The Music Workshop Company Blog 

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs. 
 
To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk 

Posts tagged “IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARIES”

Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1921. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Kubey-Rembrandt Studios, Philadephia, Pennsylvania) 
This year sees the 150th anniversary of the birth of renowned pianist and composer Rachmaninoff, whose music has divided opinion yet remained popular for many decades. We take a look at his life and work, and ask what has made his compositions – which are renowned for being challenging to play – so successful with audiences around the world. 
Photo by KarleHorn - source: Wikimedia Commons 
On 1 March 1973, Pink Floyd firmly cemented their place in music history when they released The Dark Side of the Moon. It was an introspective concept album that was also technically ambitious, featuring experimental synthesiser sounds, tape loops and philosophical quotes as part of the music’s many layers. That may not sound like a recipe for popular success, but today it’s one of the best-selling albums of all time, beloved by critics and music fans around the globe. 
 
As the music world celebrates the record’s 50th anniversary, we look at how it was created, and what’s behind its enduring popularity. 
1920 was a busy year for Stravinsky and Diaghilev with the premiere of the ballet Le Chant du Roissignol on 2nd February and the premiere of Pulcinella on 15th May. 
 
Stravinsky first worked with Diaghilev on L’Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) in 1910.  
 
The work is of interest both as Stravinsky’s breakthrough piece and as the beginning of one of the most well known collaborations in the ballet world. 
July 17th 2017 marks the 300th anniversary of the first performance of Handel’s famous Water Music. The orchestral suites were written for a party on the Thames river in London, held by King George I, in 1717. 
 
The music consists of the Suite in F major (HWV 348), Suite in D major (HWV 349) and Suite in G major (HWV 350). However, although many of the pieces became instant hits throughout London, none of them were published at the time. Extensive research by Samuel Arnold led to a 1788 edition of nineteen pieces that is generally accepted as the authoritative Water Music, but the original structure is unclear. 
May 15th 2017 marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi. 
 
Born in 1567, in Cremona, Italy, Monteverdi was famous during his lifetime as a musician and composer, and his works are still regularly performed today. 
 
Cremona is a city with a vast musical heritage. It was home to lute makers, later becoming renowned as a centre for musical instrument making, and home to the Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari violin making families. The historic feudal system – the myriad noble families ruling Italy at the time – laid the way for music to develop, supported and funded by the court, offering employment and opportunity for musicians. 
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