Montreal Orchestra
The Montreal Orchestra (MO) was a professional Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec that was active from 1930–1941. While not Montreal's first orchestra, the MO is considered by music historians to be the first professional symphony orchestra in Montreal. Previous orchestras in that city were much smaller in size and, unlike the MO, utilized amateur musicians. The MO was the first ensemble in Montreal that employed only professional musicians, and the orchestra introduced Montreal's audiences to full symphonic programs for the first time. The ensemble gave the Montreal premieres of numerous works from the standard orchestral repertoire, including pieces by Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, and Sibelius among others. History The MO was the brain child of clarinetist Giulio Romano who banded together the 70 member orchestra after the advent of sound films put many of Montreal's theatre musicians out of work. Douglas Clarke served as the orchestr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Symphony Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, and double bass * woodwinds, such as the flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon * Brass instruments, such as the horn, trumpet, trombone, cornet, and tuba * percussion instruments, such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, and mallet percussion instruments Other instruments such as the piano, harpsichord, and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone as soloist instruments, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments and guitars. A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a or philharmonic orchestra (from Greek ''phil-'', "loving", and "harmony"). The actual number of musicians employed in a gi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Planets
''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its supposed astrological character. The premiere of ''The Planets'' was at the Queen's Hall, London, on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. Three concerts at which movements from the suite were played were given in 1919 and early 1920. The first complete performance at a public concert was given at the Queen's Hall on 15 November 1920 by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates. The innovative nature of Holst's music caused some initial hostility among a minority of critics, but the suite quickly became and has remained popular, influential and widely performed. The composer conducted two recordings of the w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harold Bauer
Harold Victor Bauer (28 April 1873 – 12 March 1951) was a noted pianist of Jewish heritage who began his musical career as a violinist. Biography Harold Bauer was born in Kingston upon Thames; his father was a German violinist and his mother was English. He took up the study of the violin under the direction of his father and Adolf Pollitzer. He made his debut as a violinist in London in 1883, and for nine years toured England. In 1892, however, he went to Paris and studied the piano under Ignacy Jan Paderewski for a year, though still maintaining his interest in the violin. An anecdote reports that Paderewski jokingly told Bauer to concentrate on the piano because "You have such beautiful hair". In 1893, in Paris, he and Achille Rivarde premiered Frederick Delius's Violin Sonata in B major. During 1893-94 he travelled all through Russia accompanying the noted soprano Mademoiselle Nikita and giving piano recitals and concerts, after which he returned to Paris. Further re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ellen Ballon
Ellen Ballon (October 6, 1898 – December 21, 1969) was a Canadian pianist. The daughter of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, she was born in Montreal, Quebec. A child prodigy, she gave her first concert at the age of five and began studying music at the McGill Conservatorium with Clara Lichtenstein at the age of six. In 1906, she moved to New York City, where she studied with Rafael Joseffy ''Musical Courier'' 87(December 27, 1923): 5. and . In March 1910, she gave her debut concert there, performing with the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Webster Aitken
Webster Aitken (June 17, 1908 in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada – May 11, 1981 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) was an American pianist. He studied piano in Europe with Artur Schnabel and Emil von Sauer. In 1929, he made his professional debut in Vienna, Austria. Upon returning to America, he gave a concert in New York City on November 17, 1935. In 1938, Aitken presented a series of recitals in New York City in programs featuring the complete collection of Franz Schubert's works for piano. He subsequently devoted his time to teaching. Aitken performed in the inaugural year of the Peabody Mason Concerts in Boston in 1950.''Boston Globe'', 2-Dec-1950, J.W.R., "Webster Aitken plays late Beethoven piano works in Cambridge" A live recording of a recital Aitken gave of Beethoven's works was released on a Delos label LP, and in the early LP era he began to record all of Schubert's piano sonatas for EMS Records, in competition with the American Vox series by Friedrich Wührer; the latte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Montreal Symphony Orchestra
The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orchestra in the world that possesses an octobass. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the current OSM. One such orchestra was formed in 1897, which lasted ten years, and another was established in 1930, which lasted eleven. The current orchestra directly traces its roots back to 1934, when Wilfrid Pelletier formed an ensemble called Les Concerts Symphoniques. This ensemble gave its first concert January 14, 1935, under conductor Rosario Bourdon. The orchestra acquired its current name in 1954. In the early 1960s, as the Orchestra was preparing to move to new facilities at Place des Arts, patron and prominent Montreal philanthropist, John Wilson McConnell, purchased the 1727 '' Laub-Petschnikoff Stradivarius'' violin for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Société Des Concerts Symphoniques De Montréal
The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orchestra in the world that possesses an octobass. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the current OSM. One such orchestra was formed in 1897, which lasted ten years, and another was established in 1930, which lasted eleven. The current orchestra directly traces its roots back to 1934, when Wilfrid Pelletier formed an ensemble called Les Concerts Symphoniques. This ensemble gave its first concert January 14, 1935, under conductor Rosario Bourdon. The orchestra acquired its current name in 1954. In the early 1960s, as the Orchestra was preparing to move to new facilities at Place des Arts, patron and prominent Montreal philanthropist, John Wilson McConnell, purchased the 1727 '' Laub-Petschnikoff Stradivarius'' violin for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Madame Athanase David
Antonia David (14 April 1886 – 6 December 1955) was a Canadian arts administrator and arts patron. Early life and education David was born Antonia Nantel in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, the daughter of Guillaume-Alphonse Nantel, who was a journalist and a Conservative Member of Parliament. she studied the piano in Montreal before entering the Conservatoire de Paris where she studied opera and was a piano student of Antoine-Émile Marmontel. Career Nantel had intended to pursue a singing career, but abandoned these plans after her marriage to Louis-Athanase David, the Provincial Secretary of Quebec, in 1908. Her husband later became a member of the Senate of Canada and their son, Paul David, was a cardiologist and also a member of the Canadian Senate. David became heavily involved in supporting the arts within the city of Montreal. She played an instrumental role in establishing the Montreal Orchestra in 1930 and served on that ensemble's executive committee. She left that commit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bernard Naylor
Bernard Naylor (November 22, 1907 – May 19, 1986) was an English and Canadian composer, conductor and organist. Early life Bernard James Naylor was born in Cambridge, England, on November 22, 1907. His father, Edward Naylor, was an English composer. Music career In 1930, he received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oxford. In the 1920s, he visited Canada and met and studied with the now famous composers Gustav Holst, John Ireland and Vaughan Williams in The Royal Conservatory of Music. He became an organ scholar at Exeter College during the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the 1930s, he moved to Winnipeg and became a conductor of a few choirs and orchestras in Winnipeg, as well as being the organist-choirmaster at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. During the late 1930s, he traveled back to England as an organist and musical director at Queens' College, but returned to Canada shortly after in 1940, where he married Dorothy Crerar. There in Canada, he founded Little Sy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alexander Brott
Alexander Brott, , born Joël Brod (March 14, 1915April 1, 2005),"Musician Alexander Brott dies" ''CBC News'', Apr 04, 2005 was a Canadian conductor, , ist and music teacher. Early life and education Brott was born in , Quebec. He earned degrees from the[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune " Country Gardens". Grainger left Australia at the age of 13 to attend the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. Between 1901 and 1914 he was based in London, where he established himself first as a society pianist and later as a concert performer, composer and collector of original folk melodies. As his reputation grew he met many of the significant figures in European music, forming important friendships with Frederick Delius and Edvard Grieg. He became a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |