Felix Mendelssohn Essay

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

The style of Felix and Fanny was very similar, mainly because they studied with the same teacher, and grew up in the same environment. Moreover, they often exchanged musical opinions, and critiqued each other’s music when they grew up. Many historians say that Fanny was inspired by Felix, but some of their works show that they were inspired by each others. Between November 1839 to May 1840 Fanny was traveling in Italy. A year later she composed Il Saltarello romano, a piano piece which was inspired by her traveling experience. However, it contains a rhythmic pattern, and a motif which is reminiscent of the last movement of Felix’s Italian Symphony, composed in 1833. Therefore, it is possible that Fanny was also inspired by her brother’s symphony (Cooper & Prandi, 2002). On the other hand, Felix’s Andante in G major Op.62 No.1 from Songs Without Words Book 5 composed in 1844 is very similar to Fanny’s Andante in G major Op.2 No.1 composed in 1836. These two Andante have very similar openings which consisted of an anacrusis followed by a dominant seventh, then resolved down. Moreover, it is obvious that Felix’s Andante has a similar melodic structure to Fanny’s. Even through the Mendelssohn sibling’s composition style were very similar, there are some characteristic in Fanny’s composition which are different from her brother’s.

In the passage by Igor Stravinsky, he uses not only comparison and contrast, but also language to convey his point of view about the conductors of the time and their extreme egotism. Stravinsky believes that conductors exploit the music for their own personal gain, so rather, he looks on them in a negative light.

Franz Marc was a German artist and printmaker, and also one of the key statistics of the German Expressionist movement. Franz Marc was born in February 8, 1880 in Munich and past away in March 4, 1916, eventually Marc was only 36 years old. Wilhelm, the father, was an expert landscape painter; his mother, Sophie, was a strict Calvinist. Marc began to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich in 1900. In 1903 and 1907, he spent time in France, intensely in Paris, visiting the city’s museums and copying many paintings, a conventional way for artists to study and improve technique.

Achille-Claude Debussy or Claude Debussy was a French 20th century composer known for his prominent role in impressionistic music. Debussy never described his pieces as impressionism as he disliked the term when it was associated with his music. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he and his family left for Paris in 1867 only to move to Cannes in 1870 to escape the Franco-Prussion war. Claude Debussy learnt to play piano from an Italian violinist by the name Jean Cerutti and later studied under a woman, by the name of Marie Mauté de Fleurville, who claimed to have been a pupil of Frédéric Chopin. In 1872 he was enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire and remained there to develop musically over the next 11 years. Debussy was infamous for his experimental nature breaking

Pablo Picasso was considered the greatest artist of the 20th century because of his unique styles and techniques. Pablo Ruiz y Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881 to a professor of art named Jose Ruiz Blanco and his wife Maria Picasso Lopez. Because of his fathers’ occupation, Picasso’s talent was quickly noticed and appreciated. Don Jose, an art teacher, moved Picasso and his family to La Coruna and then to Barcelona where he was Picasso’s instructor at the fine arts academy. At the age of 10 Picasso made his first paintings, and performed brilliantly on the entrance exams to Barcelona’s School Of Fine Arts. From there he went to the academy of San Fernando Madrid, and returned to Barcelona in 1900. In

Just so you know before hand, the lyrics to the music came from the CD with trademark of Delta Music Inc. The movement opens agitatedly as the orchestra picks up fragments of one theme after another from the previous three movements, as if seeking a satisfactory vehicle for its expression; but each is discarded in turn. The first seven notes of the main theme to come are tentatively uttered, but it too is abandoned as the search continues. Once again the theme begins, this time in the woodwinds, but it soon breaks off. Finally, the theme emerges decisively in the basses for a subdued first statement. The second statement is calm, tranquil, confident, and the theme continues onward in the various voices of the orchestra, broad and flowing. The winds make a strong statement of the theme. The flow of the music abruptly halts--there are rapid shifts--great agitation, until the orchestra introduces the baritone singing the first three lines of the poem, rejecting the feverish discords of the previous passage, calling for a different music, whose nature is suggested by the strings beneath his voice:

Johannes Brahms was a German Composer, Pianist and conductor of the 19th century or the Romantic period. He was one of the 3 B's or the Big three: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Johannes was a very self-critic man he burned many of his pieces before he could get anyone's opinion on them and he burned all of his compositions that he wrote before the age of 19.

Fanny Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany on November 14, 1805. She grew up living with her parents, Abraham and Lea Mendelsohn, along with her siblings Felix, Paul, and Rebecka. Fanny was the oldest of four children and was closest to her brother Felix. Having been taught to play piano by her mother, at age thirteen Fanny began writing her own music. She studied under the likes of composer Carl Friedrich Zelter. Education was a big part of her beginning years. Fanny’s parents and various tutors taught her in a number of subjects such as literature, music theory, drawing, violin, geography, languages, and mathematics. By nineteen years of age, Fanny had composed 32 Fugues. She also had the ability to play difficult works from memory. Both Fanny and Felix were considered child prodigies in the music world. Despite her talent, Fanny’s father disagreed with her choice to pursue a path in

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was probably the greatest genius in Western musical history. He was born in Salzberg, Austria on January 27, 1756. The son of Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria Pertl. Leopold was a successful composer and violinist and assistant concertmaster at the Salzberg court.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart lived from January 27, 1756 to December 5, 1791. Mozart was a very influential and prolific composer of more than 600 works, including symphonies, concertante, chamber, piano, opera, and choral music. Regarded as a child prodigy, Mozart composed and performed in the European courts from the age of five, and was engaged at the Salzburg court at 17. Mozart’s musical style can be classified as Classical, although he learned from many of his contemporaries throughout his musical career. In order to better understand Mozart’s genius it is best to begin looking at his earliest contributions to the musical world as a child. From there, an exploration of his

Some of the most well known composers came to be in the in the classical music period. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the composers, along with other greats of the time like Haydn and Mozart, which helped to create a new type of music. This new music had full rich sounds created by the new construction of the symphony orchestra.

In 1868 Mendel was promoted to abbot at the monastery and gave up his experiments.

On 17 December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. He was an amazing and great classical musical composer. He is known for being the most famous composer of the classical and romantic periods of music. According to the “Enjoyment of Music” manual, Beethoven was born in Bohn, Germany. His father, with his grandfather, was the two singers at the court of a local prince, Friedrich Max. (Forney and Machlis 197).