One of the most influential American composers from the 20th century is Steve Reich. Steve Reich was born in New York on October 3, 1936. It is believed that his mother, a songwriter who also had a connection with music, influenced his affinity towards music. Reich studied philosophy at Cornell University and composition at the Julliard School of Music. He studied with William Bergsma and Vincent Persichetti, while he received his M.A. degree at Mills College (California), and his mentors were Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. He is the founder of the Steve Reich Ensemble, which was created because no other ensemble was either capable or willing to perform his early pieces. This ensemble, which at times numbered eighteen or more musicians, …show more content…
“Music for 18 Musicians” is an excellent example of pulse music. In terms of structure, instrumentation and harmony are unique, compared to his previous works. The basic material consist of a sequence of eleven chords which are heard at the beginning and the end of the work. These chords, repeated in pulsing and sustained notes for the length of two breaths of the bass clarinetists, are examined one by one over a period of five minutes as the basic harmony over which longer musical periods are later elaborated. The piece has an arch structure: A B C D C B A. Rhythmically this work has two distinctive features: the regular pulse of the piano and percussion and the rhythm of the human breathing in the vocal and wind parts, and the interaction between them brings about a remarkable effect of wave motion. The vibraphone player in this piece functions as a “conductor” by indicating when the players have to switch from one section to the next, or when the harmony or melody should change within a …show more content…
If we compare his music to the composers from the Baroque, Classical or even the Romantic era, we can find one very important difference: the music of Steve Reich is a state, while the music of Beethoven, for example, is a process. With that idea in mind, I believe that even though music is an art of time and organizing pitches or notes, Steve Reich gave time a significant role in his pieces. Time was an extremely important factor in his music, which separated him from other musicians. Another interesting aspect of his creation is giving the spoken word or poetry a lot of attention while writing the music, and by that we can also consider him a multimedia artist. As I mentioned before, we cannot connect his music with the past musical epochs (or at least not as bold as we might consider a true influence from some other composers’ styles). However, in my opinion, Steve Reich, and in fact all the American minimalists, influenced the new popular music, especially electronic music that is also built upon models and shorter musical phrases, which are repeated for a large number of times. Steve Reich’s influence over today’s music is one of the biggest in the musical history. The timing and unique style of Reich’s music impacted other musicians during his time and still influences musicians today. Not only did he give a sustainable way of composing new classical or contemporary
This article will provide insight as to who William Grant Still was and what he did to illuminate his brilliance, and why he deserves to have his name forever etched in music’s history. Very few composers back in Still’s prime have been able to concoct memorable musical works of art. Although many have tried, few etched their name in music’s timeline. Listening to one of his pieces titled “Suite for Violin and Piano, Mvt. III” it becomes audibly evident of how jazz came to be what it is now. Still cut a path to new heights when it came to jazz.
Charles Ives was a very important modernist composer he received many awards. He was also highly revered in the musical world and the business world. Charles Ives has been considered to be one of America’s greatest composer. He came from music and was a part of it for his whole life. He is very important to the entire world of music.
He considered his music as part of category of American Music and he devoted his life to music to give new meanings to the field (PBS). Organization of the paper: This research paper is based on the notable personality
American pianist and song writer, Dave Brubeck is best known for his unconventional meters that contributed to his appeal as a Jazz musician. Brubeck 's style ranged from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother 's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music has been known for unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities. Born in December of 1920, David Warren Brubeck was the youngest of three boys (Henry and Howard) born to cattle rancher, Peter Brubeck and piano teacher, Elizabeth Brubeck.
Berlin's music also helped promote cross-cultural appreciation and understanding by acting as a link between various cultural traditions. Despite disagreement among musicologists over whether Berlin's compositions should be categorized as ragtime, jazz, or classical music, there is no denying that his work had a significant influence on the growth and viability of classical music in the 20th and 21st centuries. Irving Berlin also contributed to the rise in popularity of classical music by incorporating jazz into his compositions and making classical elements accessible to the general
Richard Wagner was a German composer whose life was lived during the 1800s. Wagner wrote several articles and operas, which helped him become well known. Aside from his articles and operas, Wagner was also known for his anti-Semitism. In the beginning, Wagner’s career showed little promise of advancement. Due to this, Wagner blamed other Jewish composers, creating the onset of envy towards those Jewish composers.
His composition where live because of the way their melodic rhythm and the dynamic contrasts. His characteristics of his compositions have been incorporated into other composer’s works because of his impact and influence on
Mozart, however, changed the mold. He incorporated an emotional side into his works and emphasized music based off of sound, notes, tone, and pitch as a form of art outside of religion (Brown 55). Music became more broad and open to all. In addition, Mozart had extraordinary performance skills thus, leading to his honor as an embodiment of classical movement (53). “Despite Mozart’s uncouthness and immaturity, he produced one work after another that seemed divinely sponsored as they transcended his own personality.
The post 1945 period saw a considerable amount of changes in music. Different styles emerged, such as serial music, electroacoustic music, minimalistic music, and many others. Minimalism originated in ‘downtown’ New York City ring the early 1960s, and was initially considered to be a form of experimental music, as it was a totally different style of music as to what Stravinsky or Shostakovich wrote. Richard E. Rodda’s view on Minimalistic music was that it was based upon multiple repetitions of slowly changing chords. Minimalism evolved due to the ambitions of composers during that time.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a famous composer of the eighteenth-century classical music and the nineteenth-century romanticism style of music. Beethoven is still remembered for his spectacular pieces in modern times. Beethoven’s music led others to take the art of music as a serious topic. His symphonies and sonatas were revolutionary to the music world, because of this, many people today are not aware of his deafness. His deafness eventually caused him to make sacrifices in his music career.
Frédéric François Chopin was a brilliant musician who made an incredible impact not only on the Romantic Era (19th century), which is when he composed his works but also on countless musicians to come. He was a beloved Polish composer and pianist who, during his short 39-year life, was able to rise to become a cultural icon in music history. His main focuses in music were the melody, harmony, and specific piano techniques that were prominent during the Romantic period. His skill on the piano and his heart-felt pieces forever revolutionized the use of the piano for solo, musical pieces. Chopin was born in a small town near Warsaw, Poland named Zelazowa Wola on March 1, 1810.
Introduction Roger’s and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music is arguably one of the most well known films that many can admit to watching at least once in their lifetime. People all around the world have found this musical inspiring, as it documents growth and hope amidst the horrors of World War II. This incredibly well written film is based on the story of the Von Trapp family who escaped Austria when the Nazis invaded it during the war. Part of what made this movie so interesting on so many different accounts was the music that accompanied the vivid and exciting scenes. Without music, many could agree that our world would be a sad, quiet, dull and depressing place.
CHAPTER IV A. Structure and form A-B-A form, Pentatonic scale, esatonic scale, Simetric structure, Using static Chord progression, contra melody, using Ostinato, development and variation melody, polyriytmic, contras dinamic, pattern syncoped ritme, trill, ostinato demisemiquavers. a. Introduction The music begins with a two‐bar introduction which produced by low‐pitched open fifths and added note harmonies. Low pitched open fifths as an opening. b.
First of all, the piece is quite interesting as a prelude – an introductory piece of music as it start off with dynamic and vibrant sounds that include the whole ensemble. This piece is structured as a three-part or ternary form which consists of ABA’ form. The idea of this piece is mainly act as an introductory of a story because this piece is only an excerpt from a bigger orchestral performance. From what I have heard, the solo performance is mainly comprise of the woodwind instruments in part B that indicated the slight sign of relief and calmness. The piece has a lot of variation where the composer include different timbres and dynamics such as the high dynamic structure during the first and the last part with the associating crashes of cymbals.
This is exactly who he really is. Benjamin Zander’s presentation is inspiring. This video made me recognize the full worth of classical music. It is not just a music that makes someone sleepy. It is a music that can move an individual, and