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Die Harmonie Der Welt
''Die Harmonie der Welt'' (''The Harmony of the World'') is an opera in five acts by Paul Hindemith. The German libretto was by the composer. The title of the opera is taken from ''Harmonices Mundi'' by the astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) who is the subject of the opera. Hindemith used the planetary system as a metaphor for his own musical arrangement of the chromatic scale. The opera was completed in May 1957. Hindemith had previously composed a symphony of the same name in 1951. Performance history It was first performed on 11 August 1957, at the Prinzregententheater, Munich, conducted by the composer. A truncated monaural recording of the opera appeared on the Stradivarius label, but a complete recording of the work had to wait until the digital era, when Marek Janowski conducted the entire opera for the Wergo label (see section Recordings). Due to Kepler's association with his home town of Linz, Austria, performances of the opera were scheduled at the Landesthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Neue Sachlichkeit'' (New Objectivity) style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as ''Kammermusik (Hindemith), Kammermusik'', including works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. Other notable compositions include his song cycle ''Das Marienleben'' (1923), Das Unaufhörliche (1931), ''Der Schwanendreher'' for viola and orchestra (1935), the opera ''Mathis der Maler (opera), Mathis der Maler'' (1938), the ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' (1943), and the oratorio ''When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (Hindemith), When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'' (1946), a requiem based on When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, Walt Whitman's poem. Hindem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katharina Kepler
Katharina Kepler (née: Guldenmann; 8 November 1547 – 13 April 1622) was a woman from Leonberg, Württemberg, who was the mother of the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler. She was accused of witchcraft in 1615, but was defended by her son and released. Life Katharina grew up in Eltingen. Her father Melchior Guldenmann was an innkeeper and became Schultheiss (mayor, until 1587) of the town when she was 20 years old. She had a female cousin who was burned as a "witch" in Weil der Stadt. Katharina was raised by her parents in the Lutheran faith. Because of her mother's illness, she did not have an easy childhood. She worked in her parents' inn until she got married. Katharina Kepler was married on 15 May 1571 to Heinrich Kepler and bore seven children from him, four of them she bore survived childhood, one daughter (Margarete) and three sons, first born of them was Johannes Kepler as well as the other two Heinrich and Christoph. Katharina sparked the interest of her son Johanne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witch Trial
A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the Middle East. In medieval Europe, witch-hunts often arose in connection to charges of heresy from Christianity. An Witch trials in the early modern period, intensive period of witch-hunts occurring in Early Modern Europe and to a smaller extent European Colonization of the Americas, Colonial America, took place from about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Counter Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 60,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still foun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcel Cordes
Marcel Cordes (born Kurt Schumacher, 11 March 1920 – 26 November 1992) was a German baritone in opera and concert. He was regarded as a leading baritone of German origin for Italian opera in the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared at major opera houses in Europe, and made recordings of complete operas and excerpts, including in 1956 the first complete recording of Carl Orff's ''Die Kluge''. Career Born Kurt Schumacher in Stelzenberg, he studied at the conservatory in Kaiserslautern from age 16, three years later on a scholarship at the Musikhochschule Mannheim. He made his operatic debut as a tenor at the municipal theatre of Eger in 1941, in the title role Canio in the German-language staging of Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci'' (). He served as a soldier in World War II. From 1948 to 1950, he sang at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern. He then moved to the Mannheim National Theatre. He studied baritone roles with Fritz Krauss, singing from 1951 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kieth Engen
Kieth Engen (5 April 1925 – 2 September 2004) was an American operatic bass who was a member of Munich's Bavarian State Opera for decades. Although his career was based in Munich, he appeared internationally as a guest singer at major opera houses and festivals and performed and recorded many of Bach's Passion oratorios and cantatas, primarily with the conductor Karl Richter. He was born Keith Sheldon Engen in Frazee, Minnesota, and died in Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany at the age of 79. He was given the title of Kammersänger in 1962 and was a recipient of the Bavarian Order of Merit. In the mid-1950s he also had a brief parallel career as a pop singer under the pseudonym Stan Oliver. Biography Early life Engen was born in Frazee, Minnesota. He came from a musical family and acquired his love for singing as a young boy. His grandfather had been a conductor and his mother was a singer and singing teacher. He graduated from Berkeley High School and then went to the Univer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to '' The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4). Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' (comical bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (deep bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German '' Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classifications tend to describe roles rather than singers: it is rare for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II, Archduke of Austria, Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria (born 1551), Maria of Bavaria, who were devout Catholic Church, Catholics. In 1590, when Ferdinand was 11 years old, they sent him to study at the University of Ingolstadt, Jesuits' college in Ingolstadt because they wanted to isolate him from the Lutheranism, Lutheran nobles. A few months later, his father died, and he inherited Inner Austria–Duchy of Styria, Styria, Duchy of Carinthia, Carinthia, Duchy of Carniola, Carniola and smaller provinces. His cousin, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the head of the Habsburg family, appointed regents to administer these lands. Ferdinand was installed as the actual ruler of the Inner Austrian provinces in 1596 and 1597. Rudolf II al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg. Rudolf's legacy has traditionally been viewed in three ways:Hotson, 1999. an ineffectual ruler whose mistakes led directly to the Thirty Years' War; a great and influential patron of Northern Mannerism, Northern Mannerist art; and an intellectual devotee of occult arts and learning which helped seed what would be called the Scientific Revolution. Determined to unify Christendom, he initiated the Long Turkish War (1593–1606) with the Ottoman Empire. Exhausted by war, his citizens in Kingdom of Hungary (1526-1867), Hungary revolted in the Bocskai uprising, Bocskai Uprising, which led to more authority being given to his brother Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, Matthias. Under his reign, there was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josef Metternich
Josef Metternich (2 June 1915, in Cologne – 21 February 2005, in Feldafing) was a German operatic baritone. Metternich also appeared at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in '' La forza del destino'', in 1953. He joined the Munich State Opera in 1954, where he created the role of Johannes Kepler in Hindemith's '' Die Harmonie der Welt'' (1957). Metternich was a powerful singer and charismatic performer. He retired in 1971 after performing for more than three decades. Sources * ''Grove Music Online'', Noël Goodwin Trevor Noël Goodwin (25 December 1927 – 27 March 2013) was an English music critic, dance critic and author who specialized in classical music and ballet. Described as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distinc ..., May 2008. External linksObituary from Deutsche Presse-Agentur [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the Greek language, Greek (), meaning "low sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below C (musical note), middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. Scientific pitch notation, F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second G below middle C to the G above middle C (G2 to G4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone, ''Kavalierbariton'', Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, ''baryton-noble'' baritone, and the bass-baritone. History The first use of the term "baritone" emerged as ''baritonans'', late in the 15th century, usually in French Religious music, sacred Polyphony, polyphonic music. At t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Holm (tenor)
Richard Holm (3 August 1912 – 20 July 1988) was a German operatic tenor, particularly associated with Mozart, though he sang a wide range of roles. Born in Stuttgart, where he studied with Rudolf Ritter, he made his debut at the Kiel Opera House in 1937. After engagements in Nuremberg and Hamburg, he joined the Munich State Opera in 1948, where he established himself as a distinguished Mozartian singer, performing Belmonte, Idamante, Tito, Tamino. Other roles included Serse, Jacquino, David, Alfredo, Rodolfo, Pinkerton. He created the role of Wallenstein in Hindemith's ''Harmonie der Welt'' in 1957. He made guest appearances at the Salzburg Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He was also very active in concert and enjoyed considerable success in operetta, as well as contemporary works such as Gottfried von Einem's '' Dantons Tod'' and Benjamin Britten's ''Death in Venice''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below middle C to the G above middle C (i.e. B2 to G4) in choral music, and from the second B flat below middle C to the C above middle C (B2 to C5) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of tenor include the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As noted in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
