Composer Data

Compiled by: Susan B. Zimmerman
K-5 Elementary Music Teacher
Bellefonte Area School District

 

This information is a research tool for my fifth grade students. If you find errors within the information or can add additional information please e-mail me at: szimmerm@basd.net

Anderson Johann Bach Bernstein Beethoven Brahms
Chopin Copland Debussy Ellington Foster
Handel Haydn Gershwin Liszt  
Mendelssohn  Mozart Mussorgsky  Schubert Schumann
Sousa  Strauss Stravinsky Tchaikovsky Verdi

 

Name: Leroy Anderson
Place of Birth:  Cambridge Massachusetts  United States Of America
Date of Birth: June 29 ,1908
Place of Death: Woodbury Connecticut
Date of Death:  May 18 ,1975
Most Popular Works: Jazz Pizzicato 1938 First Composition
Sleigh Ride 12/25/95
 
Parents Names:  
Parents Occupation: Son of Swedish Immigrants
First Job: At the age of 30 he was director of the Harvard University Band from 1931-35
1946-50 Orchestrator and arranger for the Boston Pops
Established Job Composer Conductor
Instruments Studied: 1919 Conservatory of Music 1926 Played trombone at Harvard University Band. 1929  MA  in music and 1930 M.A. in Music at Harvard.
Wife: Eleanor Firke in 1942 married and  in 1949 moved to Woodbury Connecticut where they raised four children.
Interesting Characteristic: Wrote music for the Boston Pops orchestra.
During WWII he was a translator and interpreter in Iceland because of his language skills. Wrote Syncopated Clock while working as Chief of the Scandinavian Desk of Military Intelligence at the Pentagon.

 

 

Time Period:  
WEB LINKS:  
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Name:  Johann Sebastian Bach
Place of Birth:   Eisenach Germany
Date of Birth:  March 21, 1685
Place of Death: Leipzig, Germany
Date of Death:  July, 28 1750
Most Popular Works: Brandenburg Concertos 1721
The Well Tempered Clavier 1722 and 1744
Mass in B Minor 1724-49
St. Matthew Passion 1729
Parents Names: Johann, Ambrosus
Parents Occupation: /Town Organist/Violinist/Musician
First Job: Choir member in Lunberg
Established Job 1708-Organist to Duke Wilhelm
The Duke would not release him from his duties and had him arrested for a month
Music Director to Prince Leopold
Director of Music Leipzig Thomas School 1723
Instruments Studied: Harpsichord, organ, clavichord, violin
Wife: Marries his cousin Maria Barbara (cousin) Seven children died 1720
Anna Magdalena Wilcken -daughter of court trumpeter Thirteen Children
Interesting Characteristic: Parents Died at age ten
1749-Became blind later in life
Married two times and had twenty children. Four of his sons had careers in composition. Carl Phillip Emanuel, Johann Christopher, Friedrich and Johann Christian.
Composed over 1000 pieces of music. Called the father of music.
Time Period: Baroque
WEB LINKS: http://www.jsbach.org/timeline.html
http://www.music-timelines.com/images/music_bach.htm
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Name: Leonard Bernstein
Place of Birth:  Lawrence, Massachusetts
Date of Birth: August, 25 1918
Place of Death: His home in New York City  because of Lung Failure
Date of Death: October 14, 1990
Most Popular Works: 1943-Ballet, Fancy Free
1957-Musical, West Side Story
1988-Concerto, for orchestra
Parents Names: Samuel and Jennie Bernstein
Parents Occupation: Business owner-Barbershop supplies salesman.
First Job: Professional Pianist 1937
Established Job Music Editor Harvard Advocate 1938
Assistant Conductor New York Philharmonic 1943
Music Director New York Symphony Orchestra 1945-47
Instruments Studied: Age ten started piano lessons with his Aunt Clara
Helen Coates piano teacher made him practice regularly. She later became his personal secretary.
Wife: Felica Berstein
1952 Birth of first daughter Jamie
1955 Birth of Son Alexander
1962 Birth of daughter Nina
Interesting Characteristic: 1932 First Piano Recital
1934-May 14, first piano recital, Roxbury Memorial High School.
Summer, adapted and produced his version of Carmen, Sharon, Mass., also singing the title role!
First radio series: "Avol  Presents Leonard Bernstein at the Piano," Station WBZ, Boston.
Entered Harvard.
Time Period: Contemporary  Music
WEB LINKS http://www.leonardbernstein.com/lifeswork/timeline/timeline01.asp
http://www.classical-composers.org/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=bernstei
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/bernstein
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Name: Ludwig  Van Beethoven
Place of Birth:  Bonn, Germany
Date of Birth: December 15 or 16 1770
Place of Death: Vienna, Austria
Date of Death: March 26, 1827 of pneumonia
Most Popular Works: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Eroica 1804
Violin Concerto in D 1806
Symphony No. 5 1808
Symphony No. 9 1824
 
Parents Names: Johann Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Laym
Two brothers Johann and Carl.
One sister Maria Margaretha who died at age one.
Parents Occupation: Mother was a cook for a nobleman.
Father was a musician.
First Job: 1782: Paid Position as second court organist
Established Job Composer, Conductor 
Instruments Studied: 1779 Clavier under Pfeiffer
Piano
Wife: Never married.
Interesting Characteristic: Age four started piano lessons. Father would beat him to practice.
1783 Age 13 Played in a theater orchestra to earn money.
1787 Age 17 Chief wage earner for his family.
1800's started to go deaf in his early twentys.
From his 3rd symphony ( 1804) to his 9th he never heard music.
Time Period: Classical Period
WEB LINKS:
http://www.raptusassociation.org/
http://www.ffaire.com/beethoven/
http://www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/timeline.htm
http://www-atdp.berkeley.edu/9931/htsai/beethoven.html
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Name: Johannes Brahms
Place of Birth:  Hamburg Germany
Date of Birth: May 7, 1833
Place of Death: Vienna Austria
Date of Death: April 3, 1897 died of Liver Cancer
Most Popular Works: Academic Festival Overture 1880
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor 1855-76
Violin Concerto in D 1878
Parents Names:  
Parents Occupation: Father was a double bass player in local orchestra
Mother was a seamstress in Hamburg
First Job: Age 13 played piano in local pubs.
Established Job 1857 Appointed teacher and conductor at German court of Detmold
Pianist, teacher and composer.
Instruments Studied: Eduard Marxsen was first teacher who recognized his talents and taught him for free.
Wife: Never married.
Interesting Characteristic: Lifelong friendship with Clara Schumann a talented composer and pianist. 
He is often called the last of the great Classicists.
Time Period: Romantic Period
WEB LINKS: http://www.mjq.net/brahms/JBbio.htm
http://binky.thinkquest.nl/~lla019/english/composers/brahms.html
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Name: Frederic Chopin
Place of Birth:  Near Warsaw Poland
Date of Birth: - February 22, 1810 or March 1, 1810
Place of Death: Paris, France
Date of Death: October 17, 1849
Most Popular Works: Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor 1830
Waltz in D-flat, Op. 64, No. 1( Minute Waltz)
Parents Names:  
Parents Occupation: son of a French father who played violin and flute and Polish mother who played the piano
First Job: First public piano performance was at the age of nine.
Established Job Performer
Instruments Studied: 1817-Piano
Wife: Chopin never married but had a ten year relationship with the novelist Aurore Dudevant whose pen name was George Sands.
Interesting Characteristic: Wrote over 200 works for the piano.
Time Period: Romantic
WEB LINKS: http://www.classical-composers.org/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=chopin
http://binky.thinkquest.nl/~lla019/english/composers/chopin.html
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Name: Aaron Copland
Place of Birth:  New York City, New York U.S.A.
Date of Birth: November 14, 1900
Two older brothers and sisters
Place of Death: North Tarrytown, New York U.S.A.
Date of Death: December 2, 1990
Most Popular Works: El Salon Mexico 1936
Rodeo 1942
Lincoln Portrait 1942
Appalachian Spring 1944
Parents Names: Harris and Sarah Copland
Parents Occupation: Lithuanian immigrants who owned a department store
First Job: Worked in parents  department store in the toy department,
Established Job Composer 
Instruments Studied: Learned to Play Piano from sister Laurine.
Wife:  
Interesting Characteristic: Best remembered for bringing together the worlds of popular and formal classical music.
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964
Age 15 decided to become a composer.
Influence by Jazz rhythms.
Age 20 studied composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris France
Time Period: Modern Music
WEB LINKS: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/achtml/actime.html
http://www.coplandheritage.org/Timeline.htm
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/achtml/achome.html
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Name:  Achille Claude Debussy
Place of Birth:  Saint -Germain-en-Laye, France
Date of Birth: August 22,1862
Place of Death: Paris, France
Date of Death: March 25, 1918
Most Popular Works: Suite Bergamasque 1890-1905
Prelude to L"apres-Midi d'un Faune 1894
La Mer 1905
Images 1905-07
Parents Names: Achille Claude
Parents Occupation: Shopkeepers near Paris (small china shop)
First Job: Tutored the children of Madame Nadezhda, Tchaikovsky's patron.
Established Job Composer, Teacher
Instruments Studied: Piano studied at the Paris Conservatory
Wife: Rosalie Texier in 1899
 Emma Bardac in 1904 one daughter
Interesting Characteristic: Called  the "great painter of dreams"
Father made him practice six or seven hours a day.
1892 helped free his country from German music influence.
1912 Afflicted with Cancer
1885 won Grand Prix de Rome giving him advanced study for three years
Time Period: Modern Music
WEB LINKS: http://www.ptloma.edu/music/MUH/composers/debussy.htm
http://jagor.srce.hr/~fsupek/
http://jagor.srce.hr/~fsupek/
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Name: Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
Place of Birth:  Washington D.C.
Date of Birth: April, 19, 1899
Place of Death: New York City
Date of Death: May 24, 1974
Most Popular Works: Sophisticated Lady
Satin Doll
Parents Names: James Edward  and  Daisy Kennedy
Parents Occupation: White House Butler
First Job: Soda Shop
Established Job Band Leader
Instruments Studied: Piano age 7
Wife: 1918 married Edna had a son Mercer in 1919 who became a musician
Interesting Characteristic: *Age 14 composed "Soda Fountain Ragtime" while working at a soda fountain
* 1923 formed the group the "Washingtonians"
*1933 took his band on European tour.
*At age 70 he was given a party at the White House.
*Jazz style of music...Played at Harlem's cotton club from 1927 until 1931
*Started to play piano after he was hit on the head with a baseball bat
*Wrote and performed first song for a High School Dance
*First Band Washingtonians 1917 *Changed bands name to Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1927
*Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Time Period: Contemporary Jazz Music
WEB LINKS: http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/text/ellington.html
http://www.duke.edu/~dti/timeline.html
http://www.dellington.org/timeline.html
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/kids/nowthen/duke.html
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Name: Stephen  Collins Foster
Place of Birth:  white cottage high on the hillside above the Allegheny River in Lawrenceville, east of Pittsburgh.
Date of Birth: July 4, 1826
Place of Death: January 13: Stephen Foster dies at New York's Bellevue Hospital. He dies in poverty, with 38 cents in his pocket and a scrap of paper on which is written "dear friends and gentle hearts."
Date of Death: 1-13-1864
Most Popular Works: first big hit "Oh!  Susanna." 
"Farewell, My Lilly Dear" (1851)
"My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night" (1853)
"Old Dog Tray" (1853)
"Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" (1854
Parents Names: November 14: William Foster marries Eliza Tomlinson
Parents Occupation:  
First Job: At age 20, Stephen went to work as a bookkeeper for his brother Dunning's steamship firm in Cincinnati
Established Job  
Instruments Studied: formal musical training from a German immigrant, Henry Kleber
Wife: Married Jane Denny MacDowell in 1850.
Their daughter Marion was born the following year.
Interesting Characteristic: In 1850, at the age of 24-year- he already had 12 compositions in print.
 

April1841: Stephen plays flute in a performance of his first composition, "The Tioga Waltz," at Athens Presbyterian Church in Athens, Pennsylvania. The score of the tune has since been lost.

Time Period:  
WEB LINKS: http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/foster.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/timeline/index.html
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Name: George Frideric Handel
Place of Birth:  Halle,Germany
Date of Birth: February, 23 1685
Place of Death: Buried atWestminster Abbey London, England
Date of Death: April 14, 1759
Most Popular Works: Water Music 1717
12 Concerti Grossi: Op. 6 1739
Messiah 1741
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Parents Names: Georg and Dorothea
Parents Occupation: Barber-Surgeon who hated music. His father was 62 years old when he was born.
First Job: Age 12 assistant organist at Halle.
Established Job Composer
Instruments Studied: Organ, harpsichord
Wife: Never married.
Interesting Characteristic: 1702 studied Law.
1704 Composed first opera
1753 Became entirely blind.
3000 people attended his funeral.
Time Period: Baroque Style
WEB LINKS: http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/handel.html
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/handel.html
http://www.temple.edu/music/composers/handel.html
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Name: Joseph Haydn
Place of Birth:  Rohrau, Austria
Date of Birth: March 31, 1732
Place of Death:  
Date of Death: May 31, 1809 in his sleep.
Most Popular Works: "Surprise Symphony":
"Emperor's Hymn"- Austria's National Anthem
Parents Names: Matthias Haydn and Maria Koller
Parents Occupation: Father was a wheelwright  and mother was a cook.
He was the second child of twelve brothers.
First Job: 1759 Music Director Count Morzin
Ludwig Van Beethoven was one of his students.
Papa 
Established Job 1761 Esterhazy Estate Choir master for 30 years.
Instruments Studied: Violin, Harpsichord
Wife:  
Interesting Characteristic: *He was first taught by his cousin.
*Member of St. Stephen's boys choir
*Papa Haydn called him the "Father of Modern Symphony"
*Teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven         
Time Period: Classical Period
WEB LINKS: http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/masterworks/medialib/timelines/06vienneseclassicism/haydnjoseph.html
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/haydnj.htm
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Name: George Gershwin
Place of Birth:  Brooklyn, New York 
Born Jacob Gershowitz
Date of Birth: September 26,1898
Place of Death: Beverly Hills, California
Date of Death: July 11, 1937 of brain tumor.
Most Popular Works: Swanee-1919 Tin Pan Alley Composer
Rhapsody in Blue -Written for Paul Whiteman Orchestra- First performed on February 12, 1924 made Gershwin famous
Porgy and Bess opera 1935
Parents Names: Morris and Rose Gershwin Immigrants from Russia
Parents Occupation:  
First Job: Age fifteen worked for Remick's a company that wrote and printed sheet music. Was paid 15 dollars a week to write songs for vaudeville performers
Established Job Composer, Performer 
Instruments Studied: Age twelve  parents bought a piano for his older brother Ira
 
Wife:  
Interesting Characteristic: First became interested in music at age seven or eight while roller skating in harlem.
Musical Comedies
One the Pulitzer Prize for Of Thee I Sing
Loved to paint.
Time Period: Contemporary  Music
WEB LINKS: http://gershwinfan.com/biogeorge.html
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/gershwin.html
http://www.ffaire.com/gershwin/timelinex.html
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Name: Franz Liszt
Place of Birth:  Raiding, Hungary
Date of Birth: October 22, 1811
Place of Death: Bayreuth, Germany
Date of Death: 1886
Most Popular Works: Dante Symphony 1856
Opera Don Sancho 1825
Parents Names: Adam who died in 1826 and Fran supported his mother Anna
Parents Occupation: Father was a cellist in Haydn's orchestra at Esterhazy Court.
First Job: Performer
Established Job Music Director at Court Weimar 1842-1852
Instruments Studied: Piano
Wife: Countess Marie d Agoult
Three Children daughter's name was Cosima.
Interesting Characteristic: 1820 age 9 1st performance giving a piano recital
1861 retired as a Concert Pianist     ( age  50 )
Time Period: Romantic Period
WEB LINKS: http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/franzliszt.html
http://www.artandculture.com/arts/artist?artistId=1325
http://www.naxos.com/qcomp.htm
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Name: Felix Mendelssohn 
Place of Birth:  Hamburg, Germany
Date of Birth: February 3, 1809
Place of Death: Leipzig
Date of Death: Died six months after death of sister Fanny November 4, 1847
Most Popular Works: *Age 17 wrote "Overture to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream"
* First piano Book published- "Songs without Words"            
Parents Names: Abraham and Leah German Jewish Family
Parents Occupation: Wealthy Banker
First Job: At age ten performing publicly 
Established Job 1843 Founded the Leipzig Conservatory, one of the most famous music schools in the world.
Instruments Studied: Mother taught him piano: Studied composition with famous music teacher Carl Zelter
Wife: Cecile Jeanrenaud daughter of a French minister and they had five children 
Interesting Characteristic: One of Four Children; sister Fanny became a musician
Time Period: Romantic
WEB LINKS: http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Composers/Felix-Mendelssohn.htm
http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/mendelssohn_bio.html

http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?styletimeline.html
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Name: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Place of Birth:  Salzburg, Austria
Date of Birth: January 27, 1756
Place of Death: Vienna, Austria
Date of Death: December 5, 1791
Most Popular Works: Marriage of Figaro May 1 1786
Magic Flute 1791
Wrote over 600 works
Parents Names: Leopold Mozart
Sisters name was Maria Anna
Parents Occupation: Father was a conductor, composer and music teacher.
First Job: Joins his father as a schoolmaster while beginning to compose seriously
Established Job Composer
Instruments Studied: Piano
Wife: Constance Weber 1781 -Two Sons
Interesting Characteristic: 1760 age 4 studied piano
1761 age 5 composed first piece of music
1762 age 6 first tour of Europe with his sister
Age 14 composed four symphonies and two one-act operas.
He was poor when he died and was buried in a pauper's unmarked grave.
Time Period: Classical Period
WEB LINKS: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/Mozartreq/mozartpage.html
http://www.mfiles.co.uk/Composers/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A395129

http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?styletimeline.html
 
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Name: Modest  Petrovich Mussorgsky
Place of Birth:  Karevo, Russia
Date of Birth: March 21, 1839
Place of Death: St Petersburg, Russia
Date of Death: March 28, 1881
Most Popular Works: 1867-St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain
1874-Pictures at an Exhibition
Parents Names:
Parents Occupation: Landowner
First Job: Managed the family estate until 1863 when the family fortune is lost, and Mussorgsky has to take a job in the civil service
Established Job
Instruments Studied: Mother gave him piano lessons
Wife:
Interesting Characteristic: 1852 entered the Guards Cadet School  as an officer cadet, but continues to study music and compose
1857- Begins music lessons from Mily Balakirev, a fellow member of The Five
1858 resigned his commission because of neverousnes.
Time Period: Romantic
WEB LINKS: http://www.stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?styletimeline.html
http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/mussorgsky.html

http://www.emory.edu/MUSIC/ARNOLD/musorgsky_content.html
http://courses.wcupa.edu/frichmon/mue332/fall2000/CullenScott/index2.html


 

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Name: Franz Schubert
Place of Birth:  Liechtenthal, Austria
Date of Birth: January 31, 1797-One of 19 children
Place of Death: Vienna
Date of Death:  November 19, 1828 Last wish was to be buried by Beethoven.
Most Popular Works: Unfinished Symphony
Parents Names: Franz Schubert
Parents Occupation: School teacher and chiormaster
First Job: 1813 taught in his fathers school
1818 Piano teacher Royal 
Established Job Musician Composer
Instruments Studied: Violin, Viola and piano by age six.
Wife:
Interesting Characteristic: Father taught him violin, piano, organ
Age 11 accepted to Vienna's famous choir school the Imperial Konvikt
Composed his first song  in 1811 at the age of 14.
His voice won him scholarship at Imperial Court Singers Choir
Developed the "Art Song" s song that is written for soloist and piano.
Time Period: Romantic Period
WEB LINKS: http://www.geocities.com/vienna/1938/schubert.htm#Notes%20on%20Franz%20Schubert
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-18046/schub.html
 
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Name: Robert Schumann
Place of Birth:  Zwickau, Germany
Date of Birth: June 8, 1810
Place of Death: Endenich, Germany
Date of Death: July, 29 1856
Most Popular Works: Symphony No.1, 'Spring' 1841
Piano Quintet in E-flat-1842
Piano Concerto in A-minor-1845
Parents Names:  
Parents Occupation: Book Publisher and writer
First Job: Civil Service
Established Job 1850-Appointed Music Director to the city of Düsseldorf-Composer writer and editor for music journal
Instruments Studied: 1816 started piano
Wife: Clara Wieck Schumann- They had seven/eight children.
Interesting Characteristic: 1828-Enters Leipzig University to study law and continues music studies
1854-Put into a mental institution form suffering a mental breakdown where he eventually died.
Time Period: Romantic Music
WEB LINKS: http://charlieks.tripod.com/timeline.htm
http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/masterworks/medialib/timelines/07romanticism1/schumann.html
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schumann_r.html
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Name: John Phillip Sousa
Place of Birth:  Washington D.C. 
Date of Birth: November 6th 1854
Third child of ten.
Place of Death: Reading, Pennsylvania buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Date of Death: 1932
Most Popular Works: The Washington Post March-1889
El Capitain 1895
The Stars and Stripes Forever 1896
Parents Names: John Antonio Sousa
Maria Elisabeht Trinkhaus
Parents Occupation: Father played trombone in U.S. Marine Band.
First Job:  
Established Job 1880 assumed leadership of US Marine Band.
1892 resigned to organize a civilian concert band.
Instruments Studied: voice, violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone, trombone and alto horn.
Wife: Jan Van Middlesworth Bellis December 30, 1879
Interesting Characteristic: 1867 age 13 father enlisted him in the marines because he attempted to run away and join a circus.
1892 First Sousa Concert was performed at Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, New Jersey.
1900-1905 Three European Band tours
1910 .
1917-During World War I, Sousa joins the US Naval Reserve at age 62; he is assigned the rank of lieutenant and paid a salary of $1 per month
Time Period:  
WEB LINKS: http://www.dws.org/sousa/
http://www.pdinfo.com/list/sousa.htm
http://www.dws.org/sousa/band.htm
http://www.dws.org/sousa/about.htm

http://www.dws.org/sousa/articles/works.htm
http://www.usmarinesbirthplace.com/SOUSA.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/music/sousa/band_1

 

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Name: Igor Stravinsky
Place of Birth:  Near St. Petersburg, Russia
Date of Birth: June 17,1882
Place of Death: New York City, New York, U.S.A.-buried in Venice, near Diaghilev
Date of Death: April 6,1971
Most Popular Works: The Firebird 1910
Petroushka 1911
The Rite Of Spring 1913
Parents Names: Feodor was his father.
Parents Occupation: Father was a famous opera singer in the St. Petersburg Imperial Opera
First Job:
Established Job Composer Musician
Instruments Studied: Piano
Wife: Katerina Nossenko-1906
Vera de Bosset-1940
Interesting Characteristic: 1901-Begins studying law-Did not pursue a career in music until he was in law school.
1939-Following death of wife and daughter from tuberculosis, leaves France for the U.S
1945-Becomes a U.S. citizen
Time Period: Modern Music
WEB LINKS: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1807/strav.html
http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/stravinsky.html
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tan/Stravinsky/
http://www.island-of-freedom.com/STRAV.HTM
http://www.cs.hut.fi/~pno/Music/Stravinsky/disco.html
http://www.cs.hut.fi/~pno/Music/Stravinsky/
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Name: Richard Strauss
Place of Birth:  Munich, Germany
Date of Birth: June 11, 1864
Place of Death: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Date of Death: September 8, 1949
Most Popular Works: Don Juan 1888
Thus Spake Zarathustra 1896 Fanfare used in 2001: A Space Odyssey
Der Rosenkavalier 1911-Opera
Parents Names: Franz 
Parents Occupation: Father Horn Player
First Job: Composer
Established Job Composer and Conductor
Instruments Studied: Piano
Wife: Singer Pauline de Ahna in 1894
Interesting Characteristic: Become president of the Nazi party briefly for financial reasons but then denounced the regime and moved to 
Time Period: Romantic
WEB LINKS http://www.richard-strauss.com/biography.html
http://www.richardstrauss.at/html_e/17_willkommen/0fs_index.html
http://stevenestrella.com/composers/index.html?composerfiles/strauss1949.html
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Name: Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
Place of Birth:  Ural Mountains settlement In Russia
Date of Birth: May 7, 1840
Place of Death: St. Petersburg, Russia
Date of Death: November 6, 1893
Most Popular Works: Romeo and Juliet Overture 1869
Swan Lake 1877
Nutcracker Suite 1892
Parents Names: Anatol Tchaikovsky and Nadezhada
Parents Occupation: Father was a mining inspector
First Job: Law Clerk
Established Job Composer
Instruments Studied: Piano age five.
Wife: Married in 1877 which lasted for a few weeks
Interesting Characteristic: Parents sent him to school to study government. School of Jurisprudence
1866 Professor of Harmony at Conservatoire of Moscow
Time Period: Romantic Music
WEB LINKS: http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/tchaikovsky_bio.html
http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/tchai.html
http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/tchaik.html
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Name: Giuseppe Verdi
Place of Birth:  Le Roncole, Italy
Date of Birth: October 10, 1813
Place of Death: St Agata Busseto, Italy
Date of Death: January 27, 1901
Most Popular Works: Macbeth 1847 revised in 1865
Rigoletto 1851
Adia 1871
Requiem Mass 1874
Parents Names: Carlo Verdi
Parents Occupation: Small Store Keeper
First Job: At eight years old he was a church organist.
Established Job  
Instruments Studied:  
Wife: Margherita Barezzi 1836
Interesting Characteristic: Age 12 organist made £4 a year in pay.
1829 age 16 conducted first concert.
1839 His son and daughter died.
1840 His wife Margherita died.
Time Period: Romantic
WEB LINKS: http://www.r-ds.com/opera/verdiana/chronology.htm
http://www.edinboro.edu/cwis/music/Cordell/comp-verdi.html
http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/verdi.html
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