The American Seasons
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The American Seasons
''The American Seasons'' is an album by Mark O'Connor, recorded with the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Scott Yoo. It is composed of three original orchestral works by O'Connor. First is his piece for violin and orchestra, "The American Seasons" loosely structurally based upon Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", and is conceptually a piece on American life, grounded in American folk music. "Strings & Threads Suite" follows, which traces O'Connor's "version of how folk music on the violin evolved in America" (liner notes) through thirteen pieces in progressively more modern styles. The album concludes with an arrangement of O'Connor's Appalachia Waltz, arranged for orchestra without soloist. Track listing All music was written by Mark O'Connor. #"The American Seasons - Spring" – 7:39 #"The American Seasons - Summer" – 9:41 #"The American Seasons - Fall" – 5:50 #"The American Seasons - Winter" – 14:36 #"Strings & Threads Suite I. Fair Dancer Reel" – 1:1 ...
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Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards and, was a member of three influential musical ensembles; the David Grisman Quintet, The Dregs and Strength in Numbers. O'Connor has released 45 albums, of mostly original music, over a 45-year career. He has recorded and performed mostly his original American Classical music for decades. An expert at traditionally-based fiddle and bluegrass music, he also plays other instruments proficiently, including the violin, guitar and mandolin. He has appeared on 450 albums, composed nine concertos and has put together groundbreaking ensembles. His mentors have included Benny Thomasson who taught O'Connor to fiddle as a teenager, French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli with whom O'Connor toured as a teenager, and guitarists Chet Atkins, Doc Wat ...
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European Classical Music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also applies to non-Western art music. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical, critical, historiographical, musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western Culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. Rooted in the patronage of churches and royal courts in Western Europe, surviving earl ...
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout of the remaining 50% held by Bertelsmann. BMG was instead rebuilt as BMG Rights Management on the basis of 200 remaining artists. History Sony BMG Music Entertainment began as the result of a merger between Sony Music (part of Sony) and Bertelsmann Music Group (part of Bertelsmann) completed on August 6, 2004. It was one of the Big Four music companies and includes ownership and distribution of recording labels such as Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Mchenry Records, Jive Records, RCA Victor Records, RCA Records, Legacy Recordings, Sonic Wave America and others. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, where it was felt that it would reduce competitio ...
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Steven Epstein (music Producer)
Steven Epstein is an American record producer. The winner of 16 Grammy Awards and 2 Latin Grammys, he has been nominated 35 times. He has won the Grammy for Classical Producer of the Year 7 times. While primarily known for his work in classical music, Epstein also has Grammy nominations and wins for albums in musical theater, musical show, crossover, soundtrack, and spoken word for children. He has worked with Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis (classical and jazz), Plácido Domingo, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Murray Perahia, Emanuel Ax, Bobby McFerrin, Juilliard String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, Fine Arts Quartet, and Punch Brothers. He has worked with the Vienna, Berlin and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, and with the Chicago, Cleveland, London, Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles Symphony Orchestras."Steven Epste ...
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Fanfare For The Volunteer
''Fanfare for the Volunteer'' is an album of three pieces for violin and orchestra by composer and violinist Mark O'Connor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Steven Mercurio. Originally conceived as O'Connor's second "fiddle concerto", the three movements became separate pieces during the course of composition. Like his other classical works, the three pieces on the album: "Call of the Mockingbird", "Trail of Tears" and "Fanfare for the Volunteer" use styles and motifs from American folk music and the traditional Anglo-American fiddling techniques on which O'Connor was weaned. Track listing All music written by Mark O'Connor #"Call of the Mockingbird" – 20:26 #"Trail of Tears" – 16:08 #"Fanfare for the Volunteer" – 20:06 Personnel *Mark O'Connor - violin *London Philharmonic Orchestra - orchestra *Steven Mercurio - conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as ...
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Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ...
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Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra
''Metamorphosen,'' study for 23 solo strings (TrV 290, AV 142) is a composition by Richard Strauss for ten violins, five violas, five cellos, and three double basses, typically lasting 25 to 30 minutes. It was composed during the closing months of the Second World War, from August 1944 to March 1945. The piece was commissioned by Paul Sacher, the founder and director of the Basler Kammerorchester and Collegium Musicum Zürich, to whom Strauss dedicated it. It was first performed on 25 January 1946 by Sacher and the Collegium Musicum Zürich, with Strauss conducting the final rehearsal. Composition history By 1944, Strauss was in poor health and needed to visit the Swiss spa at Baden near Zürich. But he was unable to get the Nazi government's permission to travel abroad. Karl Böhm, Paul Sacher and Willi Schuh came up with a plan to get the travel permit: a commission from Sacher and invitation to the premiere in Zurich. The commission was made in a letter by Böhm on Aug ...
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Scott Yoo
Scott Yoo (born April 25, 1971) is an American conductor and violinist. He was appointed Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016. He hosts the PBS TV series ''Now Hear This''. Early life Yoo was born in Tokyo in 1971. His father was Korean and his mother was Japanese. Raised in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Yoo began studying the violin at the age of three and performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the age of 12. He studied with Dorothy DeLay and Paul Kantor at the Juilliard School and won the Josef Gingold International Violin Competition in Brazil. He enrolled at Harvard where he studied physics after accidentally breaking his index finger. Career In 1994, Yoo participated in the founding of the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, which he conducted at its subscription series at Jordan Hall in Boston and on tour. At age 26 he became the Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchest ...
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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 ...
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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 employ ...
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Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and Program music, programatic music. He consolidated the emerging concerto form into a widely accepted and followed idiom, which was paramount in the development of Johann Sebastian Bach's instrumental music. Vivaldi composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other musical instruments, as well as Sacred Music, sacred choral works and more than List of operas by Antonio Vivaldi, fifty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as ''The Four Seasons (Vivaldi), the Four Seasons''. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the ''Ospedale ...
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The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
''The Four Seasons'' ( it, Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua. They were published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as (''The Contest Between Harmony and Invention''). ''The Four Seasons'' is the best known of Vivaldi's works. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows patterns from a sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera ''Il Giustino''. The inspiration for the concertos is not the countryside around Mantua, as initially supposed, where Vivaldi was living at the time, since according to Karl Heller they could have been written as early as 1716–1717, while Vivaldi was engaged with the court of Mantua only in 1718. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi repr ...
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