TDCM: August 31st - Tomás Luis de Victoria

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

Bio

Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Sanchidrián, Castile. His musical ability was identified early in his life and he was sent to Italy and may have studied with Palestrina. He taught at a German College in Rome and became a leading figure in the music of the Church. Philip II brought him back to Spain where he served in the court of the Dowager Empress Maria. He is Spain's most significant Renaissance composer. 

Music

Tenebrae Responsories

Requiem Officium Defunctorum

Officium hebdomanae sacrae

TDCM: August 30th - Giuseppe Verdi

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Bio

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born need Busseto, then a part of the French Empire. As a young man, he joined a Philharmonic society and quickly took over. Despite his promise, he failed to gain entrance into the Milan Conservatory and gained much of his education through tutors. He produced a huge number of operas and is ranked among the greatest composers of that form of all time.

Music

Requiem

Sinfonia in C

Variazioni for piano on Caro Suono Lusinghiero

Oboe and Piano compositions

TDCM: August 29th - Ralph Vaughan Williams

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Bio

Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Gloucestershire. He was related to Charles Darwin. He studied at the Royal College of Music and was very fond of his teachers, Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford. He and Holst were contemporaries and friends and like Holst, Ralph expanded his education on to the continent and studied with Ravel in France. He had a strong but accessible style and is recognized as one of England's greatest composers. 

Music

A Sea Symphony 

Symphony No. 5

Sinfonia Antartica

A London Symphony

Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis

TDCM: August 28th - Edgard Varèse

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Edgard Varèse (1883-1965)

Bio

Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse was born in Paris. His family moved to Italy and he initially studied Engineering in Turin. He returned to Paris and studied music under Widor at the Paris Conservatoire. He was friends with Satie, Richard Strauss, and Debussy but departed somewhat from their musical heritage. He is considered an important influence on 20th-century composition concepts.

Music

Ionisation

Amériques

Deserts

Ecuatorial

TDCM: Review of the "T" Composers

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

List, Stats, Curiosities of the "T" Composers

1. Tōru Takemitsu
2. Thomas Tallis
3. Alexander Tansman
4. Francisco Tárrega
5. Giuseppe Tartini
6. John Tavener
7. Deems Taylor
8. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
9. Georg Philipp Telemann
10. Mikis Theodorakis
11. Ambroise Thomas
12. Randall Thompson
13. Virgil Thomson
14. Michael Tippett
15. Ernst Toch
16. Thomas Tomkins
17. Giuseppe Torelli
18. Joaquín Turina

Nationalities

English 3
American 3
Spanish 2
Venetian 2
Polish 1
Japanese 1
Russian 1
German 1
Greek 1
French 1
Austrian 1
Welsh 1

Earliest

Composer - Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Composition - Torelli's 12 Concerti Musicali (1698)*

*Earliest dated composition

Latest
Composer - John Tavener (1944-2013)
Composition - Tavener's Protecting the Veil (1989)

Total Compositions Sampled - 81

Top 5 Ranked "T" Composers

Ranked on a purely subjective personal enjoyment scale

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (10/10)

Russian, 1840-1893

Piano Concerto No. 1

Randall Thompson (9/10)

American, 1899-1984

Alleluia

John Tavener (9/10)

English, 1944-2013

Song for Athene

Thomas Tallis (8/10)

English, 1505-1585

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Michael Tippett (8/10)

English, 1905-1998

Symphony No. 1

TDCM: August 24th - Joaquín Turina

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)

Bio

Joaquín Turina Pérez was born in Seville, Spain. He studied in Madrid and in Paris, taking lessons from d'Indy and Moszkowski. He was inspired by Ravel and Debussy and had a good relationship with Manuel de Falla. He taught at the Madrid Conservatory, and produced a number of operas and other compositions, including a fairly significant piano repertoire.

Music

La Oración del torero

Sinfonía sevillana

Sanlúcar de Barrameda

Cuentos de España

Niñerías

Sevilla

Danzas fantásticas

TDCM: August 23rd - Giuseppe Torelli

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709)

Bio

Giuseppe Torelli was born in Verona, Venetia. He was a noted violinist in his time and his surviving compositions advanced Baroque literature in the concerto form. His life is not well documented but he is found in lists of Giacomo Antonio Perti's students, the court of George Friedrich II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and in San Petronio.

Music

12 Concerti Musicali

Trumpet Concertos

Concerto Groso

TDCM: August 22nd - Thomas Tomkins

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)

Bio

Thomas Tomkins was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales. He studied under William Byrd and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a prominent member of the virginalist school. He spent most of his career as the organist at the Worcester Cathedral.

Music

Complete Keyboard Music

Church Music

TDCM: August 18th - Ernst Toch

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ernst Toch (1887-1964)

Bio

Ernst Toch was born in Vienna of Jewish descent. He studied music, philosophy, and medicine, the former at the Hoch Conservatory. He was a prolific pianist and fled to England and then the USA to escape Hitler. He taught at Southern Cal, composed for the film industry, and received 3 Oscar nominations. He won the '56 Pulitzer for his 3rd Symphony and taught Holmboe, Previn, and other notables.

Music

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 2

TDCM: August 17th - Michael Tippett

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Michael Tippett (1905-1998)

Bio

Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was born in Eastcote, just outside London. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and credited Charles Villiers Stanford's theories as the foundation of his own. He was politically active, arrested for resisting the draft in WWII, and briefly identified as a Communist. He is often considered one of Britain's leading 20th-century composers.     

Music

Symphony No. 1

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 3

Piano Concerto

TDCM: August 11th - Virgil Thomson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Virgil Thomson (1896-1989)

Bio

Virgil Thomson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended Harvard with support from the LDS. Further studies in Paris and with Nadia Boulanger. He remained in Paris as a central figure among young artists. He is considered one of the progenitors of the "American" classical sound.

Music

Symphony on a Hymn Tune

Symphony No. 3

The River

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

Acadian Songs and Dances

Three Pictures for Orchestra

TDCM: August 9th - Randall Thompson

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Randall Thompson (1899-1984)

Bio

Randall Thompson studied at Harvard and earned a doctorate in music from the Eastman School of Music. He is one of the most prominent American composers particularly choral composing. He had several notable students including Joel Cohen, Samuel Adler, and Leonard Bernstein. 

Music

Alleluia

Symphony No. 1

String Quartet No. 2

Symphony No. 2

TDCM: August 8th - Ambroise Thomas

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896)

Bio

Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was born in Metz. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and won the Grand Prix de Rome affording him additional study at the French Academy in Rome. He taught at the Conservatoire and had some notable students including Massenet and Enescu. He rose to direct the Conservatoire and fought hard for the traditional styles of Auber and Meyerbeer against the progressive developments of Franck and Fauré.

Music

String Quartet in E-minor

Ballet compositions

TDCM: August 7th - Mikis Theodorakis

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021)

Bio

Michail Theodorakis was born on the Greek Island of Chios. He served in the ELAS and led troops during the Greek Civil War and was briefly interned for his participation. He managed to complete his studies at the Athens Conservatory and founded an Orchestra on Crete. He studied further in Paris under Messiaen, was a friend of Milhaud, and collaborated with Hollywood giants Powell & Pressburger (The Archers). He was very politically active and used his music to inspire unrest and cultural upheaval.

Music

Symphony No. 2 Song of Earth

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 1 Proti Simfonia

Symphony No. 7 Spring Symphony

TDCM: August 4th - Georg Philipp Telemann

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)

Bio

Georg Telemann was born in Magdeburg, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He studied at Leipzig University and then directed the local municipal Opera house. He served in several noble courts including Count Erdmann II of Promnitz and Duke Johann Wilhelm. Telemann is believed to have composed over 3,000 pieces and was highly respected by his contemporaries. 

Music

Viola Concerto in G major

Sonata in F minor for Bassoon

Triosonatas

6 Methodical Sonatas for Flute and Harpsichord

TDCM: August 2nd & 3rd - Pyotr Tchaikovsky

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Bio

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk. His genius was evident early as he began composing at age six and was fluent in three languages. Tchaikovsky studied with Nikolai Rubinstein at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He taught at the newly opened Moscow Conservatory and began composing in earnest. He looked up to the Mighty Five but in many ways, he surpassed their achievements in notoriety and legacy. 

Music

Symphony No. 2

Symphony No. 4

Symphony No. 6

Piano Concerto No. 1

Symphony No. 1

Orchestral Suite No. 3

Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 5

Symphony No. 7

TDCM: August 1st - Deems Taylor

 

Listening Through The Dictionary of Composers and Their Music 

Deems Taylor (1885-1966)

Bio

Joseph Deems Taylor was born in New York City. Taylor was a writer and a music critic and composed a number of works for the stage. He wrote for the New York World, did commentary for the New York Philharmonic, and was the master of ceremonies in the film Fantasia.  

Music

Portrait of a Lady

Through the Looking Glass Suite

Circus Day, Eight Pictures from Memory

Peter Ibbetson Suite