Composer of the Month

Each month  we will be selecting a Composer of the Month and playing their music during assemblies. In addition, we will have a display in the hall of the Composer of the Month which will include a factfile about their life and works.

September 2009 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

J S Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685. His family had a strong musical tradition. At the age of fourteen he won a choral scholarship to the prestigious St. Michael's School in Luneburg, Germany. It was here that he developed his organ playing skills.

A portrait of Bach in 1748.

Bach's fame as a musician spread across the German states. Among his most famous works is the Brandenburg Concertos first performed in 1721. He married in 1707 and had seven children. He died in Leipzig in 1750 aged 65 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest composers.

  

October 2009  Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Chopin was born in the Polish village of Zelazowa Wola. He was considered a child prodigy. Then at the age of twenty he emigrated to France and made a comfotable living as a composer.  Throughout his life he suffered from ill health and died in Paris in 1849 from TB. Chopin's works were written mainly for the piano as a solo instrument. 

  

November 2009  Philip Glass (1931-present)

Philip Glass was born in 1937 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He learnt to play the flute as a child and went on to study music at college in New York City.

 He has been composing music all his life including many film scores. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of modern times.

 

December 2009  Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria in 1797. His childhood was dominated by music and he played the violin and piano. As a composer he lived a hand-to-mouth existence dying at the young age of 31 years.

 Sadly, his genius was not recognised in his lifetime in which he composed over 1000 works, including nine symphonies.

 

January 2010  Claude Debussy (1862-918)

Claude Debussy was born in St Germain en Laye in France in 1862. He learnt to play the piano at the age of seven and at the age of ten he studied music at the Paris Conservatoire. 

He is not only among the most important of all French composers but also a central figure in European music at the turn of the twentieth century. His use of the piano was regarded as revolutionary.

 

February 2010  Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840)

Niccolo Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy in October 1782. He started learning to play the violin from the age of seven and as a young man his fame spread as a violinist across Europe. He performed many concerts inthe major cities like Vienna and Paris.

During his later years he suffered a great deal from ill health and died on 27th May 1840. He is regarded as one of the world's greatest violinists. He also composed many pieces for the guitar.

 

March 2010 Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart