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Music 17th century History and criticism Music 18th century History and criticism Music 19th century History and criticism Music 20th century History and criticism Music 21st century History and criticism Music Instruction and study Music Performance Ritual Romanticism in music Tirimo, MartinoSummary: The enduring power of a single song across continents and time-and the ironic story of how that song was written by a man who traded in slaves-is examined in this program with Bill Moyers. One of the most popular and enduring hymns in the English language, its lyrics were written in the 18th century by the captain of an English slave ship. In the 19th century, the song successfully crossed the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Why is "Amazing Grace" the most-performed hymn in the English language? In this DVD, Bill Moyers seeks to understand the enduring power that has carried this song across continents and through time-and the compelling story of the slaver-turned-preacher who wrote it. This disc includes the full-length program Amazing Grace as well as a special video introduction by Mr. Moyers and a menu of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Throughout history, musicians and musical works have reflected the fashion, culture, and social attitudes of their times. Music today is more diversified than ever, from the megahits of teen pop stars to the depth and emotionality of gospel choirs to the tones and textures produced by large-scale orchestras. Add to this the unstoppable forces of MySpace, YouTube, the iPod, and a rapidly...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Inspired by Paganini's dedication to a soloist instrument, the violin, Chopin decided early in his career to write only for piano. This beautifully produced program presents a biography of the Polish-born child prodigy and composer who blended Slavic influences into his works. Sketches, paintings, and cinematic treatments of Chopin and his times complement the music. Archival footage includes...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This program is devoted to the 18th century, the Age of Decadence. It covers the rise of Antonio Vivaldi and his famous all-women orchestras at the Pieta, the heyday of Venetian composition, Vivaldi's departure from Venice and the rise of a new breed of composer, and the decline-when the kissing had to stop. Live performances at the Conservatorio and the Church of the Redentore.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: This program, devoted to the 17th century, explains how the St. Mark's sound was first rescued and then enhanced by Claudio Monteverdi, and covers the art of the madrigal, the rise of women composers, and why the world's first public opera house was built in Venice. Live performances in San Nicolo dei Mendicoli and the Ducal Palace.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Liszt frequently expanded upon the work of previous composers to create new musical forms. His transcription of Verdi's Rigoletto was part of a completely new style of piano composition. In this program, Martino Tirimo guides students toward a mastery of the Rigoletto paraphrase and an understanding of its compositional layers. Assembled at London's Royal Academy of Music, pianists from the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This program from the Famous Composers series provides an overview of the life and work of Finnish composer Jan Sibelius. The video contextualizes the composer's childhood and his later musical production in light of Romantic Nationalism and political atmosphere in Finland. Following Sibelius to Helsinki and then Berlin, the film details both the building of his family and their home, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Handel always knew how to succeed. His Italian operas took London by storm, but when the public rejected music in foreign languages he gave them the oratorio in English. And when the Royal Academy of Music folded, Handel revived it under a scheme of subscriptions and box-office receipts and modern theater was born. This program traces Handel's distinguished career, focusing on his great output...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: Flemish conductor Philippe Herreweghe is credited with restoring the freshness and purity of Baroque choral music. His ensembles, which embrace a wide variety of musical periods, have included Collegium Vocale Ghent, La Chapelle Royale, the Orchestre des Champs Elysees, the Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, and RIAS Kammerchor, and his artistry is a model for choral music worldwide. But above all he...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: This program illustrates how melody is used to move musical pieces along in one continuous flow. Beginning with a long, slow strain, we see and hear Ravel's melody progress through a series of changes and variations created by the addition of different instruments. The result is a musical piece replete with obvious shade and tone.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: In this TEDTalk, Charles Hazlewood explores the role of trust in musical leadership, and then shows how it works as he conducts the Scottish Ensemble onstage. Hazlewood's idea is to break away from rigid and more coercive models of conducting to let performers shine, confident of a positive result. Hazlewood also shares clips from two musical projects based on his notion of trust: a Xhosa...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: In this program, the Trio Solisti practice, interpret, and perform two of Beethoven's piano trios, the "Archduke" Trio and the "Ghost" Trio. Pianist Jon Klibonoff, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach, and violinist Maria Bachmann discuss the challenges of transforming the composer's score on paper into a vibrant performance. Footage of their work sessions in the studio is mixed with highlights of their...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: This introduction to the life and music of Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn from the Famous Composers series begins by contextualizing life in the eighteenth century Austro-Hungarian empire. Born to a wheelright and community leader, Haydn grew up with the folk culture and song presented to him by his parents. His talented was recognized early, and the film follows young Haydn to St....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This installment of the Famous Composers series introduces the life and work of Italian-born composer Giuseppe Verdi. The film begins by painting a portrait of the village Verdi was born in, then a part of the French Empire, and his childhood there as part of his Roman Catholic family. Following Verdi to Milan at the age of twenty, the film outlines the composers devlopment as a composer and as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Considered Tchaikovsky's first mature masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet marks the start of the composer's remarkable career. After conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a complete performance of the Fantasy Overture, Charles Hazlewood reveals how Tchaikovsky distilled the essence of Shakespeare's great romantic tragedy into music. Friar Laurence's theme, the transition to the exposition, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: This program from the Famous Composers series introduces the life and music of George Frideric Handel, beginning with his childhood and early musical development in Halle, Germany. The film follows Handel to Italy, where he cultivated his serious interest in opera, and contextualizes the religious conditions that the Lutheran composer faced in the Roman Catholic country. Handel then moved to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: Written by 16th-century Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu, The Peony Pavilion is a 19-hour epic opera in 57 episodes that tells a story of youth and love literally triumphing over death. This program follows director Chen Shi-Zheng and the Shanghai Kunju Opera Troupe in their monumental effort of staging the entire production, an event that had not occurred in nearly four centuries. Despite...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: The Rhapsody in B Minor requires a range of sensibilities, from lightheartedness to a propensity for shock value. In this program, virtuoso pianist Martino Tirimo leads an engaging master class at London's Royal Academy of Music-pushing his students to find the essence of the Brahms piece, while encouraging each performer to craft his or her individual approach. Artists from the United States,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: This is a performance of the Messiah in the original scoring, performed as Handel intended it, with much smaller resources than we have become accustomed to and, therefore, a perfect balance between a small chorus and orchestra. Roger Norrington conducts the London Baroque Players (comprising leading specialists in 17th- and 18th-century instrumental practice), the Cardiff (Wales) Polyphonic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: In this program, Charles Hazlewood addresses Tchaikovsky's final work-and what many regard as his greatest achievement: Symphony no. 6 in B Minor (Pathetique), which premiered only days before his death. After conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a complete performance of the monumental first movement, Charles Hazlewood thoroughly explicates each of that movement's constituent parts:...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Between 1738 and 1788, Charles Wesley wrote more than 9,000 hymns and sacred poems, work which earned him the title "The Sweet Bard of Methodism." This program recounts Wesley's life and life's work, with special attention to his better-known songs, such as "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Scholars of music and theology speak about Wesley's childhood, education, and missionary work; explore the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: The life of Giuseppe Verdi contained almost as much tragedy and joy as his timeless operas. This beautifully filmed program traces the long and eventful career of a giant in musical composition who vowed to never write an opera again after the fiasco of his first production. Dramatic reenactments, photos, archival footage, and rare recordings from the National Institute of Verdi Studies and La...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: His playing too advanced for small-town churches, his cantatas far more complex than those of his contemporaries (and thus under-appreciated), Bach initially found his genius thwarted. This program surveys the amazing achievements of the man of whom Beethoven said: "Not brook but ocean should be his name." Interviews with cellist Pablo Casals and organist Pierre Cambourian complement an array...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007