May 13th 2009
When Tchaikovsky saw Carmen in 1875 he prophesied that it would be the best-known opera in the world. At the time he was the only person who thought so; the rest of the first- night audience was shocked and outraged. Continue Reading »
March 3rd 2009
Audivi vocem is the eighth respond (a chant or anthem) to be sung during Matins on All Saints Day. Responds or responsories were part of daily service at the Chapel Royal and consisted of alternating sections for soloists and choir. This setting of Audivi vocem was one of thirty-four Cantiones Sacrae, or Sacred Songs, published in 1575 by Thomas Tallis and his pupil, the composer William Byrd. Continue Reading »
February 23rd 2009
Mozart’s comic opera of 1786, The Marriage of Figaro, is one of the most successful works of the entire operatic repertoire. It was Mozart’s first opera set to a libretto by the Italian playwright, Lorenzo da Ponte, and was soon followed by two more da Ponte successes, Don Giovanni (1787) and Cosi fan Tutte (1789). Continue Reading »
February 16th 2009
Beethoven started the age of piano virtuosity. His music for the instrument reached new emotional depths and demanded more stamina and skill from the performer than ever before. As a result, piano manufacturers were under constant pressure during his lifetime to develop instruments that could take the strain of the new, heavier style of playing and respond to the power of sound and the range of expressive demands that Beethoven’s compositions imposed. Continue Reading »
February 16th 2009
At the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries Vienna was so full of musical talent that it became known as the music capital of Europe. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert were the pillars of Viennese Classicism and each composer, in his own way, demonstrated a unique affinity for chamber music forms. Haydn and Beethoven in particular emphasized the value of the string quartet as a vehicle for expressing music’s profoundest thoughts. Continue Reading »
November 13th 2008
Early trumpets and horns were made from natural materials in just the same way as early pipes. However, unlike pipes, trumpets and horns have a thin end to blow through and a thicker, cone- shaped end to carry the sound out into the air. It’s often difficult to tell the difference between an early trumpet and an early horn. Trumpets are usually straight and horns are usually curved. Continue Reading »
October 16th 2008
In the 800s monks invented a way of writing music down. Before that time all music was learned by heart, or it was forgotten as soon as it had been played. Look at this piece of music, which was written in 1420. You can see that it is not that different from modern written music. You might think that the colours and decoration make it more attractive! Continue Reading »
October 16th 2008
Every performer needs a few simple pieces of equipment, if nothing else, to give a successful performance. It is well worth spending a little time beforehand to make sure of a worthwhile result.
First make sure you play your music at the right speed. A machine called a metronome tells you what the speed should be. But how fast is fast? Continue Reading »
August 25th 2008
The clarinet is generally described as being a stopped cylindrical tube, but in fact only roughly two thirds are perfectly cylindrical. Part of the tube leading to the bell is conical, and so is the mouthpiece, which does not hermetically seal the top.
These factors, plus the fact that the surface of the bore of the tube is not perfectly smooth on account of the key holes, all contribute to the complex timbre. Uneven harmonics are present in force in the lower register and diminish in number towards the higher, where even harmonics are present. Continue Reading »
August 25th 2008
The saxophone has to be treated as a family of seven instruments of different sizes, each one covering 4 octaves and all seven a compass of 51 octaves. Saxophones look like outsize metal tobacco pipes supported by neck slings, apart from the sopranos which are shorter, parabolic cones. All have a single reed, clarinet-type mouthpiece. Classed as woodwinds, though made of brass, their part is written in a treble clef on a stave beneath the clarinets. Continue Reading »
© 2010 Musical Performance |
Entries | Comments | PostedPost Blog Services 
