by the Rubinstein brothers in the Conservatories of St Petersburg and of Moscow in the middle of the century.

Orchestral Music

In addition to his nine symphonies and a variety of other orchestral works, Glazunov wrote a Violin Concerto, completed in 1904, when he was at the height of his powers as a composer. The symphonies have won less popularity, but the symphonic poem Stenka Razin, written in 1885, retains a place in national repertoire.

Ballets

Glazunov’s ballets include Raymonda, first staged in St Petersburg in 1898, with choreography by Marius Petipa. Les Ruses d’amour followed in 1900, with The Seasons in the same year. He orchestrated music by Chopin for Les Sylphides. The choreographer Fokin also made use of Stenka Razin for a ballet of that name.

Chamber Music

Chamber music by Glazunov includes seven numbered string quartets, the last written in 1930, and a series of works for other instrumental ensembles, including a String Quintet and a Saxophone Quartet. 

Piano Music

Glazunov’s piano music includes, among more serious works, a number of quite pleasing examples of salon music, for which there was always a ready public in his day.

Passed away on March 21, 1936 in Paris/France.

Max Fiedler - His Music and His Life

The German Max Fiedler was born in Zittau on December 31, 1859. He studied at the College of Music in Leipzig, Eastern Germany and became later an oustanding conductor in Hamburg, then, from 1908 until 1912 in Boston, and 1916 as Urban Music Director in Essen/Germany.

Especially his chamber music compositions and his wonderful and impressive "Symphony d-minor" from 1885 remained as classical music highlights forever.

Max Fiedler felt very much connected and obliged to Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).

Fiedler passed away on December 1, 1939 in Stockholm/Sweden.

Manuel de Falla - His Music and His Life

Manuel de Falla, also known as Manuel María de los

Dolores Falla y Matheu, is a renowned Spanish composer of international acclaim. The Spanish composer infused his compositions with unique idioms from native folk songs and dance to create his music on nationalistic lines. His fusion of poetry, simplicity, and passion represented the spirit of Spain in its purest form. Just like Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina, Falla is deemed as one of Spain's most important musicians who contributed humongously the classical music of the first half of the 20th century. Manuel wrote several kinds of compositions including music for ballet, opera, chamber music, Spanish songs, piano music and zarzuelas. One of the most celebrated figures of Spanish music, Manuel de Falla has composed many pieces, which are considered as masterpieces of sorts. Noches en los jardines de Espana" ("Nights in the Gardens of Spain") is one of his major works of art. Also known for his ballet "El Amor brujo" (Love, the Magician) and opera "La vida breve" (The Short Life), Manuel de Falla really stands as a distinguished composer.

Manuel de Falla’s Childhood and Early Life

Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y Matheu was born on 23 November 1876 in the family home (3, Plaza de Mina) to José María Falla y Franco and María Jesús Matheu y Zabala. His early music teachers were his mother and grandfather. At the age of nine, he began his first piano lessons with Eloísa Galluzo. His relationship with Eloísa Galluzo soon ended after she chose to become a nun at the convent, Sisters of Charity. Then in 1889, Manuel went on to learn piano with Alejandro Odero, and harmony and counterpoint with Enrique Broca. He became interested in music and journalism and along with his friends, he created the literary magazine, “El Burlón”. At the age of 14, he displayed an aptitude for theatre, literature and painting and went about to create another magazine, “El Cascabel”, for which he was the "contributor" and, later, the "editor". At the age of 17, Manuel channeled his artistic tendencies towards music. He had frequent trips to Madrid in 1896, where he studied piano with José Tragó at the Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamación.

Beginning Of A Musical Career

In 1897, Falla composed “melodía” for cello and piano. His work was dedicated to Salvador Viniegra, in whose house Falla participated in performances of chamber music. As an external pupil of the Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamacíon in 1898, Falla passed with a distinction the first three years of music theory and the first five years of the piano course. He composed the Scherzo in C minor. By unanimous agreement, he won the first prize in piano at his institute “Escuela Nacional de Música y Declamación”, and he concluded his official studies in 1899. That same year he premiered his first works “Romanza para violonchelo y piano”, “Nocturno para piano, Melodía para violonchelo y piano”, “Serenata andaluza para violín y piano”, and “Cuarteto en Sol y Mireya”. In 1900, he composed Canción for the piano and some other pieces for voice and for piano. He also premiered “Serenata andaluza” and “Vals-Capricho” for piano and because of his family's unstable financial situation; he began to give piano lessons. Fallas’ first attempts at zarzuela, which include “La Juana y la Petra o La casa de tócame Roque”, date from this period. In 1901, he met Felipe Pedrell and composed “Cortejo de gnomos” and “Serenata”, both for piano. At the same time, he was working on the zarzuelas “Los amores de la Inés” and “Limosna de amor”. He then met the composer Joaquín Turina and saw his pieces “Vals-Capricho” and “Serenata andaluza” being published by the Society of Authors.

The composition of the “Allegro de concierto” was started in 1903 and was submitted to a competition organized by the Madrid Conservatoire. Enrique Granados eventually won the first prize, but the Society of Authors published “Tus ojillos negros” and “Nocturno”. Falla collaborated with Amadeo Vives on three zarzuelas of which only fragments survive. In 1904, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando announced a competition for a new "Spanish opera in one act". Falla decided to enter the competition and hence began to work on “La vida breve”. He won the first prize for this composition. In April 1905, he won another piano competition organized by the Ortiz y Cussó Company. His “Allegro de concierto” was premiered at the Ateneo in Madrid. Manuel was encouraged by the composer Joaquín Turina to move to Paris and showcase his talents.

Musical Stint in Paris

Manuel de Falla travelled around France,Belgium, Switzerland and Germany as a pianist to a touring theatre company performing André Wormser's L'Enfant prodigue. He met a number of composers who had an influence on his style, including the impressionists Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas. In 1908, he obtained a grant from the Spanish King Alfonso XIII to remain in Paris and finish “Pièces espagnoles”. He toured the north of Spain as the third member of a trio with violinist Antonio Fernández Bordas and cellist Víctor Mirecki and completed “Con afectos de júbilo y gozo”. The dramatist Paul Milliet translated the libretto of “La vida breve” into French, to have it performed in France. In 1910, Falla had his first encounter with Igor Stravinsky and he met Georges Jean-Aubry, Ignacio Zuloaga, Joaquín Nin and Wanda Landowska. On his first visit to London in 1911, he gave a recital in March. Then in 1912, he travelled to Switzerland and Italy and in Milan, Tito Ricordi negotiated him for his publication of La vida breve. In 1913, La vida breve was premiered at the Municipal Casino in Nice and later that year, his work was given “répétition générale” before the press and the public, at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique in Paris. Max Eschig published the score and became Falla's publisher. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Falla returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. It was at this stage that Falla entered into his mature creative period.

Return to Madrid

Manuel de Falla returned to Madrid at the outbreak of the World War 1. The Ateneo de Madrid, a private cultural association, paid homage to Joaquín Turina and Manuel de Falla in 1915. In the same year, he joined María Lejárraga (wife of Gregorio Martínez Sierra) on a trip to Granada Ronda, Algeciras and Cádiz. On his brief trip to Cau Ferrat in Sitges, he worked intensively on his well-known nocturne for piano and orchestra “Noches en los jardines de España”. In 1916, The Revista Musical Hispano-Americana published Falla's article "Enrique Granados: Evocación de su obra", and the newspaper La Tribuna published his "El gran músico de nuestro tiempo: Igor Stravinsky". During the spring and summer of this year, he gave concerts in Seville, Cádiz and Granada. The Revista Musical Hispano-Americana published a further article by Falla in its December issue: "Introducción al estudio de la música nueva". Fallas first performance of a version of “El amor brujo” for small orchestra was given in 1917. During this year he also wrote the prologue to Joaquín Turina's “Enciclopedia abreviada de Música”, and published "Nuesta música" in the June issue. In 1918, he worked on the comic opera Fuego fatuo, to a libretto by María Lejárraga. In April that year, he delivered a speech at a function at the Ateneo de Madrid to pay tribute to a French composer. The Princess de Polignac commissioned him to write a work for her salon in Paris, and Falla visioned the idea for El retablo de maese Pedro. In 1919, Manuel’s parents died. This really shook him. However, in the same year, his concert version of El sombrero de tres picos, a ballet, was premiered in London with choreography by Léonide Massine and sets and costumes by Pablo Picasso. This was amongst one of his most renowned works. In 1919 itself, Manuel visited Granada with his sister María del Carmen and Vázquez Díaz and his wife, to attend a tribute being paid in his honour by the Centro Artístico.

Stay at Granada

From 1921 to 1939, Manuel lived in Granada. Falla became closely involved with the cultural life of Granada, associating with personalities such as Miguel Cerón, Fernando de los Ríos, Hermenegildo Lanz, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz and, above all, Federico García Lorca. Here he organized the “Concurso de cante Jondo” in 1922. He wrote the puppet opera “El Retable De Maese Pedro” and a concerto titled Harpsichord Concerto. Both of these works were written with Wanda Landowska in mind. In Granada, Falla began work on the large-scale orchestral cantata “Atlàntida”. He considered Atlàntida to be the most important of his works. In 1924, Falla along with Ángel Barrios was unanimously elected permanent member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Granada. He also completed ‘Psyché’, a setting of a poem by Georges Jean-Aubry. In the same year, he was named an honorary member of the Real Academia Hispano-Americana de Ciencias y Artes de Cádiz. On Falla's initiative, the Orquesta Bética de Cámara was founded in Seville too. In 1927, on Fallas fiftieth birthday tributes continued and the Orquesta Bética de Cámara hosted concerts at the Coliseo Olympia in Granada. While in Granada, Falla received a lot of recognition for his work. However, by 1937, due to his fragile state of health, he was confined to his house. In 1939, he moved from Granada to Barcelona with his sister and then from Barcelona he embarked to Argentina to conduct a series of four concerts in the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

His Last Years

Falla continued to work on Atlàntida after moving to Argentina in 1939. He settled initially in Villa Carlos Paz, then, later, in Villa del Lago. He conducted a concert—Orquesta Sinfónica de Córdoba in aid of the victims of floods in the capital and received the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio. Later in 1940, he conducted two concerts on Radio "El Mundo". Manuel’s health had seriously started deteriorating and at the beginning of 1942, he moved to the chalet "Los Espinillos", near Alta Gracia in the province of Cordoba. This became his final residence. He rejected an invitation from the Spanish government to return to Spain. In spite of ill health, he continued to work on Atlántida and by 1945, he began to transcribe final versions of some sections of the work.

Personal Life

Manuel de Falla never married and had no children. His relationship with women did not last long and there were even rumors of homosexuality and misogynistic tendencies. His public image was ascetic and saint like. 

 

Death

On 14 November 1946, nine days before his seventieth birthday, Falla suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep at "Los Espinillos". The funeral took place in Córdoba Cathedral and in December, his sister María del Carmen embarked for Spain, with his remains. His body was finally entombed in the cathedral crypt of his native city.

24 Weird and Wonderful Classical Music Tattoos

From inexplicably burning Beethovens to awkward singing hamburgers, here's a selection of the most musical tats of all time.

Next image Picture 1 of 24

Anton Dvorak - His Music and His Life

 

Born:

September 8, 1841 - Nelahozeves, nr Kralupy

Died:

May 1, 1904 – Prague

Dvorak Quick Facts:

• Johannes Brahms once wrote a letter praising and exulting Dvorak’s music; they later became great friends.
• After moving to America in 1892, Dvorak spent his summer vacation in the small town of Spillville, Iowa in 1893, because of it’s mainly Czech population.
• Dvorak’s greatest musical success was achieved by the world premier of his New World Symphony in Carnegie Hall on December 3, 1893.

Dvorak's Family Background:

Dvorak’s father, Frantisek was a butcher and an innkeeper. He played the zither for fun and entertainment, but later played it professionally. His mother, Anna, came from Uhy. Antonin Dvorak was the oldest of eight children.

Childhood Years:

In 1847, Dvorak began taking voice and violin lessons from Joseph Spitz. Dvorak took to the violin quickly and soon began playing in church and village bands. In 1853, Dvorak’s parents sent him to Zlonice to continue his education in learning German as well as music. Joseph Toman and Antonin Leihmann continued to teach Dvorak violin, voice, organ, piano, and music theory.

Teenage Years:

In 1857, Dvorak moved to the Prague Organ School where he continued to study music theory, harmonization, modulation, improvisation, and counterpoint and fugue. During this time, Dvorak played the viola in the Cecilia Society. He played works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Wagner. While in Prague, Dvorak was able to attend concerts playing works by Liszt conducted by Liszt himself. Dvorak left the school in 1859. He was second in his class.

Early Adult Years:

In the later summer months of 1859, Dvorak was hired to play viola in a small band, which later became the building blocks of the Provisional Theater Orchestra. When the orchestra formed, Dvorak became the principal violinist. In 1865, Dvorak taught piano to the daughters of a goldsmith; one of whom later became his wife (Anna Cermakova). It wasn’t until 1871 when Dvorak left the theater. During these years, Dvorak was privately composing.

Mid Adult Years:

Because his early works were too demanding on the artists who performed them, Dvorak evaluated and revamped his work. He turned away from his heavy Germanic style to a more classic Slavonic, stream-line form. Besides teaching piano, Dvorak applied to the Austrian State Stipendium as a mean for income. In 1877, Brahms, very much impressed by Dvorak’s works, was on the panel of judges who awarded him 400 guldens. A letter written by Brahms about Dvorak’s music brought Dvorak much fame.

Late Adult Years:

During the last 20 years of Dvorak’s life, his music and name became internationally known. Dvorak earned many honors, awards, and honorary doctorates. In 1892, Dvorak moved to America to work as the artistic director for the National Conservatory of Music in New York for $15,000 (nearly 25 times what he was earning in Prague). His first performance was given in Carnegie Hall (the premiere of Te Deum). Dvorak’s New World Symphony was written in America. On May 1, 1904, Dvorak died of illness.

Selected Works by Dvorak:

Symphony

• Symphony No. 1, c minor - 1865
• Symphony No. 2, B flat Major - 1865
• Symphony No. 3, E flat Major - 1873
• Symphony No. 4, d minor - 1874
• Symphony No. 5, F Major - 1875
• Symphony No. 6, D Major - 1880
• Symphony No. 7, d minor - 1885
• Symphony No. 8, G Major - 1889
• Symphony No. 9, New World Symphony, e minor - 1893

Choral Works

• Mass in D Major - 1887
• Te Deum - 1892
• Requiem - 1890

Gaetano Donizetti - His Music and his Life

A native of Bergamo (born November 29, 1797), Donizetti was, for nearly a decade after the early death of Bellini in 1835, the leading composer of Italian opera. He had his first success with Zoraida di Granata in 1822. There followed a series of nearly sixty more operas and removal to Paris, where Rossini had been induced to settle to his profit. His final illness confined him to a hospital in France for some 17 months, before his return to Bergamo, where he died in 1848. Donizetti was not exclusively a composer of opera, but wrote music of all kinds, songs, chamber music, piano music and a quantity of music for the church.

The opera Anna Bolena, which won considerable success when it was first staged in Milan in 1830, provides a popular soprano aria in its final Piangete voi? Deserto in terra, from the last opera, Dom Sébastien, staged in Paris in 1843, has been a favourite with operatic tenors from Caruso to Pavarotti. The comedy Don Pasquale, staged in Paris in 1843, is a well-loved part of standard operatic repertoire, as is L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love), from which the tenor aria Una furtiva lagrima (A hidden tear) is all too well known. Mention should be made of La Favorita and La Fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), both first staged in Paris in 1840 and sources of further operatic recital arias. Lucia di Lammermoor, based on a novel by Sir Walter Scott, provides intense musical drama for tenors in the last act Tomba degl’avei miei (Tomb of My Forebears).

Donizetti passed away on April 8, 1848 also in Bergamo.