, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven; second row - Gioachino Rossini, Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi; third row - Johann Strauss II, Johannes Brahms, Georges Bizet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonín Dvořák; fourth row - Edvard Grieg, Edward Elgar, Sergei Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin, Aram Khachaturian]]

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period.

European music is largely distinguished from many other non-European and popular musical forms by its system of staff notation, in use since about the 16th century. Western staff notation is used by composers to prescribe to the performer the pitch, speed, meter, individual rhythms and exact execution of a piece of music. This leaves less room for practices such as improvisation and ad libitum ornamentation, that are frequently heard in non-European art music (compare Indian classical music and Japanese traditional music) and popular music.

The term "classical music" did not appear until the early 19th century, in an attempt to "canonize" the period from Johann Sebastian Bach to Beethoven as a golden age. The earliest reference to "classical music" recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.

Characteristics

Given the extremely broad variety of forms, styles, genres, and historical periods generally perceived as being described by the term "classical music," it is difficult to list characteristics that can be attributed to all works of that type. Vague descriptions are plentiful, such as describing classical music as anything that "lasts a long time," a statement made rather moot when one considers contemporary composers who are described as classical; or music that has certain instruments like violins, which are also found in other genres. However, there are characteristics that classical music contains that few or no other genres of music contain.

Instrumentation

The instruments used in most classical music were largely invented before the mid-19th century (often much earlier), and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries. They consist of the instruments found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (such as the piano, harpsichord, and organ).

Electric instruments such as the electric guitar appear occasionally in the classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both classical and popular musicians have experimented in recent decades with electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, electric and digital techniques such as the use of sampled or computer-generated sounds, and the sounds of instruments from other cultures such as the gamelan.

None of the bass instruments existed until the Renaissance. In Medieval music, instruments are divided in two categories: loud instruments for use outdoors or in church, and quieter instruments for indoor use. Many instruments which are associated today with popular music used to have important roles in early classical music, such as bagpipes, vihuelas, hurdy-gurdies and some woodwind instruments. On the other hand, instruments such as the acoustic guitar, which used to be associated mainly with popular music, have gained prominence in classical music through the 19th and 20th centuries.

While equal temperament became gradually accepted as the dominant musical temperament during the 19th century, different historical temperaments are often used for music from earlier periods. For instance, music of the English Renaissance is often performed in mean tone temperament. Keyboards almost all share a common layout (often called the piano keyboard).

Form

Whereas the majority of popular styles lend themselves to the song form, classical music can also take on the form of the concerto, symphony, sonata, opera, dance music, suite, étude, symphonic poem, and others.

Classical composers often aspire to imbue their music with a very complex relationship between its affective (emotional) content and the intellectual means by which it is achieved. Many of the most esteemed works of classical music make use of musical development, the process by which a musical idea or motif is repeated in different contexts or in altered form. The sonata form and fugue employ rigorous forms of musical development.

Technical execution

Along with a desire for composers to attain high technical achievement in writing their music, performers of classical music are faced with similar goals of technical mastery, as demonstrated by the proportionately high amount of schooling and private study most successful classical musicians have had when compared to "popular" genre musicians, and the large number of secondary schools, including conservatories, dedicated to the study of classical music. The only other genre in the Western world with comparable secondary education opportunities is jazz.

Complexity

Performance of classical music repertoire often demands a significant level of technical mastery on the part of the musician; proficiency in sight-reading and ensemble playing, thorough understanding of tonal and harmonic principles, knowledge of performance practice, and a familiarity with the style/musical idiom inherent to a given period, composer or musical work are among the most essential of skills for the classically trained musician.

Works of classical repertoire often exhibit artistic complexity through the use of thematic development, phrasing, harmonization, modulation (change of key), texture, and, of course, musical form itself. Larger-scale compositional forms (such as that of the symphony, concerto, opera or oratorio, for example) usually represent a hierarchy of smaller units consisting of phrases, periods, sections, and movements. Musical analysis of a composition aims at achieving greater understanding of it, leading to more meaningful hearing and a greater appreciation of the composer's style.

Society

Often perceived as opulent or signifying some aspect of upper-level society, classical music has generally never been as popular with working-class society. However, the traditional perception that only upper-class society has access to and appreciation for classical music, or even that classical music represents the upper-class society, may not be true, given that many working classical musicians fall somewhere in the middle-class income range in the United States, and that classical concertgoers and CD buyers are not necessarily upper class. Even in the Classical era, Mozart's opere buffe such as Così fan tutte were popular with the general public.

Classical music regularly features in pop culture, forming background music for movies, television programs and advertisements. As a result most people in the Western World regularly and often unknowingly listen to classical music; thus, it can be argued that the relatively low levels of recorded music sales may not be a good indicator of its actual popularity. In more recent times the association of certain classical pieces with major events has led to brief upsurges in interest in particular classical genres. A good example of this was the choice of Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot as the theme tune for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which led to a noticeable increase in popular interest in opera and in particular in tenor arias, which led to the huge sellout concerts by The Three Tenors. Such events are often cited as helping to drive increases in the audiences at many classical concerts that have been observed in recent times.

History

The major time divisions of classical music are the early music period, which includes Medieval (476–1400) and Renaissance (1400–1600), the Common practice period, which includes the Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1730–1820) and Romantic (1815–1910) periods, and the modern and contemporary period, which includes 20th century classical (1900–2000) and contemporary classical (1975–current).

The dates are generalizations, since the periods overlapped and the categories are somewhat arbitrary. For example, the use of counterpoint and fugue, which is considered characteristic of the Baroque era, was continued by Haydn, who is classified as typical of the Classical period. Beethoven, who is often described as a founder of the Romantic period, and Brahms, who is classified as Romantic, also used counterpoint and fugue, but other characteristics of their music define their period.

The prefix neo is used to describe a 20th century or contemporary composition written in the style of an earlier period, such as Classical or Romantic. Stravinsky's Pulcinella, for example, is a neoclassical composition because it is stylistically similar to works of the Classical period.

Roots

The roots of Western classical music lie in early Christian liturgical music, and its influences date back to the Ancient Greeks. Development of individual tones and scales was done by ancient Greeks such as Aristoxenus and Pythagoras. Pythagoras created a tuning system and helped to codify musical notation. Ancient Greek instruments such as the aulos (a reed instrument) and the lyre (a stringed instrument similar to a small harp) eventually led to the modern-day instruments of a classical orchestra. The antecedent to the early period was the era of ancient music from before the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD). Very little music survives from this time, most of it from Ancient Greece.

Early Period

in a fourteenth-century Medieval manuscript.]] , an Ars subtilior piece included in the Chantilly Codex.]] , Kyrie "Au travail suis," excerpt.]]

The Medieval period includes music from after the fall of Rome to about 1400. Monophonic chant, also called plainsong or Gregorian Chant, was the dominant form until about 1100. This invention made possible the separation of the composition of a piece of music from its transmission; without written music, transmission was oral, and subject to change every time it was transmitted. With a musical score, a work of music could be performed without the composer's presence. The invention of the movable-type printing press in the 15th century had far-reaching consequences on the preservation and transmission of music.

Typical stringed instruments of the Early Period include the harp, lute, vielle, and psaltery, while wind instruments included the flute family (including recorder), shawm (an early member of the oboe family), trumpet, and the bagpipe. Simple pipe organs existed, but were largely confined to churches, although there were portable varieties. Later in the period, early versions of keyboard instruments like the clavichord and harpsichord began to appear. Stringed instruments such as the viol had emerged by the 16th century, as had a wider variety of brass and reed instruments. Printing enabled the standardization of descriptions and specifications of instruments, as well as instruction in their use.

Common Practice Period

The Common Practice Period is when many of the ideas that make up western classical music took shape, standardized, or were codified. It began with the Baroque era, running from roughly 1600 to the middle of the 18th century. The Classical era followed, ending roughly around 1820. The Romantic era ran through the 19th century, ending about 1910.

Baroque music

, harpsichord, bass viol, lute, violin, and baroque guitar.]] Baroque music is characterized by the use of complex tonal counterpoint and the use of a basso continuo, a continuous bass line. The beginnings of the sonata form took shape in the canzona, as did a more formalized notion of theme and variations. The tonalities of major and minor as means for managing dissonance and chromaticism in music took full shape.

During the Baroque era, keyboard music played on the harpsichord and pipe organ became increasingly popular, and the violin family of stringed instruments took the form generally seen today. Opera as a staged musical drama began to differentiate itself from earlier musical and dramatic forms, and vocal forms like the cantata and oratorio became more common. Instrumental ensembles began to distinguish and standardize by size, giving rise to the early orchestra for larger ensembles, with chamber music being written for smaller groups of instruments where parts are played by individual (instead of massed) instruments. The concerto as a vehicle for solo performance accompanied by an orchestra became widespread, although the relationship between soloist and orchestra was relatively simple. The theories surrounding equal temperament began to be put in wider practice, especially as it enabled a wider range of chromatic possibilities in hard-to-tune keyboard instruments. Although Bach did not use equal temperament, as a modern piano is generally tuned, changes in the temperaments from the meantone system, common at the time, to various temperaments that made modulation between all keys musically acceptable, made possible Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

Classical period music

(1732 - 1809) ca. 1770.]] The Classical period, from about 1750 to 1820, established many of the norms of composition, presentation, and style, and was also when the piano became the predominant keyboard instrument. The basic forces required for an orchestra became somewhat standardized (although they would grow as the potential of a wider array of instruments was developed in the following centuries). Chamber music grew to include ensembles with as many as 8-10 performers for serenades. Opera continued to develop, with regional styles in Italy, France, and German-speaking lands. The opera buffa, a form of comic opera, rose in popularity. The symphony came into its own as a musical form, and the concerto was developed as a vehicle for displays of virtuoso playing skill. Orchestras no longer required a harpsichord (which had been part of the traditional continuo in the Baroque style), and were often led by the lead violinist (now called the concertmaster).

Wind instruments became more refined in the Classical period. While double reeded instruments like the oboe and bassoon became somewhat standardized in the Baroque, the clarinet family of single reeds was not widely used until Mozart expanded its role in orchestral, chamber, and concerto settings.

Romantic era music

The music of the Romantic era, from roughly the second decade of the 19th century to the early 20th century, was characterized by increased attention to an extended melodic line, as well as expressive and emotional elements, paralleling romanticism in other art forms. Musical forms began to break from the Classical era forms (even as those were being codified), with free-form pieces like nocturnes, fantasias, and preludes being written where accepted ideas about the exposition and development of themes were ignored or minimized. The music became more chromatic, dissonant, and tonally colorful, with tensions (with respect to accepted norms of the older forms) about key signatures increasing. The art song (or Lied) came to maturity in this era, as did the epic scales of grand opera, ultimately transcended by Richard Wagner's Ring cycle.

In the 19th century, musical institutions emerged from the control of wealthy patrons, as composers and musicians could construct lives independent of the nobility. Increasing interest in music by the growing middle classes throughout western Europe spurred the creation of organizations for the teaching, performance, and preservation of music. The piano, which achieved its modern construction in this era (in part due to industrial advances in metallurgy) became widely popular with the middle class, whose demands for the instrument spurred a large number of piano builders. Many symphony orchestras date their founding to this era.

The family of instruments used, especially in orchestras, grew. A wider array of percussion instruments began to appear. Brass instruments took on larger roles, as the introduction of rotary valves made it possible for them to play a wider range of notes. The size of the orchestra (typically around 40 in the Classical era) grew to be over 100.

20th century, modern, and contemporary music

and Pablo Picasso collaborated on Pulcinella in 1920.]]

Modernism (1905–1985) marked a period when many composers rejected certain values of the common practice period, such as traditional tonality, melody, instrumentation, and structure. Composers, academics, and musicians developed extensions of music theory and technique. 20th century classical music, encompassing a wide variety of post-Romantic styles composed through the year 1999, includes late Romantic, Modern and Postmodern styles of composition. The term "contemporary music" is sometimes used to describe music composed in the late 20th century through to the present day.

Significance of written notation

Modernist view of the significance of the score

Modernist views hold that: Classical music is considered primarily a written musical tradition, preserved in music notation, as opposed to being transmitted orally, by rote, or by recordings of particular performances. While there are differences between particular performances of a classical work, a piece of classical music is generally held to transcend any interpretation of it. The use of musical notation is an effective method for transmitting classical music, since the written music contains the technical instructions for performing the work. The written score, however, does not usually contain explicit instructions as to how to interpret the piece in terms of production or performance, apart from directions for dynamics, tempo and expression (to a certain extent); this is left to the discretion of the performers, who are guided by their personal experience and musical education, their knowledge of the work's idiom, and the accumulated body of historic performance practices.

Criticism of this modernism view on the importance of the score

Some critics express the opinion that it is only from the mid 19th century, but esp. in the 20th century that the score has begun to hold such a high significance. Previously improvisation, rhythmic flexibility, improvisatory deviation from the score and oral tradition of playing was integral to style of music. Yet in the 20th century this oral tradition and passing on of stylistic features within classical music no longer exists. Instead musicians use the score to play music, yet even given the score, there is considerable controversy about how to perform the works. Some of this controversy relates to the fact that this score-centric approach has led to performing styles that emphasize metrically strict block-rhythms (just as the music is notated in the score). This eventually led Sol Babitz to speak of "sewing machine Bach".

Some quotes that highlight this criticism of modernist overvaluing of the score:

[...]one of the most stubborn modern misconceptions concerning baroque music is that a metronomic regularity was intended (Baroque Interpretation in Grove 5th edition by Robert Donington)

Too many teachers, conditioned to 20th Century ideas, teach Bach and other Baroque music exactly the wrong way. This leads to what musicologist Sol Babitz calls "sewing machine Bach." by Harold C. Schonberg)

Improvisation

Improvisation once played an important role in classical music. A remnant of this improvisatory tradition in classical music can be heard in the cadenza, a passage found mostly in concertos and solo works, designed to allow skilled performers to exhibit their virtuoso skills on the instrument. Traditionally this was improvised by the performer; however, it is often written for (or occasionally by) the performer beforehand. Improvisation is also an important aspect in authentic performances of operas of Baroque era and of bel canto (especially operas of Vincenzo Bellini), and is best exemplified by the da capo aria, a form by which famous singers typically perform variations of the thematic matter of the aria in the recapitulation section ('B section' / the 'da capo' part). An example is Beverly Sills' complex, albeit pre-written, variation of Da tempeste il legno infranto from Händel's Giulio Cesare.

Its written transmission, along with the veneration bestowed on certain classical works, has led to the expectation that performers will play a work in a way that realizes in detail the original intentions of the composer. During the 19th century the details that composers put in their scores generally increased. Yet the opposite trend — admiration of performers for new "interpretations" of the composer's work — can be seen, and it is not unknown for a composer to praise a performer for achieving a better realization of the original intent than the composer was able to imagine. Thus, classical performers often achieve very high reputations for their musicianship, even if they do not compose themselves. Generally however, it is the composers who are remembered more than the performers.

Another consequence of the primacy of the composer's written score is that this has led to the state, where today improvisation plays a relatively minor role in classical music, in sharp contrast to musicians who lived during the baroque, classical and romantic era. Improvisation in classical music performance was common during both the Baroque era and in the nineteenth, yet lessened strongly during the 2nd half of the 19th and in the 20th centuries. Recently the performance of such music by modern classical musicians has been enriched by a revival of the old improvisational practices. During the classical period, Mozart and Beethoven often improvised the cadenzas to their piano concertos (and thereby encouraged others to do so), but they also provided written cadenzas for use by other soloists. In opera, the practice of singing strictly by the score i.e. come scritto, is famously propagated by Maria Callas, who called this practice 'straitjacketing' and implied that it allows the intention of the composer to be understood better, especially during studying the music for the first time.

Popular music

Classical music has often incorporated elements or material from popular music of the composer's time. Examples include occasional music such as Brahms' use of student drinking songs in his Academic Festival Overture, genres exemplified by Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and the influence of jazz on early- and mid-20th century composers including Maurice Ravel, exemplified by the movement entitled "Blues" in his sonata for violin and piano. Certain postmodern, minimalist and postminimalist classical composers acknowledge a debt to popular music.

There are numerous examples of influence in the opposite direction, including popular songs based on classical music, the use to which Pachelbel's Canon has been put since the 1970s, and the musical crossover phenomenon, where classical musicians have achieved success in the popular music arena.

Folk music

Composers of classical music have often made use of folk music (music created by musicians who are commonly not classically trained, often from a purely oral tradition). Some composers, like Dvořák and Smetana, have used folk themes to impart a nationalist flavor to their work, while others (like Bartók) have used specific themes lifted whole from their folk-music origins.

Commercialism

Certain staples of classical music are often used commercially (either in advertising or in movie soundtracks). In television commercials, several passages have become clichéd, particularly the opening of Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra (made famous in the film ) and the opening section "O Fortuna" of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana; other examples include the Dies Irae from the Verdi Requiem, Edvard Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt, the opening bars of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee, and excerpts of Aaron Copland's Rodeo.

Similarly, movies and television often revert to standard, clichéd snatches of classical music to convey refinement or opulence: some of the most-often heard pieces in this category include Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mussorgsky's "A Night on Bald Mountain", and Rossini's "William Tell" (The work's Overture).

Education

Throughout history, parents have often made sure that their children receive classical music training from a young age. Some parents pursue music lessons for their children for social reasons or in an effort to instill a sense of self-discipline. Some believe that knowledge of important works of classical music is part of a good general education.

During the 1990s, several research papers and popular books wrote on what came to be called the "Mozart effect": an observed temporary, small elevation of scores on certain tests as a result of listening to Mozart's works. The approach has been popularized in a book by Don Campbell, and is based on an experiment published in Nature suggesting that listening to Mozart temporarily boosted students' IQ by 8 to 9 points. This popularized version of the theory was expressed succinctly by a New York Times music columnist: "researchers... have determined that listening to Mozart actually makes you smarter." Promoters marketed CDs claimed to induce the effect. Florida passed a law requiring toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music every day, and in 1998 the governor of Georgia budgeted $105,000 per year to provide every child born in Georgia with a tape or CD of classical music. One of the co-authors of the original studies of the Mozart effect commented "I don't think it can hurt. I'm all for exposing children to wonderful cultural experiences. But I do think the money could be better spent on music education programs."

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

Copland, Aaron;(1957) - What to listen for in music. McGraw Hill.-10: 7018981026 (paperback).

Grout, Donald Jay; Palisca, Claude V. (1996) - A History of Western Music, Fifth Edition. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-96904-5 (hardcover).

Hanning, Barbara Russano; Grout, Donald Jay (1998 rev. 2009) - Concise History of Western Music. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-92803-9 (hardcover).

Johnson, Julian (2002). Who Needs Classical Music?: Cultural Choice and Musical Value. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514681-6.

Kamien, Roger (2008) - Music: An Appreciation Sixth Brief Edition ISBN 978-0-07-340134-8

Lihoreau, Tim; Fry, Stephen (2004) - Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music. Boxtree. ISBN 978-0-7522-2534-0

Scholes, Percy Alfred; Arnold, Denis (photographer) (1988) - The New Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-311316-3 (paperback).

Taruskin, Richard (2005, rev. Paperback version 2009) - Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press (USA). ISBN 978-0-19-516979-9 (Hardback), ISBN 978-0-19-538630-1 (Paperback)

External links

Historical classical recordings from the British Library Sound Archive

Classical music used commercially

Classical music shop

Classical music timeline

Category:European music

Natasha Jane Marsh (born 1975) is a Welsh operatic soprano. A highly-regarded performer in both opera and oratorio, her debut album, Amour, topped the classical album charts in 2007. She has toured with artists such as G4, Russell Watson, Il Divo and Paul Potts. Her love of football was confirmed when she sang at the 2008 League Cup Final and she has recorded Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria for ITV's coverage of Euro 2008.

Personal life and early career

Marsh was born in Brecon, Wales, but moved to Blackborough, near Cullompton, Devon aged eighteen months. Her father became Director of Music at the European School, Culham, Oxfordshire (he was previously Head of Music at Brecon High School). Her mother is an experienced vocal coach, and this love of music was instilled into Natasha and her two younger brothers at a young age. She saw The Sound of Music aged seven, and immediately wanted a career in musical theatre. While studying at the European School, Marsh was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. Aged 17, she began studying with the renowned singing teacher April Cantelo, with whom she still has lessons. Marsh graduated with a First-class Honours degree from Birmingham University and was awarded the Barber Scholarship to study Opera at the Royal College of Music. In 1999 she won the MOCSA (Morriston Orpheus Choir Supporters' Association) Young Welsh Singer of the Year, whose previous winners have included Bryn Terfel and Anthony Stuart Lloyd.

Despite moving to Devon at an early age, Marsh is proud of her Welsh heritage:

Marsh is married to television composer Dobs Vye and is a keen supporter of Watford FC. On 23 July 2008, she announced on Loose Women, that she was pregnant with her first child. On 17 December, she gave birth to a son called Harley.. On 23 November 2010, she announced the birth of her twins, Olivier Jay and Leo Xander.

Operatic debut and professional career

Marsh made her debut with Grange Park Opera in Fortunio by Messager and sang the roles of the Governess in Britten's The Turn of the Screw and Donna Elvira on Mozart's Don Giovanni. She also created the title role in Michael Berkeley's opera Jane Eyre for Music Theatre Wales.

She has appeared in Opera Holland Park's La Boheme, sung Micaela in Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall and the First Lady in The Magic Flute with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She also sang Ilia in Idomeneo for Opera North and the following year sang Pamina for Opera Zuid. She performed in Giordano's Fedora at Opera Holland Park.

Natasha's festival appearances include the Birmingham Early Music Festival, the London Handel Festival, the Beaumarais Festival and at the Teatro Calderón in Spain. Her oratorio work includes Tippett's A Child of our Time, Messiah at the Arlosen Festival, Mozart's Requiem with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Silete Venti with the London Handel Festival Orchestra at Windsor Castle. Natasha has performed with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen and made her BBC Proms debut in Handel's Samson. She also performs regularly at Raymond Gubbay's "Classical Spectacular" events at the Royal Albert Hall.

She toured with G4 in December 2006, and "realised one of her dreams" by singing Silent Night with José Carreras on the Royal Albert Hall stage. She toured with Russell Watson in March 2007 and also embarked on a European summer tour with Il Divo. In April, Marsh took part in the first Classic FM web-cast concert alongside Alfie Boe and in May made an appearance at the Classical Brit Awards 2007 ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall.

Marsh is currently on a Scandinavian tour supporting tenor Paul Potts, 2007 winner of ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

In June 2008, Marsh sang at the House of Commons a song entitled 'I won't light a candle', a specially arranged vocal-arrangement of the theme to Schindler's List to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the birth of Anne Frank. She has recorded Der Hölle Rache (the "Queen of the Night" aria) from Mozart's The Magic Flute for use as ITV's theme music for UEFA Euro 2008. "I was delighted to do it", she said. "I love the passion, beauty and power that football and music share." Marsh said of the arrangement:

I've sung Pamina in opera houses all round Europe, but I'm not a Queen of the Night, with those stratospheric top Fs. So I told ITV we'd have to do an adaptation, because it's not my role. We changed the key, obviously, then they found an arranger to add a different take on it. It's a little bit more brass-heavy than Mozart's original and the orchestration is different. It gives it a more epic quality.

Discography

Amour

Natasha Marsh signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics in September 2006 and her debut album Amour was released on 19 February 2007. It entered the UK Classical Artist Chart at No.1. Her album has been criticized by opera critics, who were hoping for an album of operatic arias, rather than the "typical specimen of the crossover genre". The album contains some of Marsh's favourite songs and arias, mixing pop tunes, with classical arrangements and some lesser-known arias. Marsh was signed by EMI Classics as a crossover artist, Marsh citing the need to pick music that is "accessible to everybody across a broad spectrum. The challenge has been to find repertoire that isn't too clichéd." Amour was nominated for the Best Album award in the 2008 Classical BRIT awards.

Track listing

#"Si Un Jour" (theme from Jean de Florette, based on La Forza Del Destino) - Giuseppe Verdi, arranged Jean-Claude Petit #Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie #"Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" (from La Wally) - Alfredo Catalani #"Ai Giochi Addio" (love theme from Romeo and Juliet) - Nino Rota, lyrics by Elsa Morante #"Autumn Leaves" - Joseph Kosma, lyrics by Johnny Mercer #"Mi Mancherai" (theme from Il Postino) - Luis Bacalov #Chanson D'Amour, Op.27, No.1 - Gabriel Fauré #"He Moves, Eyes Follow" - Jimmy Webb #"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - Ewan MacColl #"Et Misericordia" (from Magnificat) - John Rutter #"La Delaissado" (from Chants d'Auvergne) - Joseph Canteloube #"Pur Ti Miro" (from L'incoronazione di Poppea) - Claudio Monteverdi #"Les Filles de Cadix" - Léo Delibes #Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 - Sergei Rachmaninov

References

External links

Natasha Marsh official website

Natasha Marsh section on ClassicalX

Natasha Marsh official MySpace music page

Natasha Marsh biography from BBC Wales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUFXragstgE

Category:1970s births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:Operatic sopranos Category:Welsh female singers Category:Welsh opera singers Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Name	Paul Potts
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Paul Robert Potts
Born	October 13, 1970, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England, He has two brothers and one sister. Potts attended St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School, where he developed his love of singing. He also sang with the choir at Chester Park Junior School and with the choirs at several Bristol churches, including Christ Church. Potts said in interviews that he had been bullied in school, and that experience may have made him lack self-confidence. He has also said that his voice had always been a source of solace in the past when he was bullied. In 1996, Potts was elected the youngest member of Bristol City Council; a Liberal Democrat, he served until 2003. Potts was a manager at mobile phone store Carphone Warehouse in Bridgend. After winning Britain's Got Talent, Potts took a six-month sabbatical from his job, and resigned on 5 March 2008.
- style	"font-size:smaller;"
Colspan	"20" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
- style	"font-size:smaller;"
Name	Potts, Paul
Date of birth	13 October 1970

Category:Opera crossover singers Category:English tenors Category:English male singers Category:Reality show winners Category:Britain's Got Talent contestants Category:People from Kingswood Category:People from Neath Port Talbot Category:1970 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Sony BMG artists Category:Marjon alumni

Karen Geoghegan is an Scottish bassoonist. She appeared on the 2007 BBC Two reality show, Classical Star. She was spotted on the show by the managing director of Chandos Records, Ralph Couzens and she has gone on to record three albums with the independent label.

Biography

Geoghegan began studying the bassoon at the age of twelve with Russell Cowieson, having previously played the violin since the age of five. She later studied at the Junior Academy of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with Janet Bloxwich. She won the Gilbert Innes Prize for woodwind and the 2004 Concerto competition, and in 2004 and 2005 was awarded the Wolfson Scholarship. In 2006 she gave a recital on BBC Radio Scotland, and also performed the Hindemith Trumpet and Bassoon Concerto with John Wallace. She was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland for four years and in 2007 performed with Camerata Scotland NYOS Futures.

, Geoghegan is in her final year at the Royal Academy of Music with John Orford. During her first year she performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the Academy String Orchestra, and received the Violet M. Wallace Award. She was runner-up in the BBC Two programme Classical Star for her performance of the Hummel Bassoon Concerto with the City of London Sinfonia at LSO St Luke's. On 5 August 2009 she performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic at the BBC Proms.

References

Karen Geoghegan at musolife.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/classicalstar/series1/students/karen.shtml

Category:British bassoonists Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Name	Hayley Westenra
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Hayley Dee Westenra
Born	April 10, 1987
Origin	Christchurch, New Zealand
Instrument	Piano, guitar, violin, recorder
Voice type	Soprano
Genre	Classical, pop, celtic, operatic pop
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2001–present
Label	Universal Records New ZealandDecca Records
Associated acts	Celtic Woman, Jackie Evancho
Url	http://www.hayleywestenra.com/

Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand soprano, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached #1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide. Pure is the fastest-selling international début classical album to date, having made Westenra an international star at age 16. In August 2006, she joined the Irish group Celtic Woman, was featured on their Celtic Woman: A New Journey CD and DVD, toured with them on their 2007 Spring Tour, and also was featured on their latest DVD, The Greatest Journey: Essential Collection, released in 2008. She sings songs in a number of languages, including English, Māori, Chinese, Italian, Irish, German, Japanese, Welsh, and Latin.

Early life

Westenra was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and is of Dutch and Irish heritage. Her parents, Jill and Gerald Westenra, have two other children, Sophie and Isaac Westenra. The family has a history of music: Westenra's grandmother Shirley Ireland was a singer, and her grandfather was a pianist who also played the piano accordion.

Her pursuit of a musical career began at the age of six, when she was cast in the lead singing role of "Little Star" in the Christmas play After the show, a teacher who had watched the performance approached her parents to tell them that their daughter was "pitch perfect".

At 12, Westenra entered a professional recording studio to record Walking in the Air, a demo album originally created for friends and family. At first, her parents paid for 70 copies; soon after, 1000 more were cut for sale, handout, and publicity. After finishing her album, Westenra and her sister Sophie busked in Christchurch, giving away a few of the original 70 albums (at the behest of passers-by) and selling some of the latter 1000. The pair drew large crowds, and one woman asked the girls if they had ever recorded anything. The woman, a journalist with Canterbury Television, asked Westenra to appear on air. Gray Bartlett, the director of a concert promotion company, saw the show and became interested in working with Westenra. On that label, Westenra released a self-titled album of show tunes and light classical songs, as well as My Gift to You, a CD of Christmas music. Following the success of her albums, she was offered and later received lessons from Dame Malvina Major. Pure enjoyed record success: it became the fastest-selling international debut album in the history of the UK classical chart, with 19,068 copies purchased in its first week alone, quickly reached #1 on the UK charts, and entered the UK Pop Chart at #8. Over two million copies of Pure have been sold to date. In New Zealand, Pure has been certified 12x platinum, making her the best-selling artist, regardless of genre, in the country's history.

Pure's success ensured that Decca would take Westenra seriously. Some of her fame today can be directly attributed to the way in which Decca promoted her. Although the traditional audience of classical crossover music is adult women, they also promoted her music to children and teenagers. Westenra recorded the end-title song for Disney's movie Mulan II. They also featured her in the national Radio Disney music education tour for middle-school students. David Horn, the producer of her live TV special which aired on PBS' Great Performances, said, "Her singing is so gorgeous, it's reminiscent of the great boy-soprano sound of Anglican church choirs."

Decca has also promoted Westenra on television. She took her first acting role on the US programme American Dreams ("Charade"), where she played guitar and sang "Who Painted the Moon Black?". While she was being promoted in Los Angeles, Marc Johnston, senior VP/GM for the Universal Classics Group, said, "When she was out there, people were giving her scripts to read, and she had a few rather impromptu auditions. So some film and TV roles are currently in the works." In 2006, she was featured on the motion picture soundtrack for The New World with the song "Listen to the Wind".

Westenra was the 2004 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards winner of "Highest Selling New Zealand Album" and "International Achievement Award". On 20 February 2004, Prime Minister Helen Clark awarded her for being the first New Zealand artist to receive the tenfold platinum status in the New Zealand market, where she held the number one artist position for 18 weeks. In her autobiography, she remembered feeling more nervous in an audition where she sight read to Andrew Lloyd Webber an unreleased piece that he had written. She concluded 2004 with a successful Christmas tour of the east coast of the United States as guest soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

In 2005, she released a new album, Odyssey. A mix of classical, pop, Celtic, and New Age music, she co-wrote and arranged some of the tracks on the album, which was released in the United States on 18 October 2005. A more recent version of Odyssey containing several recordings not on the original album was released in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2006, her 19th birthday. On 18 December 2005, she made an appearance on Kurt Browning's programme Gotta Skate, in which she performed with Andrea Bocelli.

Westenra spent the first half of 2006 performing as a supporting act for the pop-opera quartet Il Divo on a worldwide tour, though in March she performed solo concerts in the U.S. as well. That tour officially ended in June, but was then extended by six performances. She then held several concerts in the UK and Germany through the end of the northern summer. On 5 September 2006, Westenra was named as one of the ten outstanding young people in the world by the Junior Chamber International, becoming the first New Zealander so honoured. On 13 November 2006 she participated in the dedication of the New Zealand War Memorial in London. Three of Westenra's great-uncles served in World War II; one was killed.

Beyond her initial success

In August 2006, Westenra joined Celtic Woman and is featured on their second major DVD/CD album, , which was released 30 January 2007 and immediately hit the Billboard Top 200 music chart at #4. She toured with the group in the United States in 2007, with scheduled appearances in 88 venues across the country; the tour ended in June. A subsequent tour of the United Kingdom was advertised, but never took place. Westenra was up front with the UK media about not continuing with Celtic Woman after the end of the US tour, but never gave a reason why.

Among 2006 Canterbury Festival(27th Oct), Westenra successfully staged Cathedral concert with tenor Alfie Boe in the Canterbury Cathedral.

Westenra's third international album, Treasure, was released on 26 February 2007 in the UK. All the songs on this CD were chosen by Westenra, who gave her record company "no say in the matter. I basically didn't let them in on what I was recording until the last minute so they had no choice. I didn't give them much room to disagree." Tracks on this album include "E Pari Ra", "One Fine Day", "Let Me Lie", "Danny Boy", and "Abide with Me". Westenra co-wrote four of the fifteen tracks, and the album also features singer Humphrey Berney. The US/Australia/NZ edition followed in March under the name Celtic Treasure. Westenra dedicated the album to her grandmother, Shirley Ireland. Inside the sleeve of the UK edition, she wrote "I come from a musical family, and one with a real sense of history. My forefathers were on the maiden voyage from Ireland to Christchurch, New Zealand in 1850 – there's even a commemoration plaque in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, which bears the name Westenra. My grandmother used to sit me on her knee and sing songs like Danny Boy from as early as I can remember. A singer herself in her earlier years, she has always been a never-ending source of songs. It's this legacy of music that she's been passing down to me since my childhood, and it's many of these beautiful old songs that I've explored here on my album."

On the day before St. Patrick's Day 2007, she performed as part of Celtic Woman for President George W. Bush at the White House. She had plans to present the president with a petition to place a mandatory carbon cap on the United States. The goal of the petition was compliance with the commitment made by President Bill Clinton in previous years to follow the Kyoto Protocol. However, she was not able to present the petition because the president was rushed away after the concert, due to security concerns.

On 6th May 2007, Westenra was invited to the Crystal Cathedral as a guest performing "Abide with Me" on the Hour of Power American Christian television program, She performed there several times before including "Amazing Grace","I Say Grace".

Westenra starred as Maria in the 2007 recording of West Side Story, which was released on 30 July.

In Nov 2007, Hayley Westenra successfully staged Japan "treasure" concert tour in Fukuoka, Sapporo, Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama, Hiroshima.

On 17 August 2008 Westenra participated in the tribute concert Lyrics by Don Black which was held at the London Palladium and featured performances of Black's songs by a selection of guest artists. She sang the duet Amigos Para Siempre, the score of which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Jonathan Ansell. The evening, hosted by Michael Parkinson was recorded by BBC Radio 2 Friday Night is Music Night and broadcast on 22 August 2008.

The song "Prayer", composed by Secret Garden and performed by Westenra, is featured in the trailers for the Nintendo Wii video game, Endless Ocean, as well as in the game itself. Westenra also contributed several other songs, including her rendition of the Māori folk song "Pokarekare Ana".

On 8 November 2008, Westenra performed at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, singing Today Won't Come Again, written by Geoff Stevens and Don Black, with English tenor Jonathan Ansell, and accompanied Ansell on Here's to the Heroes, by Black and John Barry, when returning soldiers proceeded into the auditorium. On July 16, 2009, she performed at the Opening Ceremony of the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, singing several songs including Pokarekare Ana, The Moon Represents My Heart (月亮代表我的心) in Mandarin, Tears For You (涙そうそう) and Amazing Grace.

On 16 Jul 2009, Westenra performed "Amazing Grace" in English, "We Are The Champions" in English with other stars, "The Pray" in English&Italian with Russell Watson, "Pokarekare Ana" in Maori with Russell Watson, "Nada Sousou" in Japanese, "The Moon Reflects My Love" in Mandarin Chinese with SuJianXin on the World Games's opening ceremony in Kaohsiung TaiWan before 45,000 stadium audiences and numerous worldwide TV audiences.

On 29 August 2009, Westenra led the traditional singing of "Abide with Me" at the Rugby League Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

On 05 Feb 2010, Nativity Wins 2 'Film of the Year' Awards, Hayley Westenra was delighted to sing Silent Night on the soundtrack of Nativity! When she was later interviewed about her charity work in Ghana she had this to say, "I met girls who had been given bikes and I could see how much it meant to them. We wanted to borrow one just for a photo and they wouldn't let them go; they were really reluctant".

In 2006, Sensational new Hybrid Tea named in honour of New Zealand singing star Hayley Westenra to raise funds for UNICEFNZ. Hayley Westenra Rose is a frilly, sweet-cheeked little miss who won Best Hybrid Tea, Best Overall Rose and the biggie – New Zealand Rose of the Year – at the Pacific Rose Bowl Festival awards in 2010.

In June 2006 she appeared at a fundraiser for UK charity Act Against Bullying. On 8 June 2007, Westenra performed in a fundraising concert for Bikes for Ghana at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent. In September 2008 she visited Ghana again on behalf of UNICEF. She is currently working on raising funds for one of her favourite projects in Ghana, to install playgrounds for children, with rides which harness "kid power" to drive pumps used for providing clean drinking water from wells in that country. Hundreds of thousands of children have been victimized by contaminated drinking water in Ghana, and this project is a focus of Hayley's.

On 24th February 2007 Hayley Westenra took part in the HemiHelp “Children helping Children” concert at the Cadogan Hall, Sloan Square London in front of 900 people, including HRH Princess Alexandra the charity’s patron.

In 2008, Westenra was selected by the New Zealand Society to receive the Global Kiwis Young Achiever Award for remarkable achievement in her field of endeavor on a global scale. She has also received numerous awards for her contributions to music, both in New Zealand and elsewhere. In November 2008 she was named "classical performer of the year" at the Variety Club's annual awards in London.

On 25 Jun 2008, Hayley Westenra is the ambassador for Classic FM's charity Music Makers. Hayley says of the partnership " I am thrilled to be the first official charity Ambassador for Classic FM Music Makers. I have seen first hand the power which music can have in changing people's lives, and I can't wait to help all I can." Over the next few months Hayley will be visiting some of the music therapy and education projects across the UK which Music Makers funds...

In Oct 2008, Forces songbird Hayley Westenra help launch the Poppy Appeal with British Armed Forces in Iraq.

In Oct 2008, Forces songbird Hayley Westenra and tenor Jonathan Ansell took to the streets to sell poppies at Waterloo Station to support the Royal British Legion.

On 12 Nov 2008, Westenra performed "River of Dreams" , duet "Today Won't Come Again" with tenor Jonathan Ansell in the Royal Albert Hall for the Annual Festival of Remembrance and was broadcast by the BBC.

She has also been the ambassador for Save the Children in Hong Kong. More recently, she took part in a breast cancer awareness campaign in New Zealand. Another major charity she supports is the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy, which provides help for children who are disabled.

On 7th Sep 2009, She joined the Dame Vera Lynn Trust as a Vice-President for this Children with Cerebral Palsy charity.

On 22 Oct 2009, Forces sweethearts from the original Second World War Forces sweetheart-Dame Vera Lynn joined by one of today's Forces sweetheart Kiwi songbird Hayley Westenra in launching the Poppy Appeal with a fundraising goal of £31 million.

In Dec 2009, New forces sweetheart Hayley Westenra performed with Faryl Smith and Camilla Kerslake in a special service for British troops serving in Afghanistan from St Clements Church, London.

On 7th March 2010, Classical singing star Hayley Westenra lended her support with some other most successful female role models in ’s">FMWF’s "The Breaking the Mould" conference to inspire a generation of young women to aim high in their careers.

On 20 Jun 2010, Hayley Westenra took her role as Forces Sweetheart to the Cotswold Air Show, visiting Kemble to support the work of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

In March 2011, Westenra will speak at FMWF’s next Breaking the Mould conference at the Royal Institution in London’s Mayfair.

On 2nd April 2011, Westenra as a Vice-President of the Dame Vera Lynn Trust will be performing for this Children with Cerebral Palsy charity at the Lancaster London Hotel.

Personal life

Westenra was known as a vegetarian/pescetarian, and was nominated for PETA's 'Sexiest Vegetarian' for 2007. However, when touring she sometimes worried about getting the appropriate amounts of nutrients. She was sometimes unable to obtain the more nutritious vegetables and other foods she preferred, and now on occasions she eats meat. In 2007, Westenra told the New Zealand Herald, "I'm completely bursting the bubble now, aren't I? That's that ruined."

In 2010, Hayley has acknowledged that she has a boyfriend. However, she has declined to name him publicly.

Discography

Albums

Regional albums

International albums

Singles & EP's

Featured

References

Further reading

External links

HayleyWestenra.com - Official website

Profile at CelticWoman.com

Hayley Westenra at ClassicalX

; Multimedia and interviews :* Yahoo! LAUNCHcast music videos featuring Westenra :* Hayley Westenra Interview :* BBC Radio - John Rockley Show interview (22 February 2007) :* Hayley Westenra Interview at ilikemusic.com :* Interview with Hayley at Premier.tv

Category:1987 births Category:Celtic Woman members Category:Living people Category:Opera crossover singers Category:New Zealand buskers Category:New Zealand classical musicians Category:New Zealand female singers Category:New Zealand sopranos Category:New Zealand people of Dutch descent Category:New Zealand people of Irish descent Category:People from Christchurch Category:UNICEF people