jueves, 26 de mayo de 2016

LANGUAGE OF MUSIC QUIZZ

Language of music.
Quizz.

1. The repetition dots that face each other indicate that:
a.we have to repeat the passage between the two.
b.we don't have to repeat anything.
c.we have to repeat from the beginning.

2. The signs that lengthen the notes are:
a.ties,repetition dots and the pause or fermata.
b.dots,pause and bar line.
c.pause,tie and accent.

3.We write the pause or fermata:
a.over or under a note or rest.
b.under the silent rests.
c.over the notes.

4. A tie is:
a.a dot.
b. a curved line.
c.a straight line.

5.The dot is a sign that :
a.divides a note by half its value.
b. makes a note longer by half its value.
c. multiplies by four the value of a note.

6. Fortissimo means:
a.a very loud sound.
b.a very soft sound.
c. a loud sound.

miércoles, 4 de mayo de 2016

GIUSEPPE VERDI

GIUSEPPE VERDI

Giuseppe Verdi was born in Italy in 1813 and died in 1901.
He became one of the most important Italian composers and amongst the greatest in the world.
He loved the Italian traditinal music.

Italian composer of operas.

"Aida, Triumphal March"

"Nabucco,Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves"

"Rigoletto,La donna é mobile"

"La Traviata,Drinking Song"

Towards the end of his life,Verdi's style changed considerably and became more similar to Wagner´s music.

For further information click on these sites.


Have a proper look at this kids video.It´s worthy !

miércoles, 20 de abril de 2016

INSTRUMENTS IN THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

INSTRUMENTS IN THE CLASSICAL PERIOD
The instruments of the Classical Period were constantly changing and evolving.

There're two main developments that are to be pointed out:

The piano.
The piano replaced graduallythe harpsichord because of its ability to play much more softly and subtly.
Enlargement of the orchestra.
The second major development in sound was the expansion of the orchestra.
With huge numbers of symphonies now being composed, the orchestra started to resemble the orchestras we can see in concer halls today.
The French horn now takes on more importance.

Haydn, Mozart, Beeth oven,Rossini,Paganini and many more, all wrote stunning works for the orchestra.
But it was Beethoven who really stretched the Classsical mould and laid the groundwork for the following period- the Romantic.
His symphonies especially grew to mammoth proportions.
Have a listen to the "Fith Symphony",composed between 1804-1808.

For getting deeper into the theme,I suggest you to click on the following site:

martes, 1 de marzo de 2016

SONATA

Sonata is a musical form in three parts.
It was used in chamber music and music composed for orchestras.
This permitted them to express their feelings and develop the new music techniques emerged in this period.

Piano sonata "Rondo alla turca",Mozart

From the film "Amadeus"

THE CLASSICAL PERIOD TIMELINE AND MAIN COMPOSERS

The Classical Period spanned from the middle of the 18th century to the beginning of 19th century.
Between the the Baroque and the Romantic period.
It is characterized for being a period of freedom.

The best-known composers are F. Joseph Haydn and W.A.Mozart.

JOSEPH HAYDN
 (1732-1809)
The Austrian composer F.J.Haydn wrote as many as 104 symphonies,which include :
"The Surprise" 2nd movement.Andante

"The Farewells"

"The Clock"


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
 (1756-1791)
W.A.Mozart was one of the most influential composers of the classical era.
Amongst the most well-known operas  we can name:

"The Marriage of Figaro" Overture.

"Don Giovanni" 
From the film "Amadeus"

"The Magic Flute".Singspiel
BBC Animation.



martes, 9 de febrero de 2016

CONCERTO GROSSO

Concerto grosso is a form of  Baroque music.

The musical material is passed between a small group of soloist-the concertino- and a full orchestra-the ripieno or concerto grosso/big concert.

Listen to the opening of Bach's Bradenburg Corcert No4.
The solo group of violin and two flutes are prominent at the begining and are then joined by the ripieno strings.The harpsichord is playing the continuo.
.

This is in contrast to the solo concerto which features a single solo instrument with the melody line ,
accompanied by the orchestra.

VOYAGER GOLDEN RECORDINGS

They are phonograph records that were included aboard both "Voyager spacecrafts" launched in 1977.
Voyager 2 left the Solar System in 2004.
They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
Contents.
The musical selection is very varied.
Featuring artists such as Bach,Mozart,Beethoven,Stravinsky,Guan Pinghu,Blind Willie Johnson,
Chuck Berry,Kersarbai Kerkar and Valya Balkanska.

From Bach was selected "Bradenburg Concert no2, Allegro movement"

For further information click on this site:

jueves, 4 de febrero de 2016

HARPSICHORD

A harpsichord is a musical instrument  played by means of a keyboard.
It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.
"Harpsichord" designates the whole family or similar plucked keyboard instruments,including the smaller virginals,muselar and spinets.

Jackson 5 and Bach were funky way before Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk

Virginal
Virginals are smaller and simpler rectangular form of harpsichord with only one string per note.

Muselar
Muselar is a kind of virginal that was made only in northern Europe
They were popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Spinet
It's a smaller type of harpsichord.
Spinets were in common use during the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries.