SY on Music Theory Print

Syama Sastri

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Syama Sastri (Telugu: శ్యామ శాస్త్రి; Tamil: ஷ்யாமா சாஸ்திரி; ; 26 April 1762 – 1827) or Shyama Shastri was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the oldest among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar being the other two. Early life and career Syama Sastri, whose birth name was Venkata Subrahmanya Iyer, was born on 26 April 1762 in a Tamil speaking Smartha Vadama Brahmin family to Visvanatha Iyer and Vengalakshmi. He was also known as one of the trinity of carnatic music. To later generations, he is better known by his adopted name Syama Sastri or by his musical mudra (signature) Syama Krishna. He was born in Tiruvarur, in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu. He received his instruction in the vedas, astrology, and other traditional subjects early on and learned music from his maternal uncle. He was later trained in music by Adiappayya, a noted durbar musician of Thanjavur. Although Śyāma Śastri did not compose as many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, his compositions are still well known due to the literary, melodic and rhythmic proficiency observed in them. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all. He did not

Syd Dale

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of big band, easy listening and library music. His themes and underscore music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the 1960s and 1970s and many cues are still in use today. Biography Dale was born in York, and started as an apprentice technician at Rowntree’s chocolate factory at 16. Soon big band music became his passion. He spent as much time as possible listening to bands and studying the arrangements. Three years later, in 1945, he left the factory and joined several local bands as pianist and arranger. In 1952 he was recruited as a pianist with The Squadronaires, the dance orchestra of the Royal Air Force, where he worked with the conductor Ronnie Aldrich. The band toured extensively. In February 1953 they recorded Dale’s arrangement of “Jeepers Creepers,” his first recording session. He also played in several London hotels, and later joined the Cyril Stapleton Show Band. Dale married his wife Audrey while he was still working at Rowntree’s. In 1958 the twins Ian and Erica were born, and the family were living in Maida Vale. In 1960 they moved to 1, Turpi

Sydir Vorobkevych

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sydir Ivanovych Vorobkevych (, ; 17 May 183631 September 1903), was a Ukrainian composer, writer, Eastern Orthodox priest, teacher, and artist. During his career he was the editor of the Austrian newspaper . Early life and education Sydir Ivanovych Vorobkevych was born on 17 May 1836 (O.S.) in Chernivtsi (now in western Ukraine). Vorobkevych’s mother, Elizabeta Corlătean, was an ethnic Romanian, being the daughter of the Protopope of Câmpulung Moldovenesc. Sydir’s paternal great-grandfather, Skalsky Mlaka de Orobko, ran away from Lithuania, and his grandfather changed his name from Orobko to Vorobkevych. He later used part of the former name as part of one of his pen-names, Danilo Mlaka. His mother died in 1840, and his father Ivan worked in the Chernivtsi Lyceum as a professor of religion and philosophy. After father died in 1845. the 9-year-old Sydir, along with his brother Hryhoriy, were left as orphans. They were then brought up by their grandfather, Mykhailo Vorobkevych, the Protopope of Kitsman. In his family the young boy learned Ukrainian folklore and history. He enrolled in the Chernivtsi Lyceum and later the Theology Seminary in Chernivtsi, graduating in 1861. After his t

Sydney John Kay

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kurt Kaiser (3 November 1906 – 24 May 1970), better known as Sydney John Kay, was a German-born composer, musician and theatre entrepreneur. Biography Germany Born in Leipzig, Germany of Peruvian-Jewish descent, he originally pursued an engineering career in Berlin, but in 1927 he joined the German-Jewish showband The Weintraub Syncopators as a musician. He appeared with them supporting Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel (1930). After the Nazi’s came to power in 1933, the Syncopators went on a world tour, and were in Sydney when war was declared. Australian career Kaiser was interned during the early days of the war, but was eventually released, changing his name in honour of his new home, Sydney. He became musical director for the Colgate-Palmolive radio unit, and was involved in theatre, running Sydney’s Theatre for Children (1944–45) and co-founding the Mercury Theatre with Peter Finch. He produced the famous production of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid that was seen by Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh which led to them inviting Peter Finch to England. Kay also composed for various Australian films, documentaries, orchestras and ballets. Move to England He then moved to Englan

Sylvain Dupuis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Joseph Michel Sylvain Dupuis (; 9 October 1856 – 28 September 1931) was a Belgian conductor, composer, oboist, and music educator. Life Born in Liège, Dupuis was trained at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. After graduating in 1878, he was appointed to that school’s faculty as a professor of harmony. In 1911 he succeeded Jean-Théodore Radoux as the director of the conservatory. Among his notable pupils were Charles Houdret and Joseph Jongen. Dupuis worked actively as a composer during the early part of his career, but later became more heavily involved in his work as an opera conductor and music teacher. As a result, the majority of his works date from before 1900. In 1879 he won the Belgian Prix de Rome for his cantata Le Chant de la Création. In the 1880s he composed two operas, Moîna and Coûr d’ognon. His other compositions include several secular cantatas, the symphonic poem Macbeth, a concertino for oboe and orchestra, a number of choral works, and music for solo organ, piano, violin and cello. In 1890 Dupuis was appointed to the conducting staff at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, and in 1900 he assumed the role of principal conductor at that house. He notably conducted that o

Sylvano Bussotti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvano Bussotti (1 October 1931 – 19 September 2021) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music, also a painter, set and costume designer, opera director and manager, writer and academic teacher. His compositions employ graphic notation, which has often created special problems of interpretation. He was known as a composer for the stage. His first opera was La Passion selon Sade, premiered in Palermo in 1965. Later operas and ballets were premiered at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, Teatro Lirico di Milano, Teatro Regio di Torino and Piccola Scala di Milano, among others. He was artistic director of La Fenice in Venice, the Puccini Festival and the music section of the Venice Biennale. He taught internationally, for a decade at the Fiesole School of Music. He is regarded as a leading composer of Italy’s avantgarde, and a Renaissance man with many talents who combined the arts expressively. Bussotti died at a nursing home in Milan after a long illness on 19 September 2021, twelve days before his 90th birthday. Festivities planned in Florence for the event are held in his memory, titled 90 Bussotti, from 20 to 25 September, including performances by , Florence Queer Fes

Sylvester Potts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvester Potts (January 22, 1938 - January 6, 2017) was a singer and composer as well as an off and on member of The Contours and a one-time member of The Four Sonics. Songs that he has either composed or co-composed have been recorded by The Contours, Mamie Galore, Jimmy Ruffin and The Temptations. Personal Sylvester Potts was born on January 22, 1938, and attended North Eastern High, the same school where Martha Reeves, Mary Wilson, and Bobby Rogers were educated at. Owing to his love of the music and the excitement he got from it once said he wanted to die on stage. Career 1950s In the late 1950s, Sylvester Potts was a member of a group called The Hi-Fidelities whose line up consisted of Huey Davis, Potts, Juanita Davis and Tony York. They released two singles, “Street Of Loneliness” bw Pott’s own composition, “Help Murder Police” on Hi-Q 5000 in 1957, and “Last Night I Cried” bw “Just Go” on Fortune 528 in 1958. In 1959 late 1950s, Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea, Potts and Hubert Johnson formed The Blenders in 1959. They would later rename themselves as The Contours. His old friend from The Hi-Fidelities, Huey Davis, also joined the Contours as the group’s guitaris

Sylvia Constantinidis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvia Constantinidis (born December 3, 1962) is a Venezuelan-American pianist, composer, and conductor. Early life and education Sylvia Constantinidis was born in Venezuela and began her study of music at an early age in Caracas. Her music teachers in Venezuela included Modesta Bor, Alberto Grau, Beatriz Bilbao and Isabel Aretz. She continued her studies in Paris at the Ecole Martenot and the Sorbonne university in Paris. She worked as a pianist in Venezuela, playing with orchestras and touring, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Music from the Central University of Venezuela. In the 1990s, she graduated with a Masters in Piano Performance and later obtained a second Master in Music Theory and Composition, from the University of Miami. She also has a Diploma of Advanced Graduate Studies in Music from Boston University. Career Constantinidis received The Music Note Award 2003 for her three children’s operas Lincoln, Ponce de Leon, and The First Thanks Giving, which premiered in Florida. She was awarded the “Educator of Note Award 2003” by the Ethel and W. George Kennedy Family Foundation, and the ASCAP Plus Award for Concert Music in 2009 and 2010. She serves as artistic dir

Sylvia Hallett

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvia Hallett (born 1953) is an English musician and composer. She plays many instruments including the violin and she is known for improvisations on unusual instruments. She has appeared at international festivals, often in collaboration with theatres and dance companies. Career Hallett studied music at the Dartington College of Arts. She continued her studies in Paris with Max Deutsch. Hallett’s instruments have included Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, saw, accordion, found objects such as a bicycle wheel, at times modified by electronics. From the early 1970s, she has appeared at international festivals. She has performed solo and as a duo with Clive Bell. She has also collaborated with artists such as Lol Coxhill, Phil Minton, Maggie Nicols, Evan Parker, and with theatres and dance projects. In 2012 she played in David Toop’s “atmospheric opera” Star-shaped Biscuit. Hallett made several solo recordings, which include improvisations, songs and “tape collage pieces” from her works for the stage. For her recording White Fog, she bowed a bicycle wheel. A review describes “plaintive sounds” of the wheel spokes, expanded to “soundscapes” by digital delay boxes. A second piece on the rec

Sylvia Soublette

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvia Soublette Asmussen (February 5, 1924 – January 29, 2020) was a Chilean composer, singer, choirmaster and educator. She won the 1964 Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Gold Medal, the 1997 Critics Award from the Valparaíso Art Critics Circle, the 1998 music medal from the National Music Council, and the Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit, which was awarded posthumously. She published and performed under the name Sylvia Soublette. Early life and family Soublette was born in Viña del Mar to a musical family. Her brother is the musicologist Gastón Soublette. Their mother, Isabel Asmussen Urrutia, was a singer, and their father, Luis Soublette García-Vidaurre, took them to choral concerts. Their paternal grandmother was composer Rosa García Vidaurre. Sylvia Soublette began singing with her cousins at age 12. In 1941, while studying at the Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones, she founded the Coro Femenino Viña del Mar. She later founded a male choir at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso and a mixed one at the same institution in 1945. The next year, she married Gabriel Valdés, who later became Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. They had three children (Maximia

Sylvie Bodorová

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvie Bodorová (born 31 December 1954, České Budějovice) is a Czech composer. During a career spanning from the late 1970s to the present day she has composed a large number of works for various instruments, both solo and orchestral pieces, and produced commissions for cities, festivals and organisations around the world. She was a founder (and only surviving) member of the Czech classical group Quattro, formed in 1996. Biography Bodorová studied composition at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno and later as a post-graduate at the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She continued her studies in Gdańsk and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (with Professor Franco Donatoni) and from 1987 she attended Professor Ton de Leeuw’s composition courses in Amsterdam. She taught at JAMU in Brno and, in the 1990s, at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, 4. “Neorem, nesejem” (I sow not and plough not) 5. “Zavej že, vetricok” (“Blow little breeze”), 6. “Prečo že ma” (“Why is that?) 7. “Opýtaj sa Baláža” (“Go ask Balaz”). *JA RA LAJ, 27 compositions for tenor, violin, viola, clarinet, harp, percussion and s

Sylvie Courvoisier

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvie Courvoisier (born 30 November 1968) is a Swiss American composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Prize in 2022 , the Swiss Grand Prix and The American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award in 2025. Courvoisier has earned her renown for balancing two distinct worlds: the classically minded chamber music of her European roots and the grooving, hook-laden sounds of the avant-jazz scene in New York. She ranges from playing with her longtime jazz trio (featuring bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen ) to performing Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in league with new-music pianist Cory Smythe, among other genre-bounding ventures. Courvoisier has collaborated over the past two decades with such luminaries as John Zorn, Wadada Leo Smith, Evan Parker, Ikue Mori, Ned Rothenberg, Fred Frith, Mark Feldman, Christian Fennesz, Israel Galván and Mary Halvorson. Courvoisier has toured the world from Europe and North America to South America, Asia and Australia. She teaches as a member of the faculty of New School of Jazz (The New School)

Sylvio Lazzari

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvio Lazzari (born Josef Fortunat Silvester Lazzari; 30 December 1857 – 10 June 1944) was a French composer of Austrian and Italian origin. Life Born in Bolzano – then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Lazzari came to Paris in 1882 after studying law in Austria. At the Paris Conservatory, he studied under Ernest Guiraud and César Franck. Encouraged by Ernest Chausson and Franck, Lazzari settled permanently in France and obtained French citizenship in 1896. He held several official positions in Paris, including president of the Wagner Society (from 1894) and choirmaster at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Because of dwindling eyesight, he later focused on composition only. Lazzari’s use of cyclic structures was indebted to Franck; he was also heavily influenced by Wagner (especially in his operas) and the impressionists. His best-known opera, La Lépreuse (first performed in 1912), was highly praised for its musical content, but frequently criticised for its naturalistic libretto. Three of his operas, including La Lépreuse, are inspired by Brittany, with Breton plots, also using Breton folksongs as local colour. Very few of his compositions have been performed since his death, but som

Symeon Pekalytsky

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Symeon Pekalytsky (), sometimes Semen Pekalytsky () or Simeon Pekalitsky (born c. 1630) was a Ukrainian composer, choral director and teacher. He wrote partsong choral works. Biography Very little is known about his life. He was born in Ukraine in c. 1630 and studied in high schools of Kyiv, Lviv, Ostroh or Lutsk. He had gained a profound musical education. In the 1660s Pekalytsky led the Chapel of Chernihiv archbishop Lazar Baranovych. We can assume that Lazar Baranovych drew attention to talented youth. In the mid 1660s Tsar became interested in the possibility of the introduction of polyphonic singing in Russian church. In 1666 Chernihiv choir moved to Moscow where it worked for almost a year with his choir of eight singers after having his chapel’s musical excellence become well-known. Pekalytsky had gained a possibility to demonstrate his music and conducting mastery. In 1667 he became a choirmaster of the Chapel of Iosyf Shumliansky in Lviv and during this time, he taught music theory and singing lessons. In 1673 he was again invited to Moscow to lead the Chapel at the court. In the 1680s he returned to Ukraine and settled in Novhorod-Siverskyi. A Liturgy in 8 voices of Symeo

Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Symphony No. 3 in E major, Op. 55, titled as the Eroica Symphony, is a symphony in four movements by Ludwig van Beethoven. One of Beethoven’s most celebrated works, the Eroica symphony is a large-scale composition that marked the beginning of the composer’s innovative “middle period”. Composed mainly in 1803–1804, the work broke boundaries in symphonic form, length, harmony, emotional and cultural content. It is widely considered a landmark in the transition between the Classical and the Romantic era. It is also often considered to be the first Romantic symphony. Beethoven first conducted a private performance on 9 June 1804, and later the first public performance on 7 April 1805. Instrumentation The Symphony is scored for: ;Woodwinds: :2 flutes :2 oboes :2 clarinets in B :2 bassoons ;Brass: :3 horns in E (1 & 2 in C in mvt 2) :2 trumpets in E & C ;Percussion : ;Strings: :violins I, II :violas :cellos :double basses Form The work is in 4 movements: Depending upon the conductor’s style and observation of the exposition repeat in the first movement, the typical performance time is between 45 and 55 minutes. I. Allegro con brio The 1st movement, in time, is in sonata form, with ty

Synne Skouen

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synne Skouen (born 8 August 1950) is a Norwegian music writer and composer. Biography Skouen was born in Oslo. She studied at the Vienna Academy of Music with Alfred Uhl and Erwin Ratz for composition and Dieter Kaufmann and Friedrich Cerha for electronic music. She also studied with Finn Mortensen in Oslo, receiving her degree in composition from the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1976. Skouen appeared in the 1966 film Reisen til havet, directed by her father, Arne Skouen. She worked as a member of the experimental music theatre group “Die Fremden” in Vienna. From 1977 to 1986 she worked as editor of the contemporary music periodical Ballade, and wrote as a music critic for Arbeiderbladet. In 1993 Skouen became the music director for Norwegian Broadcasting’s cultural channel, and in 1999 was named Head of Culture. In 2002 she served as President of the Society of Norwegian Composers. Synne Skouen has received a number of varied commissions throughout her career including works written for the Festival of North Norway, Bergen International Festival, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Oslo International Grieg Festival, Ny Musikk, Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and NRK. Skouen has also