Paper Example on Music Composers

Introduction

Music composition is described as the process of creating a piece of music by writing it down or memorizing it. After all the parts or the elements have been found, they are combined to form a flow called music. Always when composing a song, the composers sit down to meditate on the message they want to talk on and then write it down. The composers use the information they got from training and the experience to form the music. The paper describes some of the renowned music composers worldwide, the genres they are best in and the challenges they face.

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Medieval and Renaissance Periods

Thomas Weelkes

Thomas Weelkes was born on October 25th, 1575 in Elsted, Sussex in England and died in September first, 1623 in London England. He was an English composer and organist. Thomas Weelkes was trained on vocal music, especially Madrigals and church music. He wrote many Anglican church services mostly for evensong. He could play the stringed instruments in his band. Thomas contributed profoundly to the classical music genre of which he greatly specialized in. He was influenced into music by John Wilbye who was the famous madrigalist and Thomas Morley who was his great friend and madrigalist. He was also taught more on music when he was taking his degree in Music at the Oxford University (Burgess, 2013). The madrigalic music composition was the most fabulous fashion of music loved by people during the Elizabethan reign including the Queen herself. His imaginative sonorities and creative nature were very admirable. Because of his excellent work loved by then, he was appointed the Organist of the Winchester college and in the church due to his church songs.

His most famous works in music included the following tracks; death hath deprived me if king Manasses, Cease Sorrows now and Ha ha this world doth pass. Other notable works comprise of; Harke all ye lovely Saints above, Come Sirra jack hoe, As vestas were, from Latmos hill descending. Weelkes passed through several challenges in his life and career. He was a great drunkard who was highly obsessed with alcohol drinking reducing his potential in music. He has been known to be a man of dissolute habits noted from his loutishness and alcohol drinking. He faced the challenge of marrying a pregnant woman Elizabeth, an action that made him be charged. The problems made him degrade significantly in his music career. Stiff competition from the contemporaries also posed a threat to him. Thomas Weekes used unique sonorities that were loved by many people. He was creative enough in his way of performance as compared to his contemporaries. The songs he produced were said to synchronize with the current trends and situations.

The Baroque Era

Barbara Strozzi

Barbara Strozzi was born on 6th August 1619 in Venice Italy and died on 11 November 1677 in Padua Italy. She composed her songs in both Venice and Padua. She was trained to be both a singer and composer of Vocal music. In her group, she was capable of playing the flute. Barbra contributed to Baroque music genre during her reign (Herbert, 2000). Strozzi's teacher in music was a prominent composer of the 17th century Venice known as Francesco Cavalli and influenced by Giulio Strozzi who adopted her. As she was born in a group of academia delgi incgniti, here songs were very crucial during this period. They were made in stanzas to deliver message hence could be used in writing poetry.

Some of Barbra's famous works include Non mi dite, che si puo fare, amor, non-dormer, Lamento Lagrime mie among others. She was very creative in music composition, by using short stanzas content that could be mastered quite easily by the singers and the listeners. Strozzi faced many challenges in her music career. Her name was published in an anonymous manuscript claiming that she lacked mora standards. The anonymous writer indicated that she behaved like a prostitute. The patriate that defamed her showed that she was partly bare-breasted. The accusation was unclear but tormented her in her career. She also faced financial constraints, which curtailed her urge to publish many books and music. She tried looking for a patron who could sponsor her, but it also failed.

The Classical Era

William Billings

Billing was born 1746 in the United States and 1800 in the same homeland. He composed most of his songs in Boston USA. Williams received training on anthems, lyrics, fudging tunes, hymns, and psalms. Billing never played any instrument but made psalms his tool for passing the message. He composed, played and contributed to the early American primitive style of songs. William was not taught by anybody in music. He was a tanner by trade, who was gained interest in music and started teaching himself without any assistance (Borowiecki, 2017). His work was significant in his period, and it came at the nick of time when it was needed. His work because of the excellent timing was necessary and formed the traditional folk songs of America. Some of the most famous work of William work includes; When Jesus Wept, David's Lamentation, The Rose of Sharon. They formed part of his lyrics, psalms, and anthems.

Famous publications comprised of, the Continental Harmony and England Psalm. Master's Assistant. Just as other singer billing also had challenges, he lost both an eye and leg, posting him the most significant challenge in his career. He also had a financial decline in the last decade of his work hence died very poor. Despite losing one of his leg and eye, he remained an active and innovative singer. He used his wit in composing creative folk songs and remained influential in training the folk songs in the singing school traditions.

The Romantic Era

Arthur Sullivan

Born in 1842, in Lambeth, United Kingdom. He died on 22nd November 1900 in London. He received training in English forms of operetta music. He played the flute and most other wind instruments. Arthur contributed to comic opera genre of music. He was trained in music by Sir Stern dale Bennett W.S Gilbert and Sir John Goss. Sullivan's work opera was the characteristic of his time as it came in at a time when comedy was most needed for entertainment (Tinker, 2016). His hymns tune too fitted well in the Christian timing. Some of his famous work included The Lost Chord, The Golden Legend, Onward! Christian Soldiers and The Prodigal Son. Mr. Arthur faced the challenge of disagreements with some of the competitors who were posting some petty issues. Sullivan was a very innovative artist is shown in the pieces of work he produced. They had lots of entertaining and hidden educative information that helped the viewers transform their lives.

The Early Twentieth Century

Charles Griffes

Charles Griffes was born on 17th September 1884 in Elmira, New York, United States. He died on 8th April 1920. He was trained on music Impressionist in Berlin. Charles was interested in and played the piano before going for further studies. He contributed to 20th and 21st-century impressionist music. Griffe's teacher was Engel Bert Humperdinck and was influenced into music by Aleksandr Scriabin and Modest Mussorgsky (Borowiecki, 2017). Charles work was a characteristic of his time because he used his knowledge in music to impress the viewers and also to help the poets write their poems. His most famous works include The White Peacock and The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Kahn. Griffes never faced any significant challenge in his career; the only small challenge was the dilemma to choose the music category of which he did later on. The most innovative nature of Charles was that he could integrate other music genres with his impressionist music, making his work enjoyable.

American Innovations in the Arts

Zez Confrey

Zez Confrey was born on 3rd April 1895 in Peru, Illinois USA. He died on 22nd November 1971. He was trained on Orchestra music and later classical music and contemporary composers like Debussy, Ravel and others. Zez was a great player of Piano. He contributed mostly to orchestra music. Zez music teacher was Florenz Ziegfeld Sr. and influence into music by his brother who was studying orchestra music. The composer's work came at the right time when the sailors needed entertainment. So he played his orchestra music and told jokes to entertain the sailors. Zez famous work included Greenwich Witch, Sparkling Waters, and Concert Etude. Before he could form his band, he faced financial constraint; therefore, they jointly formed a band with his brother. Zez was very innovative and loved his career, and he could involve jokes, imitate the wheezing performance and flapping roll using his piano.

Twentieth Century Internationalism

Tania Leon

Tania Leon was born on 14th May 1943 in Havana, Cuba. She was trained on composing and conducting music. Leon plays Violin and string quartet instruments. She contributed to classical, Hymns and choral music genre. Her influencer in music was Aron Davis. Tania's work characteristic of being an educator in composing and conducting music, at her time made her educate and advice many on music secrets (Barnes, 2017). Some of her famous work includes Fanfarria Esencia para Cuarteto de Cuerdas, Acana. And Mistica. Tania has not faced any great challenge in her music career; she has blossomed all through and even receiving awards. She is a very innovative lady who can synchronize all the three genres she has to embellish performance. It is the creative nature she possesses that makes her be invited to several concerts and receiving awards.

Conclusion

In conclusion, music is a call and those who do it with respect as profession blossoms. Music composers are very great people in the world who use their creativity to compose music to pass the message to the whole world. Before composing music training and specialization on a given genre is required for precision. During composition different instruments are used. After training and specializing then one can start his/her orchestra and begin the real performance. Generally, music composers face some challenges in the process. Therefore, music composition is a significant process that should be given at most concentration.

References

Barnes, M. (2017). Developing Your Own Material (Being Willing to Suck). Canadian Musician, 39(6), 32

Borowiecki, K. J. (2017). How Are You, My Dearest Mozart? Well-Being and Creativity of Three Famous Composers Based on Their Letters. Review of Economics & Statistics, 99(4), 591-605. https://doi.org/10.1162/RESTpass:a_00616

Burgess, R. J. (2013). The Art of Music Production : The Theory and Practice (Vol. Fourth edition). New York: Oxford University Press.

Herbert, P. (2000). Developments in Classical Music made by Black Composers in the Twentieth Century. Contemporary Music Review, 19(4), 173.

Tinker, C. (2016). Listening to the French New Wave. The Film Music and Composers of Postwar French Art Cinema. Modern & Contemporary France, 24(2), 232-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639489.2015.1113941