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This treatise explored Guido's revolutionary ideas of the four-line staff, the concept of relative pitch, the use of sight-singing syllables, and the introduction of the first accidentals -- "round b", or b flat, and "square b", or b natural.
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Hildegard was the most prolific composer before the 1500s. She became a nun at 16, and allegedly had visions. She turned these visions into poems, then into music. She was sought after for her prophetic visions by kinds, bishops, and popes. She signed her name on her music, which was unusual for the time.
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This treatise laid the groundwork for modern musical notation. It also included both triple and duple time signatures.
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This piece was called the "Mona Lisa" of renaissance music. It was a renaissance motet. It referred to the five feasts of the virgin, or the stations in the life of Mary from Conception through Assumption.
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This was Martin Luther's most famous chorale, and it became an anthem for the reformation period.
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A madrigal is a through-composed musical setting of a high art poem that attempted to convey the ideas and feelings in the text by a series of changing musical textures and images. Madrigals began as social music and were easily sight-readable.
The text of this madrigal alludes to a sexual climax (referred to in the 16th century as “the little death”) “dying fills me fully with complete joy and desire.” This was most likely performed by 4 men sitting around a table. -
Palestrina's "Pope Marcellus Mass" proved that sacred text was able to still be intelligible despite being written in polyphony.
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This was a parody or "imitation" mass based on his original motet "O magnum mysterium" (1572).
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This piece was likely written for St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. It was the first of two things: it was the first piece to specify which instrument played which part, and it was the first piece to specify dynamics in the title.
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This piece was the most influential publication of the 1700s. It began the popularity of the Italian concerto across Europe.
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This piece was the most influential of every theoretical work. It arranged the practices of his contemporaries into a set form. It set the premises for teaching functional harmony, and is still used today.
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This publication demonstrated the new ability of the modernly-tuned piano to play in all 24 major and minor keys.
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Joseph Bologne was one of the most famous composers and musicians at the time, and accomplished all of this despite being Black and experiencing racism. He was director of Concerts des Amateurs, which was one of the finest orchestras in Europe.
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This symphony, widely known for its iconic four-note motif, premiered in 1808 and quickly rose to become a standard of the era. This symphony was written during Beethoven's Second Period.
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This piece, written for solo voice and piano, exemplifies the standard of "Lieder", music set to poetry. It also represents the Romantic era fascination with fantasy characters, such as elves.
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This opera is an iconic masterpiece of musical comedy, and is still popular over 200 years later.
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Composed in 1805 but published in 1820, this piece was a deviation from the norm of the time. It was dedicated to all professional musicians, and yet considered to be impossible to play by many.
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A Mazurka is an energetic Polish dance in a triple feel. This composition consists of five pieces.
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Also known as "Episodes in an Artist's Life", this piece was inspired by Berlioz's fascination with his eventual wife and then ex-wife, Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson. It was one of the first Programmatic symphonies, depicting a storyline with the music.
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Das Jahr is written for piano and includes a movement for each of the twelve months of the year, as well as a postlude. Hensel was discouraged by her father and brother from pursuing music, but was encouraged by her artist husband and continued to make music nonetheless.
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Gottschalk was the first American composer to achieve international fame. In 1845, Chopin predicted that he would become "King of the Pianists".
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This work is a suite consisting of ten pieces written for piano. It is often played as a "showpiece" for advanced pianists.
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This opera broke boundaries in terms of what was allowed to be depicted on stage in operas. At the time of its premiere, Carmen was very controversial.
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Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four works based on Norse legends and mythology. Perhaps the most well-known of these works is Die Walküre, which has gained individual popularity.
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Symphony No. 4 in E minor is the last of Brahms' Symphonies. It was written just one year following his third symphony.
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When this piece first premiered, it received its fair share of criticism, and so Mahler continued to make adjustments until it reached its final four-movement form. It originally began as a tone poem.
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This Book 1 was published as a tribute to Chopin on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Each prelude has a word at the end of the work in parentheses which serves as a descriptive title to suggest imagery for the work. Impressionism.
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Atonal and Expressionist work. Utilizes Sprechstimme.
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Subtitled "Scenes from Pagan Russia". Cool iconic bassoon solo.
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Published in memory of Debussy. Quotes one of his piano works, Soirée dans Grenade (Evening in Granada).
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Tin Pan Alley song: center of American pop music publishing.
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Poem by Langston Hughes set to music, written when he was 18 in 1920.
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On the outside, appeared as socialist realism, but contained notes of sarcasm, bitterness, and angst. Had a 30-minute standing ovation. "A Soviet artist's reply to just criticism."
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This work is a "contrafact", a new melody composed over a preexisting harmonic structure taken from a different work.
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Copland was commissioned to write a ballet with an American theme, written for 13 piece orchestra. Was later condensed into a suite for symphony orchestra.
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Cage was commissioned to write a ballet score that featured percussion, but the studio couldn't afford a percussion ensemble. Thus, the prepared piano was born, in which screws, pennies, and other various objects are inserted into the piano to create percussive sounds. Inspired by Javanese Gamelan Orchestras. -
Studio album by Miles Davis, jazz trumpet player and composer.
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Unconventional sound sources and sound effects.
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Fanfare for orchestra. Derived from minimalism. Performance length is about four and a half minutes.