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Bite-Sized Trivia, IV
(Long ago, in galaxy far, far away...well, you get the idea. Cue the majestic music!)
By Tom Heaton
Perhaps you used one or more of the morsels offered in the first three installments of the series. I hope the results were satisfactory for you. Just like someone in the grips of a sugar buzz, you find that you want more...more, I tell you! Okay - brace yourself!
(All information taken from Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1999 edition.)
CIMAROSA, DOMENICO
Cimarosa was a pretty big wheel in his day although not many people know of his contributions today. - He and Vivaldi shared the distinction of being in charge of an orchestra composed entirely of females (a rarity in those times-actually, it's a rarity in these times, too).
- In 1791, the year of Mozart's death, Cimarosa went to Vienna and was named to the post of Kapellmeister by Emperor Leopold II (who did not care for Mozart as much as his predecessor, Emperor Joseph II).
- His first opera for Emperor Leopold was "The Secret Marriage." The Emperor was so pleased with the work that he ORDERED the whole thing to be encored that same evening!
- He moved to Naples, Italy in 1796 to accept the prestigious appointment of first organist of the Royal Chapel.
- In 1799, there was a short-lived anti-royalty movement in Italy which Cimarosa wholeheartedly embraced, going so far as to write a hymn for the burning of the royal flag. This made him very popular for a short time...BUT the royal family was reinstated a few months later and Cimarosa was sent to prison for four months because of that little flag-burning music.
- After being let out of the Big House, he moved to Venice to work on another opera. However, he would die a short time later from a stomach tumor. At his death, he still enjoyed a moderate level of popularity with the people but none whatsoever with those in power.
CLEMENTI, MUZIO
Clementi is remembered mainly for two things: his keyboard talent and a piano duel with Mozart. - Like Mozart, Clementi was a child prodigy, showing remarkable talent before he was seven.
- In his mid-20's, he achieved success with a collection of keyboard sonatas, which brought him fame both in England and Europe.
- In 1780, he embarked on a piano-concert tour of the major cities of Europe. It was during his visit to Vienna on Christmas Eve (1781) that he and Mozart appeared before Emperor Joseph II for a musical showdown.
- The contest consisted of two parts. First, the composers were given a melody and challenged to come up with a certain number of variations on that theme instantly. Mozart, a master of theme and variations, is said to have won that portion of the duel.
- The second part of the contest was a musical version of the basketball game H-O-R-S-E in which flashy, fiery piano techniques were exhibited - and the emphasis was on showmanship. Clementi won this phase, to the astonishment of nearly all present.
- Mozart didn't take losing well, dismissing his opponent as "merely a technician."
- In 1798, he retired from composing and went into business as a music publisher and piano manufacturer. He was a considerable success in these ventures.
- Although he wrote symphonies which the public liked, they were almost always eclipsed by the works of Haydn and, later, Beethoven.
CLIBURN, VAN
At the height of the Cold War in the 1950's, Van Cliburn became a household name and a source of pride for Americans. - Although he is considered a Texan, he was (in fact) born in Shreveport, Louisiana.
- He made his public debut at the age of 4 (yes, that's FOUR).
- In 1953 (age 19), he won the Julliard School of Music concerto competition.
- In 1958, his biggest victory came: first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He became the first American to win the prize.
- When he returned to the U.S. after winning the Tchaikovsky Competition, he was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City, something usually only reserved for presidents, sports heroes and astronauts!
- He announced his retirement from public performances in 1978 but has appeared a few times since then, most notably in Russia after a personal invitation from then-president Gorbachev.
- The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was organized in 1962 (4 years after he won the big prize) and is still going strong.
CUI, CESAR
Cui was a man of many talents. His important today lies chiefly in that he was a member of Russia's ultra-nationalistic "Mighty Five". - There's a reason why his last name sounds vaguely French. He was the son of a soldier in Napoleon's army who stayed in Russia after the Waterloo debacle.
- Because his family wasn't wealthy enough to send him to a music school, young Cesar learned musical notation by copying music of Chopin and various Italian operas.
- When he did enroll in school, it wasn't to study music - he entered and graduated from the Academy of Military Engineering.
- After graduating, he became a topographer (map-maker) and an expert in fortifications.
- Although he continued to compose in his spare time, his real job was teaching at the Engineering School and tutoring Czar Nicholas II.
- For a while, he was also a music critic for the St. Petersburg newspaper.
- He wrote the first comprehensive book on Russian music. Strangely, it had a FRENCH title Musique en Russie.
- The other members of the "Five" were Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Balakirev.
CZERNY, CARL
Another celebrated and highly influential composer, pianist and teacher who has largely faded from the public's memory, Czerny is a little gold mine of cocktail-party magic. Don't be shy - dig in! - The word "Czerny" is Czech for "Black".
- Czerny had the rare privilege of studying under Beethoven for three years and the two of them developed a close friendship. He also hobnobbed with pianist buddies Muzio Clementi (see above) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (soon to come).
- Because of Czerny's stellar pianistic reputation, many young performers sought him out for lessons. He taught a young Franz Liszt and was one of Liszt's biggest influences.
- He wasn't just a performer and teacher - Czerny also found time to compose nearly 900 works of music, many of them multi-part items.
- Czerny was highly inventive. He arranged Rossini's "William Tell" Overture for 16 pianists, two to a piano! (Can you imagine how that sounded?)
- He published a book with this staggering title Letters to a Young Lady on the Art of Playing the Pianoforte from the Earliest Rudiments to the Highest State of Cultivation. I figure the title alone constituted the first chapter!
DELIUS, FREDERICK
Delius was an Englishman, born to parents of German descent. He is considered to be one of the British Isle's most distinguished composer. - His father was a successful merchant in the wool industry and later owned orange groves in Florida.
- At the age of 22, Delius worked on his father's orange grove. His time in Florida would yield a number of compositions with "Florida" in the title.
- When he was 33, he moved to Danville, Virginia, where he earned a living as a music teacher. This gig didn't last long as he enrolled in the Leipzig Conservatory the next year.
- It was at Leipzig that Delius met and became friends with Edvard Grieg.
- He eventually settled down in Paris and married a painter, Jelka Rosen.
- In his latter years, he was stricken with the effects of a syphillitic infection he had acquired much earlier: he went blind and became paralyzed. Still, he yearned to compose, so he dictated his music to fellow composer Eric Fenby, who wrote it all down. (Want an idea of what music dictation is like? Watch the final scenes of Amadeus, in which a deathly ill Mozart tells his rival Salieri what to put down on the paper as he is composing portions of the Requiem. It's fascinating!)
- British film-maker Ken Russell made a movie about the life and music of Delius. (Russell is perhaps most famous for the movies One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Lisztomania.)
Read on! DES PREZ through ENESCO...
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