Music, Medicine and Happiness

by Desiree Ho , Interlude

Credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Did you ever wonder why the Chinese character for Music (“樂”) shares the exact same character for happiness (“樂”), and why the Chinese character for medicine (“藥”) is simply the same character with the symbol for plants placed on top? It seems that ancient Chinese had long recognised a connection between music, happiness and medicine. Could the growing field of music therapy really bring about health benefits?

Music as a non-therapeutic form of medicine

Perhaps you have a friend or family member who suffers from a health problem, such as stroke, depression, Parkinson’s, or is recovering from surgery, and is now looking for other forms of treatment. Well, perhaps music therapy could be the answer.

Music therapy is a growing field of healthcare in which music is used by a qualified professional to help address a patient’s needs through clinical and evidence-based therapy. The aim of music therapy is to reduce the patient’s symptoms, aid healing, and improve physical movement and their overall quality of life.

While the field of music therapy is considered to be relatively young in comparison to more established forms of the therapy, there is no question that music has been used in medicine thousands of years ago.

From the ancient Greek philosophers who believed that music could heal the mind, body and soul, to the native Americans who chanted and sang healing rituals, to the WWII war veterans who used music to help treat soldiers suffering from shell shock, music has a long history in the recovery process.

Credit: https://helpingharmonies.files.wordpress.com/

Music therapists must be qualified in order to practice. This is because musical intervention by untrained people can be ineffective or even be harmful.

In the United States, qualified music therapists must have a bachelor’s degree (which spans four years), 1200 hours of clinical training and internship experience and pass a national exam before they can be certified.

In the United Kingdom, one must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, which requires successfully completing an approved programme in music therapy.

Here are some examples of how music has proven to be effective:

Stroke

Music shows to be helpful in helping stroke patients recover. A study on the rehabilitation of 60 stroke patients conducted by Särkämö T et. al revealed that recovery in the verbal memory and focused attention improved significantly in the group of patients that were assigned to listen daily to self-selected music than those assigned to listen daily to self-selected audio language tapes, or the control group that did not listen to either.

The group with music also showed to be less depressed and confused than the control group. These findings indicate that listening to music in the early stages of stroke recovery can improve both cognitive neurological recovery and prevent negative moods.

Depression

In a study of patients being treated for depression, 79 participants aged between 18 and 50 were randomized to receive either 20 standard care sessions with music therapy or standard care alone.

In the hour-long sessions, professionally-trained music therapists worked with the patients to learn an instrument.

Credit: http://www-tc.pbs.org/

Using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, a 10-item questionnaire to assess anxiety and general functioning on a scale of 0-60, the results showed that scores of depression symptoms (by 4.65), anxiety symptoms (by 1.82) and general functioning (by 4.58) improved more with the music therapy than without.

However, it should be noted when these measurements were taken again three months later, the differences between the scores were said to be no longer statistically significant, indicating that music therapy may have short-term benefits, while the long-term benefits are yet to be studied further.

Parkinson’s

Music has also been used for helping people with Parkinson’s disease to regain some of their functioning, and has also shown to improve the quality of life and overall feelings of happiness, as published in “Pyschosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioural Medicine.

It seems that the music helps stimulate the increase of Dopamine and Serotonin in the brain, which is largely reduced in Parkinson’s patients, helping them to better control their breathing and movement.

Recovering from Surgery

Patients recovering from open-heart surgery also showed to have lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, after listening to classical music. In certain cases, listening to music before an operation was more effective than anti-anxiety medications in getting patients to relax.

While these findings are encouraging, we should be aware that music therapy should be used together with conventional treatment. Relying on music therapy alone and avoiding conventional forms of medicine can lead to serious consequences.

Furthermore, music therapy is more than just listening to music and involves regular assessment by a professional, and should be viewed with the same care as in conventional forms of medicine. And while there is evidence that music therapy is beneficial, there are no claims that music therapy can cure diseases.

References

Särkämö T, T., Tervaniemi, M., Laitinen, S., Forsbiom, A., Soinila, S., Mikkonen, M., . . .Hietanen, M. (n.d.). Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke. [Abstract]. Brain, 131, 866-876.

Music therapy ‘helps treat’ depression. (2011, August 1). Retrieved January 3, 2014, from NHS choices website: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/08August/Pages/music-therapy-for-depression.aspx

Making music can help overcome depression. (2011, August 1). Retrieved January 3, 2014, from The Telepgraph website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8671706/Making-music-can-help-overcome-depression.html

What is Music Therapy? Frequently Asked Questions. (2013). Retrieved January 3, 2014, from American Music Therapy Association website: http://www.musictherapy.org/faq/#39

Music Therapy. (2008, January 11). Retrieved January 3, 2014, from American Cancer Society website: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/music-therapy

Music Therapy. (n.d.). Retrieved January 3, 2014, from European Parkinson’s Disease Association website: http://www.epda.eu.com/en/parkinsons/in-depth/managing-your-parkinsons/quality-of-life/creative-therapies/music-therapy/music-therapy-and-parkinsons/

Music Therapy: Classical Music that can heal your souls!

10 Greatest Masters of Baroque Music

 by Hermione Lai, Interlude

© aesdes.org

If I could take only one style of music to a deserted island it would have to be Baroque music. Music written during that period is full of drama and energy, and it can be very intimate or simply grandiose. It is lively and tuneful, and always seems to express a fundamental and universal order. It also gave birth to opera, and the orchestra became a musical force. My favorite among all these wonderful and expressive genres, however, is the concerto. Soloists on all kinds of instruments started to take center stage and amazed audiences with their technical skills and highly expressive music.

You can probably tell already that Baroque Music was famous for its stylistic diversity. Italy led the way in terms of musical innovation, and the beginning of the 17th century saw one of the most dramatic turning points in the history of music. While earlier music was composed in accordance with the rules of counterpoint that took precedence over the text, the new modern Baroque style now focused on musically expressing the meaning of the words. All this paved the way for the establishment of a modern harmonic language, one we still use today. Countless composers were active during this exciting period in musical history, so we decided to compile a list of the 10 greatest Baroque composers starting with Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713). 

Arcangelo Corelli

The Italian Baroque is famous for its incredible violinmakers. Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri are names that are still instantly recognizable today. The composer at the center of this golden age of string music in Italy was Arcangelo Corelli. He worked for some very important musical patrons, including Queen Christina of Sweden and Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, who later became Pope Alexander VIII. Corelli started to compose instrumental sonatas in several sections and movements, scored for two to four solo instruments and support by the basso continuo. These pieces are called ensemble sonatas, and they unfold alternating slow-fast-slow-fast movements. In addition, Corelli was also at the forefront of establishing a new and exciting musical genre, the concerto. This ingeniously pitted a soloist, or a group of soloists, against an instrumental ensemble. Corelli uses many of the harmonic progressions that form the basis of modern tonality, and he was the first composer to gain an international reputation solely on the basis of his instrumental music. He definitely is one of the greatest and most beloved composers of Baroque music. 

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687) was one of the most dominant figures of the French baroque. He originally hailed from Florence and became the Italian language tutor to
Louis XIV’s cousin Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orléans in Paris. He initially served as her chamber boy, but attracted the attention of the young Louis XIV by dancing with him in the magnificent Ballet royal de la nuit. Soon he was appointed “compositeur de la musique instrumentale.” Working with the playwright Molière, Lully produced a number of highly successful comédies-ballets over the year. His claim to fame was the tragédie-lyrique, a French opera in five acts incorporating ballet, chorus and lavish sets. These productions reflected the magnificent life at the court of the Sun King, and it was not uncommon to see machines that made angels fly or huge ships battling stormy seas on stage. Because of such innovations, Lully easily made it onto my list of great Baroque composers. 

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was one of the all-time great composers, and everybody still knows his name and some of his music. He started out as a violinist and composed his first operas in his native Germany. Handel then traveled to Italy where he met with Vivaldi and took lessons from Corelli. In 1712, Handel moved to London as Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover, who eventually became King George I. Handel arrived in London as a famous opera composer, and as a shrewd businessman, he started three commercial opera companies to supply Italian opera to English nobility. Handel was a resourceful and workaholic musician of great charisma with a genius for invention. And when London audiences turned their backs on Italian opera, Handel reinvented himself and focused on the composition of Oratorios. These works combine sacred dialogues and narrative meditations with music that includes instrumental dances, choral declamations and elaborate arias. With his Messiah, Handel scored a huge commercial hit and it is still one of the composer’s most popular and enduring works. Handel, without doubt, is one of the foremost Baroque composers. 

Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) was probably the most important musician in late 16th and 17th century Italy. He was the first great composer of opera, and he developed powerful ways of expressing and structuring musical drama. Monteverdi instigated a shift in musical thinking that left the late Renaissance and ushered in the artistic expressions of the early Baroque. Monteverdi, according to many historians, is the creator of modern music. In all, Monteverdi composed at least eighteen operas, but sadly only a handful has survived. His first opera L’Orfeo of 1607 blends existing musical styles into a unity that was entirely new. Combining elements of madrigal singing and monody—what we would call recitative today—with dancing and instrumental passages defined Monteverdi’s “innovative creativity and his discovery of a new expressive frontier.” Monteverdi was a superstar of early Baroque music, and he is rightfully considered one of the greatest Baroque composers. 

Georg Friedrich Telemann

It might come as a little surprise, but Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) was considered the greatest German composer in the 18th century. He was much more famous than J. S. Bach, and his salary in Hamburg was three times larger than Bach’s in Leipzig. In fact, Telemann might have been the most industrious composer of all time. He wrote over 1,700 church cantatas, almost 50 Passions, and seemingly countless opera. And let’s not forget that he composed massive amounts of instrumental music, among them approximately 125 orchestral suites, 125 concertos, several dozen other orchestral works and sonatas in five to seven parts, nearly 40 quartets, 130 trios, 87 solos, 80 works for one to four instruments without bass and roughly 250 pieces for keyboard. Telemann was the most important composer of German-language operas in the first half of the 18th century, and his concertos do represent the history of that genre in German lands. However you want to look at it, Telemann was one of the greatest Baroque composers. 

Barbara Strozzi

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was one of the finest singers and most prolific composers of her time. Adopted daughter of the renowned poet Giulio Strozzi, Barbara grew up in the city of Venice and made her mark as a composer by publishing eight collections of songs. She dedicated her opus 1 to Vittoria della Rovere, duchess of Tuscany, with the words, “I reverently consecrate this first work, which I, as a woman, all too ardently send forth into the light, to the august name of Your Highness, so that under your Oak of Gold it may rest secure from the lightening bolts of slander prepared for it.” The majority of her music is written for accompanied female voice, and her settings create an intimate relationship between the words and the music. Frequently, she explores unusual and surprising harmonies, and before her death in 1677, there was more of her music in print than even the most famous composers of her day. No doubt, Strozzi is one of the greatest Baroque composers. 

François Couperin

Both Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel described the Baroque composer François Couperin (1668–1733) as the epitome of French music. A member of a family dynasty of musicians, he established himself as one of the leading composers of his day, and his use of harmony and melodic construction far surpassed his contemporaries. At the height of his career, Couperin was considered the most sought-after harpsichord and organ teacher. Skillfully blending French and Italian musical styles, he published music for organ, chamber ensembles, vocal music and his famous four books of harpsichord music, totaling about 220 keyboard works. His music reflects the social milieu from which it emerged. He was described as the “poet musician par excellence, who believed in the ability of music to express the conflict between personal passion and self-control.”

Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell

( 1659-1695) incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements in his music. However, Purcell’s compositions represent a uniquely English form of Baroque music. He was the son of a court musician, and essentially spent his entire life in Westminster. His royal duties included writing music for special occasions at court. In addition, he also wrote chamber music and became involved with the growing London pubic concert scene. And that included writing incidental music for the theatre. Purcell famously composed a number of semi-operas, and Dido and Aeneas is the only complete English language opera in the 17th century. Purcell was one of the finest and most original composer of his day, and “he gave to the theatre some of his happiest melodic inspirations, distributed among solemn overtures, cheerful or pathetic airs, and delightful dances of every imaginable kind.” Purcell is one of the highly original minds of Baroque music. 

Antonio Vivaldi

We all know and love the music of Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). Throughout his extended career as musical director at the “Ospedale della Pietà” (Hospital of Mercy) in Venice, a post he held from 1703 to 1740, Vivaldi authored roughly 500 concertos, 46 operas and numerous smaller instrumental and sacred compositions. His best-known work, the four violin concertos titled “The Four Seasons,” dates from between 1716 and 1725. Each concerto features three movements and is based on a series of poems. It is one of the very first pieces in which music tells or follows a narrative. I suppose, this music was seriously ahead of its time because the score to “The Seasons” was stored in an attic for over 200 years. Re-discovered around 1950, it has since become one of the most recorded work of all time.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Vivaldi was one of the greatest Baroque composers, and the same is certainly true of the giant of Baroque music, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). He was born into a large musical family, and he was considered the greatest organ virtuoso of his day. While he did hold a number of smaller appointments, his most important job was as music director and cantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Bach composed well over 1,000 works, including instrumental and orchestral music and a seemingly endless number of cantatas for liturgical use. While Bach was predictably famous during his lifetime, at the time of his death he was considered old-fashioned. When he died in 1750, the glorious period of Baroque music ended. However, in 2019 a poll among 174 living composers confirmed that Bach was not only the greatest Baroque composer, but also the greatest composer of all time. Now you know my favorites; can you think of other Baroque composers that should be part of this list?

Chopin’s Funeral Music

By Georg Predota, Interlude

A good many people decide to plan proceedings for their own funerals. Among the various options and choices there is always the question if music should be part of the service, and if so, what that music might be.

With his health steadily deteriorating, Frédéric Chopin had some time to mull this specific question. With support from his student and patroness Jane Stirling, Chopin and his family members took an apartment at 12 Place Vendôme, in June 1849. Only his closest friends were admitted, although Pauline Viardot sarcastically remarked “all the grand Parisian ladies considered it de rigueur to faint in his room.” Chopin put his affairs in order, and on 17 October 1849, around 2 in the morning he died aged 39.

Last moments of Frédéric Chopin (1849-1850) by Teofil Antoni Jaksa Kwiatkowski

Chopin was horrified to be buried alive, so he requested that his body be opened after death, and his heart returned to the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. And he requested that Mozart’s Requiem was to be performed at his funeral. But there was a problem! The Archbishop of Paris initially forbade the performance of the Requiem because women were not permitted to sing in the city’s parish churches. It took special pleas from Chopin’s most powerful friends and by the vicar of La Madeleine, where the service was to be held, before the Archbishop issued a special dispensation.

Chopin’s hand and deathmask

His decree did allow for female participation on the condition that the female participants remain invisible. In all practicality that meant that the women singers and soloists, including Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan and Pauline Viardot were hidden behind a black velvet curtain. While this issue was being resolved, Chopin’s embalmed body lay in La Madeleine’s for almost 2 weeks. When all was set and done, huge crowds poured into the square on 30 October 1849. The facade of La Madeleine’s was draped in black velvet with a cartouche bearing the silver-embroidered initials FC. Although admission was by invitation only, a large number of tourists filled the pews. In addition to the Requiem, an orchestral arrangement of the “Funeral March” from Chopin’s B-flat minor sonata, an organ arrangement of a couple of Preludes and improvised variations on themes by the composer also sounded.

My passion of music (III)

Filipino music in general was introduced to me by my wife Rossana. What does music really mean to Filipinos? It simply tells them where they've been and where they could go. It tells a story that everyone can appreciate and relate to, which is why it's a big part of every Filipino culture.

During the 1980s, Rossana was the lead dancer of the Manisan Cultural Dance Troupe. I got to know about  gong music which can be divided into two types: the flat gong commonly known as gangsà and played by the groups in the Cordillera region and the bossed gongs played among the Islam and animist groups in the southern Philippines. The kulintang ensemble is the most advanced form of ensemble music with origins in the pre-colonial epoch of Philippine history and is a living tradition in southern parts of the country.

Very quickly, it pleased me another popular medium for light classical muse -  the rondalla. Its repertoire consists mainly of native folk tunes, ballroom music as well as arrangements of classical pieces such as opera overtures. Bayani de Leon and Jerry Dadap have written more serious music for the rondalla.  Rondalla is a traditional string orchestra comprising two-string, mandolin-type instruments such as the banduria and laud; a guitar; a double bass; and often a drum for percussion. The rondalla has its origins in the Iberian rondalla tradition and is used to accompany several Hispanic-influenced song forms and dances.

Tinikling and  Cariñosa inspired me more and more. The Tinikling is a dance from Leyte which involves two individual performers hitting bamboo poles, using them to beat, tap, and slide on the ground, in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between poles. It is one of the more iconic Philippine dances and is similar to other Southeast Asian bamboo dances. The Cariñosa (meaning "loving" or "affectionate one") is the national dance and is part of the María Clara suite of Philippine folk dances. It is notable for the use of a fan and handkerchief in amplifying romantic gestures expressed by the couple performing the traditional courtship dance. The dance is similar to the Mexican Jarabe Tapatío, and is related to the Kuracha, Amenudo, and Kuradang dances in the Visayas and Mindanao Area.

In the first few years of my life as an expat in the Philippines, it looked like I had forgotten about my classical music from Europe. I focused more and more on Himig ng Pilipinas - the  musical performance arts in the Philippines or by Filipinos composed in various genres and styles. The compositions are often a mixture of different Asian, Spanish, Latin American, American, and indigenous influences.

Notable folk song composers include the National Artist for Music Lucio San Pedro, who composed the famous "Sa Ugoy ng Duyan" that recalls the loving touch of a mother to her child. Another composer, the National Artist for Music Antonino Buenaventura, is notable for notating folk songs and dances. Buenaventura composed the music for "Pandanggo sa Ilaw".

The leading figures of the first generation of Philippine composers were Nicanor Abelardo, Francisco Santiago, Aontonio Molina, and Juan Hernandez. 

But one composer and his works fascinated me the most:  Francisco Buencamino. He belonged to a family of musicians. He was born in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan, on November 5, 1883.  In 1930, he founded the Academy of Music of Buencamino. His musical styles were Kundimans and Sarzuela.

Francisco first learnt music from his father. At age 12, he could play the organ. At 14, he was sent to study at the Liceo de Manila. There, he took up courses in composition and harmony under Marcelo Adonay. He also took up piano-forte courses under a Spanish music teacher. He did not finish his education as he became interested in the sarswela.  Some of the sarswelas he wrote are: "Marcela" (1904), "Si Tio Celo" (1904) and "Yayang " (1905). In 1908, the popularity of the sarswela started to wane because of American repression and the entry of silent movies. Francisco Buencamino then turned to composing kundimans.  

For a time, Francisco Buencamino frequently acted on stage. He also collaborated on the plays written and produced by Aurelio Tolentino. One of his earliest compositions is "En el bello Oriente" (1909), which uses Jose Rizal's lyrics. "Ang Una Kong Pag-ibig", a popular kundiman, was inspired by his wife.  In 1938, he composed an epic poem which won a prize from the Far Eastern University during one of the annual carnivals. His "Mayon Concerto" is considered his magnum opus. Begun in 1943 and finished in 1948, "Mayon Concerto" had its full rendition in February 1950 at the graduation recital of Rosario Buencamino at the Holy Ghost College. "Ang Larawan" (1943), also one of his most acclaimed works, is a composition based on a Balitaw tune. The orchestral piece, "Pizzicato Caprice" (1948) is a version of this composition. Many of his other compositions were lost during the Japanese Occupation, when he had to evacuate his family to Novaliches, Rizal.  

I would say that the "Pizzicato Caprice" is my favorite. I was so lucky to experience it during an awesome performance with the Manila Symphony Orchestra. 

 In my opinion: outstanding groups include not only the Manila Symphony Orchestra, but also the Filipino Youth Symphony Orchestra, the U.P. Symphony Orchestra, the Manila Concert Orchestra, the  Quezon City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Artists’ Guild of the Philippines, the Philippine Choral Society, the U.P. Madrigal Singers, the U.P. Concert Chorus among others.

These are extraordinary treasures of Filipino culture which one hears and experiences far too little about these days.

(To be continued)

[Nicanor Abelador]

[Francisco Santiago]

[Juan Hernandez]

Bach and George Martin, the Fifth Beatle

By Georg Predota , Interlude

© medium.com

The English rock band The Beatles, formed in Liverpool in 1960, is widely considered the most influential band of all time. Led by songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the band was part of 1960s counterculture and inspired an international fan frenzy called “Beatlemania.” They stormed the United States pop market in what was dubbed the “British Invasion” and enjoyed huge commercial success. The Beatles essentially wrote simple songs emerging from folklore roots. Although primarily rooted in contemporary rock ’n roll, they absorbed different influences and styles, “having been inspired by everything, from Negro blues to Magyar dances.” And as a scholar writes, “they borrowed here and there with unabashed enthusiasm and made it all their own.” And while they considered “Beethoven a con, just like we are now,” Paul McCartney once said “Bach was always one of our favorite composers.” 

George Martin, 1965

Paul and John sang in the church choirs of St. Peter and St. Barnabas in Liverpool, but none of the Beatles could read music. They certainly had no training in classical music and/or on an instrument. That particular aspect was introduced and fostered by their mentor and producer George Martin (1926-2016), a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music. Martin had studied composition, conducting and orchestration, music theory, harmony and counterpoint, and he usually arranged the songs of the band.

Beatles and George Martin

Martin strongly denied that he was the real creative genius behind the Beatles. On the contrary, he insisted, “I worked only to their original designs and to their specific requests, even to details of arrangements which they sang to me and which I often transcribed on the spot in the studio.” George Martin was recurrently called the “Fifth Beatle,” and classical influences in the band’s music should essentially be credited to him. 

Beatles and George Martin in studio, 1966

Prior to working with The Beatles, Martin had worked at Parlophone, a branch of EMI, as a producer of classical and baroque records. Tellingly, he always called “classical music his first love.” Martin himself dabbled in composition, and he orchestrated a number of Bach works in the manner of Leopold Stokowski. In addition, he worked traces of Bach into several Beatles songs, and that included the megahit “Yesterday.” Paul McCartney wrote the melody and chord progression, but it was Martin’s idea to accompany the song with a string quartet. Sir Paul remembers, “that on that session George explained to me how Bach would have voiced it in a choral voicing or a quartet voicing. And he’d say, ‘This would be the way Bach would do it’.”

George Martin and Paul McCartney, 1969

Paul also remembered “the original inspiration for “Blackbird” was from a well-known piece by Bach, which I never know the title of, which George and I had learned to play at early age…we felt that we had a lot in common with Bach. For some reason we thought his music was very similar to ours.” That particular famous Bach tune, transformed and transposted in “Blackbird,” turns out to be the “Bourrée” from the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996. 

George Martin

After Paul McCartney listened to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 on a television program, he had the idea of incorporating the high trumpet sound into one of his songs. “Penny Lane” is a nostalgic celebration of his childhood in Liverpool, and the second part of the song features a tune played by the piccolo trumpet. The song “All you Need is Love” sports a coda by George Martin. The band gave Martin permission to write whatever he wanted, telling him “Put together any tunes you fancy, and just play it out like that.” As such, Martin mingled together the melodies of “Greensleeves,” “In the Mood,” and Bach’s 2-part Invention No. 8 in F Major. A scholar writes, “despite the role of a favorite composer that Bach allegedly played for The Beatles, there are only a few concrete traces in their work, and most of them lead directly or indirectly back to the “Fifth Beatle” George Martin.

Giacomo Puccini - his music and his life

 

Puccini is one of the most beloved of all opera composers La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot still play to packed opera houses the world over. Generally snubbed by the critics, Puccini was a serial adulterer whose greatest passions (apart from women) were massacring the local duck population and hurtling around in high-speed cars and boats. Yet behind the macho image, he was a creative artist of profound sensitivity and dramatic flair. This essential music companion provides a compelling overview of the constant tension between Puccini's indulgent personal life, his status as an international celebrity and his excruciatingly high standards as a composer.

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini started the operatic trend toward realism with popular works such as 'La Bohème' and 'Madama Butterfly.'

Who Was Giacomo Puccini?

Italian composer Giacomo Puccini started the operatic trend toward realism with his popular works, which are among the most often performed in opera history. But the fame and fortune that came with such successes as La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and Tosca were complicated by an often-troubled personal life. Puccini died of post-operative shock on November 29, 1924.

Early Life

Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858, in Lucca, Italy, where since the 1730s his family had been tightly interwoven with the musical life of the city, providing five generations of organists and composers to the Cathedral of San Martino, Lucca’s religious heart. It was therefore taken for granted that Puccini would carry on this legacy, succeeding his father, Michele, in the role first held by his great-great grandfather. However, in 1864 Michele passed away when Puccini was just 5 years old, and so the position was held for him by the church in anticipation of his eventual coming of age.

But the young Puccini was disinterested in music and was a generally poor student, and for a time it seemed that the Puccini musical dynasty would end with Michele. Puccini’s mother, Albina, believed otherwise and found him a tutor at the local music school. His education was also subsidized by the city, and over time, Puccini started to show progress. By the age of 14 he had become the church organist and was beginning to write his first musical compositions as well. But Puccini discovered his true calling in 1876, when he and one of his brothers walked nearly 20 miles to the nearby city of Pisa to attend a production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. The experience planted in Puccini the seeds of what would become a long and lucrative career in opera.

From Milan to 'Manon'

Motivated by his newfound passion, Puccini threw himself into his studies and in 1880 gained admission to the Milan Conservatory, where he received instruction from noted composers. He graduated from the school in 1883, submitting the instrumental composition Capriccio sinfonico as his exit piece. His first attempt at opera came later that year, when he composed the one-act La villi for a local competition. Although it was snubbed by the judges, the work won itself a small group of admirers, who ultimately funded its production.

Premiering at the Teatro dal Verme in Milan in May 1884, La villi was well received by the audience. But more importantly, it caught the attention of the music publisher Giulio Ricordi, who acquired the rights to the piece and commissioned Puccini to compose a new opera for La Scala, one of the most important opera houses in the country. Performed there in 1889, Edgar was an utter failure. But Ricordi’s faith in Puccini’s talents remained unshakable, and he continued to support the composer financially as he set to work on his next composition.

Blaming the failure of Edgar on its weak libretto (the lyrical portion of an opera), Puccini set out to find a strong story on which to base his new work. He decided on an 18th-century French novel about a tragic love affair and collaborated with the librettists Guiseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica on its adaption. Manon Lescaut premiered in Turin on February 2, 1893, to great acclaim. Before the year was out, it was performed at opera houses in Germany, Russia, Brazil and Argentina as well, and the resulting royalties paid the 35-year-old Puccini quite handsomely. Despite this overwhelming success, however, his best was still to come.

The Big Three: 'La Bohème' and 'Madama Butterfly'

With their accessible melodies, exotic subject matter and realistic action, Puccini’s next three compositions are considered to be his most important; over time they would become the most widely performed in opera history. The result of another collaboration between Puccini, Giacosa and Illica, the four-act opera La Bohème was premiered in Turin on February 1, 1896, again to great public (if not critical) acclaim. In January 1900, Puccini’s next opera, Tosca, premiered in Rome and was also enthusiastically received by the audience, despite fears that its controversial subject matter (from the novel of the opera’s same name) would draw the public’s ire. Later that year, Puccini attended a production of the David Belasco play Madam Butterfly in New York City and decided that it would be the basis of his next opera. Several years later, on February 17, 1904, Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala. Though initially criticized for being too long and too similar to Puccini’s other work, Butterfly was later split up into three shorter acts and became more popular in subsequent performances.

His fame widespread, Puccini spent the next few years traveling the world to attend productions of his operas to ensure that they met his high standards. He would continue to work on new compositions as well, but his often-complicated personal life would see to it that one would not be immediately forthcoming for some time.

10 legendary musicians who never learned to read music

Taylor Swift, Hans Zimmer, Aretha Franklin. Picture: Getty

By Sophia Alexandra Hall, ClassicFM London

@sophiassocials

 

You don’t need to be able to read music in order to be a great musician. From Hendrix to Zimmer, these famous faces will make you question just how much musical education is needed to achieve greatness.

You’d think to be a famous musician... you’d need to be able to read music?

Well, you’d be wrong to think so, as these following musicians have been proving for decades.

More and more musicians are learning to play via the Internet and by ear, which can be evidenced by the rise of apps and online lessons for children, which don’t necessarily involved learning to read sheet music.

Read on to find out which of your favourite musicians have created successful careers, without this once thought to be mandatory skill.

1. Jimi Hendrix (1942 - 1970)

   The singer-songwriter Jimi Hendrix reportedly taught himself to play by ear on the electric guitar, and would use words and colors to express how he wanted the music to sound.

   

   Jimi Hendrix Performs in New York. Picture: Getty

2. Stevie Wonder (1950-)

   Stevie Wonder has been blind since shortly after his birth. He played multiple instruments from an early age, including the piano, harmonica, and drums and was signed to Motown at the age of 11.

   

   Stevie Wonder performs onstage at Q85. Picture: Getty

3. Hans Zimmer (1957-)

   One of the most famous film composers in music history, Hans Zimmer cannot read conventional music notation. He started out playing piano for bands before becoming a jingle writer, which is where he credits the development of his compositional skills.

   

   Hans Zimmer performs onstage at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. Picture: Getty

4. Danny Elfman (1953-)

   Another film composer, Danny Elfman, who is known for scores including Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, spent a large part of his career being unable to write or read music.

   
   

   

   Danny Elfman speaks at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Picture: Getty

5. Taylor Swift (1989-)

   Taylor Swift shot to stardom with her first album at the age of 17. While a talented multi-instrumentalist, Swift revealed in a Rolling Stone interview that she does not read music. She says, “I would not have majored in music because when music becomes technical for me I don’t like that part of it.”

   
   

   

   Taylor Swift on stage at Westfield. Picture: Getty

6. Bob Dylan (1941-)

   American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan is regarded by some as one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Notably, Dylan was inducted into the Hall of Fame without knowing how to read music.

   

   Bob Dylan Records "Bringing It All Back Home". Picture: Getty

7. Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018)

   The Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin could not read music. She music by ear, having perfected this talent by spending her childhood singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan.

   

   Aretha Franklin on Top of the Pops. Picture: Getty

8. The Beatles

   “None of us could read music… None of us can write it.” John Lennon admitted this about the band in a 1980 Playboy interview, “but as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make the noise, they [Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr] are as good as anybody.”

   

   The Beatles at a press conference. Picture: Getty

9. Eric Clapton (1945-)

   English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Eric Clapton ranked second in the Rolling Stone’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’ despite not being able to read music.

   

   Eric Clapton At Prince's Trust Rock Gala. Picture: Getty

10. Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977)

    The King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley played guitar, bass and piano all by ear. He couldn’t read or write music and had no formal lessons, but could hear a song and reportedly play it after only one listen.

    

    Elvis Presley on television 1968. Picture: Getty