Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner was a German composer, born in Leipzig, a city in Germany in the year 1813. He was a ninth child.
His main contribution to music was through writing operas.
Wagner pioneered advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, which greatly influenced the development of European classical music.
1. What subjects did he choose for his operas? On legends, depending on where he was when he wrote them.
2. How involved was he in all aspects of the productions? What did he do? He wrote all his music and libretto for every one of his works, unlike many other opera composers.
3. Why was Wagner a controversial personality? Because his beliefs made him a controversial person of the 19th century.
Charles Ives
1. How deeply rooted into society was this music or person at the time it was created (or when the person was alive and producing?) He was mostly ignored, considered unimportant.
2. How important or relevant is this music now in 2009? Who listens to it? (It is listened to by some segment of the population.) Now it is very important compared to when he was alive. People who like classical music listen to it.
3. Is this music universal in appeal or is it very specific to a particular time, place, and culture, or audience? It is a bit universal, but it is classical music and classical music is NOT as popular as a few other music genres.
4. Is it easy to hear that this music is directly related to music that came before it, or is it difficult to find a connection to the past? It is difficult to listen to connections to the past.
5. Is this music related to or influenced by other art forms, or is it's content related to non-musical things (such as politics, society, race, class) He was influenced by classical music, such as Beethoven. Also he wrote about lifestyle and being a patriot. In one piece he was influenced by writers.
a. What was his most important contribution to music? Explain. "Three Places in New England"
was certainly his greatest contribution. It took him 20 years to complete, although most was done between 1911 and 1914. This piece was made to aim to paint a picture of American ideals, lifestyle and patriotism at the turn of the century.
b. Why was his approach to music composition so different?
c. How influential was he? Who were some of the people he influenced? He was very influential. He influenced this person:Nicolas Slonimsky. Charles Ives was a financial supporter of the 20th century.
Charles Ives
1. How deeply rooted into society was this music or person at the time it was created (or when the person was alive and producing?) He was mostly ignored, considered unimportant.
2. How important or relevant is this music now in 2009? Who listens to it? (It is listened to by some segment of the population.) Now it is very important compared to when he was alive.
3. Is this music universal in appeal or is it very specific to a particular time, place, and culture, or audience? It is a bit universal, but it is classical music and classical music is NOT as popular as a few other music genres.
4. Is it easy to hear that this music is directly related to music that came before it, or is it difficult to find a connection to the past?
5. Is this music related to or influenced by other art forms, or is it's content related to non-musical things (such as politics, society, race, class) He was influenced by classical music, such as Beethoven. Also he wrote about lifestyle and being a patriot.
a. What was his most important contribution to music? Explain. "Three Places in New England"
was certainly his greatest contribution. It took him 20 years to complete, although most was done between 1911 and 1914. This piece was made to aim to paint a picture of American ideals, lifestyle and patriotism at the turn of the century.
b. Why was his approach to music composition so different?
c. How influential was he? Who were some of the people he influenced? He was very influential. He influenced this person:Nicolas Slonimsky. Charles Ives was a financial supporter of the 20th century.
