The Beauty of Music

"Music has to be the spark that lights up the fire in human spirit." said Ludwig van Beethoven.

Along years, music has received a lot of values. In the past, music occupied a special place and the ones who made it were considered to be real masters. So, there were formed some types of music: the oldest (opera, light opera) and the recent ones like dance, hip/hop, R&B, etc. the most representatives figures of the first group would be: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven (from the Greatest Classics period). The Romantic opera has remarkable representatives like Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner and from the Romanian composers, the most well known are George Enescu and Sabin
Drãgoi.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is considered to be one of the most important opera composers. Although he lived only 35 years, among other workings belonging to other musical types, Mozart wrote an important number of operas, too. The most loved ones remain:" The Weeding of Figaro ", " The Magic Flute ", "The Kidnap from Serai ", "Don Giovanni " and others. Mozart wrote his first operetta at the age of 12, represented at Vienna. At the age of 14 he wrote, in only two months, an opera that was represented in Italy.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1790-1827), born in Bonn in 1790, was one of the world's greatest composers. He wrote only one opera, "Fidelio", for which he composed four overtures. He began to lose his hearing at the age of 26, and by 1823 he was completely deaf, Beethoven never heard his nine symphonies or piano concertos, or any of his other compositions during the last ten years of his life.

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) is considered to be the founder of Italian romanticism in opera. His repertory in opera has the following workings:" Semiramida ", "The Italian Girl in Alger", "Magpie the Thief", "Wilhelm Tell" and others. The most representative opera remains The Barber of Seville.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) represented the voice of his nation, and his operas express clearly and suggestive the aspirations and the fight for freedom of the Italian nation. Not accidental, the most well known choruses of the operas from his first period of creation became real anthems for the 1848 revolution. The slave chorus from Nabucodonosor had an extraordinary echo, and at the opening of "Attila", at the hearing of the retort "Take your hole world, only leave me Italy!" the public started to scream " Italy is ours!"

Richard Wagner (1813-1883), a complex personality of the German and universal culture, remained mentioned not only in the history of music, but even in the history of literature and philosophy. Lots of his librettos were published like literature workings, such as: "The Flying Dutchman" (or "The Ghost Ship" and The German tetralogy formed by the workings: "The Rhine's Gold "," Walkiria ", "Siegfried", "The God's Twilight", all of them inspired by the northern legends. Richard Wagner's opera creation is vast. From it I mention: "Tristan and Isolda", "The Singing Masters From Nuremberg", "Pasifal", etc.

Sabin Drãgoi, a deep expert of the Romanian folklore, will intereat in his creation, the values of this national patrimony. The most representative creation in opera of Sabin Drãgoi remains "The Calamity", a musical drama after the literary work "The Calamity" by Ion Luca Caragiale.

The opera imposed itself thanks to the joining of the dramatic element with the Romanian specific. The specific results from the use of the melodies of the carols as basic musical material. But now, these types of music are less and less listened to by the youth. Now youth listens to bands as Backstreet Boys,  Valahia, N&D, or interprets as Brithany Spears, Lou Bega, Christina Aguillera or others.

Dear ones, don't let the classic music die. Listen to more and more opera and you will soon discover the beauty of opera.

Robescu Bianca
National College "Barbu Stirbei", Cãlãrasi, Romania
Teacher Gratiela Preda