Carl Orff (b. July 10, 1895, Munich - d. March 29, 1982, Munich), German composer, is best remembered for his popular cantata Carmina Burana. He was also known for his influential teaching method.
Early Life
German composer and teacher Carl Orff was born in Munich on July 10, 1895. Although his father was a soldier, his family was musical. As a boy he studied piano, organ and cello. His first works were all vocal and published when he was 16 years old.
Formal Academic Training
He enrolled at the local Munich Academy of Music and graduated in 1914, aged 19. Three years later, however, he was called by the German army to fight in the First World War.
Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) is a 1916 symphonic poem written by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, now considered part of the "Roman Trilogy" of symphonic poems along with Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome, 1924) and Feste Romane (Roman Festivals, 1928). It is the first orchestral work in this trilogy. Each of the four
sections depicts one of Rome's fountains during different periods of the day. It
was first performed on March 11, 1917, where it appeared at the Teatro
Augusteo in Rome with Antonio Guarnieri as conductor. Toscanini conducted the work in Milan
in 1918 with tremendous success.
Movements:
1. "La fontana di Valle Giulia all'alba"
2. "La fontana del Tritone al mattino"
3. "La fontana di Trevi al meriggio"
4. "La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto"
First section: "La fontana di Valle Giulia all'Alba" shows this fountain at daybreak in a pastoral landscape, in which cattle pass during the morning.
Second section: "La fontana del Tritone al mattino", Naiads and Tritons dancing in the morning light, as figures of
the Bernini fountain are seen nearby. Gods and goddesses using conch shells (used in many rituals as spiritual symbols) are portrayed by the French horn.
Third section: Introduces "La fontana di Trevi al meriggio" and is ushered in by a triumph giving
news of a recent victory by the god Neptune.
Final section: "La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto" portrays a much more melancholic
atmosphere as the brilliance of the sun fades.
The Études by Frédéric Chopin are three sets of solo studies for the piano published during the 1830s. There are twenty-seven compositions overall, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Opus 10 an and 25, and a set of three without opus number.
Étude Op. 25, No. 12 in C minor is the last of the composer's formal studies for the piano, opus 25, dedicated to his mistress, the French novelist George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin). It was first published in 1837 in French, German, and English. This work is a series of rising and falling arpeggios in various chord progressions from C minor. Its opening bars recall the chord structure of the opening bars of the second prelude of the first book of J.S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier.
Chopin's 12 Études Op. 25, performed by Daniil Trifonov at Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition, May 2011 in Tel Aviv. (Please watch in Youtube - Here.
Said to be Chopin's last words:
"Now is my final agony. No more." Chopin's final words, as he listened to Mozart's Requiem.
Carl Orff (b. July 10, 1895, Munich - d. March 29, 1982, Munich), German composer, is best remembered for his popular cantata Carmina Burana. He was also known for his influential teaching method.