Hey Lindsay's Influence On Music

Only a few composers in the history of time have ever successfully left their mark throughout our musical world we live in today. It’s been over two hundred years since the birth of Beethoven and his music still speaks to us today as he originally expressed and composed it. Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in the city of Bonn Germany on December 16th 1770 and has since been one of the most influential composers known to man. A common theme of early age learning and mastering seems to emerge in Beethoven’s life because while living in a musical family as a child, his father taught him how to play the piano, violin and in addition how to compose musical pieces since he was four years of age. A few short years later, he gave his first public piano performance at the age of seven. While Beethoven certainly gained a lot of knowledge from his peers, he also supported his family by giving music lessons and also by playing in the court orchestra. In the year 1792, Beethoven worked under an Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn and by the year 1800, his compositions established him as a strong Mozart successor.

He emerged from his struggles in his teenage years into the triumphs of a young man living in Vienna. He fell in and out of love with different women who typically were in a different social class than he. Beethoven never married nor had children. Beethoven’s struggles climaxed with the progression of his deafness. This made his interaction with people even more complicated to the point that he became a recluse and socially isolated. He was not able to play the piano publicly however his disability did not hold him back from composing

Times became tough and money tight among the aristocrats and Beethoven found himself working privately. He would compose pieces freelance for various individuals wanting to purchase his work. Beethoven soon became famous in Vienna and was sought out by many because of his talents.

The Beatles of the 1960s included four musicians that lived in the United Kingdom. Each member of the band were so different that they were able to create a unique twist on pop music, all while being a rock band. They took a lot of time to really make every track on their albums great. Through their music, they became more popular, becoming the most successful band in the history of music with having sold over one billion records to this day. The Beatles had a big influence on rock music and they were the most successful act in the 20th century.

This empathetic spirit is visible in his music as well, especially during his compositional period called The End of an Era. This was debatably the darkest time of Beethoven’s life, as he was completely deaf, depressed, and in a dry spell of composing (1). His brother had also just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, so he took custody of his nephew Karl, a relationship so tension-filled that Karl attempted suicide in 1826 (3). At this time, one would expect Beethoven to write music expressive of such hardship, but instead he composed some of his most delightful and uplifting pieces such as Irish folksongs

Music has been around forever, the oldest surviving recorded work of music dates back to 1400 BC. A lot of music artists have inspired me in many different ways. One artist that sticks out the most and has inspired me in my everyday life is the alternative pop singer songwriter, Halsey.

If we are to cite to things that are slowly taking the scene right now, it’s definitely the fast approaching Holidays and the voice of pop diva Mariah Carey blasting from the radio and our mobile music streaming applications. Yearly, the combination of the aforementioned two never failed to make us feel giddy and excited to celebrate some great time with the family, or make us prepare the right pieces of clothing to complete our Yuletide ensemble. Mariah Carey had been around since time immemorial and her influence not only as a music icon but a fashion advocate had been felt, followed and patronized over the last couple of years. Now, Mariah Carey is up to surprise everyone not with songs but a must-awaited collaboration and people from all over the planet is just frenetic to see what will it be.

What didn't happen during the Super Bowl halftime show might have been one of the biggest shocker's of the game. The NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, stage was all hers to do and say what she wanted, but Lady Gaga stuck to singing, leaving her political feelings out of it.

John Winston Ono Lennon, leader of British rock group the Beatles. Born October 9, 1940, Liverpool England- died December 8, 1980, New York (“John Lennon”). Early in his childhood he was separated from his parents, he was then raised by his maternal aunt. At age 16 he founded a band that evolved into the Beatles, the most important musical group of the second half of the 20th century (“ John Lennon”). At the age 28 John Lennon married singer songwriter Yoko Ono.

Ariana is a singer and a lyricist. She was born in Boca Raton, Florida. After growing up in Florida she moved to Los Angeles and got the role Cat Valentine in the nickelodeon show Victorious. Ariana is most famous for her role Victorious. She was born June 26,1993. Her birth name is Ariana Grande - Butera. Ariana was also on the nickelodeon show, Sam & Cat.

In experiments on over 500 college students, who often work cheaper than guinea pigs and have less complicated musical tastes, subjects were found to experience a increase in aggressive thoughts after listening to songs with violent lyrics, (Morrison, 1). Based on this information people can conclude that since rap lyrics are violent often, it is the main cause for aggressive thoughts caused from hip hop. Rap music causes lots of violence every year and it is only used for entertainment purposes. Rap has no value for learning anything; it is just a hostile form of music most times. Rap music can influence teens because it can encourage violent behavior, and it can make kids start using drugs, also it can influence illegal activities.

A major historical event was well underway when Beethoven was born. The Age of Enlightenment was upon the world. The peak of the period was happening right as Beethoven was born. Philosophy, science, and politics were changed. Many believe this helped the Romantic period also (Enlightenment). During Beethoven’s early life, music was mainly classical. However, Beethoven was the main ingredient on changing his era of music. Beethoven studied under Haydn and Mozart, but they were not valuable relationships to him. Beethoven was mostly known for his great piano work. After branching out from more than the piano, Beethoven’s work took on a more Romantic feel. He put more emotion and expression in his work than he, or most artists, did previously. This grasp between stages was very productive for Beethoven; most of his best work was completed during this time (Brief).

His music changes greatly due to him suffering major hearing loss to the point he became deaf, this really hurt him because he believes that since his field of work is music and he’s going deaf is just a major contradiction. According to Lewis Lockwood in his book Beethoven: The Music and The life. “He succeed Mozart and Hyden as the most acclaimed Instrumental composer in Europe and in Twenty years changed musical history.”(8) He also tells in very great details of his Psychological progression in his passage Heiligenstadt testament which tells his most private thoughts from his deafness and his overwhelming urge to push through his adversity. And from the very slow, dreary First Movement to the fast paced almost thundering Third Movement I can definitely feel a change in Beethoven’s mood and how he conveys that through his music. Beethoven is what we call The Tortured Genius, Somebody with Immense talent very few people have but suffers greatly due to some type of issue. He particularly suffered issues with his ears in his early years. As Maynard Solemn said in his book Beethoven’s essays “There is some evidence that sound, especially loud sounds capable of transformation into tactile sensations produced anxieties in Beethoven. During the French Bombardment of Vienna in 1809” (94). Now Waynard also said that (It might see that Beethoven was merely protecting his ears from the roars of the cannons but his deafness appeared long before this event.”(Solemn 94). After

There are many fine examples of his quality of work in this period. However, his one opera would have to be at the top of the list. Fidelio was the only opera Beethoven wrote. Not only was it his only opera, but he rewrote it three times with at least “four different overtures” (Hanning 378). If this does not show Beethoven’s quality is his work then what does? He wanted this opera to be absolutely perfect, and it was fantastic! Not only were the music and words great, but Beethoven made sure to have a strong plot line to back it up. “Beethoven’s music transforms this conventional material, making the chief character, Leonore, an idealized figure of sublime courage and self-denial” (Hanning 378). The quality of work done in and on the piece is amazing. It is hard to find quality that equals that of the work Beethoven put into his compositions. Are other composers and musicians good? Most definitely, but, Beethoven’s work is still supremely popular today because of its quality.

Beethoven was influenced by the era and the culture of his time. During the 18th century there was a plague that killed more than 1/3 of Vienna’s population (Prevo, 5). During his time there was many scientific advancements in medicine. (Prevo, 5). Beethoven started losing his hearing and not being able to hear his own music, resulted in his absence from playing in public Prevo, 5). His loss of hearing and constant ringing in his ears influenced his music tremendously, based on the fact that he started becoming less social and more isolated (Prevo, 5). This brought his music to a new level of genius making his 5th symphony sound melodic and ominous in nature.