Music 200X - Ethan Bowser

 Role of the Performer: Luciano Pavarotti Ethan Bowser Biographical Information      Luciano Pavarotti was born into humble beginnings in Modena, Italy, in 1935. His father was a baker, his mother a factory worker. After considering a career as a soccer goalie, Pavarotti tried teaching for a few years before pursuing music. In 1961, he won a singing contest at the Teatro Reggio Emilia and played Rodolfo in the opera "La Boheme", finally bringing him notice from the musical world (Holland). After becoming a substitute at the Royal Opera House in London, he met singer Joan Sutherland. She helped him to start his international career through a tour of Australia. She also introduced him to a breathing technique that proved key to his performance.      While singing Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment" in 1972, he hit an amazing eight high C's (difficult for a tenor) and became a star. The same year he performed at the Met, marking his breakthrough into the U...

 Taking a Musical Trip: Indian Classical Music Ethan Bowser  History and Characteristics of Indian Classical Music     Indian classical music has a rich history. It began as a single musical tradition stemming from vocal chanting nearly 5,000 years ago, becoming highly diversified and developed by 1000 AD, when invading Islamic armies arrived in India and blended it with their own musical styles ("Indian Classical Music"). By the sixteenth century, musical performance had become a full-fledged profession, with artists connected by mentorship and lineage, supported by a network of patrons. Around the nineteenth century the system of patronage broke down, allowing new voices and styles to be heard. Today, Indian classical music is a more diverse genre than it ever has been.     Melody and pitch in Indian classical music are incredibly complex. The dynamics, or musical mood, of an Indian classical piece is called the raga, made of a collection of at least five...

  Innovations in Beethoven's Symphonies: Classical to Romantic Ethan Bowser       Like many of the major composers of his era, Beethoven started out very conventionally; his beginning works were written very much in line with the forms of the time. He had a rich heritage to draw upon—his teacher was the great composer Joseph Haydn, and one of Beethoven’s devotees, Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, noted that Beethoven would “ receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands” (Hopkins).          Symphony 5, Movement 4 , Ludwig van Beethoven,  Austria, 1801.      Above is the fourth movement of Beethoven’s first symphony. Beethoven very much took after his teacher Haydn in this one—the finale, in particular, is typical of the time, with a carefree, dashing feel and short duration (Swafford). It is more dynamic than some of his louder, later symphonies, with both quiet parts and a rather loud finale, but stic...