Profile of Bela Bartok

Bela Bartok

Born: March 25, 1881 Birthplace: Nagyszentmikls, Austria-Hungary Died: Sept. 26, 1945 in New York, N.Y., U.S.A. due to leukemia. Also Known As: Bela Bartok was an ethnomusicologist, music teacher, pianist and well-known Hungarian composer. He was appointed as piano professor at the Budapest Academy in 1907. Type of Compositions: He wrote stage and orchestral works, piano solos, string quartets, cantata and folk songs. He was an avid collector of folk songs. Influence: His mother taught him how to play the piano as a child and he also studied under different teachers. He started composing at age 9 and had his debut as a pianist when he was 11. Bartok later on studied at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest. Notable Works: Among his known works are: "The Miraculous Mandarin," "Microkosmos," "Contrasts," "Kossuth," "Duke Bluebeard's Castle," "The Wooden Prince," "Cantata Profana," "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta," "Concerto for Orchestra" and "Sonata for Solo Violin." Interesting Facts: He became a research assistant at Columbia University. In 1906, interest on the music of central Europe was sparked by the publication of a book called Hungarian Folk Songs by Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly. His first wife was Marta Ziegler, his student, with whom he had a son. After divorcing Marta, Bartok married another student named Ditta Pasztory with whom he had another son. His "Third Piano Concerto" was written for Ditta. Related Video: Listen to Bela Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" courtesy of YouTube

Profile of Charles Ives

Born: Oct. 20, 1874 Birthplace: Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.A. Died: May 19, 1954 in New York City Also Known As: Innovative American composer of the 20th century, first major composer from America and the first known composer of polytonal pieces. Type of Compositions: He wrote symphonies, sonatas, chamber music, vocal and piano pieces, often based on American themes. Influence: His father, who was a bandleader and music teacher, was Charles Ives' first music teacher. In 1894, he studied with Horatio Parker at Yale University. Musical Work: Among his notable works are: 114 songs, "Third Symphony," "Second Piano Sonata (Concord)," "Variations on America," "Three Places in New England," "Central Park in the Dark" and "General William Booth Enters into Heaven." Interesting Facts: He worked as an insurance clerk and was very successful in his position that, by 1906, he even formed an insurance partnership called Ives & Myrick with his friend Julian Myrick. In 1930, he retired from his insurance business. Ives was married to Harmony Twichell. His Third Symphony won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Related Video: Listen to Charles Ibes perform his "Piano Sonata No. 2, Third Movement (The Alcotts)

Profile of Maurice Ravel

Born: March 7, 1875, his father was Swiss and his mother was of Basque descent. Birthplace: Ciboure, France Died: Dec. 28, 1937 in Paris after sufferring from aphasia. Also Known As: French composer known for his craftsmanship in music. His full name was Maurice Joseph Ravel. He was a member of "Les Apaches," a creative group consisting of writers, poets, painters and musicians. Type of Compositions: Ravel is known for his stage and orchestral works, piano music, chamber and vocal music. Influence: His father was very supportive of his talent for music. He entered the Paris Conservatoire when he was 14. He studied composition with composerGabriel Faure. He was also influenced by Russian and Javanese gamelan music as well as the works ofWagner. Musical Work: Some of his famous works are: "Jeux d'eau," "Miroirs,' Gaspard de la nuit,' "Le tombeau de Couperin," "Bolro", "Daphnis et Chlo", "Rapsodie espagnole", "Pavane pour une infante dfunte" and "L'Enfant et les and sortilges." Interesting Facts: Ravel served as a truck driver during World War 1. He was also very reclusive and never married. Later in life, Oxford gave him an honorary degree of Doctor of Music. Related Video: Listen to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" courtesy of YouTube.

Profile of Erik Satie

Born: May 17, 1866, his parents, Alfred and Jane, both composed music. Birthplace: Honfleur, France Died: July 1, 1925 in Paris, France due to sclerosis of the liver Also Known As: His full name was Erik Alfred Leslie Satie, a pianist and composer of the 20th century known for his minimalist piano music. He became influential to other composers of that period, namely John Cage,Maurice Ravel and a group of avant-garde composers known as the "Les Six." Type of Compositions: Satie is primarily known for his piano music. Influence: Satie's parents, who were both musically-gifted, were his initial influences. He started taking organ lessons as a boy. His mother died when he was 6 years old; his father later remarried another musically-inclined woman named Eugenie Barnetsche. The family moved to Paris in 1878 where Satie pursued his studies at the famed Paris Conservatory. He later met and became friends with composer Claude DeBussy. Musical Work: His major works include: "Trois gymnopedies," "Trois gnossiennes," the ballet "Parade" and the cantata "Socrate." Satie's "Parade," which premiered in Paris in 1917, was a collaboration with. Pablo Picasso (painter), Jean Cocteau (writer) and Leonid Massine (choreographer). Interesting Facts: Satie has been described as eccentric and is said to have become a recluse later in his life. Some of his later works have ambiguous titles, for example "Choses vues a droite et a gauche (sans lunettes)" (Things seen from the right and left without spectacles). Related Video: Listen to Erik Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1." courtesy of YouTube. Sheet Music: Sheet music of Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" from the Mutopia Project.

Igor Stravinsky
Born: June 17,1882 Birthplace: Lomonosov, near St. Petersburg, Russia Died: April 6, 1971, New York, New York, U.S.A. Also Known As: Russian composer of the 20th century who introduced the concept of modernism in music. His full name was Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky. Type of Compositions: He wrote music for the opera, vocal and instrumental pieces, ballet, cantata, Neoclassical works, oratorioand sacred music. Influence: He was very much influenced by his father who was one of the foremost Russian operatic basses. He studied music theory and piano as a young boy and attended St. Petersburg. Stravinsky also learned orchestration through the guidance of composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. He was also influenced by the works of Balakirev and Tchaikovsky. Notable Works: Some of his well-known works are: "The Firebird," "The Rite of Spring," "The Wedding," "Renard," "Symphonies of Wind Instruments," "Octet for Wind Instruments," "Serenade in A for piano," "Violin Concerto in D Major," "Concerto in E-flat," "Oedipus Rex," "Persephone,' "Symphony in C,' "Symphony in Three Movements," "The Rake's Progress" and "Requiem Canticles." Interesting Facts: Stravinsky studied law and philosophy at St. Petersburg University. In 1939, he delivered a lecture at Harvard University. He had 4 children with his first wife, Katerina Nossenko, his cousin. He and his second wife, Vera Soudeikine, would become U.S. citizens in 1945 and lived in California. Stravinsky wrote several scores for the impresario and founder of the Ballet Russes, Sergei Diagheliv; these include "The Firebird" "Petrushka" and "The Rite of Spring." In 1913, at the Thtre des Champs lyses, a riot ensued during the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." Related Video: Watch Igor Stravinsky as he conducts "Lullaby and the Final Hymn" from "The Firebird"

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy (1908) Claude-Achille Debussy (French pronunciation: [klod ail dbysi])[1] (22 August 1862 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions.[2] In France, he was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903.[3] A crucial figure in the transition to the modern era in Western music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His music is noted for its sensory component and for not often forming around one key or pitch. Often Debussy's work reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.[4] Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, 22 August 1862, the eldest of five children. His father, Manuel-Achille Debussy, owned a shop where he sold china and crockery and his mother, Victorine Manoury Debussy, was a seamstress. The family moved to Paris in 1867, but in 1870 Debussy's pregnant mother sought refuge from the Franco-Prussian war with a paternal aunt of Claude's in Cannes. Debussy began piano lessons there at the age of seven years with an Italian violinist in his early forties named Cerutti; his lessons were paid for by his aunt. In 1871 he drew the attention of Marie Maut de Fleurville,[5] who claimed to have been a pupil of Frdric Chopin. Debussy always believed her, although there is no independent evidence of her claim.[6] His talents soon became evident, and in 1872, at age ten, Debussy entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he spent eleven years. During his time there he studied composition with Ernest Guiraud, music history/theory with Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray, harmony with mile Durand,[7]piano with Antoine Franois Marmontel, organ with Csar Franck, and solfge with Albert Lavignac, as well as other significant figures of the era. He also became a lifelong friend of fellow student and noted pianist Isidor Philipp. After Debussy's death, many pianists sought out Philipp for advice on playing his pieces.

Max Reger
Born in Brand, Bavaria, Reger studied music in Munich and Wiesbaden with Hugo Riemann. From September 1901 he settled in Munich, where he obtained concert offers and where his rapid rise to fame began. During his first Munich season, Reger appeared in ten concerts as an organist, chamber pianist and accompanist. He continued to compose without interruption. From 1907 he worked in Leipzig, where he was music director of the university until 1908 and professor of composition at the conservatory until his death. In 1911 he moved to Meiningen where he got the position of Hofkapellmeister at the court of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1915 he moved to Jena, commuting once a week to teach in Leipzig. He died in May 1916 on one of these trips of a heart attack at age 43. He had also been active internationally as a conductor and pianist. Among his students were Joseph Haas, Sndor Jemnitz, Jaroslav Kvapil, Ruben Liljefors, George Szell and Cristfor Taltabull. Reger was the cousin of Hans von Koessler. Reger produced an enormous output over little more than 25 years, nearly always in abstract forms. Few of his compositions are well known in the 21st century. Many of his works are fugues or in variation form, including what is probably his best known orchestral work, the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart based on the opening theme of Mozart's Piano Sonata in A major, K. 331. He also wrote a large amount of music for organ, including the Fantasy and Fugue on BACH. He was particularly attracted to the fugal form his entire life. He created music in almost every genre but opera and the symphony.

Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (German pronunciation: [staf mal]; 7 July 1860 18 May 1911) was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kalit in the Czech Republic. Then his family moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava) where Mahler grew up. As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century. Born in humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from theVienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahlerwho had converted to Catholicism from Judaism to secure the postexperienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner and Mozart. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.

Partido College Goa, Camarines Sur High School Department S/Y 2012-2013

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Partido College Goa, Camarines Sur High School Department S/Y 2012-2013

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Partido College Goa, Camarines Sur High School Department S/Y 2012-2013

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Partido College Goa, Camarines Sur High School Department S/Y 2012-2013

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