|
A London Symphony (Vaughan Williams)
''A London Symphony'' is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as Symphony No. 2, though the composer did not designate that name for the work. First performed in 1914, the original score of this four-movement symphony was lost and subsequently reconstructed. Vaughan Williams continued revisions of the work into its final definitive form, which was published in 1936. Instrumentation The work is scored for: * Woodwinds: three flutes (the third doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon * Brass: four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba * Percussion: timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, tam-tam, sleigh bells, cymbals, glockenspiel * Strings: harp, and strings. Structure Vaughan Williams said that while the title may suggest a programmatic piece (and the work includes sounds heard in London such as the Westminster Quarters), it was inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movement (music), movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section (violin, viola, cello, and double bass), Brass instrument, brass, Woodwind instrument, woodwind, and Percussion instrument, percussion Musical instrument, instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a Full score, musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts (e.g., Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (Bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snare Drum
The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music. Snare drums are usually played with drum sticks, but other beaters such as the brush or the rute can be used to achieve different tones. The snare drum is a versatile and expressive percussion instrument due to its sensitivity and responsiveness. The sensitivity of the snare drum allows it to respond audibly to the softest strokes, even with a wire brush. It can be used for complex rhythmic patterns and engaging solos at moderate volumes. Its high dynamic range allows the player to produce po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held by convention under common law. The term "bank holiday" refers to the fact that banking institutions typically close for business on such holidays, as they once used to do on certain Saint's days. List of current holidays Notes See also * List of holidays by country * Bank Holidays Act 1871 * Proposed St David's Day bank holiday Saint David's Day is currently not a bank holiday in Wales. Some Welsh politicians have proposed that St David's Day, a celebration of Welsh identity, observed on 1 March, be designated as a public holiday. Polls show the proposal to have majori ... References External links UK bank holidaysScotland Bank Holidays - Scottish Government* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Holiday British culture Irish cul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London Clay. The heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the former stately home of Kenwood House and its estate. The south-east part of the heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law. Running along its eastern perimeter is a chain of ponds – including three open-air public swimming pools – which were originally reservoirs for drinking water from the River Fleet. The heath is a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, and part of Kenwood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Lakeside concerts are held there in summer. The heath is managed by the City of London Corporation, and lies mostl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Coates (musician)
Albert Coates (23 April 1882 – 11 December 1953) was an English conductor and composer. Born in St. Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Richard Wagner, Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. His strengths as a conductor lay in opera and the Russian repertory, but he was not thought as impressive in the core Austro-German symphonic repertory. After 1923 he failed to secure a permanent conductorship in the UK, and for much of the rest of his life guest-conducted in continental Europe and the US. In his last years he conducted in South Africa, where he died at 71. As a composer, Coates is little remembered, but he composed seven operas, one of which, ''Pickw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Absolute Music
Absolute music (sometimes abstract music) is music that is not explicitly 'about' anything; in contrast to program music, it is non- representational.M. C. Horowitz (ed.), ''New Dictionary of the History of Ideas'', , vol.1, p. 5 The idea of absolute music developed at the end of the 18th century in the writings of authors of early German Romanticism, such as Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, Ludwig Tieck and E. T. A. Hoffmann but the term was not coined until 1846 where it was first used by Richard Wagner in a programme to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The aesthetic ideas underlying absolute music derive from debates over the relative value of what was known in the early years of aesthetic theory as the fine arts. Kant, in his '' Critique of Judgment'', dismissed music as "more a matter of enjoyment than culture" and "less worth in the judgement of reason than any other of the fine arts" because of its lack of conceptual content, thus treating as a deficit the very feature of music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Quarters
The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of origin, the Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge. Description The Westminster Quarters are sounded by four quarter bells hung next to Big Ben in the Elizabeth Tower belfry in the Palace of Westminster. These are: The quarters consist of five changes, combinations of the four pitches provided by these quarter bells ( G4, F4, E4, B3) in the key E major. This generates five unique changes as follows: # G4, F4, E4, B3 # E4, G4, F4, B3 # E4, F4, G4, E4 # G4, E4, F4, B3 # B3, F4, G4, E4 Each of the five changes is played as three crotchets (quarter note) and a minim (half note) and are always played in the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This sequence of five changes is used twice every hour as follows: :First quarter, change 1. :Half hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Program Music
Program music or programatic music is a type of instrumental art music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience through the piece's title, or in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music. A well-known example is Sergei Prokofiev's ''Peter and the Wolf''. The genre culminates in the symphonic works of Richard Strauss that include narrations of the adventures of Don Quixote, ''Till Eulenspiegel'', the composer's domestic life, and an interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy of the Übermensch. Following Strauss, the genre declined and new works with explicitly narrative content are rare. Nevertheless the genre continues to exert an influence on film music, especially where this draws upon the techniques of 19th-century late romantic music. Similar compositional forms also exist within popular music, including the concept album and rock opera. The term is almost exclusive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Current-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia), and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. History Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glockenspiel is played by striking the bars with mallets, often made of a hard material such as metal or plastic. Its clear, high-pitched tone is often heard in orchestras, wind ensembles, marching bands, and in popular music. Terminology In German, a carillon is also called a , and in French, the glockenspiel is sometimes called a . It may also be called a () in French, although this term may sometimes be specifically reserved for the keyboard glockenspiel. In Italian, the term () is used. The glockenspiel is sometimes erroneously referred to as a xylophone. The Pixiphone, a type of toy glockenspiel, was one such instrument sold as a xylophone. Range The glockenspiel is limited to the upper register and usually covers about to 3 octa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note (such as crotales). Cymbals are used in many ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands, and marching groups. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride, or crash/ride, and a pair of hi-hat cymbals. A player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist. Etymology and names The word cymbal is derived from the Latin ''cymbalum'', which is the latinisation of the Greek word ''kymbalon'', "cymbal", which in turn derives from ''kymbē'', "cup, bowl". In orchestral scores, cymbals may be indicated by the French ''cymbales''; German ''Becken'', ''Schellbecken'', ''Teller'', or ''Tschinellen''; Italian ''piatti'' or ''cinelli''; and Spanish ''platillos''. Many of these deri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
