Showing 1 - 25 of 65
Artist: Timothy Leary
Most famous as a writer and countercultural theorist, Timothy Leary recorded a collectable spoken word/sound montage album of sorts at the height of the psychedelic era, and released cassettes of his lectures on his own. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [+] Read More
Artist: Giuseppe Tartini
An Italian violinist, composer, and music theorist who made several important acoustical discoveries (resulting in treatises) and wrote numerous violin pieces, the most famous of which is The Devil's Trill sonata. ~ Mary K. Scanlan, All Music Guide [+] Read More
Artist: Ferruccio Busoni
An Italian/German pianist and composer of chamber pieces whose later works imply a rethinking of his distinct compositional style. An accomplished concert pianist and visionary musical theorist, Busoni wrote with great subtlety and invention and created a strange tonal world entirely his own. ~ Blue Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide [+] Read More
Artist: Stefano Bernardi
An Italian composer and theorist who was an important figure in the transition from the polyphonic style to concertato. This transition is illustrated by his masses of 1615 where some of the masses remain unaccompanied while others are scored for voice and instrument. He had previously already used the concertato in arrangements for motets and... [+] Read More
Artist: Dimitrie Cantemir
A Romanian scholar, musicographer, composer and theorist whose major contribution to the history of music was "Descriptio Moldaviae" and "An Introduction to Turkish music". (The latter has been lost.) Cantemir collected and wrote about Turkish theories of music as well as the musical folk traditions of Romania. Although he lived during the... [+] Read More
Artist: P. Carrera Y Lanchares
Spanish composer, theorist, organist and liturgist whose legacy consists primarily of music and theory in the context of the church service. Carrera wrote "Rudimentos de musica" for novice music students in the seminary but his "Salmodia organica" (and its second edition "Adiciones a la salmodia organica") are the best representations of his... [+] Read More
Artist: Tomaso Cimello
An Italian composer, teacher, theorist and poet who was connected to the Aragona court and by whom he proably received an appointment to Colona. Cimello's "Regole nove" was a theoretical work designed to teach about the rules governing music as well as to provide a system by which amateur singers could learn to memorize words and music as well... [+] Read More
Artist: George Edvardovich Conus
This Russian composer and theorist was also a professor of harmony and orchestration at the Moscow Conservatory and, later, Saratoff Conservatory. Conus had been a student of Arensky and Taneieff. His compositions were primarily orchestral pieces that ranged from symphonic poems to ballets and concertos. Conus' theoretical works contended with... [+] Read More
Artist: Domenico Da Piacenza
Dance master, theorist and composer, Domenico arranged the dances for the marriage of Tristano Sforza at the request of Francesco. He worked primarily for the Este court until at least 1470. "De arte saltandi e choreas ducendii" was the treatise on dance written by Domenico in which he often referred to Aristotle's "Aesthetics". Dance steps were... [+] Read More
Artist: Claudio Monteverdi
An Italian composer of opera (Orfeo, 1607) as well as sacred and secular vocal music. Monteverdi was a significant early composer in the operatic genre. Basing his music on his interpretations of ancient texts by Greek theorists (who were greatly respected by Renaissance intellectuals), Monteverdi produced original music from the material of the... [+] Read More
Artist: Bonifazio Asioli
Asioli was a pianist, theorist and composer of some renown among his contemporaries: greatly lauded. He was the first conductor to perform Haydn's "Seasons" and "Creation" which speaks highly of his directorial abilities. Bonifazio wrote a number of operas including "Il ratto di Proserpina," and "Cinna." At the prompting of Mayr he was the first... [+] Read More
Artist: Sébastien de Brossard
Brossard did not have much formal training but was, nevertheless, a composer, theorist and lute player. He was a priest at Notre Dame and composed a number of sacred works, notably motets, oratorios, masses, and cantatas. (Prior to this he had composed a number of chansons and airs as well.) He wrote a number of treatises and collected many... [+] Read More
Artist: Manuel Chrysaphes
A Byzantine composer and theorist. Chrysaphes was present in the courts of the last two Byzantine emperors and later in life travelled as far as Serbia and Crete. He wrote literature that attempted to convey the practical and theoretical aspects of Greek chants so that one might achieve a sound understanding of them. Modal changes in a... [+] Read More
Artist: Charles-François Clément
A French composer, arranger and theorist who transposed the music of Pergolisi and was well acquainted with Forqueray, Rosa Baletti and Casanova. Clement composed works for the stage including comic operas, keyboard sonatas and cantatilles. Characteristics of Clement's sonatas include constantly moving multi-layered lines, and a cognizance of... [+] Read More
Artist: Giovanni Battista Conforti
This Italian composer, theorist and singer was primarily known for his singing abilities and theoretical elaborations. His primary theoretical work discusses the conventions employed by the musicians of his day with a description of common intervals, cadences and ornamentation. Conforti clearly indicated adjustments that can be made by different... [+] Read More
Artist: Johannes Crüger
Composer and theorist and the German singer who revivified the Protestant chorale. He composed a number of memorable hymn melodies most of which were published in "Praxis pietatis melica." This volume contains in excess of 200 texts and 100 melodies. Cruger arranged the melodies with a figured bass yielding both practical and artistic results.... [+] Read More
Artist: Girolamo Diruta
This teacher, organist and music theorist was prominent and well-versed in his discipline and on his instrument. Diruta's major contribution to the musical corpus of literature was "Il tansilvano dialogo sopra il vero modo di sonor organi, et istromenti da penna". This dialogue contained most of his important compositional works (tocattas,... [+] Read More
Artist: Ronnie & Clyde
Breakbeat trainspotters and reflexive sample merchants John Ross and Rob Fitzpatrick formed Ronnie & Clyde. After about a year of recording, the duo began putting in over-time with their sampler and dealt the results to Swim Recordings. Though the label was more noted for post-acid theorists than rude-boy inheritors, label-head Colin Newman... [+] Read More
Artist: Adriano Banchieri
As an Italian composer, organist, musicographer and theorist, Banchieri served the church in membership to the Olivetan order. In his composing Adriano was a follower of the strict rules contained in the Council of Trent. Most harmonies were vertical with little or no horizontal writing. These qualities are revealed in his 12 masses. He composed... [+] Read More
Artist: Johann Kuhnau
Johann Kuhnau was a composer, keyboardist, music theorist, scholar, writer and lawyer. He was known for his keyboard music and preceeded Bach as Kantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig. After Kuhnau showed early musical promise and was active as a church musician and music student, culminating with the Kantorship in 1701. In addition to his... [+] Read More
Artist: Harry Partch
Harry Partch grew up in Tombstone, AZ, and was taught by his family to play the clarinet, harmonica, reed organ, guitar. A self-taught composer, he rode the rails during the early Depression years. Partch was an original theorist on tuning systems, wrote the extraordinary book Genesis of a Music (1949), and an instrument designer and builder... [+] Read More
Artist: James Tenney
Studied piano with Eduard Steuermann. Composition with Chou Wen-chung, Lionel Nowak, Paul Boepple, Henry Brant, Carl Ruggles, Kenneth Gaburo, Lejaren Hiller, Edgard Varése. Associate Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Telephone Labs from 1961-64. Developed computer systems at Yale and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. Co-founder Tone Roads... [+] Read More
Artist: Jerry Coker
A highly respected instructor, theorist and author, Jerry Coker's early career was spent playing in such big bands as Woody Herman's. He interrupted his studies at Indiana University to join Herman in late 1953, then toured with them until the summer of 1954. He made some recordings in Paris and San Francisco as a leader, and as a sideman with... [+] Read More
Artist: Larry Polansky
Composer, performer, guitarist, and educator Larry Polansky has written and arranged over 40 works for a variety of instrumentations. He is a core member of the Frog Peak Music composer's collective, and a widely published music theorist who co-wrote HSML, or Hierarchical Music Specification Language, with Phil Burk and David Rosenboom, as well... [+] Read More
Artist: Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion was an English composer, poet, writer, lutenist, theorist and medical doctor. The majority of his compositions were songs accompanied by lute. Unusual for the time, Campion wrote the words to all of his songs. This, unfortunately, did not have any bearing on the merits of his compositions. His melodies were non-spontaneous but did... [+] Read More
