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Ludwig van Beethoven
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Biographical Info
Born: 1770
Died: 1827
Austrian Composer
Student of Haydn
Beethoven was deaf through most of his career
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Major Works
1801: The Creatures of Prometheus, staged in Vienna in 1801
1805, 1814: Fidelio, only opera Beethoven wrote
Wrote incidental music for Goethe's Egmont
Completed 9 symphonies
Visit the Classical Musician's Dictionary site on Beethoven to hear midi files of some of his work
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Selected Bibliography
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Related Web Sites
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Frederic Chopin
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Biographical Info
Born: 1810
Died: 1849
Polish and French, emigrated from Warsaw to Paris
Pianist and composer
Had liaison with writer George Sand
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Major Works
Piano Concertos
Minute Waltz
Chopin created or developed a number of new forms of piano music, vehicles for his own
poetic use of the instrument, with its exploration of nuance, its original harmonies and its
discreet but often considerable technical demands (Classical Musician's Dictionary)
Visit the Classical Musician's Dictionary site on Chopin to hear midi files of some of his work
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Other Sources:
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Selected Bibliography
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Related Web Sites
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Franz Schubert
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Biographical Info
Born: 1797
Died: 1828
Austrian
Educated as a chorister of the imperial court chapel and later qualified as a schoolteacher
Spent most of his life in Vienna, but never held any position in the musical establishment or attracted the kind of patronage that Beethoven had
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Major Works
Wrote promarily operas
Schubert wrote for mixed voices, male voices and female voices, but by far the most famous of
his vocal compositions are the five hundred or so songs, settings of verses ranging from
Shakespeare to his friends and contemporaries (Classical Musician's Dictionary)
Song Cycles: Die schoene Muellerin (The Fair Maid of the Mill), Die Winterreise (The Winter Journey), and Schwanengesang (Swan-Song)
Der Erlkoenig, the Mignon songs from Goethe and the Songs of Norma from Sir Walter Scott
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Related Engines Sites:
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Other Sources:
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Selected Bibliography
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Related Web Sites
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Carl Maria von Weber
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Biographical Info
Born: 1786
Died: 1826
Cousin of Mozart's wife Constanze
Made a favourable impression as a pianist and then as a music director, notably in the opera-houses of Prague and Dresden
Introduced various reforms and was a pioneer of the craft of conducting without the use of violin or keyboard instrument
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Major Works
1821: Der Freischuetz (The Marksman), the first important Romantic German opera
1826: Euryanthe, grand heroic-Romantic opera; Oberon
Concertos for the piano and clarinet
Chamber music
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Related Engines Sites:
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Other Sources:
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Selected Bibliography
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Related Web Sites
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