For our required novel this semester, we read A Tale of Two Cities. This novel was published in 1859 when music wasn’t nearly as large of an industry as it is now. As something that is constantly changing, but listened to all of the world, music is said to be the universal language. It can be played during all times, happy, sad or indifferent, and on all occasions. Keeping this in mind, music is constantly changing and that was no different almost 160 years ago in 1859. Everything about music has changed, from what kind of music you’re hearing to the types of people composing it, music has changed an immense amount since the mid-1800’s and it’s still going. When you think of genres nowadays there are more than you can count. There are the standard pop, country, rock, and jazz, but after that you have endless amounts of subgenres. These subgenres can combine one or more of the standard genres or they can even create an entirely new genre altogether. Back in the 1800’s that wasn’t necessarily the case. While the There was …show more content…
In reference to the 1850’s,
This decade was blessed with absurd operatic riches. We can credit this largely to a single phenomenon: the mighty middle period of Giuseppe Verdi. He wrote half as many operas in the 1850s as he had in the 1840s, but the eight that he churned out this decade included Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata and Un ballo in maschera — four of the biggest opera smashes ever. (Parsons 1) One famous composer of the 1800’s was Richard Wagner. “He is famous for both his epic operas, including the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favorite of Adolf Hitler.” (“Richard” 4) Wagner composed many works throughout his life, but was a very controversial composer due to the love he received from Adolf