2. ABOUT GERMAN MUSIC
โข German music has a long and illustrious musical history with
contributions made from as long as we could remember.
โข From Wagner to Beethoven's majestic musical melodies, German
music has a steady place in history.
3. MODERN GERMAN MUSIC
'Rammstein' are at the same time one of
Germany's most loved and hated bands. Their
uncompromising heavy metal, obscene lyrics
and over the top live shows are reminiscent of
Marilyn Manson.
4. TRADITIONAL GERMAN MUSIC
โข Germany's traditional folk songs, known as Volkslieder,
are popular with the older generations and occupy
prime-time on some German TV stations.
โข This kind of music is not so popular with younger
generations, partly because of its history of being
manipulated by politicians of all colours.
โข Germany is also the home of many Christmas carols.
Such universally admired classics as 'Silent Night' and
'Oh Christmas Tree' were both originally German.
5. THE GERMAN CLASSICAL COMPOSERS
โข Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
โ Bach who once said of playing an instrument - 'There's nothing
remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time
and the instrument plays itself' - is considered the greatest exponent of
baroque music.
6. โข His best known works are
probably the 'Brandenburg
Concerti', 'The Well-Tempered
Clavier', 'The Art of Fugue', 'The
Mass in B-minor', and 'The St.
Matthew Passion'.
7. FRIEDRICH HANDEL (1685-1759)
The name of Friedrich Handel is now most strongly associated with his 'Water
Music'. The suite was composed to appease King George I .
8. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
โข Both the father and grandfather of
Beethoven were court musicians. His
personal style is characterised by its
optimism, where ill-fortune is joyfully
overcome by enthusiasm.
โข He went deaf at the age of 29, but carried
on composing and was planning a tenth
symphony on his deathbed. 20,000
people attended his funeral.
9. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
Mozart was without doubt the most brilliant musical
child genius of all time. He produced more than
600 works before his premature death. Rumour
has it that he was poisoned by his rival Salieri who
worried that he might be displaced as the most
popular composer in Italy.
10. CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVALS
โข The largest summer festival for classical
music in Germany is the Schleswig-Holstein
Musik Festival.
11. FOLK MUSIC
โข Germany has many unique regions with their own folk traditions of music
and dance. Much of the 20th century saw German culture appropriated for
the ruling powers (who fought "foreign" music at the same time). Most
recently, the East German regime promoted folk music as long as it was
what they saw as an expression of pure German tradition, and a tool for
spreading party propaganda.
โข In both East and West Germany, folk songs called volkslieder were taught to
children; these were popular, sunny and optimistic, and had little relation to
authentic German folk traditions.
