Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is well-known for having been a child prodigy. A previously unknown composition of his, dated c. 1767, when he would have been 11 years old,
(PDF of score) had it's
premiere earlier this week.
[more inside]
posted by bardophile
on Mar 25, 2012 -
32 comments
For centuries, Renaissance composer Alessandro Striggio's
"Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno", an enormous setting of the Mass for 40 and 60 voices, was thought to be lost to the ages. A few years ago, UC Berkeley musicologist Davitt Moroney discovered that a copy of the work, attributed to a non-existent composer, was hiding right under our noses, in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. In an hour-long lecture titled
"The Pope, the Emperor and the Grand Duke", Professor Moroney recounts the story of the Mass's disappearance and rediscovery, describes the historical significance of the music, and unravels the intriguing geopolitical landscape of 16th century Italy.
posted by archagon
on Sep 28, 2011 -
7 comments
Acousmata is a unique music blog devoted to "idiosyncratic research in electronic and experimental music, sound and acoustics, mysticism and technology" with special focus on the early history of electronic music.
posted by speicus
on Jul 30, 2010 -
16 comments
MusicTheory.net - Posted in a comment
here, I thought I'd give it an FPP considering it
may have just saved my butt on an exam. MusicTheory.net is an excellent, step-by-step resource for students, amateurs, and aesthetes of all levels. The site is flash, but provides not only lessons but training sessions and other resources as well (including a
staff paper generator).
For those who would like some other resources,
ilearnmusic.com has
lessons, including a section on
Music Theory 101 (with a few
nice links, as well).
Dolmetsch online offers
extensive information, including a section demystifying
guitar tabs for those of us who don't play. And, of course, the wikipedia has a fairly extensive list of
external links in their article, including several journals for those more advanced theorists out there. [
*]
posted by Eideteker
on Apr 10, 2006 -
13 comments
The Doctor of Music. "
A General History of Music From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period, Volume IV", written by the English musician and historian Dr.
Charles Burney (1726-1814) was published in 1789. Its first volume, completed in 1776, was the first History of music ever published. The fourth volume is of particular interest as it discusses the state of music in Burney's own lifetime. He observed the music, and musicians that he wrote about first hand. In fact, Burney was close friends with composers such as Haydn and Handel, he even played violin in Handel's orchestra, and lived with Dr. Thomas Arne for two years in London, as his apprentice. The fourth volume, to Dr. Charles Burney, was the most interesting as he preferred the music of the current time, finding no interest in "
antiquarianism." In the main link, the entire volume -- in facsimile -- is available to readers. Burney also translated
Pietro Metastasio's
Memoirs. Also:
The Burney Collection of Newspapers at the British Library. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Jun 19, 2005 -
6 comments
The story of "St. James Infirmary." You thought it was a piece of old New Orleans? Turns out St. James Hospital was in London (and treated lepers), and the song goes back at least to the 18th century (though it used to be sung to the tune of "Streets of Laredo"). Rob Walker's Letter From New Orleans #13 describes the results of his obsessive researches. If you have more info, he wants to hear from you! (Via
Wordorigins, a site any word lover should know.)
posted by languagehat
on Jun 11, 2004 -
9 comments
