tim ernst
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German pioneering composer, conductor and opera reformer.
His first proper Symphony in C major was performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts in 1833. Wagner lived in a colony of poor German artists and made his living in music journalism. Nevertheless, in 1841 he wrote his first representative opera, The Flying Dutchman, based on the legend of a ship captain doomed to sail forever. In 1842 his Rienzi was triumphantly performed in Dresden, after which Wagner was appointed conductor of the court opera and held this position until 1849.
In 1848-49 Wagner became involved in the German Revolution, wrote a number of articles in support of it, and took an active part in the Dresden Uprising of 1849. When the uprising failed, he was forced to flee Germany. His subsequent years were occupied mainly with writing theoretical treatises on philosophy and music. Wagner held anti-Semitic and Nazi views. And reflecting on the future of music, he predicted the disappearance of opera as an artificial entertainment for the elite and the emergence of a new kind of musical stage work for the people, expressing the self-realization of free humanity. This new work was later called "musical drama."
By 1857 his style had been enriched with new interpretations, and Wagner had composed "Rheingold," "Die Walküre," and two acts of "Siegfried." By 1864, however, unwise financial habits had driven him into debt and ruin, and he was forced to flee from prison to Stuttgart. He was rescued by King Louis II, an ardent admirer of Wagner's work. Under his patronage for six years in Munich, the composer's operas were successfully staged. The King also practically ensured him a trouble-free life, thanks to his support Wagner built his own opera house (Bayreuther Festspielhaus), in which many new constructive ideas were realized. The premiere of "The Ring" and "Parsifal" took place here.
As a result of all Wagner's creative innovations and methods, a new kind of art emerged, the distinctive feature of which was a deep and complex symbolism, operating in three inseparable planes - dramatic, verbal and musical. He had a significant influence on European musical culture, especially on the development of opera and symphonic genres.
Richard Wagner's major works include The Flying Dutchman (1843), Tannhäuser (1845), Lohengrin (1850), Tristan und Isolde (1865), Parsifal (1882), and his great tetralogy, The Ring of the Nibelung (1869-76).
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer who combined classical and romantic music.
Franz was born into a musical family, where a quartet played at home and his father founded a music school. The future composer played the violin, piano and organ. At the age of 10, the young Schubert won a place in the Vienna Imperial Court Chapel Choir and quickly gained a reputation as an aspiring composer, writing several light string quartets. In 1814 Schubert began teaching, but at the same time he continuously composed a wide variety of works. These included 145 songs, the Second and Third Symphonies, two sonatas and a number of miniatures for solo piano, two masses and other short choral works, four stage works, a string quartet, and much more.
Soon the popularity of Schubert's dance music and songs grew so much that musical evenings known as "Schubertiades", where Schubert performed his own compositions while accompanying himself on the piano, became fashionable in Vienna. The talented composer effortlessly composed many masterpieces, including the song cycles Lonely Müllerin and Winterreise, as well as the Eighth ("Unfinished") and Ninth ("Great") Symphonies, the Octet for winds, three string quartets, two piano trios, the String Quintet, the Wanderer Fantasia and six sonatas for solo piano.
Despite his boundless talent, Franz Schubert was always insecure, indecisive and reserved, causing him to be tormented by lack of money throughout his life. The composer was able to buy his own piano almost at the end of his short life - with the royalties from his first and only public concert in March 1828. Eight months later, the brilliant musician died of illness at the age of 31.
Melvin John Ramos was an American figurative painter, specializing most often in paintings of female nudes, whose work incorporates elements of realist and abstract art.
Melvin John Ramos was an American figurative painter, specializing most often in paintings of female nudes, whose work incorporates elements of realist and abstract art.