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The Craft Of Musical Composition
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the '' Neue Sachlichkeit'' (new objectivity) style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as '' Kammermusik'', including works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. Other notable compositions include his song cycle '' Das Marienleben'' (1923), '' Der Schwanendreher'' for viola and orchestra (1935), the opera ''Mathis der Maler'' (1938), the ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' (1943), and the oratorio '' When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'', a requiem based on Walt Whitman's poem (1946). Life and career Hindemith was born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, the eldest child of the painter and decorator Robert Hindemith from Lower Silesia and his wife Marie Hindemith, née Warnec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanau
Hanau () is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and is part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a major railway junction and it has a port on the river Main (river), Main, making it an important transport centre. The town is known for being the birthplace of Brothers Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and Franciscus Sylvius. Since the 16th century it was a centre of precious metal working with many goldsmiths. It is home to Heraeus, one of the largest family-owned companies in Germany. Hanau, once the seat of the Counts of Hanau, lost much of its architectural heritage in World War II. A British air raid in 1945 created a firestorm, killing one sixth of the remaining population and destroying 98 percent of the old city and 80 percent of the city overall. In 1963, the town hosted the third ''Hessentag'' state festival. Until 2005, Hanau wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violin family, between the violin (which is tuned a perfect fifth above) and the cello (which is tuned an octave below). The strings from low to high are typically tuned to scientific pitch notation, C3, G3, D4, and A4. In the past, the viola varied in size and style, as did its names. The word viola originates from the Italian language. The Italians often used the term viola da braccio meaning literally: 'of the arm'. "Brazzo" was another Italian word for the viola, which the Germans adopted as ''Bratsche''. The French had their own names: ''cinquiesme'' was a small viola, ''haute contre'' was a large viola, and ''taile'' was a tenor. Today, the French use the term ''alto'', a reference to its range. The viola was popular in the heyd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties of the conductor are to interpret the score in a way which reflects the specific indications in that score, set the tempo, ensure correct entries by ensemble members, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate. Conductors communicate with their musicians primarily through hand gestures, usually with the aid of a baton, and may use other gestures or signals such as eye contact. A conductor usually supplements their direction with verbal instructions to their musicians in rehearsal. The conductor typically stands on a raised podium with a large music stand for the full score, which contains the musical notation for all the instruments or voices. Since the mid-19th century, most conductors have not played an instrument when conducting, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Rebner
Adolf Franklin Rebner (also Adolph Rebner) (21 November 1876 in Vienna – 19 June 1967 in Baden-Baden) was an Austrian violinist and violist. Rebner was a student of Jakob Grün at the Vienna Conservatory, graduating there with first prize in 1891. Having continued his studies in Paris with Martin Pierre Marsick he settled in Frankfurt in 1896 where he was concertmaster at the Frankfurt Opera. He succeeded Hugo Heermann as professor of violin at the Hoch Conservatory and became famous as leader of his string quartet, which toured Germany, France, Spain and England. In 1934 he was forced to leave Germany (he was released from the Hoch Conservatory in 1933 because he was Jewish) and moved to Vienna. His son Edward Wolfgang Rebner (born 1910 in Frankfurt, died 1993, Munich) was an accomplished pianist and accompanist, who settled in the US in 1939. Ensembles * Museums-Quartett (also known as Heermann Quartett and Frankfurter Quartett): Hugo Heermann, Hugo Becker, Fritz Basserm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular use. The violin typically has four strings (music), strings (some can have five-string violin, five), usually tuned in perfect fifths with notes G3, D4, A4, E5, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow (music), bow across its strings. It can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and, in specialized cases, by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow (col legno). Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical music, Western classical tradition, both in ensembles (from chamber music to orchestras) and as solo instruments. Violins are also important in many varieties of folk music, including country music, bluegrass music, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is a long poem written by American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) as an elegy to President Abraham Lincoln. It was written in the summer of 1865 during a period of profound national mourning in the aftermath of the president's assassination on 14 April of that year. The poem, written in free verse in 206 lines, uses many of the literary techniques associated with the pastoral elegy. Despite being an expression to the fallen president, Whitman neither mentions Lincoln by name nor discusses the circumstances of his death in the poem. Instead, he uses a series of rural and natural imagery including the symbols of the lilacs, a drooping star in the western sky (Venus), and the hermit thrush, and he employs the traditional progression of the pastoral elegy in moving from grief toward an acceptance and knowledge of death. The poem also addresses the pity of war through imagery vaguely referencing the American Civil War (1861–1865), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd (Hindemith)
''When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd: A Requiem for those we love'' (An American Requiem) is a 1946 oratorio by composer Paul Hindemith, based on the poem of the same name by Walt Whitman. It is the first musical work to include the entirety of Whitman's 1865 poem. Conductor Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Chorale commissioned the work after the 1945 death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It received its world premiere on May 14, 1946, at New York City Center, with the Collegiate Chorale conducted by Shaw and soloists Mona Paulee, contralto, and George Burnson, baritone. Paulee performed the work again with bass-baritone Chester Watson and the CBS Symphony Orchestra for the work's first recorded broadcast on CBS Radio on June 30, 1946. David Neumeyer and others regard the ''Lilacs'' Requiem as Hindemith's "only profoundly American work." Paul Hume said, "I doubt if we shall ever mourn Abraham Lincoln's untimely death more eloquently than in the words of Walt Whitman s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symphonic Metamorphosis Of Themes By Carl Maria Von Weber
''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' is an orchestral work written by German composer Paul Hindemith in America in 1943. History The idea of composing a work based on Carl Maria von Weber's music was first put to Hindemith in 1940 by the choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, who suggested that he should arrange music by Weber for a ballet. When Hindemith made a piano arrangement in March 1940 of the two pieces that would become movements 1 and 3 of the ''Metamorphosis'' (which in a letter of April 12, 1940 he described as "lightly coloured and made a bit sharper"), Massine expressed a preference for more strict arrangements of Weber. This was one reason the project fell through. After studying Weber's music, Hindemith watched one of Massine's ballets and disliked it, and so wrote the ''Symphonic Metamorphosis'' instead. The Andantino and Marsch were completed on June 8 and June 13, 1943, respectively, and the manuscript of the complete orchest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathis Der Maler (opera)
''Mathis der Maler'' (''Matthias the Painter'' is an opera by Paul Hindemith. The work's protagonist, Matthias Grünewald, was a historical figure who flourished during the Reformation, and whose art, in particular the Isenheim Altarpiece, inspired many creative figures in the early 20th century. Hindemith completed the opera, writing his own libretto, in 1935. By that time, however, the rise of Nazism prevented Hindemith from securing a performance in Germany. The story, set during the German Peasants' War (1524-25), concerns Matthias's struggle for artistic freedom of expression in the repressive climate of his day, which mirrored Hindemith's own struggle as the Nazis attained power and repressed dissent. The opera's obvious political message did not escape the regime. Performance history The opera was first performed at the Opernhaus Zürich on 28 May 1938, conducted by Robert Denzler. On 14 October 1956, a rebuilt Schauspiel Köln in Cologne opened with a gala performa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Schwanendreher
Paul Hindemith's ''Der Schwanendreher'' (literally, "The Swan Turner") is a concerto for viola and orchestra. ''Der Schwanendreher'' occupies a place at the core of the viola concerto repertoire, along with the concertos by Walton and Bartók. It was composed in 1935 and premiered by the composer himself at a performance in Amsterdam on 14 November 1935. Each movement is based on a separate medieval German folk song, thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "Concerto from Old Folk Songs". This composition draws its title from the final movement's folk song base, "Aren't you the swan turner?" The orchestra calls for 2 flutes (one doubling on piccolo), oboe, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, harp, and a string section of 4 cellos and 3 double basses. This orchestration is interesting due to its lack of violins and violas which benefits the composition by making it easier for the solo viola to be heard. The movements are: #"Zwischen Berg und tiefem Tal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Das Marienleben
' (''The Life of Mary'') is a song cycle by German composer Paul Hindemith. The cycle, written for piano and soprano, sets to music a collection of 15 poems by Rainer Maria Rilke that tells the story of the life of Mary. Thirteen years after its 1923 premiere in Frankfurt, Hindemith began extensively revising and reworking the piece, eventually producing a second version which premiered in Hanover in 1948. Hindemith also orchestrated six of the songs: four in 1938 and two more in 1948. Structure The work consists of fifteen movements: # ''Geburt Mariä'' (Birth of Mary) # ''Die Darstellung'' ( The Presentation) # ''Mariä Verkündigung'' (Annunciation to Mary) # ''Mariä Heimsuchung'' ( Visitation of Mary) # ''Argwohn Josephs'' (Joseph's Suspicion) # ''Verkündigung über den Hirten'' (Annunciation to the shepherds) # ''Geburt Christi'' (Birth of Christ) # ''Rast auf der Flucht in Ägypten'' (Rest on the Flight into Egypt) # ''Von der Hochzeit'' (Of the wedding) # ''Vor der P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viola D'amore
The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The viola d'amore shares many features of the viol family. It looks like a thinner treble viol without frets and sometimes with sympathetic strings added. The six-string viola d'amore and the treble viol also have approximately the same ambitus or range of playable notes. Like all viols, it has a flat back. An intricately carved head at the top of the peg box is common on both viols and viola d'amore, although some viols lack one. Unlike the carved heads on viols, the viola d'amore's head occurs most often as Cupid blindfolded to represent the blindness of love. Its sound-holes are commonly in the shape of a flaming sword known as "The Flaming Sword of Islam" (suggesting the instrument's development was influenced by the Islamic World). This was on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
