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Welcome to the
COMPOSITION NOTES Page of
aMUSIClassical Directory
Our Classical Music website
for good music lovers.
 
Schwann Opus
Magazine DescriptionSchwann Opus is the most comprehensive listing of classical recordings available in the United States. Recognized as the "definitive reference guide to classical music," this annual publication contains over 45,000 CDs and cassette tapes, and features an "Artist of the Year" profile. Items are organized under the composer name, and each piece on the recording is fully listed. Thousands of classical music enthusiasts find Schwann Opus indispensable in making their purchasing decisions.
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Notes on Major Compositions
listed by composer
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- Offenbach 'Contes d'Hoffman' (kont doff MAHNN) See 'Tales of
Hoffman)
- Offenbach 'Gaite Parisienne'
Manuel Rosenthal created the ballet from melodies and themes composed by
Jacques Offenbach. The ballet was FP on April 5, 1938 by the Ballet Russe
de Monte Carlo.
- Offenbach 'Orpheus in the Underworld' Overture
Rossini called Offenbach the 'Mozart of the Champs Elysees'. The opera
'Orpheus in the Underworld' premiered on October 21, 1858 and was revised
in 1874. It was received very well.
- Offenbach 'Tales of Hoffman'
- Orff 'Carmina Burana'
The highly innovative German composer Carl Orff was born in Munich on July
10, 1895. He died of cancer at the age of
86 in Munich on March 29, 1982. He was the developer of a unique method of
musical education. He wrote a five volume set of children's music books.
First published in the 1930's. The teaching method stresses simplicity
and uses rhythmic games and gymnastics to convey musical concepts. His
masterwork was the 1937 collection of earthy 13th century
poems set to music and arranged for orchestra and voices called 'Carmina
Burana'. After seeing it performed he ordered all of his previous
compositions destroyed.
The texts were discovered by others in 1803 in an ancient Bavarian
monastery. It
is also known as "The Songs of the Barons".
- Orff 'Catulli Carmina'
Carl Orff was born in Munich Germany in 1895, he died there on March 29,
1982. His works are essentially neo-primitive in musical style. From old
legends and medieval texts. His familiar 'Carmina Burana' was written in
1937. His 'Catulli Carmina' from 1943. It was premiered in that year in
Leipzig.
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