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[Works of Art]
George Antheil's symphony No. 6 :
Conducted by Pierre Monteux, this piece is first introduced in San Franscisco in 1949.
This piece is based on picture 'Liberty Leading the People by E. Delacroix. The composer, in
the first movement, depicted war's gunfire, and through courage and hope, finally
marching to the future.
Hank Balding's 'The Night Watch' :
The name of the piece is same as the 'Rembrandt's Picture by a Dutch composer Henk
Badings. However, this main character of this piece is Rembrandt himself. He also
wrote an opera based on Paul Pon Clenaudo Rembrandt.
Han Werner Henze's 'Das Floss der Medusa' :
Theodore Gericault s 1819 picture well illustrates a drowning ship and the people
struggling to live. Hans Werner Henze, got an inspiration from this picture, and he
composed a oratoria with the same name. To commemorate the death of Chile's Che
Guevara , he dedicated this music to Che Guevara s funeral. When this piece was first
introduced, the composer insisted to set up a red flag on the stage, and the audiences,
irratated by the statement made by the composer, went into the streets and rioted. For
that reason, this piece was banned from stages.
Paul Hindemith's 'Mathis der Mahler' :
Paul Hindemith presented an opera and a symphony using 'Mathis der Mahler' as their
name, and these two pieces are all composed in 1934. The main character is a German
painter Matthias Grunewald in early sixteenth century. Paul Hindemith composed the
symphony based on the wall-painting on Igenhim Saint Antoni Cathedral in Germany
by Grnewald. This symphony is made up of three movements. The first movement is
'Angle's Performance , second movement is 'Buried Christ , and the last movements is
Saint Antoni's Temtation.
Liszt's 'TOTENTANZ' :
In early 1930s, during this trip to Italy, Liszt saw Andrea Orcana s wall-paint
'Victory of Death in Calposanto of Pisa. It was a picture of an evil and horrible god of
death that snatch people's happiness away. The god of death had an apparence of a
woman with bat's wings attached to her back. Liszt instantly composed a musical
variation named 'Dance of Death for piano and orchestra.
Mahler's symphony No. 1 :
A print, created by a famous print artist Jacqus Callot's renowned for his strange
pictures, from Germany's children's story book, the scene of animals joyfully following
a hunter's funeral parade is made into music and became the third movement of the
piece.
Musorgsky's 'Picture of Exhibition' :
After a Russian painter Viktor Hartmann passed away in 1783, his intimate friend,
Musorgsky who is a Russian composer selected 10 pictures from Hartmann s
commemorating exhibit and composed 10 piano pieces based on them. Maurice Joseph
Ravel arragned this piece into an orchestral music.
S.Rachmaninoff s symphonic poem 'Island of Death is composed looking at a picture of
Swiss romantist painter Arnold Bocklin. Currently, this oil painting is kepted in New
York Metropolitan Art Museum.
Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 3 :
Also known as Rhine symphony, Robert Schumann got an inspiration from Cologne
Dom which is renowned for its ancient construction style and composed this piece when
he was travelling in the river valleys of the Rhine.
Richard Strauss's symphonic poem 'Friedenstag' :
This symphonic poem is based on the story of Surrender of Breda during 30 years of
war. This piece is known to be composed by looking at a picture 'Surrender of Breda
by a Spainish painter Velazquez .
Stravinsky's 'Pilgrimage of Debauchee' :
This opera is based on William Hogarth s print and first presented in 1951. This print
illustrates the moral corruption of debauchee Tom Lakewell. The senerio is written by
Oden and Chester Kalman.
Randall Thomson's ensemble 'The Peaceable Kingdom' :
This piece inspired from a picture of a early United State's folk painter Edward Hicks.
This picture paints a scene of a lion playing with a calf from chapter eleven of The
Book of Isaiah. In this picture, there is a scene of William Penn surrounded by native
americans while signing a peace treaty. Thomson quoted lyrics of the ensemble from
The Book of Isaiah.
Fantasia :
 Disney animators set pictures to classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. "The Sorceror's Apprentice" features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. "The Rite of Spring" tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. "Dance of the Hours" is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants and alligators. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day. Welcoming the new millenium, Fantasia is newly restored with digital technology.
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