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Pietro Matestasio
Court poet in Vienna; most important author of librettos for the 18th century. His libretti were set over 800 times in the 18th/19th centuries. -
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Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Galant Italian composer and innovator of the symphony in Milan. -
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Farinelli (Carlo Broschi)
One of the most famous castrati in the 18th century. -
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Franz Xaver Richter
German composer, teacher, and singer. Innovator of the string quartet, one of the foremost Mannheim composers. -
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Prince Nikolaus J. Eszterhazy
Haydn's patron and employer until 1790. -
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Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Eldest son of J.S. Bach, wrote in both Baroque and classical styles. Associated with Empfindsamkeit ("sentimental" style), worked in Berlin for 30 years under Frederick the Great. -
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Christoph Willibald Gluck
German opera-reform composer, often considered Baroque. Created a new balance between music and drama. Jealous of Mozart. -
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Johann Stamitz
Symphonic innovator in Mannheim; conductor, violinist, and teacher. Helped establish the symphonic Genre. -
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Leopold Mozart
Composer, violinist, teacher, theorist. Father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. -
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Charles Burney
Music historian, author, teacher, and organist who traveled Europe and wrote about his observations. -
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Franz Joseph Haydn
Primary Austrian composer who served as an innovator and mover within the new classical style; teacher, keyboardist, and violinist. -
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Johann Christian Bach
Worked in Milan and London, son of J.S. Bach. Friend and influence to Mozart. -
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Luigi Boccherini
Italian composer and cellist; prolific. -
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William Billings
Most prominent composer in the New America, singing teacher, not a strong composer. -
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Domenico Cimarosa
Italian composer, a central figure in opera in the late 18th century; extraordinarily successful in his day. -
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Lorenzo Da Ponte
Italia librettist and poet, collaborated with Mozart, moved to the US and was professor at Columbia College in New York. Controversial character. -
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German poet and writer; was a literary force behind Romanticism; composers continue to set his works to music. -
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Antonio Salieri
Italian composer and teacher; he functioned in the transitional periods between the Galant and the classic, then again between the classic and romantic; extremely successful. -
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Muzio Clementi
English composer of Italian birth; keyboardist, teacher, music publisher, and piano manufacturer. -
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer; child prodigy. Wrote in all genres. Best innovations were in opera, he represents to many today the epitome of the Classic style. One of the best musicians and composers of all time. -
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Instrumental in moving music towards Romanticism. He is an icon of our present culture; he established the heroic topic in orchestral music and was the transitional composer between Classicism and Romanticism. -
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American Revolution
American War of Independence. Initiated by the 13 colonies of British America in Congress against Britain. -
Steamboat
The first steamboat was built in 1783 by Claude de Jouffroy. -
Power Loom
A key development for the Industrial Revolution, invented by Edmund Cartwright. -
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The French Revolution
Period of radical, political, and societal change in France. -
Sewing Machine
Invented by Thomas Saint. -
Cotton Gin
Invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.