January 27th 1756, Salzburg – † December 5th 1791, Prague
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is rightly considered the sun in the constellation of music. Mozart is the most enduringly popular of classical composers and his works have become part of the standard concert and opera repertoires.
Mozart had a complex and serious personality, but was at the same time, by all accounts of an easy-going and [...] Continue Reading…
* May 22nd 1813, Leipzig – † February 13th 1883, Venice
Richard Wagner was a German composer, perhaps he was ’THE’ German’ composer – at least that is what he would have thought – or put otherwise - ”Who was Richard Wagner’s favorite composer?” – Answer – Richard Wagner!
Wagner’s followers -known as Wagnerians or Wagnerites – have in true Teutonic formation created for themselves [...] Continue Reading…
January 1st 1898, Teschen – † October 18th 1944, Auschwitz
Viktor Ullmann was born on the first of January 1898 in Teschen, the modern Cieszyn. His mentor was Alexander von Zemlinsky, under whose direction he was conductor at the New German Theatre of Prague until 1927. In the following season, 1927-28, he was appointed head of the opera company in Aussig an der [...] Continue Reading…
Robert Schumann – www.foto-face.com
* June 8th 1810, Zwickau – † July 29th 1856, Endenich
Robert Schumann besides being an influential German composer was also an aesthete and influential music critic. He is one of the most famous Romantic composers of the 19th century.
A hand injury prevented him from pursuing a career as a virtuoso pianist. His early compositions were written almost exclusively for [...] Continue Reading…
A young Richard Strauss – www.foto-face.com
* June 11th 1864 Munich – † September 8th 1949, Garmish-Partenkirchen
Richard Strauss, noted for his tone poems and operas, was one of the last Romantic composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was during his own lifetime considered both ahead and behind his time! While he fervently despised Hitler and the Nazis in private – Strauss was [...] Continue Reading…
* November 16th 1895, Hanau – † December 28th 1963, Frankfurt
Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor. Born in Hanau, Germany, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child. He entered the Hochsche Konservatorium in Frankfurt am Main where he studied conducting, composition and violin under Arnold Mendelssohn [...] Continue Reading…
* December 16th 1770, Bonn – † March 26th 1827, Vienna
Beethoven was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential musicians of all time.
Ludwig gave his first public performance as a pianist when he was eight [...] Continue Reading…
Hector Berlioz – www.foto-face.com
* December 11th 1803, La Côte-Saint-André † March 8th 1869, Paris
Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande Messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made great contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation and by utilizing huge orchestral forces for his works, sometimes calling for over 1,000 performers. At the [...] Continue Reading…
Leoš Janáček – www.foto-face.com
* July 3rd 1854, Hoshwald – † August 12th 1928, Moravska
Leos Janacek was a Czech composer, who is remembered mainly for his operas and his orchestral piece: Sinfonietta. As a young man Janáček became friends with Antonín Dvořák, and began composing in a relatively traditional romantic style, but after his opera Šárka (1881), his style began to change. He [...] Continue Reading…
Maurice Ravel – www.foto-face.com
* March 7th 1875, Ciboure – † December 28th 1937, Paris
Ravel was a French composer and pianist of the impressionistic period, known especially for the subtlety, richness and poignancy of his music. His piano music, chamber music, vocal music and orchestral music have become staples of the concert repertoire.
Ravel’s piano compositions, such as Jeux d’eau, Miroirs and Gaspard de [...] Continue Reading…
Johann Sebastian Bach portrait by www.foto-face.com
Bach’s place in history – A Titan
Johann Sebastian Bach is rightly considered the greatest German composer. Admired for both its intellectual and technical depth, Bach’s music transcends his own baroque historical period and remains contempory and fresh irrespective of time, no more so than in the 21st century- where if classical CD sales are [...] Continue Reading…
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