Florence Price - 13

Florence price was the first African-American female composer to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra. She also was the head of the music department at Clark Atlanta University for many years. Her most well known compositions include:

Symphony No.1 in e minor

Piano Sonata No.1 in e minor

Dance: Nimble Feet

John Corigliano - 12

 

American composer John Corigliano lives in New York City. He has written more than 100 major compositions, many of them award winning. He is also a well respected music teacher at the Julliard School and has influenced many composers of the 20th and 21st century. Here are some examples:

The Red Violin ( music composed for the movie)

Symphony No. 3 (Circus Maximus) the music begins at 8:20 , however the introduction is interesting.

Fern Hill

Lera Auerbach

Lera Auerbach - 11

Award winning composer Lera Auerbach was born in Russia in 1973 and gave her first public performance on the piano at the age of eight. She graduated from the Julliard School with degrees in piano and composition and has written music for piano, orhestra, and voice. Listen to the following examples of a living composer:

Sonata for Violin and Piano

Sonata for Cello and Piano (Auerbach  is playing piano)

First Symphony

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven - 10

Born in Bonn, Germany in 1770, Beethoven transformed what it meant to be a musician during his lifetime. Before Beethoven most musicians were in the employ of wealthy patrons who controlled what they created -- by the end of his life Beethoven demonstrated that it was possible to create music that satisfied the composer and audiences would be happy to pay to hear it.

His music is among some of the most well known in the world- he wrote for voice, piano, orchestra, and many solo instruments. Listen to the following:

Minuet in G

Ninth Symphony (the theme you know begins at 3:50)

Rage Over A Lost Penny ( Humor from Beethoven)

George Gershwin-9

American composer George Gershwin began his career in popular music -- he was a 'song plugger', his job was to sell new music. He worked in a part of New York City called 'Tin Pan Alley',  where many music publishers had offices.  He also studied classical music and wrote some of the most well known American music of the twentieth century: Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess, and An American in Paris. Here is some of his music:

I Got Rhythm- performed by George Gershwin

An American in Paris

Summertime (from the opera Porgy and Bess)

THIS IS THE LAST COMPOSER OF THE WEEK ENTRY UNTIL JANUARY 2017. 

Gabriela Lena Frank - 8

American composer Gabriella Frank was born in California in 1972. She is an active composer writing new music everyday! Her music has been commissioned (she was asked to create new music) and performed by The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Los Angeles Orchestra, and The King's Singers just to name a few. She is also an excellent pianist and has made several recordings. Listen to these examples of her music:

Coqueteos

Danza Peruana

Los Sombras de la Apus

and this is an interesting interview with the composer

Scott Joplin - 7

He's the most famous composer you've never heard of -- Scott Joplin was born near the end of 1867 (no one is sure of the actual date) in Northern Texas. His parents were emancipated (free) slaves, and gave Scott some of his earliest music lessons.

Scott taught himself to play the piano while his mother cleaned the houses of wealthy people who owned pianos (the Joplins did not have a piano at home). Later in his life he began to write music, and became known as "The King Of Ragtime" because of the style of music he created. An opera, music for ballet, and more than 44 ragtime dances for the piano are just a part of the music Joplin wrote in his life. Here are two of his most well known compositions:

The Entertainer

Maple Leaf Rag