Africa (Saint-Saëns)
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Africa (Saint-Saëns)
''Africa'', Opus number, Op. 89, is a Fantasia (music), fantasia for piano and orchestra by Camille Saint-Saëns. Composed in 1891 during a stay in Egypt, this Piano concerto, concertante piece is marked by its mosaic-like structure and interplay of various themes, blending African musical elements with European Musical composition, compositional techniques. Written during a period of personal grief following his mother's death, Saint-Saëns dedicated ''Africa'' to the pianist Marie-Aimée Roger-Miclos, to whom he had pledged a new composition. The work is held in a single Movement (music), movement and calls for outstanding technical virtuosity, agility, and a certain lightness of touch from the soloist, also reflecting Saint-Saëns's own formidable pianistic skill. The premiere on 25 October 1891 was met with great acclaim, and subsequent performances took place around the globe, Saint-Saëns even considering it a signature work. History Following the loss of his mother i ...
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Fantasia (music)
A fantasia (; also English language, English: ''fantasy'', ''fancy'', ''fantazy'', ''phantasy'', german: Fantasie, ''Phantasie'', french: fantaisie) is a musical composition with roots in improvisation. The fantasia, like the impromptu, seldom follows the textbook rules of any strict musical form. History The term was first applied to music during the 16th century, at first to refer to the imaginative musical "idea" rather than to a particular compositional genre. Its earliest use as a title was in German keyboard manuscripts from before 1520, and by 1536 is found in printed tablatures from Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. From the outset, the fantasia had the sense of "the play of imaginative invention", particularly in lute or vihuela composers such as Francesco Canova da Milano and Luis de Milán. Its form and style consequently ranges from the freely improvisatory to the strictly contrapuntal, and also encompasses more or less standard sectional forms. One of the most impo ...
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Texture (music)
In music, texture is how the tempo, melodic, and harmonic materials are combined in a musical composition, determining the overall quality of the sound in a piece. The texture is often described in regard to the density, or thickness, and range, or width, between lowest and highest pitches, in relative terms as well as more specifically distinguished according to the number of voices, or parts, and the relationship between these voices (see Common types below). For example, a thick texture contains many 'layers' of instruments. One of these layers could be a string section or another brass. The thickness also is changed by the amount and the richness of the instruments playing the piece. The thickness varies from light to thick. A piece's texture may be changed by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or voices playing these parts and the harmony, tempo, and rhythms used. The types categorized by number and relationship of parts are an ...
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Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradition, strongly developing during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period, especially in the Baroque period. The term originates from the Latin ''punctus contra punctum'' meaning "point against point", i.e. "note against note". In Western pedagogy, counterpoint is taught through a system of species (see below). There are several different forms of counterpoint, including imitative counterpoint and free counterpoint. Imitative counterpoint involves the repetition of a main melodic idea across different vocal parts, with or without variation. Compositions written in free counterpoint often incorporate non-traditional harmonies and chords, chromaticism and dissonance. General principles The term "counterpoint" has been us ...
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Key (music)
In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding ''chords'', also called a ''tonic'' or ''tonic chord'', which provides a subjective sense of arrival and rest, and also has a unique relationship to the other pitches of the same group, their corresponding chords, and pitches and chords outside the group. Notes and chords other than the tonic in a piece create varying degrees of tension, resolved when the tonic note or chord returns. The key may be in the major or minor mode, though musicians assume major when this is not specified, e.g., "This piece is in C" implies that the key of the song is C major. Popular songs are usually in a key, and so is classical music during the common practice period, around 1650–1900. Longer pieces in the classical repertoire may have sections in contrasting keys. ...
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Modulation (music)
In music, modulation is the change from one tonality ( tonic, or tonal center) to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature (a key change). Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest. Treatment of a chord as the tonic for less than a phrase is considered tonicization. Requirements * Harmonic: quasi- tonic, modulating dominant, pivot chordForte (1979), p. 267. *Melodic: recognizable segment of the scale of the quasi-tonic or strategically placed leading-tone *Metric and rhythmic: quasi-tonic and modulating dominant on metrically accented beats, prominent pivot chord The quasi-tonic is the tonic of the new key established by the modulation was semi. The modulating dominant is the dominant of the quasi-tonic. The pivot chord is a predominant to the modulating dominant and a chord common to both the keys of the tonic and the quasi-tonic. For example, in a modulation to the dominant, ii/V–V/V– ...
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Syncopation
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur". It is the correlation of at least two sets of time intervals. Syncopation is used in many musical styles, especially dance music. According to music producer Rick Snoman, "All dance music makes use of syncopation, and it's often a vital element that helps tie the whole track together". Syncopation can also occur when a strong harmony is simultaneous with a weak beat, for instance, when a 7th-chord is played on the second beat of measure or a dominant chord is played at the fourth beat of a measure. The latter occurs frequently in tonal cadences for 18th- and early-19th-century music and is the usual conclusion of any section. A hemiola (the equivalent Latin term ...
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Chaoui People
The Chaoui people or ''Shawia'' ( arq, الشاوية, shy, Išawiyen) are an Amazigh (Berber) ethnic group to the Aurès region in northeastern Algeria which spans Batna and Khenchla, Oum El Bouaghi provinces located in and surrounded by the Aurès Mountains. They also live in provinces of Tébessa, Constantine, Setif and other parts of Eastern Algeria coextensive with ancient Massylii of Numidia, as well as in some parts of adjacent North-Western Tunisia. They call themselves ''Išawiyen''/''Icawiyen'' (pronounced ) and speak the Shawiya language. They are the second largest Tell Atlas Amazigh-speaking ethnicity , alongside Kabyles and Chenouas. History Historically, the Aurès Mountains served as a refuge for Berber peoples, forming a base of resistance against the Roman Empire, the Vandals, the Byzantine Empire and Arabs. Aurès was also a district of Algeria that existed during and after the Algerian War from 1954 to 1962. It was in this region that Berber independe ...
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Sahara
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Biskra
Biskra ( ar, بسكرة ; ; Latin Vescera) is the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 307,987. Biskra is located in northeastern Algeria, about 248 miles (400 km) from Algiers, 71 miles (115 km) southwest of Batna and 137 miles (222 km) north of Touggourt. It is nicknamed "The Queen of the Zibans", "The Door of the Desert" or "The Saharan Nice" because of its location at the beginning of the Sahara Desert. Due to its geographical location, its climate and natural resources, particularly farming, Biskra has always been a hub and a crossroad between the cities in the north and south. It has seen the passage of several civilizations, from the Romans and the Arabs to the French. In 1844, Biskra became a French garrison, which saw fighting during rebellions in 1849 and 1871. Currently the city of Biskra has 28 neighborhoods, including the three principal neighborhoods of, Korra, City 60 Logements, and Equipment Zones. I ...
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Cadenza
In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuoso, virtuosic display. During this time the accompaniment will rest, or sustain a note or chord. Thus an improvised cadenza is indicated in written notation by a fermata in all parts. A cadenza will usually occur over the final or penultimate note in a piece, the lead-in (german: Eingang, link=no) or over the final or penultimate note in an important subsection of a piece. It can also be found before a final coda (music), coda or ritornello. In concerti The term ''cadenza'' often refers to a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (music), free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be wr ...
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Andalusi Nubah
Andalusī nūbah (نوبة أندلسيّة), also transliterated nūba, nūbā, or nouba (pl. nūbāt), or in its classical Arabic form, nawba, nawbah, or nōbah, is a music genre found in the North African Maghreb, Maghrib states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya but, as the name indicates, it has its origins in Arabo-Andalusian music, Andalusi music. The name replaced the older use of ''sawt (music), sawt'' and originated from the musician waiting behind a curtain to be told it was his turn or ''nawbah'' by the ''sattar'' or curtain man. The North African cities have inherited a particularly Andalusian musical style of Granada. The term ''gharnati'' (Granadan) in Morocco designates a distinct musical style from "Tarab Al Ala" originating in Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba and Valencia, according to the authors Rachid Aous and Mohammed Habib Samrakandi in the latter's book ''Musiques d'Algérie''. Form, texts, and performance According to tradition, there were initially 24 nubat ...
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