Composers Powerpoint Presentation

January 5, 2018 | Author: Anonymous | Category: Arts & Humanities, English, Literature, English Literature
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Combined Presentation: •Bach •Handel •Vivaldi •Haydn •Mozart •Beethoven •Chopin •Wagner

•Tchaikovsky •Debussy •Williams •Schoenberg •Stravinsky •Gershwin •Copland

Johann Sebastian Bach

JS Bach was born in Germany in 1685 and came from a family full of famous musicians.

• Both of Bach’s parents died within a year of each other before his tenth birthday. • He went to live with his brother who taught him to play the organ and before long, his career began to flourish.

Although we know Bach as a famous composer, he was best known in his day as:

• A skilled violinist • Organist • Harpsichordist

Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV 1001) in Bach's handwriting

Bach lived during the ___________ Baroque era: • A term which describes the fancy and complex style of music and art produced around the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. • He wrote in all the popular musical forms of the day, depending on where he was working at the time.

While working as a church musician he wrote many of his cantatas famous ___________: • Long musical works to be played and sung during church services. • These works demonstrate his deep religious beliefs, which were a very important part of his life and music.

When he was employed as a court musician, Bach wrote many beautiful instrumental works for his royal employers, including:

• Sonatas • Suites • Concertos Commemorative statue of J.S. Bach in Leipzig

Bach’s final job was working as Musical Director for the city of Leipzig: •Composing and directing music for four churches and two choirs. •Producing any music needed for special occasions.

Fast Facts: Name: Johann Sebastian Bach Dates: 1685-1750 Country of birth: Germany Historical Era: Baroque Contemporary Composers: Handel, Vivaldi Contemporary Artists: Rembrandt Other People/Events: Isaac Newton, George Washington, Voltaire, invention of the steam boiler

Fun Fact: A recording of Bach’s music is floating in outer space! In 1977, the spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 were launched to probe areas of outer space never before explored. On board was a “Golden Record,” a collection

of the very best examples of human life and achievement, intended as a greeting to any form of life that may find it. Three recordings of Bach’s music were chosen to be included in this “Who’s Who” of human history.

Despite his genius as a musician, Bach was a devoted family man. He had twenty children to two different wives. Towards the end of his life, Bach slowly lost his sight and died at the age of 65 of complications resulting from eye surgery. He left behind him a rich musical legacy which we can still enjoy today.

George Frideric Handel In the attic of a modest home in Germany in the late 1600s, a small boy was secretly teaching himself to play the keyboard.

• Handel’s father wanted him to have a lawyer proper career and become a __________. • Handel practiced his music in secrecy. • After his father’s death, he began formal music training. • Towards the end of his life, Handel went blind _____.

Handel was one of the finest composers of Baroque the ____________ era. Handel’s musical training was in:

• Germany • Italy opera His first love was _________. Handel as a boy.

Handel returned to Germany in order to Elector of Hanover on the work for the ______________, condition that he be allowed to take some time off to go to London. Handel lived the rest of his life in London.

Apart from operas, Handel wrote a wide variety of instrumental music including:

•Concertos •Suites •Sonatas •Chamber music A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by LouisFrançois Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

He also wrote a great deal of vocal music oratorios including cantatas and _____________.

oratorios One of his most famous _____________ was: •The Messiah

Portrait of George Frederick Handel engraved by Charles Turner, 1821

Fast Facts: Name: George Frideric Handel Dates: 1685-1759 Country of birth: Germany Historical Era: Baroque Contemporary Composers: Bach, Vivaldi Contemporary Artists: Vermeer Other People/Events: Isaac Newton, Voltaire, George Washington, invention of the piano

Fun Fact: Handel wrote one of his best known pieces of orchestral music for his employer King George 1 (previously known as the Elector of Germany). It was first performed whilst the King was floating down the Thames River on a barge, with the orchestra on another barge floating close by. The King liked the long series of movements so much, that he asked for it to be played three times that day. Needless to say, Handel and the orchestra were exhausted. This piece of music is aptly named Water Music.

Antonio Vivaldi

In the 1920s, an Italian boarding school was doing a spring clean when it discovered boxes full of Vivaldi’s old music manuscripts!

The discovery of Vivaldi’s old music manuscripts began a renewed interest in his music. Thus, Vivaldi’s reputation as a worthy and equally important contemporary of Bach and Handel was reinstated.

Venice, Italy Vivaldi was born in _________.

Vivaldi was the son of a professional violin player who gave him an ideal start in his musical studies.

At the age of 15, Vivaldi began studying to priest and thus, along with his become a _____ bright red hair, he gained his life long Il Prete Rosso (The Red Priest) nickname of _________________________.

asthma Vivaldi had a type of _______ that made him unable to perform mass. He spent much of his life working orphanage in an _________: •Teaching violin •Directing the orchestra

Much of Vivaldi’s music was written for the orphans he worked with and includes: • Over 500 concertos • Sonatas • Chamber music • Operas • Sacred vocal music

Some of his best known music is a series The Four Seasons of violin concerti called ______________.

Each concerto corresponds to a different season of the year, the most famous one La Primavera (Spring) being ________________.

Fast Facts: Name: Antonio Vivaldi Dates: 1678-1741 Country of birth: Italy Historical Era: Baroque Contemporary Composers: Bach, Handel Contemporary Artists: Caravaggio Other People/Events: Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton discovers Law of Gravity, Fahrenheit invented the thermometer

Fun Fact: In Vivaldi’s day it was scandalous for females to be seen playing musical instruments. Vivaldi and his all-girl orchestra from the orphanage would therefore often have to play behind a white curtain....one that was thick enough to obscure such scandal from sight, but thin enough that the orchestra could be heard.

Joseph Haydn

In Austria, in 1809, two well-respected scientists secretly dug up the body of a recently deceased composer and removed his head! Haydn portrait by Thomas Hardy, 1792

The scientists wanted to conduct experiments to determine whether head-size genius ______ was related to ________.

inconclusive Their research was __________. Haydn’s head was not reunited with his 150 years body for almost _________!

rags-to-riches Haydn’s life was a classic ____________ story.

1732 He was born in _____. choirboy he After losing his position as a _______, barely managed to make ends meet as a freelance musician _______________.

the Esterhazy family Haydn was hired by ________________, a wealthy Hungarian family.

Kapellmeister (musical director) He was their _________________________.

30 years He worked for them for _______. This provided Haydn with access to a fine orchestra ________ to compose for.

Mozart Haydn, along with _______ (Haydn’s close Beethoven (Haydn’s student), friend) and _________ represent the Classical style of music written in the 18th century.

While Baroque music was very complex and simpler and fancy, Classical music was ___________ more restrained _____________.

Haydn wrote at least:

•104 Symphonies •83 String Quartets •62 piano sonatas •choral music •many instrumental works

Haydn portrait by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, painted ca. 1791-2, depicts Haydn ca. 1770

Fast Facts: Name: Joseph Haydn Dates: 1732-1809 Country of birth: Austria Historical Era: Classical Contemporary Composers: Mozart, Beethoven Contemporary Artists: Thomas Gainsborough Other People/Events: Napoleon, Jane Austen, Australia discovered by Captain Cook, French Revolution, American War of Independence, Invention of the steam engine

Fun Fact: Haydn had a fabulous sense of humor which was often reflected in his music. On one occasion, his orchestra in the Esterhazy court was well overdue for some time off, so Haydn found a novel way to inform the Prince. He composed a new symphony, entitled the “Farewell Symphony” which ended by the

orchestra members departing the stage one by one, leaving only Haydn and one other musician on stage. The Prince got the hint and the group began packing the next day!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Downloading music illegally from the internet is considered a fairly modern crime. Yet…

1770 Austrian • In Rome in _____, a 14 year old ________

boy committed the 18th century equivalent of illegal downloading.

Sistine Chapel • When Mozart was in the ____________ in

Rome, he heard a piece of music that was so special it was illegal to write it down or sing it outside the Chapel.

once • Having heard it _____, he wrote out the five-part work from memory.

Mozart’s musical genius became apparent at a very young age.

harpsichord at • He started learning the __________ 3 age ____. • He had written his first composition by 5 the time he was ___. •He completed his first symphony at the 9 age of ___.

Mozart was an extremely hard worker and 600 works of every produced over _____ traditional form popular during the time, including:

•Symphonies •Operas •Sonatas •Concertos •Dance music •Masses

Portrait of Beethoven as a young man by Carl Traugott Riedel (1769–1832)

•Mozart had the ability to write beautiful music with seemingly little effort.

eccentric •He also had a rather _________ sense of humor and was fond of telling jokes and inventing silly poems.

35 •He died of an unknown illness at ____, and was completely penniless.

Fast Facts: Name: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Dates: 1756-1791 Country of birth: Austria Historical Era: Classical Contemporary Composers: Haydn, Beethoven Contemporary Artists: Jean Honore Fragonard, Gainsborough Other People/Events:

Fun Fact: One evening, Mozart was attending a party where famous composer, Josef Haydn was present. Mozart bet a case of champagne that Haydn could not play at sight, a piece Mozart had just written. Haydn accepted, sat down at the harpsichord and began to play. He had only played a few bars when he had to stop, as the music required him to play two notes at either end of the keyboard and one right in the middle. He declared that it was impossible to play with only two hands! Mozart then took his place at the keyboard and when he got to the “impossible” section, he bent down and played the middle note with his nose! Haydn had to reluctantly concede!

Ludwid Van Beethoven

Someone intense, impatient and impulsive; quick to fly into a temper tantrum and stubborn to a fault.

• Beethoven is widely considered to be “greatest of the great” one of the __________________ composers.

Bonn, Germany 1770 • He was born in ____________ in ____. • His first music teacher was his father ______.

22 When Beethoven was ___ he moved to Vienna.

He took violin lessons and studied with classical composers: ________

•Joseph Haydn •Anton Salieri

Beethoven in 1803

Beethoven quickly gained widespread recognition as a:

•Virtuoso pianist •Composer •Renowned music teacher

Two of his well known students were:

•Carl Czerny •Franz Liszt

50 he was By the time Beethoven was ___ deaf completely _____. He had to give up performing but he never stopped composing . After he lost his hearing he used Conversation books to communicate with ________________ his friends.

Beethoven composed in a variety of musical genres such as:

•Orchestral •Chamber •Piano •Vocal music

His compositions include:

•32 piano sonatas •9 symphonies •his only opera Fidelio •and many other well known works

He was one of the key composers to classical initiate the transition from the _______ to romantic style of composition. the ________

1827 at age ___. 57 He Beethoven died in _____ never married and had no children.

Prince-Elector's Palace (Kurfürstliches Schloss) in Bonn, where the Beethoven family had been active since the 1730s

Fast Facts: Name: Ludwig Van Beethoven Dates: 1770-1827 Country of birth: Germany Historical Era: Classical/Romantic Contemporary Composers: Haydn, Schubert Contemporary Artists: Francisco de Goya Other People/Events: Goethe, French Revolution (1789–1799), Discovery of the Rosetta Stone which lead to hieroglyph decipherment (1799), Development of the first electric cell by Alessandro Volta (1800)

Fun Fact: Despite the fact that Beethoven was completely deaf by the time he wrote his ninth symphony, he insisted on conducting the first performance. Organizers of the concert knew his lack of hearing would prove problematic for the orchestra, but were too scared of Beethoven to refuse him. They instead allowed him to think he was conducting, while positioning another conductor on stage and advising the orchestra to ignore Beethoven’s beat. It was probably a good thing because at the end of the work he was a few bars out and continued his wild conducting even though the piece had finished. He could not hear the wild applause from the audience behind him and had to be turned around by one of the performers to accept the standing ovation.

Frederic Chopin

Ask any good pianist for a list of the finest music ever written for the piano and you will almost certainly hear the name Frederic Chopin.

“poet of the piano” • Chopin is known as the _______________. • He isth among the finest composers of the 19 century ___________.

Poland 1810 • Chopin was born in _______ in _____. • Due to the occupation of Poland by Russia ______, he had to leave at the age of 20.

piano Chopin was a child prodigy on the ______ and began composing music at a very young age. His work represents the Romantic style Romanticism was free, of art. __________ imaginative and highly emotional. Chopin’s music was written purely to express emotion ______________.

Almost all of Chopin’s music was written solo piano for _________, and some of his compositions are considered to be among the most difficult piano works ever written. He invented the form known as the ballade ________ and also made creative developments to other forms of music for solo piano such as nocturnes, etudes and impromptus.

shy Chopin was ____ and preferred playing for

small, private gatherings rather than large public concerts.

perfectionist and He was an extreme ___________ would often go into a temper-tantrum while working. He never married and he died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.

Delacroix’s joint portrait of Chopin and George Sand. She sews as he plays piano.

Fast Facts: Name: Frederic Chopin Dates: 1810 - 1849 Country of birth: Poland Historical Era: Romantic Contemporary Composers: Beethoven, Liszt, Wagner Contemporary Artists: John Constable, Eugene Delacroix Other People/Events: Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Darwin, The Industrial Revolution, invention of the camera

Fun Fact: Chopin had an irrational fear of being buried alive and therefore requested that his heart be removed after his death... just to make sure! His dying wish was fulfilled and his heart, preserved in alcohol, was later taken back to Poland by his sister where it was buried inside a pillar of the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.

Richard Wagner

One of the greatest composers of the Romantic era.

A few words used to describe the 19th century German composer:

• • • •

Controversial Egotistical Racist Promiscuous

Memorial bust of Richard Wagner in Venice.

Wagner’s life resembles the plot of a soap opera __________. He was constantly fleeing his native Germany either to escape his enormous debts or to evade a ______ prison sentence for _____ getting involved in radical political activities. He was also often in trouble for getting involved with married women!

Wagner is best known for his operas, or music dramas as he preferred to call ____________, them. He wrote the scenario, the libretto and the music all himself.

One of his most well-known works 4 is a series of ___ music dramas called The Ring Cycle _____________. •Took 26 years to write •15 hours to perform

He was so particular about how it was to be performed that he even constructed a Bayreuth, specially designed theatre in __________ Germany _________. An annual Wagner festival is still held there.

nationalistic Wagner was fiercely _________________ and sought to express “the German spirit” through his music. Adolph Hitler He was the personal hero of ___________. Hitler had Wagner’s music played on loud speakers as Jews were led to gas the chambers. Many Jewish people refuse to listen to Wagner’s music and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra refuses to play it!

Fast Facts: Name: Richard Wagner Dates: 1813-1883 Country of birth: Germany Historical Era: Romantic Contemporary Composers: Chopin, Liszt, Verdi Contemporary Artists: Renoir, Turner Other People/Events: Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, invention of the telephone and the light bulb

Fun Fact: Have you ever heard the saying “it ‘aint over until the fat lady sings”? It is a phrase often used by

sport commentators to note the fact you can’t state the winner of a game until it is finished. This saying is most likely referring to one commentator’s view that Wagner’s long, complex operas seem to go on forever, but finally end with a solo sung by a stout female singer!

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Over one hundred years ago, Tchaikovsky composed the classic Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker.

Russian Romantic Tchaikovsky was a ______________ composer born into a wealthy family that lawyer wanted him to become a _______. He became very successful, acclaimed world Tsar of Russia wide, and was honored by the __________. He was invited to conduct some of his works Carnegie Hall in New York at the opening of __________ in 1891.

Apart from Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music, including concertos, overtures and six symphonies, he also wrote:

•Solo piano works •Chamber music •Vocal music •Opera

He is probably best remembered for his ballets, which apart from ____________, The Nutcracker Swan Lake and _____________. Sleeping Beauty include __________

shy and Tchaikovsky was a painfully ____ reserved ________ man. His life was plagued with crises. This often caused him to be intense and emotionally unstable _________________. After a failed marriage that only lasted nine weeks, he tried to commit suicide.

Soon after, he had an unusual relationship with a wealthy widow named Nadezhda von Meck ________________. She greatly admired his music and sent him money so that he could devote more time to composing, but only on the never meet in person condition that they _________________.

They wrote letters to each other, sharing 13 years every aspect of their lives for _________, and the abrupt and unexplained end to this relationship left Tchaikovsky devastated. Tchaikovsky died three years later at the 51 age of ___.

cholera His official cause of death was ________, contracted by drinking a glass of unboiled water _____________.

Fast Facts: Name: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Dates: 1840-1893 Country of birth: Russia Historical Era: Romantic Contemporary Composers: Brahms, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov Contemporary Artists: Monet, Van Gogh Other People/Events: Friedrich Nietzsche (http://www.timelineindex.com/content/ view/494), Thomas Edison, American Civil War, invention of the telephone

Fun Fact: Tchaikovsky had an unusual and irrational fear of his head falling off his shoulders while conducting! To prevent this from happening, he would often hold his chin firmly with his left hand, whilst conducting with his right!

Tchaikovsky’s signature

Claude Debussy

Whilst not always appreciated during his lifetime, he has since been recognized as one of the key composers to herald the new era of 20th century music.

Paris in ____. 1862 Debussy was born near _____ Godmother His __________ paid for him to have piano lessons.

By the age of 10 he was accepted into the Paris Conservatory of Music ______________________. He had conflict with teachers over his unusual style of musical composition.

One of his teachers once asked him which rules of harmony was he following. My own “_________,” was his only reply.

unorthodox combinations of He used __________ instruments, not resolving dissonant chords or not sticking to accepted forms. His relatively small output of music includes orchestral, instrumental and vocal music and even one opera.

His music is often given the label Impressionism for its similarity to the ‘____________’, style of painting by that name that was popular at the time.

Debussy’s creative genius seemed to go hand-in-hand with personal crises.

depression He went through periods of _________ during which he was unable to compose at all.

individualistic disposition Debussy had an ___________ that enabled him to shrug off the rules and traditions of the past to create a truly unique style of music.

Debussy at the piano, in front of the composer Ernest Chausson, 1893

Fast Facts: Name: Achille-Claude Debussy Dates: 1862-1918 Country of birth: France Historical Era: Early 20th century Contemporary Composers: Ravel, Stravinsky, Schoenberg Contemporary Artists: Monet, Renoir, Picasso Other People/Events: Edison, Einstein, Hitler, World War 1, invention of the first automobile

Fun Fact: Debussy was quite a class clown. One day his harmony teacher was unexpectedly absent so he took it upon himself to take the class. He was in the process of teaching the most outrageous sounding chords and melodies (which he knew his teacher would be horrified by) when another lecturer walked past and threw him out!

Ralph Vaughan Williams

In the early years of the 20th century, a young English composer by the name of Ralph Vaughan Williams took to his bicycle and traveled around the rural countryside of England.

Williams wanted to find and preserve English folk music which was fast ______________, disappearing from oral tradition.

This contributed greatly to the development of a English style of music. truly “______”

A statue of Ralph Vaughan Williams in Dorking.

Vaughan Williams was born into a wealthy 1872 English family in ____.

Charles Darwin He was the great nephew of ____________, the author of the theory of evolution.

Wedgwood He was related to the renowned __________ family, makers of fine china.

All over the world, composers were national pride seeking to express their _____________ through a unique voice. A Hungarian composer by the name of Bela Bartok __________ was recording and collecting the folk music from his native countrymen and using it in his compositions.

Aaron Copland In America, ____________ also found great success in developing a unique style using folk music.

The influence of folk music on Vaughan Williams was immediately recognizable in the music he wrote and eventually became English music synonymous with “____________”. Even though his use of folk song was quite a

new development, most of his music was traditional forms such as written in ______________ symphonies (he wrote 9), chamber music, concertos, operas, and choral music.

Vaughan Williams suffered hearing damage World War 1 and gradually serving in ____________ became deaf. He maintained the reputation of a true British gentleman He was generous with his ______________. time, money and skills, and was thoughtful and patriotic.

85 was mourned His death at the age of ___ by an entire nation.

Fast Facts: Name: Ralph Vaughan Williams Dates: 1872-1958 Country of birth: England Historical Era: 20th century Contemporary Composers: Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Copland Contemporary Artists: Renoir, Kandinsky, Picasso Other People/Events: Einstein, World War 1, World War 11, Queen Elizabeth 11, invention of automobile, the first crossing of the English channel in an airplane, the sinking of the Titanic

Fun Fact: During World War 1, Vaughan Williams was walking along the cliffs of Dover in England, minding his own business when a sudden burst of inspiration gripped him. He paused to sit and write down a tune that had just come to him. Unbeknown to him, a group of British soldiers were performing training maneuvers nearby and Vaughan Williams was promptly arrested and accused of spying and writing coded messages for the enemy. It took some swift talking, but eventually the officer was convinced and let him go.

Arnold Schoenberg

Few composers in history have caused the kind of controversy that Arnold Schoenberg has.

Vienna, Austria Schoenberg was born in _____________, composer where he began his career as a _________ teacher and _______. He was forced to flee Austria when Hitler Jewish came to power, partly due to his _______ heritage and partly because Hitler banned degenerate his music, labeling it “___________”.

After a brief stay in Paris, he settled Los Angeles, USA in _______________ and lived there for the rest of his life.

controversial Schoenberg was very ___________ because he pushed the boundaries of musical composition to the absolute limits. For centuries, western music had been keys and scales based around particular _____________. Schoenberg moved further and further away from this basis until he eventually abandoned it altogether.

atonal or lacking any His music became ______, sense of key or tonal center. His well known Pierrot Lunaire is an example of work ____________ atonality. Schoenberg’s created a system or formula for writing music in which all the twelve musical equal emphasis notes are given ____________.

twelve-tone music This style became known as ______________ serial music or __________.

Throughout all these changes in styles, traditional Schoenberg still wrote in ________ forms such as:

String Quartets Opera Cantatas

Concertos Orchestral Music Vocal Music

Schoenberg’s compositions can be quite difficult to listen to because our ears are not used to music that is not based on a tonal center ___________.

Many musicians have dismissed his works, whilst others have labeled him a genius. Schoenberg is regarded as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

Schoenberg's grave in the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna.

Fast Facts: Name: Arnold Schoenberg Dates: 1874-1951 Country of birth: Austria Historical Era: 20th century Contemporary Composers: Stravinsky, Copeland, Gershwin Contemporary Artists: Munch, Kandinsky Other People/Events: Einstein, Freud, World War 1, World War 11, invention of the ballpoint pen

Fun Fact: Schoenberg suffered from a condition known as triskaidekaphobia: a fear of the number 13.

He was terrified of his 65th birthday, as 65 was a multiple of 13 and he feared he would die during that year He survived, but his paranoia was fueled by an astrologer who wrote to Schoenberg on his 76th birthday, warning him that this was a very dangerous year for him as 7 + 6 = 13. It could be that Schoenberg literally scared himself to death, for on Friday the 13th of July that year he felt ill, went to bed and died just before midnight.

Igor Stravinsky

In 1913, in a theater house in Paris, a hushed and expectant audience sat awaiting the start of the premiere of The Rite of

Spring.

ballet by The Rite of Spring was a new _______ Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky. prominent _______ What began as murmurs of protest from the audience at the unusual music of the opening riot as the refrain, erupted into a ____ wild dance movements violent rhythms and __________________ _____________ intensified. It was a huge scandal in Paris and also one of the defining moments in ushering in the modern era of music. _______

Russian Stravinsky’s father was a ________ opera singer.

lawyer His parents wanted him to become a _____. Like so many artists around the turn of the century and beyond, Stravinsky was truly cosmopolitan ___________. He spent time living in France, Switzerland and the United States.

There were many different musical techniques and styles being developed during this time.

Stravinsky wrote in the following styles of music:

•Nationalistic Russian •Neoclassical •Serial or Twelve Tone •Modern Sounding Music

Stravinsky is probably best known for his ballets ______ which include:

•The Firebird •Petrouchka •The Rite of Spring He also wrote:

•Concertos •Oratorios •Choral Music •Instrumental Music in Unusual Combinations

Stravinsky and Pablo Picasso collaborated on Pulcinella in 1920. Picasso took the opportunity to make several sketches of the composer.

Despite all these different styles and musical forms, his unique and remarkable _______ signature _________ can be heard throughout all his works. His creativity and influence changed musical composition forever, and in doing so, earned him a place in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of list of the “________________________ th the 20 century _____________”.

Fast Facts: Name: Igor Stravinsky Dates: 1882-1971 Country of birth: Russia Historical Era: 20th century Contemporary Composers: Ravel, Schoenberg, Copeland, Gershwin Contemporary Artists: Picasso, Degas Other People/Events: Einstein, Freud, J.F. Kennedy, World War 1, World War 11, first man on the moon, invention of the television

Fun Fact: In 1940, Stravinsky was arrested in Boston, USA for

breaking a law that forbade tampering with the National Anthem. Stravinsky had added an unusual harmony to his arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner and was subsequently taken into custody. He was released when he finally convinced the police that he meant no harm by the arrangement. You can see a photo of his mug-shot here: http://besttheorypresentationever.com/stravinsky _trivia.html

George Gershwin

The early 20th century in America is a time in history that we associate with jazz and dance-hall music and the growing popularity of Broadway musicals.

jazz and George Gershwin combined both _____ classical characteristics into a traditional ________ distinctive style. New York 1898 He was born in ________ in _____ to

Russian-Jewish parents who had recently immigrated.

12 He began playing the piano when he was __.

12 Gershwin’s ___ Broadway musicals, whose lyrics were written by his brother, Ira, include songs that are universally recognized and loved, such as:

•I’ve Got Rhythm •Strike up the Band •Someone to Watch Over Me

Gershwin also wrote several orchestral works including:

•Rhapsody in Blue •An American in Paris •the folk opera Porgy and Bess

Even though these works are considered classical they are still heavily influenced ‘_______’, jazz by _____ characteristics.

Schoenberg and Gershwin asked composers __________ Ravel to teach him composition but they _____ both declined. They felt his style was so unique that pure classical training would ruin it! Gershwin’s life was cut tragically short. He 38 brain tumor at the age of ___. died from a __________

Fast Facts: Name: George Gershwin Dates: 1898-1937 Country of birth: USA Historical Era: 20th Century Contemporary Composers: Stravinsky, Ravel, Prokofiev, Schoenberg Contemporary Artists: Kandinsky, Picasso Other People/Events: Albert Einstein, Franklin Roosevelt, World War 1, invention of movies with sound, first hamburger sold in the USA

Fun Fact: Gershwin’s memory was not one of his better traits. In 1924 he agreed to compose a new jazzinspired work for a concert his friend was organizing. He was busy at the time and completely forgot about it, only remembering when he saw an article in the newspaper advertising the premiere of this new work! He not only completed the work in three weeks, but it went on to become his best-known composition:

in Blue.

Rhapsody

Aaron Copland

Cowboys and outlaws are

not something you would normally associate with classical music, but Copland used these subjects as topics for ballets!

Copland was the 5th child in his family and had to receive music lessons from his sister ______.

Nadia Boulanger Later he studied with _____________ a

famous French woman, who was known for helping her students to develop a truly unique style.

For Copland, this meant seeking to create a American voice that was uniquely “_________”.

At first Copland used jazz elements, but later folk melodies he incorporated ___________ into his music.

cowboy Copland is best known for his “_______” Billy the Kid and ______. Rodeo ballets __________ He wrote a variety of different types of instrumental music including:

•Concertos •Symphonies •Film Music

Copland was investigated by the FBI during communist the 1950s for suspected ties to _________ groups.

blacklist He was put on a ________ which

temporarily banned him from working in the entertainment industry.

Eventually Copland devoted less time to composing, instead focusing his attention on:

•Conducting •Teaching •Writing books about music

His dedication to teaching and mentoring young up-and-coming composers led to his reputation as The Dean of American Composers “__________________________”.

Fast Facts: Name: Aaron Copland Dates: 1900-1990 Country of birth: USA Historical Era: 20th century Contemporary Composers: Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Gershwin Contemporary Artists: Picasso, Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe Other People/Events: Einstein, The Beatles, World War 1, World War 11, commercial air travel, mass production of cars, invention of the computer

Fun Fact: Copland won an

Academy Award! He was awarded

the Oscar for the best musical score in a dramatic film in 1950 for his music for the movie The Heiress. He had been nominated for the same award three times previously.

Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College (part of the City University of New York)

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