|
Le Festin D'Ésope
''Le festin d'Ésope'' (Aesop's Feast), opus number, Op. 39 No. 12, is a piano étude by Charles-Valentin Alkan. It is the final étude in the set ''Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs'' (Twelve studies in all minor keys), Op. 39, published in 1857 (although it may have been written during the previous decade). It is a work of twenty-five Variation (music), variations based on an original theme and is in E minor. The technical skills required in the variations are a summation of the preceding études. The work requires exceptional virtuosic skills, with extremely fast overlapping octaves, fast scales with left accompaniments, enormous leaps, rapid octave chords, tremolos, double octaves and trills. A typical performance of this piece lasts 10 minutes. Aesop's feast According to legend, Xanthus required his slave Aesop to arrange a feast containing every variety of food. However, at the feast all the guests were served with tongue, which, Aesop explained, encompassed every var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aesop
Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. Many of the tales associated with him are characterized by anthropomorphic animal characters. Scattered details of Aesop's life can be found in ancient sources, including Aristotle, Herodotus, and Plutarch. An ancient literary work called ''The Aesop Romance'' tells an episodic, probably highly fictional version of his life, including the traditional description of him as a strikingly ugly slave () who by his cleverness acquires freedom and becomes an adviser to kings and city-states. Older spellings of his name have included ''Esop(e)'' and ''Isope''. Depictions of Aesop in popular culture over the last 2,500 yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variations On A Theme Of Paganini (Brahms)
Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35, is a work for piano composed in 1863 by Johannes Brahms, based on the Caprice No. 24 in A minor by Niccolò Paganini. Brahms intended the work to be more than simply a set of theme and variations; each variation also has the characteristic of a study. He published it as ''Studies for Pianoforte: Variations on a Theme of Paganini''. The work was dedicated to the piano virtuoso Carl Tausig. It is well known for its harmonic depth and extreme physical difficulty. A particular emphasis of the technical challenges lie on hand independence, with the left hand often mirroring the right hand throughout the piece or having its own set of obstacles. David Dubal describes it as "a legend in the piano literature," and "fiendish," "one of the most subtly difficult works in the literature." Clara Schumann called it ''Hexenvariationen'' (Witch's Variations) because of its difficulty. Dubal quotes critic James Huneker: “Brahms and Paganini! Was e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, he began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Beethoven was born in Bonn. His musical talent was obvious at an early age. He was initially harshly and intensively tau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diabelli Variations
The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It forms the first part of Diabelli's publication ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'', the second part consisting of 50 variations by 50 other composers. It is often considered to be one of the greatest sets of variations for keyboard along with J. S. Bach's ''Goldberg Variations''. The music writer Donald Tovey called it "the greatest set of variations ever written" and pianist Alfred Brendel has described it as "the greatest of all piano works". It also comprises, in the words of Hans von Bülow, "a microcosm of Beethoven's art". In ''Beethoven: The Last Decade 1817–1827'', Martin Cooper writes, "The variety of treatment is almost without parallel, so that the work represents a book of advanced studies in Beethoven's manner of expression a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (born Leon Dudley Sorabji; 14 August 1892 – 15 October 1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as ''Gulistān'' and ''Villa Tasca'', and large-scale, technically intricate compositions, which include seven symphonies for piano solo, four toccatas, ''Sequentia cyclica'' and ''100 Transcendental Studies''. He felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and mixed ancestry, and had a lifelong tendency to seclusion. Sorabji was educated privately. His mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India, who set up a trust fund that freed his family from the need to work. Although Sorabji was a reluctant performer and not a virtuoso, he played so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Duo Concertante
The Gran Duo Concertante for two double basses and orchestra was composed by the Italian double bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini in 1880. The piece was premiered by Bottesini and Luigi Negri, a former classmate of the composer. Negri was a student of Luigi Rossi at the Milan Conservatory at the same time as his more well-known colleague. The ''Gran Duo Concertante'' is a single, sprawling movement and usually lasts around 15 minutes if played up to tempo, but this estimate can vary greatly due to the artists' interpretation of the music. While double concertos were generally composed for different instruments, Bottesini did not seem to consider the questionable practicality of a piece that requires two very talented double bassists. Camillo Sivori, the disciple of Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pilla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caccia (music)
In music, a canon is a contrapuntal (counterpoint-based) compositional technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given 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 voice, is called the follower (or ''comes''). The follower must imitate the leader, either as an exact replication of its rhythms and intervals or some transformation thereof. Repeating canons in which all voices are musically identical are called 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 Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque—that is, through the early 18th century—any kind of imitative musical counterpoints were called fugues, with the strict imitati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rinforzando
A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Most of the other terms are taken from French and German, indicated by ''Fr.'' and ''Ger.'', respectively. Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. The list can never be complete: some terms are common, and others are used only occasionally, and new ones are coined from time to time. Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here. 0–9 ; 1′ : "sifflet" or one foot organ stop ; I : usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the highest-pitched, thinnest string ; ′ : Tierce organ stop ; 2′ : two feet – pipe org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(cropped).jpg "Click for more on -> Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji")
