Ernest Fanelli
(29 June 1860 - 24 November 1917) was a French composer
of Italian descent who is best known for sparking a
controversy about the origins of Impressionist music when
his composition Tableaux symphoniques was first
performed in 1912.
Ernest Fanelli was a nineteenth century composer
whose work eerily anticipates some twentieth century
French Impressionism. Fanelli was born in Paris to a family
of Italian émigrés. He entered the Paris Conservatoire as a
young man, but resisted the strict regimen of musical
training and was soon expelled. For most of his life, he
made his living as a timpanist, pianist, or music copyist. He
was able to resume musical studies under composer Léo Delibes; unsubstantiated reports also place
Fanelli in the class of eccentric pianist/composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. Despite what formal
training he may have received, Fanelli in essence remained a self-taught composer, writing with no
audience in mind and no intention of hearing his work performed. His major extant composition is
the Tableaux Symphoniques d'apres le Roman de la Momie (1882 - 1883, and 1886), which is divided
into two parts and based on the exotic novel The Romance of the Mummy by Théophile Gautier.
Compositions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Orchestral
St Preux à Clarens (1881)
symphonic poem Thèbes (1883)
Mascarade (1889)
Suite Rabelaisienne (1889)
. Carnaval (1890)
Bedřich Smetana
Bedrich Smetana (1824–1884) created a new musical identity for
the Czechs, inspired by popular legends, history and countryside.
Now Smetana is recognised as the vital force in establishing
Bohemian music around the globe - and not even his successor
Dvorak made his homeland such an indelible part of his musical
style.
Life and Music
Due to his father's resistance, Smetana's hopes of a musical
career seemed remote until he secured a job teaching piano to
the German family of Count Leopold Thun, which paid for his own
tuition with the renowned Josef Proksch.
Smetana launched himself 'on tour' as a concert pianist in the
summer of 1847, but the turnout at the first venue was so low
that he cancelled the tour.
Compositions
1. Má vlast
2. From My Fatherland (Symphonic Poems):
3. The Bartered Bride
4. String Quartet No. 1
(Achille) Claude Debussy
Embracing nontraditional scales and tonal structures, Claude Debussy
is one of the most highly regarded composers of the late 19th and early
20th centuries and is seen as the founder of musical impressionism
Professions: composer, musician, pianist
Who Was Claude Debussy?
Claude Debussy was born into a poor family in France in 1862, but his
obvious gift at the piano sent him to the Paris Conservatory at age 11.
At age 22, he won the Prix de Rome, which financed two years of further
musical study in the Italian capital. After the turn of the century,
Debussy established himself as the leading figure of French music.
During World War I, while Paris was being bombed by the German air
force, he succumbed to colon cancer at the age of 55.
Compositions
In 1880, Nadezhda von Meck, who had previously supported Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, hired
Debussy to teach piano to her children. With her and her children, Debussy traveled Europe and began accumulating
musical and cultural experiences in Russia that he would soon turn toward his compositions, most notably gaining
exposure to Russian composers who would greatly influence his work.
In 1884, when he was just 22 years old, Debussy entered his cantata L'Enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Child) in
the Prix de Rome, a competition for composers. He took home the top prize, which allowed him to study for three
years in the Italian capital, though he returned to Paris after two years. While in Rome, he studied the music of German
composer Richard Wagner, specifically his opera Tristan und Isolde. Wagner’s influence on Debussy was profound and
lasting, but despite this, Debussy generally shied away from the ostentation of Wagner’s opera in his own works.
Debussy returned to Paris in 1887 and attended the Paris World Exposition two years later. There he heard a
Javanese gamelan—a musical ensemble composed of a variety of bells, gongs, metallophones and xylophones,
sometimes accompanied by vocals—and the subsequent years found Debussy incorporating the elements of the
gamelan into his existing style to produce a wholly new kind of sound.
Debussy's seminal opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, was completed in 1895 and was a sensation when first
performed in 1902, though it deeply divided listeners (audience members and critics either loved it or hated it). The
attention gained with Pelléas, paired with the success of Prélude in 1892, earned Debussy extensive recognition. Over
the following 10 years, he was the leading figure in French music, writing such lasting works as La Mer (The Sea; 1905)
and Ibéria (1908), both for orchestra, and Images (1905) and Children's Corner Suite (1908), both for solo piano.
Around this same time, in 1905, Debussy's Suite bergamasque was published. The suite is comprised of four
parts—"Prélude," "Menuet," "Clair de lune" (now regarded as one of the composer's best-known pieces) and
"Passepied."
Maurice Ravel,
in full Joseph-Maurice Ravel, (born March 7, 1875, Ciboure,
France-died December 28, 1937, Paris), French composer of
Swiss-Basque descent, noted for his musical craftsmanship and
perfection of form and style in such works as Boléro (1928),
Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899; Pavane for a Dead ...
Compositions
1. qBoléro
2. Piano Concerto in G
3. Pavane pour une infante défunte
4. Bolero
Ernest Fanelli
As obscure and neglected a figure as one is likely to find
in the annals of modern music, Ernest Fanelli was a nineteenth
century composer whose work eerily anticipates some twentieth
century French Impressionism. Fanelli was born in Paris to a family
of Italian émigrés. He entered the Paris Conservatoire as a young
man, but resisted the strict regimen of musical training and was
soon expelled. For most of his life, he made his living as a timpanist,
pianist, or music copyist. He was able to resume musical studies
under composer Léo Delibes; unsubstantiated reports also place
Fanelli in the class of eccentric pianist/composer Charles-Valentin
Alkan. Despite what formal training he may have received, Fanelli
in essence remained a self-taught composer, writing with no
audience in mind and no intention of hearing his work performed.
His major extant composition is the Tableaux Symphoniques
d'apres le Roman de la Momie (1882 - 1883, and 1886), which is
divided into two parts and based on the exotic novel The Romance
of the Mummy by Théophile Gautier.
Compositions
1. St Preux à Clarens (1881)
2. symphonic poem Thèbes (1883)
3. Mascarade (1889)
4. Suite Rabelaisienne (1889)
5. Carnaval (1890)
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz Pascua
was a very talented and famous composer from Spain who
was considered to have achieved a level of mastery in
playing piano that very few people ever have. His piano
works which are based on folk music are regarded with
huge respect all around the world. His work was so much
admired that many of his creations were adapted to be
played with other instruments as well, especially guitar.
Granada, Sevilla and Astrurias are some of the pieces
adapted. His work not only influenced the international
music community but also had a deep impact on future
generations of musicians. Read on to find out more about
the successful career of this great piano master.
Born on 29th May 1860, Albéniz was the son of a customs
officer. He showed his talent for music at a very early age
and seeing that, his parents arranged for him to study
music. His first ever performance happened when he was
only four years old. Antoine François Marmontel, a very
famous pianist from France was Albéniz’s teacher. He
passed the entry test for studying piano in Paris
Conservatoire but was denied admission on the basis of his
age. Being seven years old meant he was too young to be given enrollment there. By the time he was nine years old
he was giving his own concerts and his supportive father arranged for him to travel throughout Spain to perform. By
the time he turned 15, he had traveled and performed in several countries and after spending a short while studying
in Leipzig Conservatory, he was admitted in the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. The king’s secretary in Brussels,
Guillermo Morphy arranged for a royal grant for him and to thank Morphy, Isaac Albéniz dedicated his creations to
him.
Compositions
1. Asturias (Leyenda)
2. Suite española Op. 47
3. Iberia
4. Tango in D
5. Granada
Arnold Schoenberg
Who was Arnold Schoenberg? Arnold Schoenberg was
an Austrian-American composer who created new
methods of musical composition involving atonality,
namely serialism and the 12-tone row. He was also an
influential teacher; among his most significant pupils
were Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Jul 9, 2022
Compositions
1. Verklärte Nacht
2. Pierrot lunaire
3. A Survivor from Warsaw
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June 1882-6 April 1971) was
a Russian (and later, a naturalized French and American)
composer, pianist and conductor. He is widely considered
one of the most important and influential composers of the
20th century.
Compositions
1. The Rite of Spring
2. The Firebird
3. Petrushka
4. Pulcinella
5. L'Histoire du soldat
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (27 April [O.S.
15 April] 1891-5 March 1953) was a Russian
composer, pianist, and conductor who later
worked in the Soviet Union. As the creator
of acknowledged masterpieces across
numerous music genres, he is regarded as
one of the major composers of the 20th
century.
Compositions
1. Romeo and Juliet
2. Peter and the Wolf
3. Piano Concerto No. 3
4. Montagues and Capulets
5. Symphony No. 1
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg is to Norway what
Shakespeare is to England: his
country's most celebrated son.
Find out more about the
composer of Peer Gynt and a
legendary Piano Concerto.
Born on 15 June 1843,
Edvard Grieg is Norway’s
most famous musical son,
although the Scots could lay
claim to him being one of
their own. His Scottish greatgrandfather emigrated to Scandinavia after the Battle of
Culloden.
Compositions
1. Peer Gynt
2. In the Hall of the Mountain King
3. Piano Concerto
4. Morning Mood
5. Lyric Pieces
Antonin Dvořák
Czech composer Antonin Dvořák, famous for his
Symphony No.9 'From the New World', was
passionate about his homeland and its traditional
music. Find out more about him with our interesting
facts. Born on 8 September 1841 in a small village
north of Prague, Antonin Leopold Dvořák was the
eldest of 14 children. His father was a professional
zither player, an innkeeper and a butcher. Folk music
accompanied every family occasion, and young
Antonin soon joined his father in the local band – and
served as an apprentice butcher. (Picture: Dvořák’s
birthplace at Nelahozeves) The youthful Dvořák
studied organ, violin, piano and - less
successfully - the German language. He played
viola in the Bohemian Provisional Theatre
Orchestra, performing in restaurants and at balls.
In 1871, he resigned from the orchestra to
concentrate on composing, scraping a living by
teaching the piano.
When Dvořák’s publisher Simrock, pictured, failed
to send him an advance for his Symphony No.7, the
composer complained that he had endured a bad
potato harvest and needed some money upfront.
Simrock then refused to print Dvořák’s correct first
name on the cover, insisting on Germanising it.
Compositions
1. Symphony No. 9
2. Cello Concerto
3. Symphony No. 8
4. Humoresques
5. String Quartet No. 12
Niels Gade
Niels Gade, in full Niels Vilhelm Gade, (born
February 22, 1817, Copenhagen, Denmark
died December 21, 1890, Copenhagen),
Danish composer who founded the
Romantic nationalist school in Danish music.
Gade studied violin and composition and
became acquainted with Danish poetry and
folk music.
Compositions
1. Elverskud
2. The Bridal Waltz
3. Echoes of Ossian
4. I østen stiger solen op
5. På Sjølunds fagre sletter
Béla Bartók
was
a
seminal
20th-century
composer
and
musicologist. Hungarian form Bartók Béla, (born March 25,
1881,
Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary, Austria-Hungary [now
Sânnicolau Mare, Romania]—died September 26, 1945, New
York,
NewYork,
U.S.),
Hungarian
composer, pianist, ethnomusicologist, and teacher, noted for
the Hungarian flavour of his major musical works, which
include orchestral works, string quartets, piano solos, several
stage works, a cantata, and a number of settings of folk songs
for voice and piano.
Shortly after Bartók completed his studies in 1903, he
and
the
Hungarian
composer Zoltán
Kodály,
who collaborated with Bartók, discovered that what they had
considered Hungarian folk music and drawn upon for
their compositions was instead the music of citydwelling Roma. A vast reservoir of authentic Hungarian
peasant music was subsequently made known by the research
of the two composers. The initial collection, which led them
into the remotest corners of Hungary, was begun with the intention of revitalizing Hungarian music. Both composers
not only transcribed many folk tunes for the piano and other media but also incorporated into their original music the
melodic, rhythmic, and textural elements of peasant music. Ultimately, their own work became suffused with the folk
spirit.
Bartók was appointed to the faculty of the Academy of Music in 1907 and retained that position until 1934,
when he resigned to become a working member of the Academy of Sciences. His holidays were spent collecting folk
material, which he then analyzed and classified, and he soon began the publication of articles and monographs.
Compositions
1. Concerto for Orchestra
2. Mikrokosmos
3. Romanian Folk Dances
4. Bluebeard's Castle
5. The Miraculous Mandarin
Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin was a Polish-born pianist and
composer of matchless genius in the realm of
keyboard music. As a pianist, his talents were beyond
emulation and had an impact on other musicians
entirely out of proportion to the number of concerts
he gave - only 30 public performances in 30 years of
concertizing. Mar 2, 2010
He became a leading advocate of 'absolute
music', producing some of the earliest
Romantic pieces and arguably the finest body
of solo music for the piano.
Chopin dedicated his second piano concerto
(1830) to Delfina Potocka, with whom he hit
the headlines during the 1940s when a
sensational series of highly erotic (forged)
love letters were discovered. In 1836 Chopin
met the novelist George Sand (alias Aurore
Dudevant), and so began one of the most
famous love affairs in the history of music.
The pair split up in 1847.
Chopin's Funeral March, one of the piano repertoire's most famous works, was composed in 1837.
By 1841, both sets of Chopin's Etudes had been published. They went on to become indispensable
tomes for piano students everywhere. Among the most famous of his works was composed late in
his life - The Minute Waltz was finished in 1847.
Compositions
1. Nocturnes, Op. 9
2. Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53
3. Piano Concerto No. 1
4. Étude Op. 10, No. 3
5. Études