The
Composers Who Made Famous
Classical Music
Listen to the Music
Many times
music choice has to do with age
groups and geography, but with
our current technology many of us
are getting tastes of music we'd
have never encountered before.
The genres include rock, country,
jazz, contemporary, blues, gospel
and more but famous classical
music and the composers is what
we will focus on here.
Famous
classical music brings to mind
names like Bach, Mozart,
Beethoven, Handel, Brahms,
Vivaldi, Haydn, Chopin,
Tchaikovsky, and others. There
were many composers back in the
day, but only some of them got to
be famous.
These
well-known composers are the ones
whose tunes everyone recognizes,
whose works are regularly
assigned and practiced during
music lessons, whose compositions
are performed all around the
world centuries later. After all,
who can't hum Beethoven's 5th?
The others you might find in
random piano exercise books or
information you come across while
researching music of the 17th and
18th centuries.
What is
Classical Music? A Bit of History
An
interesting fact is that
technically, not all classical
music is actually
“classic.” The younger
generation might agree here, but
what this really means is that
classical music refers to tunes
from the Classical Period of
1740-1780. The Classical Period
was preceded by the Baroque
Period of 1600-1750.
Famous
classical music like Bach,
Handel, Vivaldi should actually
be referred to as baroque music.
However, modern vernacular lumps
all of that old-fashioned music
under the umbrella of classical
music, and all of those names
will always be thought of as
classical music composers. But
even if the distinction between
periods is lost, the compositions
of those periods isn’t.
A bit about
one composer.
Wikipedia®
entry on Brahms gives the
following biographical
details:
Johannes
Brahms (pronounced [jo?'han?s
'b?a?ms]) (7 May 1833 –
3 April 1897), German composer
and pianist, was one of the
leading musicians of the Romantic
period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms
spent much of his professional
life in Vienna, Austria, where he
was a leader of the musical
scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's
popularity and influence were
considerable; following a comment
by the nineteenth century
conductor Hans von Bülow, he
is sometimes grouped with Johann
Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van
Beethoven as one of the Three
Bs.
Moving
onto the Contemporary
Stage
As
“old-fashioned” as
famous classical music might
seem, it doesn’t appear to
be disappearing from the music
scene anytime soon. Almost
everyone acquainted with music
can recognize the tunes of
Für Elise, Minuet in G
major, The Four Seasons, and
other famous pieces, even though
we don’t always remember the
names of the works.
Modern
music even makes use of classical
music by sampling it, like
“I Can” by Nas,
“They” by Jem, and many
songs have made use of
Pachelbel’s Canon. Famous
songs continue to thrive in
contemporary times, in both
original and modified
form.
Classical
music is a genre of the past, but
it’s a genre that persists
in the present. What is it about
classical music that makes it so
timeless and popular, aside from
recent hubbub over the Mozart
Effect?
Who knows,
but trends always seem to make a
comeback, though famous classical
music is more of a constant
element. Maybe it’s because
music today builds upon music of
the past, and classical music
represents a lot of what it is
all about: the aesthetic portion
of harmony, rhythms, dynamics,
and the “business side”
of commissions and
performances.
And,
classical is a real challenge
when learning how to read sheet
music. It helps to stretch
musical note reading beyond the
scope of other genres and gives a
feeling of accomplishment to
those who conquer it.
Another
reason may be that it just sounds
good. Whatever the reason, the
famous composers and their
classical music has lasted
throughout the ages and possibly
will last for years to come. Now,
go to the attic and dig out some
of those old albums.
More
Uses for Classical
Music
One of the
best way to fall asleep is to put
on some soft music, put the
lights out and lay our heads upon
the pillow. Of course there are
debates as to what the best kind
of song is for this slumber time
habit, and I'd argue that your
best bet is some famous classical
music, since it was written by
geniuses who understand the
circadian rhythms of humans
better even than modern doctors.
These
pieces were written in a way to
evoke a biophysical response from
the listener, encouraging
relaxation - which is the key
first step in falling
asleep.
Some of the
most famous classical music comes
from the most famous composers,
naturally. The likes of Ludwig
von Beethoven and Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart come to mind, as
does Peter Illych Tchaikovsky.
All three of those men were
nearly unmatchable geniuses who
were able to use sound to create
entire worlds which we could
explore.
That, in my
mind, is what makes this soothing
melody the best medicine for
sleeplessness. Famous classical
music takes you away from the
stress and strain of the waking
world and allows you to lay your
head on your pillow and feel the
tension melt away. Nothing works
better for me.
Of course
Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky
aren't the only great composers
for the classical era. Brahams,
for example, wrote one of the
most beautiful pieces of
classical music, his "Lullaby."
The English lyrics are as
follows:
"Good
evening, and good night, with
roses adorned,
With
carnations covered, slip under
the covers.
Early
tomorrow, God willing, you will
wake once again.
Early
tomorrow, God willing, you will
wake once again.
Good
evening, and good night. By
angels watched,
Who show
you in your dream the
Christ-child's
tree.
Sleep
now peacefully and sweetly, see
the paradise in your
dream.
Sleep
now peacefully and sweetly, see
the paradise in your dream.
"
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More
Music Notes
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Lyrics
of
Songs
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A quick review of the
importance of lyrics as
related to tunes in
classical and other
types of music.
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Music
Lessons for a
Child
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Learning
how to read classical
music is important to
your child's development
and lessons will help to
bring out that
creativity that video
games cannot
deliver
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