WO on Music Theory Print

W. O. Forsyth

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Wesley Octavius Forsyth (January 26, 1859 – May 7, 1937) was a Canadian pianist, composer and music educator based in Toronto, Ontario. Most of his compositions were written for the piano and voice. Early life and education Forsyth was born in Markham Township, York County, Canada West. As a child Forsyth studied piano with Edward Fisher (musician). As a young man he studied at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig He made his debut that year as a solo pianist, but did not achieve success as an instrumental performer, and returned to Toronto to teach. In 1892 he travelled to Vienna and Ischl to study with Julius Epstein In the 1890s he wrote music reviews and other articles for the publications The Musician and The Week. By 1913 his compositions had been published internationally, By 1923, his pupils had formed a “Forsyth Club”, and a number of his works were performed on the radio. Select works *“Love took me softly by the hand” : op. 30, no. 2 *“Showers are falling” *“The homelight” *Prelude and fugue : no. 1 in C minor : for the organ", op. 18 *“No. 2 : Song of the silver night (romance)” *‘Frülingsabend = Spring evening : Alt oder Mezzo-Sopran mit Pianofortebegleitung", o

Włodzimierz Korcz

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Włodzimierz Korcz (born 13 November 1943 in Łódź) is a Polish composer, pianist, music producer and author of many popular songs. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Łódź and debuted in 1965. In 1968–1970 Korcz worked as music editor for Polskie Radio in Łódź. In 1974–1977 he was the music director at Teatr na Targówku in Warsaw. Korcz composes film and theatre music, and performs at radio and TV concerts. He was a co-producer of shows such as Mazurskie Biesiady Kabaretowe (Masurian Cabaret Feasts) and Lidzbarskie Wieczory Humoru i Satyry (Lidzbark’s Satirical Evenings). He received recognition at many festivals in Poland and abroad, including: at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, as well as the Rostock, Vitebsk and Bratislava music festivals. He also worked with several literary cabarets across Poland: such as Pod Egidą, Kabaret TEY, Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej, as well as the TV-made Polskie Zoo, Kraj się śmieje and others. an informal anthem of the Solidarity period in the People’s Republic of Poland. It was an emblem of the political opposition to the totalitarian regime from the June 1976 protests against the Soviet-style communism imposed in Poland, all the way

Włodzimierz Kotoński

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

Włodzimierz Kotoński (23 August 1925 – 4 September 2014) was a Polish composer. Biography Born in Warsaw, Kotoński studied there with Piotr Rytel and Tadeusz Szeligowski at the PWSM, graduating in 1951. In an initial period of activity he took an interest in folk music from the Podhale region in southern Poland. After attending the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 1957–61, he adopted punctual serialism in works like Sześć miniatur (‘Six Miniatures’) for clarinet and piano of 1957 and Muzyka kameralna (‘Chamber Music’) for 21 instruments and percussion in the following year. This trend culminated in 1959 in Musique en relief for six orchestral groups. His Etiuda na jedno uderzenie w talerz (‘Study on One Cymbal Stroke’) was the first Polish piece of electronic music, created at Polish Radio’s Experimental Studio. He also worked in various electronic music studios abroad, amongst others in Cologne, Paris, Freiburg, and Berlin. In 1967 he was appointed lecturer in composition at the Frédéric Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, where he also directed the electronic music studio. Notably, he wrote the first book in Polish on the field of electronic / electroacoustic music. In the years 1974–1976

Wojciech Grzymała

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Wojciech Grzymała (23 April 1793 – 16 December 1871), also known as Albert Grzymala or Albert Grzymała, was a Polish soldier, politician, and banker who was a close associate in Paris of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Grzymała was born in Dunajowce (now Dunaivtsi, Ukraine). He began attending military school in 1807, and took part in the Battle of Borodino (1812), for which he received the medal Virtuti Militari. A freemason, and active in Polish politics during the 1820s, he was a principal orator at the funeral of Stanisław Staszic (1826). In 1828-1829, he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg for his association with the . As a director of the Bank Polski, he negotiated in London and Paris for financial and other support for Poland after the 1830 November Uprising. Grzymała remained in Paris and became a society figure. He often acted as Chopin’s adviser and “gradually began to fill the role of elder brother in his life.” He was a frequent correspondent of both Chopin and of George Sand; Sand, in a letter to Grzymała of June 1838, admitted her strong feelings for the composer and debated whether to abandon a current affair in order to begin a relation

Wojciech Trzciński

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

Wojciech Stanisław Trzciński (22 July 1949 – 1 February 2025) was a Polish composer, arranger, pianist, guitarist, conductor and music producer. Trzciński was a graduate of the Stephen Báthory 2nd High School (Warsaw) and the University of Warsaw. Author of music for films, television programs, theater performances, and composer of songs for many Polish performers. Artistic director of festivals in Opole and Sopot. One of the originators of the Polish Phonographic Industry Award Fryderyk. Founder of a private, independent art center Fabryka Trzciny for whose creation he received the Paszport Polityki and the Kisiel Prize. Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Hanna-Barbera Poland (1987–93), founder and editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Video Świat Hanna-Barbera (1990–92). Life and career Trzciński made his debut in 1969 at the Student Song Fair in the Medyk club in Warsaw as a singer and composer. Initially, he composed songs for student performers such as Natasza Czarmińska, Piotr Fronczewski, Andrzej Nardelli and Magda Umer. Later he started writing for Radio Song Studio and Television Giełda Piosenki, among others for artists such as: Halina Frąckowiak, Edyta Geppert

Wojtek Urbański

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Wojciech Urbański (born October 4, 1986, in Warsaw) is a composer, music producer, and arranger. He won a Fryderyk Award in 2022 for the album “4GET” by the band Rysy. He is also a recipient of the Polish Soundtrack of the Year award at the 2022 Film Music Festival for his score to the film “Operation Hyacinth” (“Hiacynt”). He has served as the musical director for numerous events, including the Empik Bestsellers Gala 2021, the concert “Together with Ukraine”, and the TVP Independence concert “Polska na TAK!”. Together with the group Dyspensa, he was responsible for the music production of Quebonafide’s concert “Act II The Final Concert” at the National Stadium. He also composed music for the Silesian exhibition at the Polish Pavilion at EXPO in Dubai. A film composer who regularly collaborates with Netflix, he has produced and arranged tracks such as “Ostatni – Rojst97” and “Oczko w głowie” by Tymek, as well as “Zabierz tę Miłość” by Julia Wieniawa and Maciej Musiałowski. He produced the albums “Mogło być nic” by Kwiat Jabłoni and “Odrodzenie” by Tymek. He achieved his first international success in 2025 when he officially announced a collaboration with French influencer and piani

Woldemar Bargiel

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Woldemar Bargiel (3 October 182823 February 1897) was a German composer and conductor of the Romantic period. Life Bargiel was born in Berlin and was the younger maternal half-brother of Clara Schumann. Bargiel’s father Adolph was a well-known piano and voice teacher while his mother Mariane Tromlitz, a granddaughter of the famous flautist Johann Georg Tromlitz, had previously been unhappily married to Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck. Clara was nine years older than Woldemar. Throughout their lives, they enjoyed a warm relationship. The initial opportunities which led to the success and recognition he enjoyed were due to Clara, who introduced him to both Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. Bargiel received his first lessons at home and later with the well-known Berlin teacher of music theory Siegfried Wilhelm Dehn. Upon the suggestion of Schumann and the recommendation of Mendelssohn, Bargiel at age 18 went to study at the famous Leipzig Conservatory with some of the leading scholars of music: Ignaz Moscheles (piano) and Niels Gade (composition), and also with Julius Rietz. After leaving Leipzig in 1850, he returned to Berlin where he tried to make ends meet by giving private le

Wolff Jakob Lauffensteiner

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

Wolff Jakob Lauffensteiner (1676–1754) was a lutenist active in the Bavarian court where he spent much of his career in service to the Elector of Bavaria in Munich. Some of Lauffensteiner’s compositions for lute have survived. Lauffensteiner was born in Steyr. Only his baptism date is known - 28 April 1676. He died in Munich on 26 March 1754. His father, who bore the same name, was the towerkeeper in Steyr. About 1709 he had obtained a position of a lutenist in Graz, and from 1712 he was in the service of the Bavarian court. In 1715 he entered the private service of the Duke Ferdinand. In 1739, on the duke’s death, he was granted a pension. He was later appointed a chamber counsellor (Hofkammerrat) by the Duke Clemens August, Archbishop of Cologne, for his services to the electoral House of Bavaria. Lauffensteiner’s extant works for both solo lute and chamber ensembles typically take the forms of suite or partita. His music is generally highly idiomatic for the lute, in the German style (i.e. uniting traditional French forms, textures and ornaments with Italianate cantabile melody over a basso continuo line). In total over 100 movements survive. Lauffensteiner is seen as a stylisti

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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

The sources#

Modern scholars rely on various source materials in writing Mozart’s biography. First, there are about 1500 pages of family letters, often vivid and entertaining, mostly written when travel separated Mozart from his kin. There are also early biographies, written with input from Mozart’s sister Nannerl, his wife Constanze, and others who knew him well. Old documents, such as newspaper stories and government records, have been located in libraries and archives, annotated, and published. Lastly, the composer’s surviving manuscripts shed light on the history and dating of his compositions: there are sketches, drafts, dated autographs of completed works, and Mozart’s personal catalog. Mozart biographers all work from these same sources, but they often disagree on crucial points. The disagreements arise in part from the need to judge how much to believe a source who had strong motivation to diverge from the truth. A source once widely used but now judged untruthful is the publisher Friedrich Rochlitz, who sought to increase posthumous sales of Mozart’s works by publishing false, vivid stories about him. A trend across time, noted in , is for biographers to be less credulous (e.g., in believing Rochlitz), less sentimental, and more sensitive to information about Mozart’s own society and times.

Wolfgang Carl Briegel

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

Wolfgang Carl Briegel (21 May 1626 – 19 November 1712, Darmstadt) was a German organist, teacher and composer. Biography Born 21 May 1626, in Königsberg, Bavaria, he was a student in Nuremberg and sang in the Frauenkirche choir. He later studied at the University of Altdorf and became the organist at St. Johannis church and a grammar school teacher in Schweinfurt. In 1650, Duke Ernst the Pious appointed him to his court at Gotha as cantor and music tutor to his family, and he eventually rose to the post of Kapellmeister. He became well-known through his work in Gotha, and it was there that he became acquainted with Johann Rudolph Ahle and members of the Bach family. Duke Ernst’s eldest daughter, the wife of Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt, called Briegel to Darmstadt as Kapellmeister in 1671. He stayed in this post until his death, but in his later years he was assisted by Christoph Graupner and Ernst Christian Hesse. Music Briegel was prolific in his sacred music output, completing 24 published collections between 1654 and 1709. He also wrote several “occasional” pieces and some secular works. He attracted attention with the publication of his Evangelische Gespräch, a set of

Wolfgang Fortner

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

Wolfgang Fortner (12 October 1907 – 5 September 1987) was a German composer, academic composition teacher and conductor. Life and career Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents, who were both singers, Fortner very early on had intense contact with music. In 1927 he began his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory (organ with Karl Straube, composition with Hermann Graubner) and at University of Leipzig, (philosophy with Hans Driesch, musicology with Theodor Kroyer, and German studies with Hermann August Korff) . While still a student, two of his early compositions were publicly performed: Die vier marianischen Antiphonen at the Lower Rhineland Festival in Düsseldorf in 1928, and his First String Quartet in Königsberg in 1930 . In 1931 he completed his studies with the State Exam for a high teaching office, after he accepted a lectureship in music theory at the Hochschule für Kirchenmusik Heidelberg. There his music was attacked as Cultural Bolshevism. In 1935 and 1936 Fortner created the Heidelberg Chamber Orchestra with which he supported New Music and undertook expanded concert journeys for “armed forces support”, from Scandinavia to the Netherlands to Greece. In the same year

Wolfgang Hildemann

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

Wolfgang Hildemann (June 17, 1925 — August 25, 1995 in Düsseldorf) was a German composer and music teacher who is known for the use of the twelve-tone technique. Life and education Hildemann was born on June 17, 1925, in the city of Cheb (formerly known as Eger or Egerland) which was part of the contentious German Sudetenland. Following World War Two, Hildemann studied at the music conservatories in Prague and Nürnberg. Among his professors were Fidelio Finke, Anton Nowakowski and Joseph Keilberth. Succeeding his studies in Nürnberg, Hildemann passed the examination to become a chapel master in 1952. Between 1949 and 1967, he worked as the musical instructor of the Windsbacher Knabenchor (Windsbach Boys’ Choir). From 1962 on, he taught at the Odenwaldschule in Oberhambach, a private boarding school following a concept of progressive education after World War Two. After moving to Mönchengladbach, he continued teaching music in school at the Hugo Junkers-Gymnasium. Once settled down in Mönchengladbach, Hildemann became a professor and frequent lecture in church music and composition at the University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein (Rhineland). He further lead the musical branch at t

Wolfgang Lesser

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

Wolfgang Lesser (31 May 1923 – 27 September 1999) was a German composer and music official of the GDR. Life and career Born in Breslau, Lesser, son of a merchant, attended the Realgymnasium in Berlin and then completed an apprenticeship as a metalworker. In 1938 he began studying music at the former Stern Conservatory in Berlin. Already in 1939 he emigrated as a Jew to London and worked in England as a varnisher and farmhand. The following year he was interned as Enemy alien on the Isle of Man. In 1942, he became a member of the Freie Deutsche Jugend and the Communist Party of Germany. Between 1943 and 1947, he was a member of the British Army. In 1947 he returned to Berlin, became a member of the SED and worked for the FDJ in various functions. In 1949 he attended the state party school of the SED. In 1951 he became a member of the Cultural Association of the GDR. From 1950 to 1954, Lesser studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” with Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, Hanns Eisler and Günter Kochan. From 1954 to 1961, he worked as a composer and teacher for the State Folk Art Ensemble of the GDR. Since 1961, he has been a freelance musician. From 1964 to 1968, he was Second Secretar

Wolfgang Pasquay

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

Wolfgang Pasquay (10 February 1931 – 8 April 2006) was a German classical pianist, composer and music educator. Youth Born in Cottbus, Pasquay received piano lessons as a child. From 1941 he attended the Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt, where he studied piano with August Leopolder and conducting and composition with Kurt Thomas. In 1944, at the age of 13, he was awarded the Hall Youth Prize for Composition for his Piano Variations on a Theme by Hugo Distler. In 1945, at the age of 14, he gave his first public performance as a pianist in Stuttgart. Pianist In the following three decades Pasquay devoted himself mainly to his career as a pianist. In 1950 he joined forces with Berthold Ende (violin) and Hans Hendler (violoncello) in Düsseldorf to form a piano trio, which performed the entire repertoire for this instrumentation in the following years. Numerous solo performances followed throughout Europe, including in Berlin, London, Vienna and Paris. Pasquay’s concert repertoire included the piano concertos by Mozart, Beethoven Brahms, Chopin, Schumann, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Bartók as well as pieces by Bach, Schubert, Debussy, Franck, Mussorgsky and other compo

Wolfgang Printz

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

Wolfgang Caspar Printz (10 October 1641 – 13 October 1717), normally referred to as Wolfgang Printz (with sometimes the variation of Kaspar), was a German composer who studied theology and was appointed cantor at Promnitz, Triebel and Sorau. His Historische Beschreibung der edlen Sing- und Klingkunst…von Anfang der Welt bis auf unserer Zeit (which in English means: Historical description of the noble art of singing and instrumental music … from the beginning of the world until our time) was the first history of music written in Germany. Life Printz was the son of a forester in Oberpfalz. He had hardly any training before he enrolled in 1659 at the university of Altdorf, near Nuremberg, where he learned the fundaments of music theory from Abdias Treu. He broke the Altdorfer study time in 1661 and soon abandoned it to work as a tutor. This employment limited his ability to travel. At the age of 21 in 1662 he moved to Dresden, where he became Kapellmeister at the court of the arts-friendly Silesian magnate Count Erdmann I. He traveled with his new employer, even to Bohemian and Hungarian military camps. After the count’s death in 1664 he accepted a position as cantor at the Sorau

Wolfgang Rihm

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

Wolfgang Michael Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as “one of the most original and independent musical voices” there, composing over 500 works including several operas. The premiere of Rihm’s Morphonie for orchestra at the 1974 Donaueschingen Festival won him international recognition. Rihm pursued a freedom of expression, combining avant-garde techniques with emotional individuality. His chamber opera Jakob Lenz was premiered in 1977, exploring the inner conflict of a poet’s soul. The premiere of his opera Oedipus at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1987 was broadcast live and recorded as DVD. When his opera Dionysos was first performed at the Salzburg Festival in 2010, it was voted World Premiere of the Year by Opernwelt. He was commissioned to compose a work for the opening of the Elbphilharmonie, and created the song cycle Reminiszenz which was premiered in 2017. Rihm was professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe from 1985, with students including Rebecca Saunders and Jörg Widmann. He was composer in residence for t

Wolfgang Rübsam

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

Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt am Main with Helmut Walcha. Additional studies in organ followed with Marie-Claire Alain in France and with Robert T. Anderson at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He won the first prize at the International Organ Competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Grand Prix de Chartres for interpretation in 1973. In 1974, he was appointed as professor of sacred music and organ at Northwestern University. In addition, he also served as University Organist at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago from 1981 until 1997. From 1997 until 2011, he was professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany.From 1998 until 2003, he was also artist in residence and university organist at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Rübsam has published more than 130 recordings, including two recordings of the complete organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach, the complete organ works of Jehan Alain, Dietrich Bu

Wolfgang Schoor

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

Wolfgang Schoor (18 September 1926 – 28 January 2007) was a German composer, who wrote orchestral works, song cycles and chamber music and the music for numerous children’s and documentary films and radio plays. Life The Cologne-born composer, conductor and song accompanist learned the musical craft in private lessons, at the Rheinische Musikschule Cologne, at the Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. Studies took place with, among others, Otto A. Graef (piano), Helmut Walcha (organ/harpsichord), Walter Henker (bassoon), Kurt Thomas (choral conducting, composition) and Günter Wand (conducting) as well as consultations with Karl Amadeus Hartmann. Schoor worked as a freelance composer from 1950 1949-1952 also as a music critic for the Kölnische Rundschau, moved to Weimar in the GDR in 1957 and wrote music for numerous documentaries there. He gained national fame in particular for composing the music for the documentary film Das Jahr 1945 and the title melody of the foreign policy GDR magazine Objektiv. In addition to very numerous pieces of music for radio plays of various genres, Schoor composed song cycles, solo concertos and chamber music wor

Wolfgang von Schweinitz

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

Wolfgang von Schweinitz (born 7 February 1953 in Hamburg) is a German composer of classical music and an academic teacher. Career Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Klussmann and from 1973 to 1975 with György Ligeti. He continued his studies at the Stanford University with John Chowning. He was a Stipendiat of the Villa Massimo in 1978, at the same time as Sarah Kirsch. In 1980 he taught at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. His opera Patmos, based on the Apocalypse of St John, was premiered in 1990 at the second Munich Biennale. From 1994 to 1996, Schweinitz was a professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt”, Weimar. He retired in 2025. Music Schweinitz’s music is often characterized by its freely expressive counterpoint exploring the distinctive melodic and harmonic networks of just intonation within a rigorously structured formal logic. Awards *1986 Schneider-Schott Music Prize *1992 Hindemith Prize of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Recordings * Variationen über ein Thema von Mozart, Harmonia Mundi Deutschland * Mass for soloists, choir and orchestra op. 21, Radio Symphonie Orcheste

Wolfram Heicking

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Wolfram Heicking (19 May 1927 – 19 August 2023) was a German composer, musicologist and professor at the Hanns Eisler Music Academy in Berlin. He was renowned for his extensive body of work that blended classical music with jazz and pop elements and for his influential role in music education in East Germany. Early life and education Wolfram Heicking was born and grew up in Leipzig. Later life and death Heicking later lived as a freelance composer in Kleinmachnow on the southern edge of Berlin. A supportive newspaper report of his 90th birthday noted that he remained in place as the popular chairman of the Berlin Composers’ Association, a post in which comrades continued to appreciate his open, thoughtful and undogmatic approach to current problems (genoss er auch… allseits Sympathien wegen seiner offenen, besonnenen, undogmatischen Herangehensweise an bestehende Probleme"). Evaluation As a university teacher Wolfram Heicking has taught many who later achieved success in their own right as musicians and composers. These include Arnold Fritzsch, Günther Fischer, Barbara Thalheim, Lutz Glandien, Jürgen Ecke and Ralf Petersen. His efforts to build bridges between “serious” and “ligh

Wolfram Menschick

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

Wolfram Menschick (28 October 1937 – 8 December 2010) was a German Catholic church musician, composer and academic teacher. From 1969 to 2002 he was responsible for the church music at Eichstätt Cathedral, also serving the Diocese of Eichstätt as music director and organ expert. He was a bell expert, a member of a national council. From 1986 to 2000, he was a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. His compositions, including 36 masses, are frequently performed. Life and career Born in Pielenhofen, and also honouring Pope Benedict XVI, who was his friend (as was also the Pope’s elder brother, the priest and musician Georg Ratzinger). Organ planning As the organ expert of the Eichstätt diocese from 1969, he planned several instruments. He preferred Baroque organs with mechanical actions, such as his largest project, the organ built for Eichstätt Cathedral in 1975 by . Private life and death Wolfram Menschick and his wife Roswitha had six daughters, including the author and the violin maker Julia Menschick. Menschick died in Eichstätt in 2010 at age 73. The requiem was celebrated by Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke. Recordings * Veni Domine – Der Eichstätter Domchor

Wolfram von Eschenbach

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Wolfram von Eschenbach (; c. 1160/80 – c. 1220) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram’s life. There are no historical documents which mention him, and his works are the sole source of evidence. In Parzival, he talks of (“we Bavarians”); the dialect of his works is East Franconian. On the basis of this and a number of geographical references, the present-day Wolframs-Eschenbach, until 1917 Obereschenbach, near Ansbach in present-day Bavaria, has been officially designated as his birthplace. However, the evidence is circumstantial and not without problems – there are at least four other places named Eschenbach in Bavaria, and Wolframs-Eschenbach was not part of the Duchy of Bavaria (, ‘Old Bavaria’) in Wolfram’s time. The arms shown in the Manesse manuscript come from the imagination of a 14th-century artist, drawing on the figure of the Red Knight in Parzival, and have no heraldic connection with Wolfram. Wolfram’s work indicates a number of possible patrons (most reliably Hermann I of Thuringia), which suggests that he served at a

Women in Latin music

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

Women have made significant contributions to Latin music, a genre which predates the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Indigenous communities reserved music for women, who were given equal opportunities with men to teach, perform, sing, and dance. Ethnomusicologists have measured ceramic, animal-bone, and cane flutes from the Inca Empire which indicate a preference for women with a high vocal range. Women had equal social status, were trained, and received the same opportunities in music as men in indigenous communities until the arrival of Columbus in the late 15th century. European settlers brought patriarchal, machismo ideologies to the continent, replacing the idea of equality between men and women. They equated native music with “savagery” and European music with “civilization”. Female musicians tended to be darker-skinned as a result of the slave trade (which increased the population of African slaves), and contemporary society denigrated music as a profession. Latin music became Africanized, with syncopated rhythms and call-and-response; European settlement introduced harmony and the Spanish décima song form. Since the pre-recording era of music, Latin music was male-dom

Women in music

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

Women in music have occupied many roles in the art over the centuries and have been responsible for a multitude of contributions, shaping movements, genres, and trends as singers, songwriters, composers, instrumental performers, and educators, and in behind-the-scenes roles. At the same time, however, many roles in music have been closed to or not encouraged for women. There has been growing awareness of this since perhaps the 1960s, and doors have been opening. Women’s music refers to music created by and directed towards women. It may explore political and social topics, influencing and impacting creativity, activism, and culture. Western composers Few works by women composers are part of standard classical music repertoire. In the Concise Oxford History of Music, for example, Clara Schumann is one of the only women composers mentioned. Medieval Era During the Medieval Era, most art music was created for liturgical (or otherwise religious) purposes. Due to views about the roles of women held by religious leaders, few women composed this type of music, with exceptions such as Hildegard von Bingen. Von Bingen (1098–1179), a German Benedictine abbess, was a composer, writer, and phi

Wonwoo

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

Jeon Won-woo (; born July 17, 1996), known mononymously as Wonwoo (), is a South Korean rapper and singer. Managed by Pledis Entertainment, he is a member of the South Korean boy band Seventeen, its hip hop team, and its second subunit, JxW. Early life and education Jeon Wonwoo was born in Changwon, South Korea, on July 17, 1996. He attended the School of Performing Arts Seoul and graduated in 2015. Career 2011–2014: Pre-debut Wonwoo joined Pledis Entertainment in 2011, where he would undergo singing and dancing training for four years. As a trainee, he participated from the first season onwards of Seventeen TV, an online reality show that introduced Pledis’ trainees and showed potential members of the boy group Seventeen before their official debut. The show was broadcast periodically on Ustream, where the trainees showed themselves training, singing, creating choreographies and playing games. The online show also included participation in concerts, titled Like Seventeen. 2015–present: Seventeen and solo activities In 2015, Wonwoo debuted as a member of the South Korean boy group Seventeen with the extended play 17 Carat on May 29. Within the 13-member group, he was selected to be

Woody Jackson

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

Woodrow Wilson Jackson III (born June 10, 1970) is an American composer and session musician. He is best known for his work with Rockstar Games, composing scores for its video games Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Born in Oil City, Pennsylvania, Jackson studied at Virginia State University for one year, taking harmonica lessons before dropping out and playing guitar in a band. He moved to Los Angeles in 1992, and eventually joined the band Friends of Dean Martinez. He later became a session musician, working on the soundtracks of films like Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Since 2009, he has owned and operated Electro-Vox Recording Studios, where he has recorded two original albums and much of his composing work. He is an avid collector of vintage instruments. Jackson began working with Rockstar Games in 2008, joining Bill Elm to co-compose the music of Red Dead Redemption, partly inspired by Ennio Morricone’s work on the Dollars Trilogy. They returned to compose the score for the downloadable content campaign Undead Nightmare in 2010, and Jackson provided additional in-game music for L.A. Noire in 2011. For the

Woozi

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

Lee Ji-hoon (; born November 22, 1996), known by his stage name Woozi (), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and record producer. Managed by Pledis Entertainment, he is a member of the South Korean boy band Seventeen, the leader of its vocal team, and part of its subunit Hoshi X Woozi. In 2022, he made his solo debut with “Ruby”. Aside from his work as a soloist and with Seventeen, Woozi has also written for other K-pop artists such as NU’EST W, Ailee, and I.O.I. Early life From a young age, Woozi studied classical music and learned to play the clarinet and other band instruments. He successfully auditioned for Pledis Entertainment and met labelmate Bumzu, a frequent collaborator on music production. He graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School and subsequently enrolled in Hanyang University. In 2022, he enrolled in a Master’s degree at Anyang University. Career 2015–present: Debut with Seventeen and solo activities On May 26, 2015, Woozi debuted in the self-producing group Seventeen with the single “Adore U”. He helped write and produce every track on their debut extended play (EP) 17 Carat. He has since become Seventeen’s main producer along with Bumzu and is credited for writing

Worakls

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

Kevin Rodrigues (born 28 September 1988), known by his stage name Worakls, is a French electronic musician and composer. He is known for blending orchestral and electronic instrumentation with rock and pop influences. On tour, he performs solo, with a small group of instrumentalists (Worakls Band), or with a much larger touring orchestra (Worakls Orchestra). Early & personal life Worakls comes from a musical family and started learning the piano at age three. After studying at a conservatory, he dedicated his time to electronic music and composition. At the age of 18, he began to create electronic music. He has found success with his remixes as well as his solo material and has shared that his influences are “mostly classical music, film music, and techno”. Worakls has a daughter, who inspired him to create the single “54”. Career In November 2014, he founded the label Hungry Music with his friends N’to and Joachim Pastor. A 2015 review in Billboard magazine referred to Worakls as a “rising French DJ” and described his tracks as “serious techno with a light touch”, “full of focused, nervous energy.” Between 2020 and 2022, he released music on his own imprint, Sonate Records. In Sep

Wouter Kellerman

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

Wouter Kellerman (born 20 September 1961) is a three-time Grammy Award-winning South African flautist, producer, composer and philanthropist, who has won nine South African Music Awards. Classically trained, Kellerman performs primarily World, Roots and New Age music. Background Kellerman was born in Johannesburg in 1961 to parents Pieter van Ellewee Kellerman and Susanna Petronella Greeff. Kellerman chose the flute as his instrument, and his parents hired the equipment and arranged lessons at the Randburg Music Centre. He was able to obtain a bursary from Anglo-American and studied electrical engineering at the University of Johannesburg. With two children to raise on his own, and not able to financially support them in music, he continued his engineering career while pursuing music part time. for his 2014 album Winds of Samsara, a collaboration with Indian composer and producer Ricky Kej. Winds of Samsara reached No. 1 on the US New Age Album Billboard Charts and also peaked at No. 1 on the ZMR (Zone Music Reporter) Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart in the month of July 2014. Kellerman’s Love Language (2015) received a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Contemporary Instrumental Album’, and w