Introductory paragraph Jean-Baptiste Lully created a unique French opera and his tragedie-lyrique Armide is a prime example of his use of French tradition. French opera was exceedingly different in performance practice from Italian opera. At the beginning of the eighteenth-century, Francois Raguenet and Jean-Laurent Lecerf published treatises criticizing and praising French style opera. Their praise and criticism can be applied to Lully’s Armide to demonstrate the controversial issues raised
Gunther Schuller, on of America’s most accomplished contemporary classical and jazz musicians, died Sunday morning in Boston. He was 89. Schuller was highly productive and influential as a composer, conductor, educator, author and music producer throughout his impressive career. He was a close friend and collaborator of such giants as Miles Davis and Frank Zappa, but his musical interests have spanned a much wider range of genres than most of his contemporaries. "The thing that may make me unique
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
to the many fallen soldiers in the United States. This solemn piece serves as an exemplification of the shift from early modern to late modern music. Originally composed in 1936, a completed orchestral version was not performed until 1938 by Arturo Toscanini. After the initial debut, Adagio’s popularity took off as it was performed all over the world and quickly gained recognition through multiple public performances. Overall, the piece was received with strongly positive reviews.
1, Three Movements Orchestra in 1983. Zwilich was the first woman to ever receive this prestiges award and this is just one of many awards. Some more awards Zwilich has received includes the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize, the Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award, the Ernst von Dohnányi Citation, an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, four Grammy nominations, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, Miami Performing Arts Center Award, the Medaglia
While the Berlin Wall was being torn down and NASA was launching a new spacecraft into the atmosphere, Billy Joel released one of the most controversial singles of his career. “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, premiered in 1989 and immediately became a hit with not only the nation, but the world. The one-hundred and eighteen historical words he manipulated to form a catchy pop hit helped him emphasize his deeper meaning behind the purpose of the song. That purpose, was to explain the truths behind history
Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds broadcast terrified listeners, many of whom actually believed a Martian invasion was actually occurring. According to some, an estimated 6 million people listened to the show, with an incredible 1.7 million believing it to be true. Some listeners called loved ones to say goodbye or ran into the street armed with weapons to fight off the invading Martians of the radio play. In Grover’s Mill, New Jersey—where the supposed invasion began—some listeners reported nonexistent