Portal:Classical music

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The Classical music Portal

Classical music is a broad term that designates the art music of Western cultures. The works performed by classical musicians are selected from a tradition of written music dating back to the Middle Ages. Much of this music was originally composed as church music or for the entertainment of the aristocracy. Starting about the mid 18th century, classical music began to be composed for a public of classical music listeners, and it is this audience that continues to support the tradition today. Classical music is commonly divided into historical eras, including Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern. Culturally, classical music stands out for the intensive training that serious participants must undergo, as well as the tendency of its listeners to cherish, even venerate, particular works and their composers.
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Selected article

A female Beijing opera performer with traditional costume and makeup

Beijing opera or Peking opera (simplified Chinese: 京剧; traditional Chinese: 京劇; pinyin: Jīngjù) is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north, and Shanghai in the south.The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan, and has spread to other countries such as the United States and Japan.Beijing opera features four main types of performers. Performing troupes often have several of each variety, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate and colorful costumes, performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically sparse stage.

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Did you know...

... that Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured) is only one of 53 'musical Bachs' in several generations?

... that the Longest non-repetitive piano piece is The Road, composed by Frederic Rzewski, and lasts about 10 hours?

... that Gioacchino Rossini wrote his comic opera The Italian Girl in Algiers in less than three weeks?

... that the opus numbers for Carl Czerny's works exceed well over 800?

... that the shortest opera is Darius Milhaud’s The Deliverance of Theseus, which lasts only 7 minutes?

... that the piece 4'33" by John Cage is made up entirely of silence from the performer?

... that Stockhausen's Helikopter-Streichquartett is played by a string quartet and four helicopters?

... that Niccolò Paganini commissioned Berlioz's Harold en Italie, and never paid for it?

... that Evgeni Kostitsyn's Third Symphony requires 9 conductors?

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Classical Music News

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Quotes

–"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff." —Frank Zappa

"I'm a revolutionary, money means nothing to me." —Frédéric Chopin

"Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music." —W.A. Mozart

"Music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all." —Igor Stravinsky

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Major periods

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This is a subportal of the Music Portal.

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