Composers
Today one of the most-talked about European composers, this person was known for his dramatic symphonies and was largely responsible for the cultural stereotype of the isolated, suffering artist
Ludwig van Beethoven
This person stands on a podium and leads an orchestra, usually using a baton to keep time
Conductor
This event in Beethoven's life was both a source of stress and sadness for him, and also resulted in his popular reputation as a "hero" overcoming a great obstacle.
Hearing loss
This symphony by Beethoven is known for its famous "short-short-short-long" motive, also known as the "Fate" motive
Symphony No. 5
In the Classical Era, the opera aria usually followed this basic form (letters)
ABA
This 18th-century Austrian composer performed as a child prodigy from a young age, freelanced for most of his career, and is known for composing the first major German-language opera, Die Zauberflöte.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The first piece you would usually hear at a public concert in the 18th century
Symphony
The musical evocation of a place, people, or social setting that is (or is perceived or imagined to be) profoundly different from accepted local norms in its attitudes, customs, and morals
This song was the first OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED national anthem
This national anthem is actually the product of four new stanzas written to an existing tune, "Anacreon In Heaven"
"The Star Spangled Banner"
This French composer was also a highly regarded orchestral conductor, performed on the violin with the French queen, Marie Antoinette, and is known for being the first person of African descent to achieve widespread acclaim in classical music
Chevalier de Saint-Georges
This touring group made spirituals popular in the nineteenth-century United States
Fisk Jubilee Singers
This collection of operas, based on German and Nordic legends, demonstrates the composer's commitment to nationalism
Wagner's Ring Cycle
This symphony by Hector Berlioz tells the story of a man who, obsessed with a woman, overdoses on opium and experiences a drug trip before dying and reawakening at a witch's sabbath.
Symphonie Fantastique
This Classical-era form is based on two things: themes being presented and developed in a certain order, and a harmonic progression
Sonata form
This composer, known as "The Father of the Symphony," was responsible for standardizing the four-movement symphonic form
Franz Joseph Haydn
This type of operatic role involves a male character written for a female singer
Pants role
Most people interpret this Beethoven symphony as representing a "hero's journey," which is in turn thought to represent Beethoven himself
Symphony no. 3 ("Eroica")
Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures At an Exhibition and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique both come along with one of these
a program
An existing piece for piano or other instrument, rewritten so that a symphony orchestra can play it
Orchestral arrangement
This Hungarian composer was also a touring piano player, and known for being one of the very first "rock stars" with an intense fan following
Franz Liszt
During this century, older compositions were performed in concert for the first time alongside newer ones
19th century
This academic subject was a 19th-century German invention, as part of an effort to establish a national cultural heritage
Music history
Antonín Dvořák's Symphony no. 9 (“From the New World”) includes a musical quotation from this spiritual
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
This quality, meaning an entire piece of music "stems" from a single idea, was highly-valued in Romantic art
organicism