#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalA Week 5

 Big A, little a, what begins with A? The Classics a Day team noticed that August did. And so the challenge for August was set. During the month post music by composers whose last names begin with the letter "A."

There are actually quite a few. And I even found some whose first and last names began with A! Here are my posts for the fifth and final week of #ClassicalA of the #ClassicsaDay challenge.

08/28/23 Pierre Attaingnant (c.1494–late 1551 or 1552): Basse-dance "La Brosse"

Atttaingnant was a successful music publisher as well as a composer. In the late 1500s, he was one of the first to adopt single-impression printing. This enabled him to publish faster and cheaper. Over 110 of his publications have survived.

 

08/29/23 Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720–1774): Die Auferstehung des Erlösers (Cantata)

Agricola's reputation rests on his operas. He studied with Johann Sebastian Bach in 1740. In 1754 he co-authored Bach's official obituary with his son< Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

 

08/29/23 Adolphe Adam (1803–1856): Overture to "Si j'etais Roi"

"Si j'etais Roi" (If I Were King) is considered one of Adam's best opéra comiquesd. It received over 170 performances in a ten-year run from 1852-1862.

 

08/30/23 Thomas Arne: The Morning cantata

Arne was one of the biggest names in British theater in the mid-1700s. Most of his works were for operas, masques, incidental music, and other theater projects. This is one of six cantatas published in a 1755 collection by Arne for salon use.

 

08/31/23 Jacques Arcadelt: Chansons

Arcadelt is best known for his madrigals. In the mid-1500s they became the standard model for madrigal composition. But his 125 chansons run a pretty close second in quality and popularity.

Next Month:

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalA Week 4

 Big A, little a, what begins with A? The Classics a Day team noticed that August did. And so the challenge for August was set. During the month post music by composers whose last names begin with the letter "A."

There are actually quite a few. And I even found some whose first and last name began with A! Here are my posts for the fourth week of #ClassicalA of the #ClassicsaDay challenge.

08/21/23 Lera Auerbach (born 1973): Icarus

Auerbach is a composer, conductor, and concert pianist. She's won the Hindemith Prize and received commissions from orchestras and choirs throughout Europe and the Americas.

08/22/23 Marianna Auenbrugger (1759–1782): Sonata in E-flat major

Auenbrugger studied with both Haydn and Salieri. Haydn dedicated six of his piano sonatas to her and her sister Caterina. Salieri underwrote the expense of publishing Auenbrugger's sonata after her death.

08/23/23 Josepha Barbara Auernhammer (1758–1820): "Papageno Variations"

Auernhammer was a keyboard virtuoso. She studied with Mozart, who dedicated six violin sonatas to her. 

 

08/24/23 May Aufderheide (1888–1972): Dusty Rag

This was Afderheide's first published rag. She would go on to write dozens more, including "The Thriller Rag" (1909).

08/25/23 Caterina Assandra (c.1590 – after 1618): Duo Seraphim

Assandra was a Benedictine nun and a composer. She published two collections of motets. Op. 1 is lost, but Op. 2, Motetti à due, & tre voci, from 1609 survived. A few of her works have turned up in other collections from the early 1600s.

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalA Week 2

 Big A, little a, what begins with A? The Classics a Day team noticed that August did. And so the challenge for August was set. During the month post music by composers whose last names begin with the letter "A."

There are actually quite a few. And I even found some whose first and last name began with A! Here are my posts for the second week of #ClassicalA of the #ClassicsaDay challenge.

08/7/23 George Antheil: Ballet Mécanique

In the 1920s Antheil was considered the bad boy of American classical music. The Ballet Mécanique was written for an experimental film in 1923. Antheil later adapted this Futurist score for concert performances 

 

08/8/21 Filippo Azzaiolo (fl. 1557–1569)

Very little is known of Azzaiolo. He had three collections of music published between 1557 and 1569. Those publications suggest he was possibly from Bologna.

 

08/9/23 Eleanor Alberga (born 1949): Nightscape

Albrega was born in Jamaica and has made a career in the UK as a concert pianist and composer. In 2021 she was awarded an OBE for her services to British Music.

 

08/10/23 Svitlana Azarova (born 1976): Beyond context for orchestra

Azarova was born and studied music in Ukraine. She relocated to The Hague in 2005. Her music is frequently programmed by various European ensembles and artists.

 

08/11/23 John Adson (c.1587-1640): Two Masks

Adson is best known for his "Courtly Masquing Ayres" published in 1621. Adson played in the King's theater company in 1634 and became a royal wind musician around the same time.

 

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalA Week 1

 Big A, little a, what begins with A? The Classics a Day team noticed that August did. And so the challenge for August was set. During the month post music by composers whose last names begin with the letter "A."

There are actually quite a few. And I even found some whose first and last name began with A! Here are my posts for the first week of #ClassicalA of the #ClassicsaDay challenge.

08/01/23 Alexander Agricola: Ave maris stella

Agricola was active in the last half of the 1400s. His vocal writing -- both sacred and secular -- set the standard for composition throughout Europe.

08/02/23 Adolphe-Charles Adam: Overture "Si j'étais Roi"

"Si j'étais Roi" (I I Were King) was premiered in 1852 at Paris' Théâtre Lyrique. This opera comique ran for over 10 years with over 170 performances. It's still considered one of Adam's best works.

08/03/23 Samuel Adler: Capriccio for piano

Adler served on the faculty of both the Eastman School of Music and Julliard. He's composed over 400 works in virtually every genre of classical music.

08/04/23 Carl Friedrich Abel: Prelude for Viola da gamba

Abel was a virtuoso viola da gamba player -- and a good composer, too. He and Johann Christian Bach started a subscription concert series in London that ran from 1762-1782. Both composers supplied music for the series.