Little Known Facts about Classical Composers

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Little Known Facts about Classical Composers

• By Allie Ajamoughli

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Little Known What?

• We all know the famous works of Bach and that
  Beethoven went deaf, but do you know the story
  behind the violin Mozart was given at the age of
  five? Do you know what Beethovens Fifth Symphony
  really means?
• These are the facts few people come across

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Johann Sebastian Bach

• 1685-1750

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How Many?

• Bach was married twice in his lifetime. Between
  the two women he had a total of 20 children.
  Many grew up to be composers like their father,
  but are not well known because the style of music
  they composed was, out of style.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• 1756-1792

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The Violin Experiment

• At the age of five Mozart was given a violin to
  play with. When his father found out about this
  new toy, he told him to go away and stop making
  noise. Mozart still managed to make music the
  center of his life.

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Ludwig Van Beethoven

• 1770-1827

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Symphony No.5, Op.67

• This classic composition you are listening to
  now is something rather unique. The repeated
  rhythm of dun dun dun dah is actually the
  letter V in Morse code. At the time,
  Beethoven's country, Germany, was at war.
  Beethoven wanted to communicate victory through
  this song to show his patriotism.

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Musical Compositions and Superstitions
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The Curse

• It was said that after a composer wrote their
  tenth symphony he or she would be cursed and
  never live to write another piece of music.

• Of course composers tried to challenge this
  curse. When one composer wrote his tenth
  symphony, he entitled it his zero symphony to try
  and throw off the curse. Afterwards, someone went
  up to him and asked him why he chose such a name.
  He told them about the curse and said it was
  really his tenth. The next day, he dropped dead.

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Farewell Symphony

• Joseph Haydn was begging the king to let his
  musicians have a break to visit their families.
  The king told him that there were many future
  parties for them to entertain. So, Hayden replied
  with a symphony named the Farewell Symphony.

• When the completed symphony was performed and
  as each movement progressed, a musician would
  pack up and leave until the end when there were
  none left to play. The embarrassed king only saw
  the musicians after their vacation.

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Farewell!
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Credits

• Sara Ziemendorf./Music Tour/MusicImages/MusicNotesBack.jpg
  
• Bill Hagen21. December 2001.
  rs/sscs/apr99/beethovn.jpg4
  
• Daniel Urgen.12 May 2001. rg.de/Syberberg3/ August/Schleef/dies_irae/Mozart/
  dies-irae-mozart.jpg .
  
• George Heary. 30 April 1998.
  ArtHistory/compart/images/art/BeethovenSym3.gif

• Quiet Moments. Symphony No. 94. Rondo Al.
  Turka. Berceuse. CD-ROM. Canada Direct Source,
  2002. An Appreciation Music. The Little.
  Symphony No. 40. Symphony No. 5. CD-ROM. New
  York Sony Music Entertainment, 2000