Sequentia Cyclica
''Sequentia cyclica super "Dies irae" ex Missa pro defunctis'', commonly known as ''Sequentia cyclica'', is a piano composition by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. Written between 1948 and 1949, it is a set of 27 Variation (music), variations on the medieval sequence ''Dies irae#Music, Dies irae'' and is widely considered one of Sorabji's greatest works. With a duration of about eight hours, it is one of the List of longest non-repetitive piano pieces, longest piano pieces of all time. History Background and composition The Gregorian chant ''Dies irae'', the text of which has traditionally been attributed to Thomas of Celano, a 13th-century Italian friar, attracted Sorabji throughout his life. It was used in ten of his works, including two variation sets. The first of these, ''Variazioni e fuga triplice sopra "Dies irae" per pianoforte'' (1923–26), is a work Sorabji became dissatisfied with, writing in a 1930 letter to Erik Chisholm, "I shall probably indeed I am seriously thin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Circa 1950 (cropped)
Kaikhosru is a Parsis, Parsi masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *K. D. Sethna, Kaikhosru Dhunjibhoy Sethna (1904–2011), Indian poet *Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988), English composer, music critic, pianist, and writer {{Given name Masculine given names ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Subject (music)
In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme. Characteristics A subject may be perceivable as a complete musical expression in itself, separate from the work in which it is found. In contrast to an idea or motif, a subject is usually a complete phrase or period. The ''Encyclopédie Fasquelle'' defines a theme (subject) as " y element, motif, or small musical piece that has given rise to some variation becomes thereby a theme". Thematic changes and processes are often structurally important, and theorists such as Rudolph Reti have created analysis from a purely thematic perspective. Fred Lerdahl describes thematic relations as "associational" and thus outside his cognitive-based generative theory's scope of analysis. In different types of music Music based on a single theme is called 'monothematic', while music based on several themes is ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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B♭ (musical Note)
B (B-flat) is the eleventh step of the Western chromatic scale (starting from C). It lies a diatonic semitone above A and a chromatic semitone below B, thus being enharmonic to A, even though in some musical tunings, B will have a different sounding pitch than A. B-flat is also enharmonic to C (C-double flat). When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of the B above middle C is approximately 466.164 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. While orchestras tune to an A provided by the oboist, wind ensembles usually tune to a B-flat provided by a tuba, horn, or clarinet. In Germany, Russia, Poland and Scandinavia, this pitch is designated B, with 'H' used to designate the B-natural. Since the 1990s, B-flat is often denoted Bb or "Bess" instead of B in Swedish music textbooks. Natural B is called B by Swedish jazz and pop musicians, but still denoted H in classical music. See B (mus ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gaspard De La Nuit
''Gaspard de la nuit'' (subtitled ''Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand''), M. 55 is a suite of piano pieces by Maurice Ravel, written in 1908. It has three movements, each based on a poem or ''fantaisie'' from the collection '' Gaspard de la Nuit – Fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot'' completed in 1836 by Aloysius Bertrand. The work was premiered in Paris, on January 9, 1909, by Ricardo Viñes. The piece is famous for its difficulty, partly because Ravel intended the Scarbo movement to be more difficult than Balakirev's ''Islamey''. Because of its technical challenges and profound musical structure, Scarbo is considered one of the most difficult solo piano pieces in the standard repertoire. The manuscript currently resides in the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin. Etymology The name " Gaspard" is derived from its original Persian form, denoting "the man in charge of the royal treasures": "Gaspard of the Night" or th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended France's premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire; he was not well regarded by its conservative establishment, whose biased treatment of him caused a scandal. After leaving the conservatoire, Ravel found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity and incorporating elements of modernism, baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in his best-known work, ''Boléro'' (1928), in which repetition takes the place of development. Renowned for his abilities in orchestration, Ravel made some orchestral arrangements of other compose ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nocturne
A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening party and then laid aside. Sometimes it carried the Italian equivalent, ''notturno'', such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Notturno in D, K.286, written for four lightly echoing separated ensembles of paired horns with strings, and his ''Serenata Notturna'', K. 239. At this time, the piece was not necessarily evocative of the night, but might merely be intended for performance at night, much like a serenade. The chief difference between the serenade and the notturno was the time of the evening at which they would typically be performed: the former around 9:00pm, the latter closer to 11:00 pm. In its form as a single-movement character piece usually written for solo piano, the noctur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately as stand-alone pieces, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. A movement is a section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ..., "a major structural unit perceived as the result of the coincidence of relatively large numbers of structural phenomena". Sources Formal sections in music analysis {{music-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pedal Point
In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing tones. However, the pedal point is unique among non-chord tones, "in that it begins on a consonance, sustains (or repeats) through another chord as a dissonance until the harmony", not the non-chord tone, "resolves back to a consonance".Frank, Robert J. (2000)"Non-Chord Tones" , ''Theory on the Web'', Southern Methodist University. Pedal points "have a strong tonal effect, 'pulling' the harmony back to its root". Pedal points can also build drama or intensity and expectation. When a pedal point occurs in a voice other than the bass, it is usually referred to as an inverted pedal pointBenward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Prac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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B (musical Note)
B, also known as Si, Ti, or, in some European countries, H, is the seventh note and the twelfth semitone of the fixed-Do solfège. Its enharmonic equivalents are C (C-flat) and A (A-double sharp). When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle B (B4) is approximately 493.883 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. Designation by octave Scales Common scales beginning on B * B major: B C D E F G A B * B natural minor: B C D E F G A B * B Harmonic minor: B C D E F G A B * B Melodic minor ascending: B C D E F G A B * B melodic minor descending: B A G F E D C B Diatonic scales * B Ionian: B C D E F G A B * B Dorian: B C D E F G A B * B Phrygian: B C D E F G A B * B Lydian: B C D E F G A B * B Mixolydian: B C D E F G A B * B Aeolian: B C D E F G A B * B Locrian: B C D E F G A B Jazz melodic minor * B Ascending melodic minor: B C D E F G A B * B Dorian ♭2: B C D E F G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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F♯ (musical Note)
F (F-sharp; also known as fa dièse or fi) is the seventh semitone of the solfège. It lies a chromatic semitone above F and a diatonic semitone below G, thus being enharmonic to ''sol bémol'' or G (G-flat). However, in some temperaments, it is not the same as G. G is a major third below B, whereas F is a major third above D (a minor third below A). Another enharmonic note is E (E-double sharp). When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of the F above middle C (or F4) is approximately 369.994 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. Designation by octave Scales Common scales beginning on F * F major: F G A B C D E F * F natural minor: F G A B C D E F * F harmonic minor: F G A B C D E F * F melodic minor ascending: F G A B C D E F * F melodic minor descending: F E D C B A G F Diatonic scales * F Ionian: F G A B C D E F * F Dorian: F G A B C D E F * F Phrygian: F G A B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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C♯ (musical Note)
C (C-sharp) is a musical note lying a chromatic semitone above C and a diatonic semitone below D; it is the second semitone of the solfège. C-sharp is thus enharmonic to D. It is the second semitone in the French solfège and is known there as ''do dièse''. In some European notations, it is known as Cis. In equal temperament it is also enharmonic with B (B-double sharp/Hisis). When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of C4 (the C above middle C) is about 277.183 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. Designation by octave Scales Common scales beginning on C * C major: C D E F G A B C * C natural minor: C D E F G A B C * C harmonic minor: C D E F G A B C * C melodic minor ascending: C D E F G A B C * C melodic minor descending: C B A G F E D C Diatonic scales * C Ionian: C D E F G A B C * C Dorian: C D E F G A B C * C Phrygian: C D E F G A B C * C Lydian: C D E F G A B C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chord (music)
A chord, in music, is any harmonic set of pitches/frequencies consisting of multiple notes (also called "pitches") that are heard as if sounding simultaneously. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and broken chords (in which the notes of the chord are sounded one after the other, rather than simultaneously), or sequences of chord tones, may also be considered as chords in the right musical context. In tonal Western classical music (music with a tonic key or "home key"), the most frequently encountered chords are triads, so called because they consist of three distinct notes: the root note, and intervals of a third and a fifth above the root note. Chords with more than three notes include added tone chords, extended chords and tone clusters, which are used in contemporary classical music, jazz and almost any other genre. A series of chords is called a chord progression. One example of a widely used chord progression in Western traditional music and blu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |