PC Format 35/pcformat_august1994_issue35.img/PIANIST.ZIP/BIO0.TXT

Text File | 1994-05-24 | 5.6 KB | 147 lines

@001 Albeniz, Isaac\Albeniz, Isaac born May 29, 1860 died May 18, 1909
     Albeniz was a Spanish composer and piano virtuoso known as one of
Spain╒s most important musical figures vital in creating a national idiom
and indigenous school of piano music.
     Albeniz gave one of his first performances at the age of four and so
startled the audience with his brilliance that some kind of trickery was
suspected. At the tender age of thirteen he left home, traveling to far away
placed such as South America, Cuba and the USA, occasionally stowing-
away. He managed to support himself by giving concerts. His travels
eventually brought him back to Europe where in 1880 he had the
opportunity to study and learn from Liszt. In 1883 he settled in Barcelona
and married and subsequently had three children. Ten years later he moved
to Paris and was influenced by the French composers Paul Dukas and
Vincent d╒Indy. His most important work is considered to be Iberia, a set of
twelve piano pieced inspired by the music and dance rhythms of Spain. He
also composed several operas, most notably Pepita Jimenez.
     After his death from Bright╒s Disease, the French government awarded
Albeniz the Grand Cross of the Legion d╒honneur.


@002 Bach, Johann Sebastian\Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the giants of
the Baroque age, was born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685 to a family which
produced no less than sixty professional musicians in seven generations.
    He began his professional career in 1700 when he became a chorister
at the Church of St. Michael at Lueneburg. In 1703, he was hired by Prince
Johann Ernst of Weimar to be a violinist in the court orchestra. However,
he moved to Arnstadt later that year to became church organist. In 1705,
Bach secured a leave of absence to study with Swedish organist Detrich
Buxtehude in Luebeck. Buxtehude╒s organ music became one of Bach╒s
greatest influences. After marrying his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach
in 1707, Johann went to Muelhausen to be organist at the the church of St.
Blasius. He returned to Weimar the next year and took up employment in
the court of Duke Wilhelm Ernst as an organist and violinist. By 1714, he
was concertmaster of the court orchestra. In 1717, Bach moved to Anhalt-
K_then where he was appointed chapelmaster and director of chamber
music for the court of Prince Leopold. This appointment gave Bach the
opportunity to write secular works for ensembles and solo instruments.
During his six-year employment under Prince Leopold, he also wrote books
to teach his wife and children the clavier. In 1720, Maria Barbara died, and
in the following year he married a young singer named Anna Magdalena
Wilcke. In 1723, Bach received his last posting, in Leipzig as musical
director and choirmaster of St. Thomas╒ church. Bach died in 1750.
    Bach╒s music is typified by its technical facility as well as its
expressiveness. Although his work constitutes the ultimate use of
counterpoint and contains some of the most intricate harmonies found in
Baroque music, it never sounds mechanical; in fact, it conveys the
humanity of a truly great composer.

@003 Balakirev, Mily\Biography only available in full version of Pianist

@004 Beethoven, Ludwig van \Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@005 Boccherini, Luigi\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@006 Brahms, Johannes\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@007 Chaminade, Cecile\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@008 Chopin, Frederic\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@009 Debussy, Claude\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@010 Elgar, Sir Edward\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@011 Faure, Gabriele\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@012 Grainger, Percy Aldridge\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@013 Granados, Enrique\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@014 Grieg, Edvard Hagerup\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@015 Haydn, Franz Joseph\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@016 Joplin, Scott\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@017 Ketelby, Albert William\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@018 Liszt, Franz\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@019 MacDowell, Edward Alexander\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@020 Mendelssohn, Felix\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@021 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@022 Mussorgsky, Modest\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@023 Prokofiev, Sergei\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@024 Poulenc, Francis\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@025 Rachmaninoff, Segei\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@026 Ravel, Maurice\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@027 Rubenstein, Anton\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@028 Satie, Eric\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@029 Scarlatti, Domenico\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@030 Schubert, Franz\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@031 Schumann, Robert Alexander\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@032 Scriabin, Alexander\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@033 Sibelius, Jean\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@026 Sinding, Christian\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


@034 Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich\Biography only available in full version of Pianist


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