It's all about the classical music composers and their works from the last 400 years and much more about music. Hier erfahren Sie alles über die klassischen Komponisten und ihre Meisterwerke der letzten vierhundert Jahre und vieles mehr über Klassische Musik.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741) was a prolific, 18th-century Baroque composer who wrote more than 500 concertos. About 230 of those concertos were written for the violin. The most famous of all of Vivaldi’s works is "The Four Seasons” (“Le quattro stagioni”) violin concerto.
Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons": a radical violin concerto
Young people in the 21st-century can have a difficult time envisioning any piece of music as “radical.” In the world of contemporary pop culture, “radical” music means the inclusion of profanity, pejoratives, or rebellious language and sentiments.
During the Baroque period, the idea of radical music was anything that veered from the traditional way of doing things. Other “radical” classical composers of their time periods include Mozart and Stravinsky. Unlike those composers, however, historians cannot claim that Vivialid’s “The Four Seasons” caused any riots. That said, the first performances in Italy, France, and throughout the European continent had frequent concert-attendees and music theorists up in arms about what to make of his newfangled musical notions.
Vivaldi’s inventive music program
One of the reasons Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was so unique is that it was one of the first classical compositions to implement and follow a dynamic music program. You’re probably familiar with the concept of a “music program,” where the music aligns with a specific text. In fact, that style of performance wasn’t made popular until the Romantic era.
“The Four Seasons” movements are actually part of a larger body of 12 total concertos, including "The Four Seasons." The larger work is called, “Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione,” or, “The Contest Between Harmony and Invention.”
Speaking of invention and innovation...
While the program format was one “radical” innovation implemented by Vivaldi, so were some of the techniques required by Vivaldi to play the piece. While he was a lover of opera, the brilliant mind of Vivaldi was captivated by the idea of being able to describe landscapes or scenes in ways that correlated with human behavior and emotions, but without setting the music to specific words.
So, while "The Four Seasons" were composed to honor the themes put forth in the previously-linked sonnets, Vivaldi composed the music in such a way that the technical playing and interpretations of the string musicians told the story - sans narration.
He also included unique dynamic instructions that remain intact in the scores today. The musicians get to use their imaginations, and the imagination of the conductor, to interpret what Vivaldi imagined in his head when he wrote notes to the musicians. For example, asking violinists to play “like a sleeping goatherd” or the viola players to imagine “a barking dog.”
Also worth noting is that the concerto format as we know it didn’t really exist at this time. It was actually Vivaldi, and pieces like "The Four Seasons" setting solo instruments apart (frequently the violin) supported by a chamber ensemble, that gave rise to the concerto form we’re familiar with today.
Part of an early feminist movement
Besides Vivaldi’s musical genius and passion for opera, his appreciation for women and what they could set Vivaldi apart from many of his contemporaries. Vivaldi composed "The Four Seasons" between 1720 and 1723 while employed at “El Pio Ospedale della Pieta,” which was a girls school dedicated to orphaned girls. He worked as the Maestro de Violino (violin teacher) there and wrote some of his most famous works during that period of time.
While we can’t say that he was truly a feminist, we can’t help but appreciate that Antonio Vivaldi spent a significant portion of his working life (1703 - 1733) mentoring talented young female musicians. And, with talent and fame such as his, he certainly had a choice in the matter.
In honor of that, we recommend giving yourself the 48 minute and 54 second gift of the very talented female violinist, Janine Jansen as she plays Antonio Vivaldi’s “"The Four Seasons"” at Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival 2014. Enjoy listening to a narrative that Vivaldi’s musical genius brings to life in the mind’s eye.
The conductors, past and present, who’ve waved the metaphorical pride flag loud and proud with every gesture of their baton.
Many classical music performers, composers, and conductors – from history, and living today – are on the queer spectrum, but some prefer not to come out as openly LGBTQ+ in their public lives.
As well as it being important to come out on your own terms, it’s clear that work isn’t the natural forum for talking about private lives anyway, and some may feel no need to pigeonhole themselves under a particular banner, or fly the flag for a whole vast community as part of their professional oeuvre.
But there are some figures in classical music who have been openly LGBTQ+, balancing an acceptance and honesty about their sexuality or partners in a way that has not distracted from their work making beautiful music at the podium.
Here are some of the prominent LGBTQ+ conductors in classical music you should know.
“We can be examples, in a way, to inspire young musicians who fear that this is going to be a problem in their profession and career advancement,” Nézet-Séguin said, speaking to The New York Timesabout being an openly gay conductor. “I want to embrace that role more and more.”
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Picture: Getty
Marin Alsop (1956-)
Marin Alsop is the trailblazing music director of the Baltimore Symphony (until August 2021) and São Paulo State Symphony Orchestras, chief conductor of ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and at the helm of several festivals and artist residencies. An incredibly successful and inspiring woman in a still-male-dominated field, her long-term partner is Kristin Jurkscheit, who currently runs the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship. They have been together since 1990.
Speaking in the Bloomberg Business Week podcast recently, Marin Alsop describes Leonard Bernstein, who is a fellow LGBTQ+ conductor (see below), as her inspiration for becoming a conductor. He was a mentor and good friend of Alsop’s, and she says, “He was my hero, and he exceeded all of my hopes and dreams. He was a wonderful human being, very generous, very giving and a great citizen of the world.”
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
The great composer-conductor Bernstein’s sexuality remains shrouded in mystery, but mainly because history had him down as married to a woman.
He had a relationship with actor Felicia Cohn Montealegre, who he did eventually marry, but he was openly gay. Montealegre recounted the fact in The Bernstein Letters, stating, “you are a homosexual and may never change – you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?”.
And Arthur Laurents, who collaborated with Bernstein on West Side Story, clarified that Bernstein was “a gay man who got married” who “wasn't conflicted about it at all. He was just gay.”
Marin Alsop on her musical hero, Leonard Bernstein
The eleven-time Grammy winner is openly gay, and married to orchestral manager Joshua Mark Robison since 2014.
Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960)
Dimitri Mitropoulos was a remarkable conductor who debuted with the world-famous Berlin Philharmonic in the 1930s and was known for conducting very physically and intensely, without a score or a baton. He led top orchestras, including Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
He never married, and was known to be homosexual, with rumours that he had a relationship with Leonard Bernstein (see above).
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Copland found unrivalled success with his compositions, which marked him out as ‘the Dean of American Composers’. But he was a conductor in his own right too.
He studied conducting in Paris in 1921, and conducted major orchestras in his own works and those of others. He was a famously private individual, but letters have been unearthed which reveal his close relationships, cohabitation and travels with other men, including photographer Victor Kraft and artist Alvin Ross.
Thomas Schippers (1930-1977)
Thomas Schippers was an American conductor, particularly revered for his operatic interpretations.
He was married to shipping heiress, Elaine Phipps, but he was known to be gay and is thought to have had a relationship with composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who was the partner of fellow composer Samuel Barber.
Born into a musical family, Frieda Belinfante was a Dutch immigrant to the United States who, after being a ‘prominent lesbian’ and member of the Dutch Resistance during World War Two, established and conducted the Orange County Philharmonic.
Before her move to America, she had been a prolific conductor, and was invited to form the chamber orchestra Het Klein Orkest at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, in 1937. She was artistic director and conductor there until 1941. She had also guest conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande among other major orchestras. She also played the cello.
Kay Gardner (1940-2002)
Gardner was a spiritual musician, and a flautist, composer and choir director, known for her pioneering work in music dedicated to healing.
She is famous for championing ‘Women’s Music’ as a genre, and for being one of the first musicians to sue an orchestra (the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in Maine) on the grounds of sex discrimination after the powers that be there asked would you “tolerate a woman” as a conductor in their search for a new one.
Her partner was Colleen Fitzgerald.
Jeffrey Tate (1943-2017)
Jeffrey Tate was an English conductor, who honed his conducting skills under the legendary Georg Solti at the Royal Opera House in London before making his debut at The Met in New York, and pursuing a distinguished career conducting orchestras like the English Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Hamburg Symphony.
Tate was born with spina bifida, and initially studied medicine, before dedicating his life to music. He met his partner, geomorphologist Klaus Kuhlemann, in 1977 and was knighted in 2017.
As well as being a leading composer, suffragist Dame Ethel Smyth conducted prolifically, including taking to the podium to premiere her own works, and conducting the Metropolitan Police Band at the unveiling of the statue to Emmeline Pankhurst in London in 1930.
Smyth was gay, and at the age of 71 she met and was very taken with Virginia Woolf. Woolf herself described it as “like being caught by a giant crab.”
‘Invalid piano’ played by bedridden invalids is the bizarre invention of the day. Picture: Alamy
By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London
As an invention, it was the height of science and logic.
Today’s bizarre musical invention award goes to this 1935 foldable piano, specifically designed for bedridden individuals.
So, on those days in the 1930s when you were far too sick to keep to anywhere but between the sheets, you could still get your hours of practice in.
The contraption, believed to have been invented in Great Britain, sits at the foot of the individual’s bed and extends towards their hands.
It’s not dissimilar from a modern-day keyboard, just a little clunkier (see above).
The collection, one of the largest image banks on the history of the Netherlands, holds more than 13 million historic photos looking back to the important events of the 20th century.
Curiously, though, this particular image is sourced to Great Britain.
Spaarnestad has a beautiful Instagram account, where you can find a rich collection of photographs of Dutch musicians, ballet dancers and a 1938 miracle cure for baldness (really) – as well as a smattering of images of the British Royal Family.
The Classical Period of music may have given its name as the popular descriptor for all of Western sophisticated instrumental composition, but its actual timeline is relatively short. All of the other delineated musical eras get at least a full century. However, the Classical Era is often cited as the latter half of the eighteenth century. At its longest, the Classical Era ran just seventy to eighty years, ending no later than 1820. Despite the Classical Era's short run, its impact on instrumental music has been enormous.
The period takes the appellation "Classical" due to the philosophical and cultural return to the classical values of antiquity, which greatly influenced musical composition. The Baroque Era ended Europe's first return to the philosophical and artistic values of classical Rome and Greece. The Classical Era, in turn, was a clear break from the Baroque style. In this article, you'll discover Classical Era music's main characteristics, how it differs from what came before, and how its name has come to be used as the broader term for Western instrumental music.
Short description of what Classical Era music is
Most modern music fans would most likely find it odd to learn that the music of the Classical Era developed from a search for a simpler, cleaner, more humanistic musical expression with universal qualities and appeal.
As part of its reach towards universality, Classical Period composers drew on a combination of qualities, each prevalent in different European traditions. Composers from all over Europe drew on the formality and precision from the Germans, lyrical artistry from Italy, and technical craftsmanship valued in France, to create their works. Ultimately, they developed recognizable forms any audience anywhere could identify and appreciate.
Indeed, writing and performing music that would delight the greatest number of people was a primary goal of Classical Era composers. They strove to create works with clean, balanced, and elegant sound. For this reason, Classical Era music is largely homophonic with simpler melodies supported by subordinate harmonies and more significant uses of chords. Composers also increased use of phrases of varying length that are clearly punctuated by cadences. This change in phrasing and increased used of cadences allowed composers to display a diverse range of mood and emotional expression within the same work.
Haydn's Symphony No. 14 in A major, a representative work of early Classical Era composition
The Classical Period also saw the formalization of many musical forms, such as the symphony and concerto, that still form the basis of little "c" classical music. With this standardization of forms and simpler melodies, the composers of the time included more notations as to how their works were to be performed. While the era of the virtuoso was yet to come, the individual composer started the transition from servant to the Church or court to celebrated artist during the Classical Era.
Origins and context of the Classical Period
Classical Era music didn't generate itself in a vacuum. Music evolved within the broader culture of the time, called the Age of Enlightenment, which shared some characteristics with the Renaissance, most obviously its return to the ancient world of Greece and Rome for cultural inspiration. Both periods were preceded by times where the Church played a dominant role in society, and the people were sublimated to its will.
In contrast, antiquity held to a more humanistic vision. It provided space for individuality within the context of a universal ideal that connected everyone in common humanity. These universal ideals were expressed through objective truths that could be accessed by all through reason, logic, and dialectic. Newton's writings were highly influential, as they defined a framework and foundation for formal, rational inquiry that could be used to advance scientific discoveries. Information gathered through empirical inquiry could be organized through categorization and hierarchy, improving the common understanding of the world. In political philosophy, writers like Locke and Montesquieu talked about immutable individual rights that weren't granted by an external authority, like the Church or monarchy, but existed in nature.
On an artistic level, values of organization and logic presented themselves through a more orderly aesthetic of balance and elegance. The visual arts of the time are often called "neoclassical" because of their use of antiquity as a creative touchstone.
Sculpture of the era focused on a neoclassical vision of an idealized, heroic human form. Houdon was famous for his neoclassical busts of contemporary greats like George Washington and Voltaire. Italian sculptor Canova created full-figure works often based on ancient mythology like The Three Graces and his pugilists. These visual artists, as well as the composers of the Classical Era, believed that beauty itself could be achieved through the execution of logical, objective rules, such as proportion and balance.
The philosophical revival of reason and the individual, along with a growing, more literate middle class, began undermining the power and control of the traditional authorities. Improvements in printing spread knowledge to the public outside the control of the church or monarchies. The people could start making political criticisms of local powers and making their own leisure choices.
In a musical context, this meant that the Church was no longer a primary patron of musicians and composers, nor were noble courts. Aristocratic houses were important musical patrons in the Classical Era, but a middle class with growing wealth wanted music in their homes and lives as well. Public music festivals and performances also began to grow. The middle class took an interest in becoming amateur musicians and hosts, not just audience members. These social shifts were the other forces that prompted a steady stream of simpler, more accessible music.
For the professional composers and musicians, the emphasis on science and organization was applied to music by codifying compositional rules, which led to the establishment of many of the classical music forms that are still used now.
Hallmarks of Classical Period Music
Classical values of rationalism, universality, cosmopolitism, and elegance were the artistic inspirations for Classical Era music. These Classical ideals manifested themselves in music using:
Homophonic melodies to create clean, simple, texture audiences could connect with harmonies composed based on formalized rules of harmonic function that support and work with the melody to enrich the texture in a balanced, controlled manner slower, more controlled dynamics, such as the use of crescendo, diminuendo, and sforzando, to provide a restrained emotional expression and more graceful transitions a linear narrative with clear, balanced phrases punctuated by a cadence patterned, thematic development, often through a dialectic between contrasting themes or progressions through theme variations great variety within a piece through changes in key, dynamics, and melodies.
A great example of a Classical Era device that encapsulates the aesthetic and philosophical values of the day: use of the antecedent/consequent melody, which presents a distinct, linear melody underscored by a harmonious balance and a clear resolution marking the part's end. Here's an example from the first movement of Mozart's Symphony in C Major, K. 551:
How Classical Era music separated itself from Baroque music
Some major artistic shifts occur as evolutions from what came before, while others arise from a rejection of the precedent style. Much of what defined Classical Era music can be seen as a rejection of the aesthetic values and hallmarks of the Baroque period.
Galant or "Sensitive style" music as stepping stone between Baroque and Classical Eras
Baroque and Classical music co-existed for a time. Musical tastes moved through various transition phases before the Baroque Period truly ended. The Late Baroque Period was dominated by a new artistic style called "rococo." Rococo departed from Baroque arts as a lighter, more playful style. Baroque arts and architecture are highly decorated with great ornamental flourishes.
In music, the rococo style was called the Galant style or sensitive style. More elegant and restrained than Baroque music, but also less serious. Composers enjoyed the fashionable style for its more harmonious aspect. Yet the growing sense that the Galant style ornamentation was shallow and merely decorative didn't align well with the philosophical, orderly preferences of the Enlightenment. Hence the final stronger break with Baroque artistic values and forms.
Clear distinctions between Baroque and Classical Music
You can see the Classical Era traits, characterized by its natural, simpler style considered to be reflecting an objective standard of good taste, in clear relief when compared to Baroque music:
Baroque music was more ornate, primarily polyphonic with a more complicated texture, which gave it a profoundly unnatural sound, while Classical Era music used its simpler textures to provide a more natural, melodic ambiance.
While Classical Era music has a linear foundation, punctuated by clear, separate phrases that can each have their own emotional center, Baroque composition with cycled through melodic and rhythmic patterns that focused on one mood.
Classical Era composers did away with basso continuo, the fixed, continuous accompaniment that was the rhythmic and harmonic foundation of Baroque composition. Composers wrote specific accompanying bass lines and harmonies with each work that existed in equipoise to the melody.
Classical Period composers provided increased notations as much of the artistic flourishes derived from tempo and dynamics, and as all the parts were written to combine into cohesive phrases throughout the work.
The richly textured Baroque music, dominated in tone by the harpsichord, contrasts with more natural sounding instruments preferred by Classical Era audiences, such as strings and woodwinds.
From the Manheim School to the Viennese Classical Style
The Manheim School, based in German royal court, grew during this period of overlap between Baroque and Classical and its transitional styles. The Manheim composers, working in the middle eighteenth century, were early adopters and innovators of the Classical music norms that would be more fully developed and codified later in the Classical Era. Manheim school composer Carl Stamitz is an excellent example of this time; his works show some elements of Galant style as well use of the sonata form.
Stamitz's Viola Concerto No. 1 in D Major
By the late eighteenth century, came the height of the Classical Era with the Viennese Classical style, sometimes referred to as the First Viennese School. Vienna was the artistic and cultural epicenter of Europe. All the great and good composers convened there, including Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.
It was during the middle and late phases of the Classical Era that the codified musical forms, such as the symphony and sonata form, were settled. This was also the apex of Classical Era music values, as evidenced by Beethoven's String Quartet in F major, Op. 59, No. 1 (1806).
Evolution of musical forms
Having noble, provincial patrons, rather than a local church or royal court with nearly unlimited resources, often left Classical composers with fewer musicians of varying skill. This relative scarcity aligned nicely with Age of Enlightenment values of simpler, universal music that could be enjoyed and even performed, by middle-class music aficionados. The result was the growth of chamber music during the Classical Era. Examples include:
Forms of chamber music popularly played at outdoor concerts and festivals, such as divertimenti, serenades, and nocturnes
Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525
The string quartet, which grew out of the Baroque trio sonata, but in the Classical evolution, gave each of the four instruments a clear voice.
Haydn's String Quartet Op. 33, No. 3 (The Bird)
Haydn also standardized the symphony format into four movements (although Mozart typically stuck with three):
first movement: often in sonata form, in allegro
second movement: slower and more lyrical, perhaps in sonata form
third movement: minuet and trio format or scherzo and trio; another lively movement that evokes dancing, with the trio sandwiched by the minuet or scherzo
fourth movement: the energetic finale, typically in either sonata or rondo form
Standardization of the sonata form was a necessary part of the formalizing the four-movement symphony. During this era, the sonata form was codified into its exposition – development – recapitulation design of thematic exploration.
Two other musical forms developed during the Classical Era that replaced the Baroque concerto grosso, a form of smaller groups of instruments performing against a larger orchestra:
The solo concerto, which highlighted the skill of an individual soloist and was an attractive draw for public concerts. The solo concerto existed during the Baroque Era but was composed for a broader range of instruments due to its popularity in the Classical Period.
The symphonie concertante (or sinfonia concertante), which uses multiple groups of soloists that contrast each other and the orchestra.
orchestra.
Joseph Boulogne's, Chevalier de Saint Georges, Symphonie concertante in G Major
Another popular music format to appear during the Classical Era was the comic opera. Not that serious opera wasn't prevalent during this period. It was and often drew of stories from Greek mythology, like Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
Comic opera, or opera buffa, told the stories of everyday people in crazy circumstances or in the epic search for love – not unlike the sitcom style of television, but with more music. For example, there's Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, where two soldiers make bets whether their girlfriends can remain faithful.
Evolution of Orchestras and Instruments during the Classical Period
One of the main departures from the Baroque Era was the disappearance of the harpsichord from Classical Era composition. The pianoforte replaced it by the middle of the eighteenth century, but it wasn't a central instrument in the works as the harpsichord was. However, the appearance of the piano, much as we know it today, arrived by the late eighteenth century and classical composers loved it, writing many concertos and sonatas.
The strings took on greater prominence, due to their particular ability to best reflect the human voice. That human, natural element was appealing to Classical audiences. Mozart formalized the violin sonata with piano accompaniment during the Classical Era, which generally contained two movements. Mozart's Violin Sonata No. 21 in E Minor.
The woodwinds also took on a conspicuous role and for the first time, became a distinct section within the orchestra. Like strings, woodwinds were prized for their ability to produce natural, elegant tones. The number and type of woodwind and horn instruments that became standard in an orchestra grew.
The entire orchestra grew and was standardized during the Classical Period. Its basic format of four instrumental sections was set by composers of the Manheim school. Later during the Classical Period, the standard orchestra size grew by adding multiples to existing instruments, especially in the woodwind and horn sections. The inclusion of new instruments, like the trombone and French horn, also contributed to the larger orchestra.
You've probably heard Fanfare for the Common Man a thousand times in some variation - from film and television to rockers Emerson, Lake & Palmer's styled rendition. But where and how did this renowned musical composition originate? Let's find out.
Fanfare for the Common Man was written by American composer Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), often referred to as "The Dean of American Composers." Copland's music evokes images of the American landscape and the pioneers of the West, in a vernacular style heard in such renowned works as Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring.
Copland was commissioned to write a fanfare (a majestic blend of trumpets, brass, and drums usually played to announce the arrival of an important person, such as a king or queen) in 1942 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Eugene Goossens. The commission came during America's entrance into World War II at the end of 1941.
In his biography, Copeland wrote: "Goossens had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942-43 concert season. During World War I, he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
The inspiration for Fanfare came from then Vice President of the United States Henry A. Wallace's famous speech of early 1942 when he proclaimed the dawning of the "Century of the Common Man."
Coming up with a title
Goossens suggested titles to Copeland such as Fanfare for Soldiers, or sailors, or airmen, and he wrote, "It is my idea to make these fanfares stirring and significant contributions to the war effort." Copland considered several titles such as Fanfare for a Solemn Ceremony and Fanfare for Four Freedoms, but ultimately titled the piece Fanfare for the Common Man.
Although most of the fanfares by Goossens’ symphony had military themes, Copland took a different approach. "I sort of remember how I got the idea of writing Fanfare for the Common Man," he recalled later, "It was the common man, after all, who was doing all the dirty work in the war and the army. He deserved a fanfare."
Upon hearing the final work, Goossens wrote to Copland, "Its title is as original as its music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves a special occasion for its performance. If it is agreeable to you, we will premiere March 12, 1943, at income tax time."
A total of eighteen fanfares were written at Goossens' bequest over the years, but Copland's Fanfare is the only one which remains in the standard repertoire to this day. The stirring patriotic feelings that the work inspires was best summed up by Sean McCollum in an article for the Kennedy Center, "Unlike most fanfares, Copland's is slow and majestic. It starts with percussive drums, gong, and timpani, rumbling like a distant battle. Then the clear, clarion call of three trumpets, playing in unison, establishes the main theme. French horns join the trumpets, building support and harmony. Finally, the growls of trombones and tuba emerge from below as the fanfare builds to its climax — the brass ensemble establishing a powerful wall of sound. Fanfare for the Common Man seems to capture in music the notion of people bravely joining forces to stand against danger."
Uses of the Fanfare
Copland later used Fanfare as the main theme of the fourth movement of his Third Symphony composed between 1944 and 1946. Over the years alternative versions have been made, and fragments of the work have appeared in musical scores of films, such as Jimmy King's theme in Ready to Rumble and the Bollywood film Parinda. John Williams' main themes for the 1978 film Superman and his score for Saving Private Ryan, both draw heavily on Copland's piece.
Other trivia tidbits include Fanfare being played at the Los Angeles Airport as the space shuttle Endeavor touched down after its final flight on September 21, 2012. It was played by the New York Philharmonic at the dedication of the 9/11 Museum in lower Manhattan on May 15, 2014. It was also played at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 26, 2015, as Pope Francis appeared to make a speech on religious freedom, delivered from the lectern used by Abraham Lincoln to deliver the Gettysburg Address.
Take a listen to the New York Philharmonic, conducted by James Levine, play the Fanfare. How does the music make you feel?
Published by StringOvation Team on February 07, 2018
Top photo of Aaron Copland from the CBS television/New York Philharmonic "Young Peoples' Concerts" series, circ. 1970s. Courtesy of Wiki Commons.
When young string musicians envision a future in the orchestra, they most likely think of themselves as professional musicians or the conductor. Yet it takes far more than the players and the conductor to keep a large orchestra together, rehearsing, and putting on multiple performances each year, especially if they partner with a dance or theater group.
If you are interested in a musical career, it’s important to expose yourself to the wide range of options out there. Not everyone will make the cut and get to play in a symphony or orchestra — it’s a highly competitive career after all. And not everyone who loves playing or even listening to music wants the pressure of being a professional performer. Even if these other options aren’t your first choice, being hired in one area or field of interest often paves the way and forges the connections required to open the door to a more preferred position.
Behind the Scenes of the Professional Orchestra Cast
Here are five orchestra roles you may not have heard of in the past. And, who knows? Perhaps one of them has your name on it. Don’t forget that landing an internship in an orchestra is one of the best ways to get a first-row seat to the inner workings of orchestras and the range of jobs available to you there.
1. General Manager (Also called the Managing Director)
In the corporate world, the orchestra manager would be the CEO. Just as the neck, tuning pegs, and tailpiece keep your strings together on the body of your instrument, the orchestra’s general manager works to keep all of the moving administrative, functional, and personnel components together within the orchestra family.
They oversee every aspect of the orchestra’s function, from administration and hiring procedures to contractual agreements with the musicians, as well as scheduling personnel and overseeing the production calendar.
Other examples of an orchestra general manager’s tasks include:
Connecting with and recruiting musicians and conductors
Commissioning new works
Creating schedules for rehearsals and performances
Negotiating contracts and fees
Getting clearance for music rights
Overseeing the management of the orchestra library (see below)
Securing and preparing venues for rehearsals and performances
Being the liaison between various orchestra departments
Traveling as necessary when the orchestra is on tour
In smaller orchestras, the general manager may be akin to a “one-person orchestra.” In larger orchestras, they oversee and delegate to staff. You will make a great general orchestra manager if you have an equal love of music and musicianship paired with a head for music or theater business, finances, and management.
2. Personnel Director
In larger orchestras, the General Manager has the luxury of a Personnel Director. The Orchestra Personnel Director is the human resources manager of the orchestra. Among other duties, they oversee the hiring of the musicians and other personnel, negotiate contracts within the parameters set by the Managing Director, and prepare the payroll.
As the Personnel Director, you would also handle or facilitate:
Any personnel issues that arise
Hiring substitute or extra musicians
Managing the personnel budget
Coordinating recruiting, applications, and auditions processes
Serving as the liaison among the Music Director, musicians, staff, guest artists, and administration
In addition to a bachelor’s degree in music, administration or HR experience is a bonus, and most orchestras will also want to see some experience in orchestral administration. Your people skills and personal integrity are also essential because of the legal and confidential nature of your responsibilities.
3. Stage Manager
An orchestra concert is a performance. Those performances can be simple such as the orchestra performing a single symphonic work. Or they can be very complex such as an opera, ballet, or musical theater performance. As with traditional theaters, orchestras employ Stage Managers, who work under the general manager and in partnership with the Music and Artistic Director(s), to handle all of the stage aspects of rehearsals and performances.
The Orchestra Stage Manager is responsible for all of the technical, production, and general stage management aspects associated with any performance, which are all planned well in advance and executed on-site. This includes:
Setting up and striking shows
Determining and organizing all equipment required
Working with Personnel Director as needed to bring on additional technical staff and performers
Negotiating all technical needs
Creating a safe working environment for everyone involved, both on and off stage
Coordinate logistical arrangements in support of development, marketing, education, public relations, and special events.
And the list goes on.
This is a very intense position and requires the right education (typically a degree in music or arts management), prior working experience in the field, and extreme attention to detail.
4. Orchestrator
This is not to be confused with a music arranger. While arrangers reinvent a complete work of music, Orchestrators pick up where a composer left off. As a string player, you’re used to seeing a complete music score, with all parts intact and with pre-printed markings for tempo, dynamics, etc. However, what you may not realize, is that the original composer may have only composed the melody and some sparse harmonics and passed it on to the Orchestrator.
From there, the Orchestrator collaborates with the composer or simply works through experience and intuition to develop the piece fully. In the 21st century, most Orchestrators work in the film or TV industries or with pieces of music that were commissioned for a particular event or performance or to honor a certain theme.
From the skeletal composition, it’s the Orchestrator’s job to:
Create or develop harmonies and chords
Assigning instrument parts
Create tempo and dynamic instructions
Work in collaboration with the composer, director/composer, and other Orchestrators
Transpose works into different keys or adjusts them to suit a guest soloist’s preferences, range, and abilities
In addition to being music composers in their own right, most Orchestrators begin working as music assistants to other Orchestrators to gain experience and a name for themselves. Getting an internship in a TV, film, or symphony orchestra is also a smart way to gain desirable work experience and connections.
5. Orchestra Librarian
Do you love to spend your days looking at amazing musical scores? Has music history been a favorite part of your musical education experience? Are you highly organized and love the idea of working in an orchestra but have no desire to stand out as a performer or conductor? If so, Orchestra Librarian may be the perfect career fit for you.
The Orchestra Librarian plays an essential role in the orchestra. They work closely with the Music and Artistic Director(s) as well as all of the musicians but enjoy their acclaim outside of the limelight. In addition to maintaining the orchestra’s own archives of music, and managing rentals and check-outs of these resources by staff and other personnel, the Orchestra Librarian also:
Arranges the purchase or rental of music from other sources
Procures and disseminates music scores well in advance, so there is time for the Music Director and/or Concertmaster to assign bowing
Checks in/out and reviews all incoming and outgoing music scores (and, potentially, equipment or other archived materials) for quality, replacing damaged or aged copies as needed
Accurately transcribes all bowings and music notations from the Director and Concertmaster into the collection
Erases all previous notations from prior musicians when music is returned
Assembles and arranges music in orchestra folders
Attends all rehearsals (arriving at least an hour early) and performances to take notes of any changes or mistakes and to amend those on musicians’ copies
Organize and track reference materials
Manage orchestra library staff
Most Orchestra Librarians have a college degree, music and/or library science preferred, and have some level of experience working with an orchestra. The ability to expertly read music is essential, as is a love of classical and orchestral music.What do you think? Each of these five key roles in an orchestra can be a wonderful way to enjoy a career in music while also celebrating and honoring your other interests and gifts. Any of them appeal to you? If you want to learn more about them, why not reach out to your local orchestra or symphony and see if you can interview the folks in these roles?
Recently, there was a post on Reddit's r/choosingbeggars. A band leader wanted a drummer to join him for a gig. It was a paying gig, but the bandleader expected the drummer to play for free. "Isn't it the art that feeds your soul?" the band leader asked.
"No," a drummer replied, "the money I earn playing gigs buys the food that feeds my soul."
Artistic expression can be its own reward, but most of us need (and want) more material rewards as well. For those of you who love music, want to work in music, and want to make a ton of money doing it, here are eight jobs in the music industry that pay top dollar.
Global mega-star. Beyonce and Jay-Z are reportedly worth a combined $1.4 billion. Now, they didn't earn all that money directly from their music. Still, it was their success as global music stars that provided the platform from which they could enter other lucrative businesses. Being a global mega-star can earn you tons, but it's a hard row to hoe. Here are some other, more realistic options that pay very well.
Booking agent. If you're not going to be the global mega-star, you may be able to be the booking agent that plans their tours. There's a steep career ladder to climb, and the lower rungs pay poorly. As you move up, you can earn an annual salary anywhere from a $250,000 to over one million dollars.
Full-time orchestral musician with a prominent orchestra. Pay rates for orchestral musicians vary widely, with the reputational category of the orchestra as a key driver. A starting position at one of the top five orchestras in the United States will be in the low six figures. Principals can earn much more. Orchestral musicians with orchestras in smaller markets will typically start in the mid to high five figures.
The same approximate salary numbers that apply to orchestral musicians also apply to an orchestra's conductor and music director. The impact of the reputation and market of the orchestra on salary numbers is also similar. That may not remain the same, as the past few years have shown a spike in conductor and music director salaries.
If classical isn't your performance route and you're not working towards becoming a successful recording artist, you can earn fantastic money as a session artist. The top 10% of session artists earn $152,547 per year.
Music producer. One of the greatest financial benefits of being a music producer is that this position earns royalties. That's right. The better the music they produce performs in the marketplace, the more they earn. In theory, there's no roof on how much a music producer can make.
Film/TV music supervisor. What would our favorite films and TV shows be without their soundtracks? A typical salary gets close to six figures, and those at the top of the field can earn more. There's more opportunity in television to make good money as a music supervisor than in film. Be prepared to know as much about copyrights and the legalities of using music as you do music itself in order to be successful.
Music attorney. If both the logical and creative sides of your brain are working at full steam, you might want to think about becoming a music attorney. All those artists, record labels, venues, and related music services need attorneys who specialize in the music industry to sort out their business dealings. This position can start in low six figures and get into the seven figures with experience, especially if you earn partner status.
Many music industry professions start with modest salaries that provide opportunity to reach high five or low six-figure salaries. These aren't jobs where only the best of the best reach six figures. These are jobs like sound engineers, music therapists, and music copyright managers. With experience and a solid reputation, these careers can definitely get you into its upper earnings range.
Don't let clichés about "starving artists" influence you. You can work in the field you love and earn a sweet salary while you do it.
Published by StringOvation Team on October 11, 2019
