The Rite of Spring: Awakening the Power of Imagination “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” (Warhol) Andy Warhol encourages humanity to take action in order to change the world instead of simply watching the hours tick away. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky sought to be the spark of progress in the disadvantaged society of early 20th century Russia. Born in 1882, Stravinsky was a young star in the music world. Having enjoyed the success of two hit ballets, he wrote his third in Switzerland, safe from the prying eyes of the Russian government. The Rite of Spring (1913) was the result of the young composer exploring the vast landscapes of human imagination.
After his death, he was not very well known throughout the world at the time. Before I continue with Bach’s music works, I would like to continue with the other great composer who was a part and contribute for the development of the Baroque music style- George Frederic Handel. He was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany. His parents did not want him to be a composer, but because his musical talent was so developed in his early years, his parents consented for
Vivaldi’s orchestra in the Bassoon concerto consisted of a bassoon, Violin 1 and 2, Viola, Cello, and Bass. ******** Composer Beethoven was born in Germany. He was an innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet, and combining vocals and instruments in a new way. His personal life was marked by a struggle against deafness, and
George Handel perished on April 14, 1759, in London, England. George Handel was a composer of operas, of oratorios, and of instrumentals. His 1741 exertion, Messiah, is the most famous oratorio. At an early age, Handel yearned to study music, but his parents objected, doubtful that music was a genuine source of revenue.
His father, Mathais, was a wheelwright who played the harp, and his mother Maria, was a cook for count Karl Anton Harrach. It was a family custom to call their children by their second name. Thus Joseph Haydn was his name. Joseph Haydn was a choirboy in St. Stephen’s Cathedral by the age of nine. He later was kicked at the age of seventeen out of the choir because he’s amazing voice had matured and he could no longer sing the higher notes.
New York City Ballet George Balanchine was born in 1904 and was raised in St. Petersburg. As the son of a composer, Balanchine’s piano study began at the age of five. After graduating from the Imperial Ballet School in 1921, Balanchine enrolled at the state’s Conservatory of Music where he studied piano and musical theory. Balanchine’s musical background gave him an advantage over other choreographers because he more fully understood the music he was dancing to (“Biography”). The first time George Balanchine danced was as a cupid in the Maryinsky Theatre Ballet Company Production of The Sleeping Beauty, his favorite ballet (“George Balanchine”).
Oral Presentation Lou Harrison was one of the great composers of the twentieth century--a pioneer in the use of alternate tunings, world music influences, and new instruments. Born in 1917 in Portland Oregon, he spent much of his youth moving around Northern California before settling in San Francisco. There he studied with the modernist pioneer of American Music, Henry Cowell, and, while still in his twenties, composed extensively for dance and percussion. He befriended another of Cowell's students, John Cage, and the two of them established the first concert series devoted to new music for percussion. They composed extensively for these concerts, including their still popular collaboration Double Music.
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770 to Johann van Beethoven and Magdalena Keverich van Beethoven. He was baptized on December 17, 1770. When Beethoven was young, he started taking music lessons from his father, who was a musician in the court of Bonn. Beethoven was exceptionally good even as a child. In 1787 he visited Vienna where he performed and met many famous musicians including Mozart.
A few composers who made music today possible by struggling through the aftermath of the Black Death epidemic would be; Jasquin Des Prez, (who was a big name at the time,) Pierre De La Rue, a very well proclaimed vocalist (The New York Time Company 2012, March 23. Top 8 Renaissance Composers Retrieved from http://classicalmusic.about.com.) One such composer whose name is still heard pretty often would be Johann Sebastian Bach; he is considered as one of the faces of classical music. Like all of us, he started out with baby steps, slowly learning the ways of music. Bach came from a family of musicians who brought him into the whole scene; his father was a director and had several uncles who were musicians (Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2000.)
The world of ballet has never been the same, having survived the Russian Revolution and World War I. The man behind the creative revolution was Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev, whom for 20 years had brought together the most brilliant artists of his day. He was an art critic, art manager, and most significantly, the founder of the legendary ballet company, Ballets Russes. It is of my genuine curiosity to learn more about the heart and brains of the great Ballets Russes, where it had spawned numerous famous dancers and had collaborated with many talented artists, and also made a significant turn in the history of ballet as well as influenced the ballet of as we know of today. The Ballets Russes was only one of the few collaboration with artists that Diaghilev had produced.