Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

2007-06-05T08:20:01Z

Fjona: Allegri Story

[[Image:Wolfgang_mozart.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]

'''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart''' (1756-1791) was an [[Austria]]n [[composer]]. Christened Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus, Mozart was born in [[Salzburg]], [[Austria]], on January 27, 1756. Mozart was educated at home by his father, [[Leopold Mozart]], a well-known violinist.

Mozart had [[harpsichord]] lessons at three, composed at four, and by the time he was seven played the harpsichord, [[organ]], and the [[violin]]. He wrote two sets of sonatas for the harpsichord and the violin, which were published in [[France]] when he was seven. Mozart also composed two symphonies in [[England]] when he was eight, an ''opera buffa'' at eleven, ''la finta semplice'' for [[Joseph II]] of Austria, and ''opera seria'' at fourteen, ''Mitridate, re di Ponto''. During Mozart's short life he wrote more than forty symphonies, twenty-two operas, twenty-three string quartets, twenty-five concertos for the piano and orchestra, and thirty-five sonatas for violin and piano. There are over six hundred and twenty-six known works.

There are many stories concerning Mozart's life, but one of the most remarkable concerns a visit made to the Sistine Chapel, during which he heard a performance of Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. The fourteen-year-old Mozart first heard the piece during the Wednesday service. Later that day, he wrote it down entirely from memory, and returned to the Chapel that that week to make minor corrections. This was the first time that a manuscript of the work had been made public, as transcription of the music was punishable by excommunication <ref>The story may or may not be accurate, but it is referred to in the Mozart family letters http://en.allexperts.com/e/m/mi/miserere_(allegri).htm </ref>.

Mozart is often thought of as simply transcribing music sent to him by God, but this view obscures the amount of work he put in on honing his craft. He spent hours in practice at the keyboard, and studying and copying out the music of others. He wrote in a letter to his father, "People make a great mistake who think that my art has come easily to me. Nobody has devoted so much time and thought to compositions as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over." <ref>http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2006/006/9.14.html</ref>

Mozart's style typified the [[Classical period (music|Classical]] era of music, although he increasingly incorporated [[contrapuntal]] arrangments into his work as he got older. He worked mainly in forms that had previously been invented, but virtually invented the [[piano concerto]]. In addition to being a great composer, he was also well known as a pianist (his favorite instrument), although never a virtuoso unlike his contemporary [[Clementi]].

Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1782 against the wishes of his father; she remained his wife and muse until his premature death nine years later.<ref>Wright, Craig. ''Listening to Music'': Fourth Edition. p. 177.</ref>

Mozart died in [[Vienna]] on December 5, 1791, at the age of 35.

==References==
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[[Category:Composers|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

Johannes Brahms

2007-06-05T08:04:14Z

Fjona: /* Trivia */ Beethoven's tenth

'''Johannes Brahms''' (1833-1897) was a German [[classical music]] composer, whom [[conductor]] Hans van Bülow dubbed as one of the "three ''B's''" ([[Bach]], [[Beethoven]], and Brahms). Joseph Machlis, contrasting him with contemporaries [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], called him
:an austere, high-minded musician dedicated to the purity of the classical style. His veneration for the past and his mastery of the architecture of absolute music brought him closer to the spirit of Beethoven than any of his contemporaries.<ref>Machlis, Joseph (1970), ''The Enjoyment of Music,'' 3rd edition, W. W. Norton</ref>

He studied the piano from the age of 7 and composition from 13. From an early age he absorbed the popular and folk idioms – often in a Hungarian style - as an arranger for his father’s light orchestra in Frankfurt. When he was 20 he met the Hungarians Liszt and [[Joachim]]. Joachim and Brahms were to become lifelong friends. This was to surface in his 21 Hungarian Waltzes, and the scherzo movements of various other works.<ref>The last movement of the Piano Quartet is a perfect example</ref> He also met Robert and Clara Schumann who became his friends and mentors. His relationship with Clara was one of early infatuation maturing to a profound reverence and mutual friendship that lasted the rest of their lives.

As a pianist he was prodigious enough to be have been offered a concert tour of America before his teens;<ref>Musgrave, A Brahms Reader, Yale University Press</ref> but in spite of this, and the urging of his family, he set his sights on composition. He struggled to gain recognition in this until the publication of his “German Requiem” in 1869; a work recognised as one of the masterworks of its genre. He had recently moved to Vienna, the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, and hub of cultural life. It suited him, and the works written in the next few years were to bring him fame and financial security. When he died in 1897 he was given a state procession with thousands walking behind his coffin.

==Works==

*4 Symphonies
*2 serenades for large orchestra
*2 Piano Concertos
*Violin Concerto
*Double Concerto (for Violin and ‘cello)
*Various shorter orchestral works
*3 Piano sonatas, plus many shorter works for solo piano – variations, intermezzi, fantasies etc., Miniatures, but many of them great.
*Various works for two pianos and piano four hands. (See trivia, below)
*3 Violin sonatas
*2 ‘cello sonatas (or 3, counting his ‘cello transcription of the 1st violin sonata.
*2 Clarinet (or viola) sonatas
*4 piano trios
*3 piano quartets
*Piano quintet
*Horn trio
*Clarinet trio
*Clarinet quintet
*3 String quartets
*2 string quintets
*2 string sextets
*Over 300 songs
*'A German Requiem', Cantatas, and other works for chorus and/or voice and orchestra.
*Much music for unaccompanied choir.
*Dozens of folk song arrangements for one or two singers and piano.

==Trivia==

Brahms became quite the modern entrepreneur. These days, we walk out of the concert hall or recital room to be met by displays of the “Latest CD”. Brahms usually had the sheet music for 4 hand piano versions of the concert pieces on sale at the venue. Most Viennese families had at least two members proficient on the piano. It not only meant more profit from the concert, but it spread his music far and wide amongst the citizens who couldn’t get to the concert. Even “A German Requiem”, as big a piece of music as one can hear, (often heard with over 200 performers) has not only a version for choir, soloists and two pianos; but a setting for two pianos alone!

Reviewing the first performance of Symphony No. 1, critic Eduard Hanslick suggested that Brahms had relied rather too heavily on Beethoven, and that the regal string melody of the fourth movement was strikingly similar to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" . Conductor Hans von Bülow agreed with Hanslick's assessment, and memorably tagged the piece "Beethoven's Tenth"<ref> http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/brahms_sym1.html </ref>.

==References==

<references/>

[[category:composers|Brahms,Johannes]]

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Johannes Brahms