Susan Zannos
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Unlike most 19th Century composers who had to struggle to make a living, Felix Mendelssohn came from a very wealthy family. He never had to work, but he worked harder to fulfill his family's expectations than many who suffered poverty. He was an extremely gifted musical genius who wrote some of his best works while he was still a teenager. Mendelssohn gained fame as a conductor, and as the organizer of many music festivals in Germany and in England...
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Marco Polo, the first European to travel to China and return to write about his adventures, was born in Venice in 1254. Marco s father had left on a journey to Asia before the boy was born. Marco did not see his father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, until fifteen years later. In 1271 the three Polos left Venice and headed for the court of Kublai Khan in eastern China. The journey took them more than three years-they arrived in 1275. Marco Polo...
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During Beethoven s darkest times, when he stumbled about the streets of Vienna like a ragged madman, people thought his career was over. Many of his friends and patrons had died. He no longer seemed to be producing music except for a few trivial pieces. >But appearances were wrong. He was creating what is generally regarded as his greatest single work. Known as the Ninth Symphony, it is much more difficult and massive than any of the preceding eight....
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Socrates, the great Athenian philosopher, was born during the Golden Age of Greece, one of the most glorious periods in human history. He grew up during the exciting days of Pericles in Athens, in the midst of the flowering of drama and poetry, the creation of magnificent architecture and sculpture, the writing of literature that has inspired mankind for 2,500 years. The glory of Athens, inspired by the Athenians victory over the Persians against...
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Franz Joseph Haydn s importance in the history of music is so great that it would be difficult to summarize his achievements in a few paragraphs. He inherited the sonata from Bach and made it into a great form of musical expression. He established the symphony, preparing the way for Mozart and Beethoven. He is often called the father of the string quartet. In fact, Mozart commented that it was from Haydn that he learned how to compose for four-stringed...
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The most famous of the bandmaster-composers was John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), who in 1880 became leader of the U.S. Marine band. In 1892, he organized his own band that toured throughout the world. Known as The March King, Sousa was a highly skilled composer of marches. He wrote more than one hundred of them, including the famous Stars and Stripes Forever that became the official United States march in 1987. A strong-willed child, Sousa s first memories...