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Sigismund Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, he was the illegitimate son of Moritz, Prince of Dietrichstein and Baroness Maria Julia Wetzlar von Plankenstern (an ennobled Jewish Viennese family). She was born Julia Bydeskuty von Ipp, from a Hungarian family of lower nobility, and in 1820 married Baron Alexander Ludwig Wetzlar von Plankenstern. However, according to his birth certificate, he was the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein, both from Frankfurt-am-Main. Early life Little is known about Thalberg's childhood and early youth. It is possible that his mother had brought him to Vienna at the age of 10 (the same year in which the 10-year-old Franz Liszt arrived there with his parents). According to Thalberg's own account, he attended the first performance of Beethoven's 9t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josef Kriehuber
Josef Kriehuber (14 December 1800 – 30 May 1876) was an Austrian lithographer and painter, notable for the high quality of his lithographic portraits. He made numerous portraits for nobility, well-known personalities, and government officials. Josef Kriehuber left more than 3000 lithographs, with portraits of many people. ''Schubert and His World: A Biographical Dictionary'' H.P. Clive, 1997, p.104, Google Books link: Books-Google-104 Life Josef Kriehuber was born in Vienna, Austria on 14 December 1800. He was first trained by his brother Johann Kriehuber, then studied at the Vienna Academy under Hubert Maurer, then moved to Galicia, where he devoted himself to horse painting. He worked as a lithographer for several Viennese publishing houses. With nearly 3,000 works, Josef Kriehuber was the most important portrait lithographer of the Viennese Biedermeier period. Kriehuber is also noted for his studies of the Prater park. He taught at the Vienna Theresianum academy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euryanthe
''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, the work is rarely staged because of the weak libretto by Helmina von Chézy (who, incidentally, was also the author of the failed play ''Rosamunde'', for which Franz Schubert wrote music). ''Euryanthe'' is based on the 13th-century French romance ''L'Histoire du très-noble et chevalereux prince Gérard, comte de Nevers et la très-virtueuse et très chaste princesse Euriant de Savoye, sa mye''. Only the overture, an outstanding example of the early German Romantic style (heralding Richard Wagner), is regularly played today. Like Schubert's lesser-known ''Alfonso und Estrella'', of the same time and place (Vienna, 1822), ''Euryanthe'' parts with the German Singspiel tradition, adopting a musical approach without the interruption of spok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties, at the height of his popularity. Born in Pesaro to parents who were both musicians (his father a trumpeter, his mother a singer), Rossini began to compose by the age of 12 and was educated at music school in Bologna. His first opera was performed in Venice in 1810 when he was 18 years old. In 1815 he was engaged to write operas and manage theatres in Naples. In the period 1810–1823 he wrote 34 operas for the Italian stage that were performed in Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Naples and elsewhere; this productivity necessitated an almost formulaic approach for some components (such as overtures) and a certain amount of self-borrowing. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolph Apponyi
Count Rudolph von Apponyi (1 August 181231 May 1876) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and Ambassador to London. Biography He was born in Karlsruhe, into the noble Apponyi family. As his father, Rudolph entered the Austrian diplomatic service and held important positions in the course of his career. He was Envoy to the Electorate of Hesse and the Grand Duchy of Baden (1847–1849), the Kingdom of Sardinia (1849–1853) and the Kingdom of Bavaria (1853–1856). In 1856 he became Envoy to London, raised on 28 October 1860 to Ambassador to the court of St. James in London, until 8 November 1871. As such he participated in 1864 in the London Conference of 1864. Afterwards he became Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Paris (13 December 1871 – 30 April 1876). In 1875 he signed the Metre Convention in Paris for Austria-Hungary. Count Apponyi was the bearer of the Grand Cross of the Austrian-Imperial Leopold Order and since 1865 of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Fmily He marri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigismond Thalberg (by Grevedon)
Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, he was the illegitimate son of Moritz, Prince of Dietrichstein and Baroness Maria Julia Wetzlar von Plankenstern (an ennobled Jewish Viennese family). She was born Julia Bydeskuty von Ipp, from a Hungarian family of lower nobility, and in 1820 married Baron Alexander Ludwig Wetzlar von Plankenstern. However, according to his birth certificate, he was the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein, both from Frankfurt-am-Main. Early life Little is known about Thalberg's childhood and early youth. It is possible that his mother had brought him to Vienna at the age of 10 (the same year in which the 10-year-old Franz Liszt arrived there with his parents). According to Thalberg's own account, he attended the first performance of Beethoven's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured him that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. In 1840, Schumann married Friedrich Wieck's daughter Clara Wieck, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with Friedrich, who opposed the marriage. A lifelong partnership in music began, as Clara herself was an established pianist and music prodigy. Clara and Robert also maintained a close relationship with German composer Johannes Brahms. Until 1840, Schumann wrote exclusively for the piano. Later, he composed piano and orchestral works, and many Lieder (songs for voice and piano). He composed four symphonies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norma (opera)
''Norma'' () is a ''tragedia lirica'' or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after the play ''Norma, ou L'infanticide'' (''Norma, or The Infanticide'') by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831. The opera is regarded as a leading example of the bel canto genre, and the soprano prayer "Casta diva" in act 1 is a famous piece. Among the well known singers of Norma of the first half of the 20th century was Rosa Ponselle who played the role in New York and London. Notable exponents of the title role in the post-war period have been Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballé. Composition history Crivelli and Company were managing both La Scala and La Fenice in Venice, and as a result, in April–May 1830 Bellini was able to negotiate a contract with them for two operas, one at each theatre. The opera for December 1831 at La Scala became ''Norma'', while the one for the 1832 Carnival ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giuseppe Verdi "praised the broad curves of Bellini's melody: 'there are extremely long melodies as no-one else had ever made before'." A large amount of what is known about Bellini's life and his activities comes from surviving letters—except for a short period—which were written over his lifetime to his friend Francesco Florimo, whom he had met as a fellow student in Naples and with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. Other sources of information come from correspondence saved by other friends and business acquaintances. Bellini was the quintessential composer of the Italian '' bel canto'' era of the early 19th century, and his work has been summed up by the London critic Tim Ashley as: ... also hugely influential, as much a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the course of the composition. It is not to be confused with a ''fuguing tune'', which is a style of song popularized by and mostly limited to early American (i.e. shape note or "Sacred Harp") music and West Gallery music. A fugue usually has three main sections: an exposition, a development and a final entry that contains the return of the subject in the fugue's tonic key. Some fugues have a recapitulation. In the Middle Ages, the term was widely used to denote any works in canonic style; by the Renaissance, it had come to denote specifically imitative works. Since the 17th century, the term ''fugue'' has described what is commonly regarded as the most fully developed procedure of imitative counterpoint. Most fugues open with a short ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal (counterpoint-based) compositional technique that employs a melody with one or more imitation (music), imitations of the melody played after a given duration (music), duration (e.g., quarter rest, one measure, etc.). The initial melody is called the leader (or ''dux''), while the imitative melody, which is played in a different part (music), voice, is called the follower (or ''comes''). The follower must imitate the leader, either as an exact replication of its rhythms and Interval (music), intervals or some transformation thereof. Repeating canons in which all voices are musically identical are called round (music), rounds—"Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Frère Jacques" are popular examples. An accompanied canon is a canon accompanied by one or more additional independent parts that do not imitate the melody. History Medieval and Renaissance During the Medieval music, Middle Ages, Renaissance music, Renaissance, and Baroque music, Baroque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Sechter
Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainly remembered as a strict music teacher, most notably of Anton Bruckner. Carl Christian Müller (18311914) compiled and adapted Sechter's ''Die richtige Folge der Grundharmonien'' as ''The Correct Order of Fundamental Harmonies: A Treatise on Fundamental Basses, and their Inversions and Substitutes'' (Wm. A. Pond, 1871; G. Schirmer, 1898). Biography Sechter was born in Friedberg (Frymburk), Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and moved to Vienna in 1804, succeeding Jan Václav Voříšek as court organist there in 1824. In 1810 he began teaching piano and voice at an academy for blind students. In 1828 the ailing Franz Schubert had one counterpoint lesson with him. In 1851 Sechter was appointed professor of composition at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Field (composer)
John Field (26 July 1782 – 23 January 1837), was an Irish pianist, composer, and teacher. Field is best known as the inventor of the nocturne. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there, in particular with the Italian composer Tommaso Giordani. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi. Under his tutelage, Field quickly became a famous and sought-after concert pianist. Together, master and pupil visited Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Ambiguity surrounds Field's decision to remain in the former Russian capital, but it is likely that Field acted as a sales representative for the Clementi Pianos. Field was very highly regarded by his contemporaries and his playing and compositions influenced many major composers, including Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. Although little is known of Field in Russia, he undoubtedly contributed substantially to concerts and teaching, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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