Classical musicians often spend a lot of time thinking carefully about pieces of music, especially about pieces of music that they perform. They study such things as harmony and counterpoint to help them understand the way that the composers were thinking when they put the piece together. When they look at pieces of music in this way this is called “musical analysis”. People who specialize in thinking and writing about music may become professors or lecturers of music at universities.
Classical music is often heard in popular culture. It is used as background music for movies, television programs, advertisements and even for mobile phone ringing tones. Most people in the Western world recognize many classical tunes, possibly without even realizing it. Some classical pieces of music have become enormously popular, e.g. the song "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" which was sung by the three tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, and used as the theme tune for the 1990 Soccer World Cup. This made many people who had never been interested in opera start to become curious about it.
The history of classical music really started in the late Middle Ages. Music written for the church was almost always vocal (singing), because instruments were thought to be wicked. This is because the devil played them, and because they were used for dancing. There was a lot of dance music, but most of it is lost because it was never written down.
Medieval composers who are remembered today include Léonin, Pérotin and Guillaume de Machaut
The Renaissance was from the 15th century until the 17th century. This period saw a massive increase in the composition of music, both sacred and secular. Many great cathedrals had been built in Europe and composers wrote music for them, mostly vocal music. Secular music also became extremely popular, especially songs and madrigals, which would sometimes be accompanied by instruments.
The greatest composers of this period include: Giovanni da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
The Baroque period was from about the 17th century until the mid-18th century. This was the time when the modern orchestra was formed, more or less as we know it. It was also the time when opera was invented. Most musicians worked either for the church or for rich people who had their own orchestras. Many of them also started to work for opera houses.
The greatest composers of this time include: Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti and Georg Philipp Telemann
The years between 1760 - 1825 was known as the Classical period. Composers thought a lot about the forms of their pieces and were influenced by the classical art of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The symphony was invented and various forms of chamber music including the string quartet.
The greatest composers include: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluch, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
From 1820 to 1910 was known as the Romantic period. Composers continued to use the forms that had been invented in the 18th century, but they also thought that personal feeling and emotion were very important. Music for orchestra sometimes told a story (programme music). Musicians who played their instruments brilliantly (such as Paganini) were worshipped like heroes. Beethoven and Schubert belong, in many ways, to this period as well as to the Classical period. It was a time when there were a lot of changes in society. After the wars that Napoleon had waged, there were not so many ruling aristocratic families. There was a lot of feeling of nationalism as countries united. 19th century music is often nationalistic: composers wrote music that was typical of their own country.
Some of the greatest composers include: Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.
What is known as 20th century classical music (or “modern music”) is music from about 1910 onwards. At this time many composers felt that everything had already been done by the composers of the past, so they wanted to find new ways of composing. Claude Debussy, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, in particular, found new ways of writing music which was not necessarily tonal (in any particular key). Classical music was influenced by jazz, especially with American composers. Later in the century people such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen experimented in many other ways, including with electronic music (tape recorders etc.). Today’s composers have combined some of these ideas to develop their own styles.
Some of the most important composers are: Claude Debussy, Jean Sibelius, Maurice Ravel, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Aaron Copland, Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, Dmitri Kabalevsky, James MacMillan, Judith Weir, Peter Maxwell Davies
It has never been possible to say exactly what is meant by “classical music”. Many different kinds of music influence one another. Since 1970 it has been even harder to make clear dividing lines between rock, pop, classical, folk, jazz and world music. This shows that classical music, like other kinds of music, continues to develop and reflect the society from which it comes.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie; 1980;
SNAFU
SNAFU or snafu is an acronym that the United States Military first used. Civilians now use it as well. It stands for Situation Normal: All (Fucked/Fouled/Francis) Up.
In modern times, it means a situation that was occurring normally but then suddenly began to go wrong. For example:
"The general's visit this week-end went well until we hit a snafu. Everything went wrong after that."
Snafu is used mostly as a noun. It can also be used as a verb but usually in the passive sense. For instance, someone would say:
"The general's visit this week-end went well until it snafued. Everything went wrong after that."
But they would probably not say:
"The general's visit this week-end went well until we snafued it."
Atlanta
Atlanta is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is one of the South's largest cities. Atlanta is known as a major business city. It is the home of Coca-Cola Company, CNN, AT&T, and Home Depot, as well as many other Fortune 500 companies. Coca-Cola, which is made in Atlanta, is drunk all over the world and its factory is a favorite tourist destination. CNN is also a big tourist attraction. Atlanta's airport, called Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, is the busiest airport in the world. Atlanta is near the center of Georgia and is on the Chattahoochee River.
Atlanta was built on Cherokee Native American land. It was called Terminus until 1843, when the name was changed to Marthasville. In 1845 the name was changed again to Atlanta.
During the American Civil War, Atlanta was where several battles happened. Some of the battles were the Battle of Peachtree Creek, the Battle of Atlanta, and the Battle of Ezra Church. The city was burnt down and almost entirely destroyed. After the war, the city was built again, and got a nickname because it was built so fast: "the Phoenix City", after the bird which burns itself then rises from the ashes in old myths. A picture of the bird is on the city seal.
Atlanta became the state capital in 1868.