Roy Harris: A Well-Known American Composer

Mark Tucker was a professor, a pianist, and an expert on Duke Ellington’s life and his career. He taught at the Columbia University from 1987 to 1997 and the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia from 1997. His scholarly works included Ellington: The Early Years that was published in 1991 and The Duke Ellington Reader that was published in 1993. He was also the co-author of the book Jazz From The Beginning with Garvin Bushell.

Born in 1932, John Williams had music running through his veins. His father was a percussionist for the CBS radio orchestra, and Williams quickly showed an affinity for the same skill set. As a child, he learned piano, trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. By the time he was a teenager, he was already attempting to orchestrate original compositions. Williams studied at both UCLA and Julliard School

There are several famous composers during the Elizabethan Era such as John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, Robert Johnson, etc. John Dowland was born in 1563. Some of his famous works include : “In Darkness Let Me Dwell”,”From Silent Night”, and “Lasso Vita Mia”. He also composed nearly 90 works for solo lute. Thomas Tallis was another famous composer. Thomas Tallis was born in 1505. A few of Tallis’s most famous compositions are “Salve Intemerata”, a seven-part mass, and an unnamed four-part mass. Robert Johnson was also one of many famous music composers. Johnson

Consisting of five miniatures, the Sarcasms Op. 17 was composed in 1912-1914 and was one of Prokofiev’s early pieces during his years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1904-1914). His years in the conservatory helped him to establish his early style, which highly resembled that of his predecessors, romanticists Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, at the beginning of his career. Later on, as he got in touch with more and more avant-garde music and modernist artistic ideas, he began to forge his own modernist path. Sarcasms mark the turning point in his search for a new musical language, in which his exploration of the limits of modernism was taken to its extreme. Each of the five pieces has a different character, projecting different dramatic emotions.

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is a 20th-century composer. She was born on April 30, 1939, in Miami Florida. She started out as a violinist, pianist, and a hornist, and earned a bachelor of music degree from Florida State University in 1960. And she also received a master's degree in music in 1962. She then taught in a small South Carolina town, but they moved to New York City. In 1975 Zwilich enrolled in Juilliard. She played in the New York City American symphony orchestra, under the composer Leopold Stokowski for about seven years. She then married Joseph Zwilich. Joseph was a violinist and played in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, but later died in 1979. She was the first woman to earn the doctorate degree in musical arts in composition from

Richard Charles Rogers was an American composer of music with more than 900 songs and 43 Broadway musicals. He was born in June 28, 1902 and died in December 30, 1979. He was best known for his songwriting partnership with the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. His compositions have a significant impact on popular music up to nowadays. He also wrote music for films and tv

He was an African American classical composer who wrote more than 150 musical pieces. Respectfully he is often referred to as "the Dean" of African American composers. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphonic orchestra. He was the first to have his very own symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra. He was the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television, which was quite a milestone for music as far as opera is concerned at the time. In an article written by Gayle Murchison and Catherine Parsons Smith pertaining to Still, they stated the

Music helps people communicate how they feel when they just can't find the words to say it. It gives people a way to express who they are inside through many different forms. Music can be found throughout history. In this report I am going to discuss different musical periods in history with two artists or composers works representing that period.

John Williams, American composer, conductor, and pianist is highly appreciated for his marvelous work of fine arts. He was born in Long Island, New York, February 8, 1932, and has loved music since he was a young boy (“John Williams Biography”). His family is also well-known for conducting music. Because

Richard Strauss (1864-1949), was a leading German composer and conductor. His orchestral compositions and operas have made him one of the best known composers of the late Romantic and early modern eras. While Strauss did not pay much attention to his chamber music in his later life, in earlier years he tried to compose several different types of chamber works such as a string quartet, two piano trios, a piano quartet and several instrumental sonatas. Now I will introduce his last work of chamber music, the violin sonata.

Music of the twentieth century received a great amount of attention, acting as a voice that would reflect the wants and needs of a changing nation. Where words failed, music spoke, and as a powerful voice for socioeconomic and political spheres, composers drew attention to prevalent nationalistic styles coming out of their homeland. One of the most notable American composers of the early twentieth century was Aaron Copland. As a contender for “America’s Greatest Composer”, Copland strived to integrate various images of America into his music that would be understood in the minds of audiences around the globe.

Composer are people who writes a music piece where music is needed, it should be properly notated so as a guide to the musicians. So their mainly writers, write an original composition for a specific project. Then they have it performed by a musician or an ensemble. The most influential style for many of the composers is classical. Unit William grant and Florence price come up and out as the first male and female African American composers. Florence price and William grant were the first to set the trend for African American composers. Florence was the first black women to a symphony by a major orchestra, William was one of the first black male to conduct a major symphony orchestra. William began his own orchestral by taking on blues. The elements

Ludwig van Beethoven was a famous composer of the eighteenth-century classical music and the nineteenth-century romanticism style of music. Beethoven is still remembered for his spectacular pieces in modern times. Beethoven’s music led others to take the art of music as a serious topic. His symphonies and sonatas were revolutionary to the music world, because of this, many people today are not aware of his deafness. His deafness eventually caused him to make sacrifices in his music career.

Edith Borroff was born in New York City, on August 2, 1925. Her father and mother both musicians and very popular at that, were Marie Bergerson and Ramon Borroff. Her parents were very accomplished pianist. Her mother graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors and also a Masters. She then went on to receive her Ph.D from Yale University. Her mother was the first woman to ever teach in the English Department of Yale. Her father was not very much spoken of. Of course since her parents were musicians, it was only natural that Edith start her career with music at infancy. The music within Borroff definitely came naturally, she was even writing her own pieces of music at the age of six. This skill and dedication for many doesn’t

Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter, theorist and writer. He contributed to the De Stijl art movement. He developed Neoplasticism from non-representational forms. The main elements of his geometrical works were white rectangles, black lines and three primary colors. He loved Jazz music. It shows on his works. He designed never walked into Netherlands when he heard about Jazz music was banned in Netherlands because it harmed the unsophisticated customs. He was born in a turbulent time. However, we can find a sense of peace and order in his work. Perhaps, he wanted to escape from the reality by creating his new world on canvas. Mondrian influenced by Van Gogh. He applied impressionist techniques in his early work, such as still life sketches and landscapes. He used pure colors and expressive brushstrokes under the influence of Luminism, Pointillism and Fauvism. He gained inspirations from religion and music.