Famous composers and their works, Vol. 2

Beethoven was below the middle height, not more than five feet five inches; he was broad-shouldered, sturdy, with legs like columns. He had hairy hands, short fingers, with squa...

When Haydn was in the depths of poverty that attended his early days of adversity he made the acquaintance of one Keller, a wig-maker. This person had two daughters to whom Hayd...

A son was born in 1783, who died in the same year, and in the summer a visit was paid to Salzburg. A mass, which Mozart had vowed in his heart before his marriage if he succeede...

On the river Leitha, in Lower Austria, and some fifteen miles south-east from Vienna, is a village so insignificant that it is not set down on the ordinary maps. It is called Ro...

In 1794, Haydn departed on his second journey to London under contract to Salomon to compose six new symphonies. Prince Anton parted unwillingly with him and died three days aft...

Some months in 1806 were passed in visits. Beethoven stopped at the country-seat of Count Brunswick--and some say that he was in love with Therese, the sister, to whom he dedica...

A review of the symphonies of Mozart is a summing up of the history of the symphony in the eighteenth century from childhood to maturity. He was eight years old when he wrote in...

The year 1821 marked a new era with Schubert; in that year some of his compositions were first published. Some of his friends were determined to have a group of his songs engrav...

Among the innovations made by Beethoven, may be mentioned the extension of key relationship, which before him was not recognized. He broke down the restrictions that governed tr...

On his return journey he planned his septet for piano, two stringed and four wind instruments, one of his most admired chamber compositions. In 1854 he passed his summer vacatio...

During the next winter, hearing a complaint that Bach seemed like an arithmetical exercise, Felix formed a choir of sixteen voices for the practice of the _Passion Music_ at his...

Rossini once said that his "Barbiere" was an _opera buffa_, while Mozart in "Le Nozze di Figaro" gave the model of the _dramma giocoso_: a fine distinction, worthy of the shrewd...

Meyerbeer has been criticised for his Italian souvenirs in his opera _les Huguenots_, particularly that pretty air of Marguerite's in the second act, charming in itself and from...

The next five years were passed without material change in the circumstances of the family. There was a trip to Vienna during the absence of Hieronymus; and in December, 1774, W...

Concerning the date of Carl Maria's birth there is still controversy. The church records in Eutin give it as November 18, 1786. The date commonly accepted is December 18, 1786....

It is idle to compare this Mass with the religious works of Palestrina and Bach and to say that if Beethoven had been a devout Catholic or an orthodox Lutheran his Mass would ha...

Among biographical sources the first place belongs to the sketch "Aus Franz Schubert's Leben," by his brother Ferdinand Schubert. It was published in Schumann's "Neues Zeitschri...

It is a fact, the bearing of which ought to be borne in mind while studying the significance of Weber in the development of music, that he did not enjoy the favor of the leading...

We come now to a lofty form of choral and orchestral music, which we owe to Mendelssohn. In setting two of the Greek tragedies of Sophocles he had no old Greek music for a model...

At that time Bonn was a sleepy town of about 10,000 inhabitants, who were chiefly priests and people of the court. There were no factories; there was no garrison, and the only s...

This year 1816 saw one hundred and thirty-one new compositions by Schubert. Among these were the fourth or "Tragic" symphony, in C minor, the fifth symphony, in B flat, an overt...

Marschner was now at the zenith of his fame. Toward the close of 1830 he accepted an invitation to become Royal Chapelmaster at Hanover and distinguished himself at once in his...

Already in 1842, Schumann had confessed that German opera was the subject of his daily prayer, it being a field in which much could be accomplished. This longing took a more dec...

Concerning his position in the history of music there is but little question, and the subject admits of a brief statement. The man who died in his thirty-second year, leaving be...

Schumann was fortunate in being so well situated pecuniarily that he was not obliged to earn his living during the years of the development of his genius. After his return to Le...

When, in 1840, Schumann reached the sunshine of domestic happiness, he was compelled to express his joy in singing, not only in vocal compositions, but also in his instrumental...

Taking these facts in connection with the other symptoms already mentioned, difficulty of distinguishing words and the dread of sudden loud noises, a definite clinical picture i...

This was the starting point of Meyerbeer's active career. We shall soon see him make his appearance as composer and virtuoso at the same time (for Meyerbeer was an exceptional p...

Of his many other piano compositions, the most important are the Six Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35; another in E minor, full of fire and strength, his contribution to the Album "N...

There are thousands of songs which please superficial singers and audiences without awakening the least question as to the worth of the poem and its author. This is not true of...

His songs, of which he wrote many, have passed for the most part into deserved oblivion. Some of his canzonets are marked by grace and delicacy, but the sign of age is unmistaka...

The year which gave him his wife also gave him the opera book with the composition of which it was destined he should crown his career as a National composer. Apel's "Gespenster...

The face of Mozart has been idealized. The authentic portraits coincide with the descriptions of his contemporaries. He was small, thin, and pale; with a large head and a large...

It is said that Strauss's wife was largely instrumental in making him change his sphere from the humble dance hall to the more ambitious theatre. She was a famous singer and act...