- •Music in the Modern World western music of the twentieth century (general survey)
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Discussion Points
- •Additional Assignments
- •Some twentieth-century composers arnold schoenberg (1874-1951)
- •The composer speaks: arnold schoenberg
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Discussion Points
- •Bela bartok (1881-1945)
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Questions about Bartok
- •Discussion Points
- •Paul hindemith: his life and work (1895-1963)
- •The composer speaks: paul hindemith
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Discussion Points
- •Electronic music
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Questions about Stravinsky
- •Additional Assignments
- •Britten's operas
- •The composer speaks: benjamin broten
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Questions about Britten
- •Additional Assignments
- •Menotti. The opera composer
- •The composer speaks: gian carlo menotti
- •Discussion Activities Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •Additional Assignments
- •Michael tippett: a child of our time
- •30 Questions on the Text
- •Experimental (avant-garde) music
- •Olivier messiaen
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Discussion Points
- •Additional Assignments
- •George ligeti (b. 1923)
- •Karlheinz stockhausen
- •35 Discussion Activities Questions on the Text about Ligeti
- •About Stockhausen and Experimental Composers
- •Questions about Western Music of the 20th Century
- •Points for Discussion and Written Compositions
- •Popular music rock
- •Points about rock
- •Discussion Activities Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •Additional Assignments
- •Elvis presley - story of a superstar
- •Discussion Activities Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •The beatles
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •English and American Musical History english music (general survey)
- •1. Opera.
- •2. Performing groups.
- •3. Festivals.
- •4. Education.
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •The golden age in england
- •The english virginal school
- •Virginal music composers. William Byrd (1542-1623)
- •Byrd in his time and ours
- •English madrigalists
- •"The british orpheus"
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •56 American music (general survey)
- •61 Charles ives, the first truly american composer (1874-1954)
- •Charles ives and american folk music
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •The relation of jazz to american music
- •Louis armstrong
- •The swing era (duke ellington)
- •Spirituals
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •The Art of Musical Interpretation the problem of interpretation
- •Discussion Activities Questions on the Text
- •Questions for Discussion
- •Additional Assignments
- •Conducting
- •The art of conducting
- •Questions on the Text
- •Some musical encounters
- •Questions on the Text
- •86 Leonard bernstein
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •Herbert von karajan
- •Interview with herbert von karajan
- •The art of piano playing: glenn gould
- •Interview with glenn gould
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •The art of violin playing: eugene ysaye
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •The world of opera handel in performance
- •Franco zeffirelli: the romantic realist
- •La divina: maria callas
- •Callas remembered
- •Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •Peter pears: ronald crichton speaks
- •Discussion Activities Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
- •Notes Page 5
- •Page 21
- •Page 31
- •Page 32
- •Page 34
- •Page 35
- •Page 37
- •Page 39
- •Page 46
- •Page 47
- •Page 48
- •Page 49
- •Page 52
- •Page 53
- •Page 54
- •Page 57
- •Page 58
- •Page 59
- •Page 60
- •Page 61
- •Page 62
- •Page 63
- •Page 65
- •Page 66
- •Page 111
- •Page 112
- •Sources
- •Contents
Comprehension Questions and Points for Discussion
1. Briefly outline Bernstein's conducting career. Which world's premières did he conduct? With what leading orchestras did he appear?
2. Find in the text a passage describing Bernstein's début with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. What was it about Bernstein's performance that so pleased the audience?
3. Find in the text passages describing Bernstein's repertoire. In what music did he excel? What were his tastes in opera?
4. What performance did he conduct at La Scala in 1953? Who sang the main part?
5. Briefly outline the creative career of Bernstein - the composer. In what branches of music did he excel?
6. Which of Bernstein's compositions have you heard? What do you think of them?
7. Which of Mahler's works did Bernstein record? Compare Bernstein's interpretation of Mahler's symphonies with that of Karajan. In what way do they differ? Which of them do you likе better? Explain your preference.
8. Describe Bernstein's musical personality. Characterize his activity in the field of musical appreciation and musical education.
9. What evidence does the author provide to support his view that Bernstein belongs to the select handful of major international conductors?
Herbert von karajan
Herbert von Karajan's influence on the make-up of the European musical scene is almost incalculable.2 His contribution to music on record has been vast; indeed, there can be few record collectors who are without at least one of his discs. In some repertoires he is peerless,* in a good many more he achieves a level of performance large number of his colleagues must envy. Even his detractors can often begrudgingly be persuaded to nominate one of his recordings as truly outstanding. One of the last great maestros who have achieved their status the old way - a long, arduous but invaluable apprenticeship - Karajan has in his time led and shaped many of the great European orchestras. But it is the Berlin Philharmonic with whom his name is inextricably linked. This almost unique situation -only the Vienna Philharmonic shares his attention - has produced an
1 L. Bernstein died in 1990.
2 H. von Karajan died in 1989
90
endless stream of recordings that are characterized by a remarkable level of musicianship and mutual understanding. It is an extraordinary tribute to single-minded ambition achieved through tenacious hardwork and great technical prowess. Whether one man should exercise the sheer power Karajan wields throughout Europe is debatable - careers can literally be made overnight by sharing the platform with him. However, in an age in which young conductors learn their repertoires on the podia of the great concert halls of the world (no Ulms or Aachens for them) the phenomenon of Karajan and his orchestra remains unsurpassed; it is a unique relationship, not always untroubled, but ever astounding.
Placido Domingo Speaks:
I shall never forget the rehearsals for the Salzburg Don Carlos in 1975, which marked my debut at the festival. When, during a stage rehearsal, I began acting energetically, stretching out my arms, he interrupted me with the words: "Stay completely motionless, arms are there for conducting." With Karajan, you suddenly experience music with new ears; you hear unfamiliar things in the orchestra, things you have never heard before, even if you think you know the piece well.
Claudio Abbado Speaks:
I recall my performances under Herbert von Karajan's direction which have touched and moved me profoundly. Among these were concerts during my student years in Vienna, in which I sang in the chorus in Brahms's German Requiem and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.
I remember, with fondness and gratitude, how, in my early days as a conductor, Herbert von Karajan stood by me like a father, in both word and deed. He gave me lots of useful advice, and I owe him my thanks for my first invitations to Berlin and Salzburg. For my debut at the Salzburg Festival in 1965 he suggested I conduct a mass by Cherubim; I expressed a preference for Mahler's Second Symphony and he accepted this.
From: Gramophone, 1988