You are here: Home / Classical Music

The World’s Largest Collection of High-Quality DRM-free Classical Music Downloads Goes Live in the UK

May 20, 2011 By stclawkk Leave a Comment

Article by Passionato

Passionato launches the world’s most comprehensive online classical resource, providing access to catalogues from the largest major classical record labels as well as the key classical independent labels

London — 11th September 2008 — Passionato launches today, giving classical music lovers the opportunity to browse, sample and download single tracks, works or albums from its catalogue of classical music recordings. Tracks are available from its Store at http://www.passionato.com in superior audio quality (320kbps MP3 or lossless FLAC). All of the music is DRM-free, which allows music purchased on Passionato to be transferred to any computer or portable audio player (including the iPod®) and burnt to CD without any restrictions.

Post-launch Passionato will continue to sign-up more independent labels, and to add new releases from the key major and independent labels on a weekly basis.

Passionato is free to join, with no subscription and with highly competitive, flexible pricing according to whether users download tracks, works or albums. Users will be able to download free beta software — the Player — which allows them to organise all the music they download alongside any music they import (rip) from their classical CD collections. Passionato’s extensive recording information (metadata) means the Player can identify any classical CD a user imports by matching it with Passionato’s own database, providing instant information on, for example, composer, date of recording, record label, recording location, recording producer, recording engineer and period.

Passionato’s Store allows users to listen to samples of up to 60 seconds of every track in its catalogue, and to browse by composer (subdivided by period, e.g. Baroque, Renaissance or Romantic, or by nationality), by artist (subdivided by voice, e.g. mezzo-soprano or baritone, or by nationality) and by record label.

In this way, users can roam Passionato’s store freely, discovering new recordings without having to pay a penny. The Passionato Store also features the Passionato team’s own expert recommendations on highly rated works, thousands of reviews from national media and specialist music publications, and a regularly updated chart. Users can rate works using the Player, an easy method of sorting favourite pieces.

Passionato also encourages musical debate amongst classical music lovers within its dedicated Community section. The forums provide a place for quick-fire debate on a wide range of topics.

In the spirit of discovering and sharing classical music, Passionato includes a number of Web 2.0 features. Users can post links to their favourite classical albums on 34 of the most popular online social networks, including Facebook and MySpace, directing friends to the Passionato Store where they can hear free audio samples. Users can also send personal recommendations/links to their friends directly via email via the ‘Send to a Friend’ function, and bookmark their favourites using sites such as Del.icio.u.s.

To coincide with Passionato’s launch, everyone who registers at passionato.com can claim 10 free pre-selected tracks, one of which is which is an entire 30-minute work (current pre-selected work is Saint-Saens’ Symphony No.3).

James Glicker, Founder and CEO of Passionato, carried out the preliminary research for Passionato while living in the US after he finished a two-year term as President of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. James’s twenty years in the music industry include positions as Head of Worldwide Marketing at BMG Classics (trading as RCA Victor), Managing Director of BMG Australia and President of MusicNow (now part of Napster).

James says: “I’m an avid consumer of classical music myself and, having worked in the industry for twenty years, I am aware of how technology and the internet are becoming increasingly a part of how people access, consume and share knowledge about classical music. Passionato is delighted to have the cooperation of the largest majors and we will over the next six months and beyond be signing up even more labels — all with the ultimate goal of presenting people who love classical music with an easy and cost effective way of organising and expanding their music collections.”

The UK recorded music industry association, the BPI, adds: “Digital distribution already offers great choice as to how music fans can acess and enjoy music online, and its potential is even greater. We expect the new Passionato service will greatly enhance the digital music offering for classical music aficionados and we warmly welcome innovation of this type in music retail.”

About the Author

Passionato: – http://www.passionato.com/

Requiem Mass in D Minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final Masterpiece was commissioned in mid 1791 by the Austrian count Franz Von Walsegg, as a Tribute to the passing of his young wife Anna. Mozart began his final composition in Prague, suffering from an undetermined illness, which would eventually take his life and rob him of the chance to see the completion of his Magnum Opus. After Mozart’s death, his understudy ‘Franz Xaver Süssmayr’, at the behest of Mozart’s wife, completed the missing parts of the Requiem. Requiem Mass was first performed on January 2, 1793, in a private concert for the benefit of Mozart’s grieving wife, Constanze Mozart. The Following are the lyrics, translated from their Original Latin Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. You are praised, God, in Zion, and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, to You all flesh will come. Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Day of wrath, day of anger will dissolve the world in ashes, as foretold by David and the Sibyl. Great trembling there will be when the Judge descends from heaven to examine all things closely. The trumpet will send its wondrous sound throughout earth’s sepulchres and gather all before the throne. Death and nature will be astounded, when all creation rises again, to answer the judgment. A book will be brought forth, in which all will be …

Filed Under: Classical Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Fact Sheet – Almost Everything You Need to Know About Classical Music

May 20, 2011 By stclawkk Leave a Comment

Article by Clive Oliver Blacksmith

What is Classical Music?

The classical music period was 1750 to 1820. The term ‘classical music’ originated from the Latin term ‘classicus’, meaning taxpayer of the highest class. After the term made its way through the French, German and English languages, one of the earliest definitions of the word meant ‘classical, formal’. The term ‘classical music’ did not appear until the early 19th century, its earliest reference recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from about 1836.

There are many styles of music that exist within the classical music; these are symphony, opera, choral works and chamber music.

Among its musical characteristics are the use of dynamics and orchestral colour in a thematic way; the use of rhythm, including periodic structure and harmonic rhythm, to give definition to large-scale forms, along with the use of modulation to build longer spans of tension and release.

Classical music is often distinguished by its wide use of instruments of varying tones and pitches used to create a deep, rich sound. Classical music was hugely affected by the invention and modification of instruments throughout time. There are no set instruments that had to be used for classical music, composers wrote for orchestras, wind ensembles or various combinations of instruments for chamber music. Instruments like the piano, violins, flutes and trumpets were used. The human voice was also used, which invented its own series of classical music, the Opera. Composers also wrote solo pieces for a specific instrument, accompanied by piano.

Classical music composers often aspired to instil in their music a very complex relationship between its affective (emotional) content and the intellectual means by which is it achieved. Many works make use of musical development, the process by which a musical idea is repeated in different contexts or in altered form.

Classical music is primarily a written musical tradition, preserved in music notation (sheet music), as opposed to being transmitted orally. This is a very good method of preserving the piece as the written music contains the technical instructions for performing the work. The written score, however, doesn’t usually contain explicit instructions as to how to interpret the piece in terms of production or performance, apart from directions for dynamics, tempo and expression; this is left to the discretion of the performers, who are guided by their personal experience and musical education, their knowledge of the work’s idiom.

Essential Reference: A list of the most famous classical music composers:

Ludwig Van Beethoven – 1770-1827Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – 1756-1791Johann Sebastian Bach – 1685-1750Richard Wagner – 1813-1883Joseph Haydn – 1732-1809Johannes Brahms – 1833-1897Franz Schubert – 1797-1828Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky – 1840-1893George Frideric Handel – 1685-1759Igor Stravinsky – 1882-1971Robert Schumann – 1810-1856Frederic Chopin – 1810-1849Felix Mendelssohn – 1809-1847Claude Debussy – 1862-1918Franz Liszt – 1811-1886Antonin Dvorak – 1841-1904Giuseppe Verdi – 1813-1901Gustav Mahler – 1860-1911Hector Berlioz – 1803-1869Antonio Vivaldi – 1678-1741Richard Strauss – 1864-1949Serge Prokofiev – 1891-1953Dmitri Shostakovich – 1906-1975Béla Bartók – 1881-1945Anton Bruckner – 1824-1896

About the Author

Clive Oliver Blacksmith wrote this article to celebrate the range of classical sheet music, including single sheets of classical music and classical music books from Chappell of Bond Street’s online catalogue.

Filed Under: Classical Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Making of Classical Music

May 20, 2011 By stclawkk Leave a Comment

Classical music is governed by some known conventions that have its roots in a variety of forms, genres, styles and historical periods. These features together go in defining the term ‘classical music.’ Music rated as classical has always made its thumping presence felt. With the evolution of the popular music forms, the dominance of the classical form has not diminished. In-fact, it further magnified with new forms and codes.

There are several factors that define Classical Music. These can be classified under the following heads:-

Instrumentation – This is one way of classifying the classical genre of music. Different instruments are brought to use for creating the symphony that make it classical. Various string instruments like violin, string, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and other diverse percussion are commonly used to give this form of music a unique style. However, nowadays electronic instruments like electric guitars are occasionally brought to use.

Form and Technical Execution – The classical form generally take the form of a song, symphony, dance music, chamber suite, symphony, concerto, electronic music and more. The composition of this form of music requires expertise as a lot of complexities are involved in arriving at a balance between its emotional content and the music that accompanies it. The Classical Guitar Music is one such example of complex composition.

Complexity – The complexities involved in making of classical works are not just confined to instruments and beats. But a lot of it lies in the development, modulation, musical phrases and even length and variations of tones. A perfect combination of all these features results in the development of a perfect symphony of music. In-fact, the large scale classical works are built from smaller units of musical compositions.

Society – The classical forms of music maintains a repute of being a choice of the upper-level society. The music has never been popular among the working class. However, it is not compulsory as most of the classical musicians fall in the middle class range. The Classical Music CD buyers and concert goers also include the middle class audience.

Timeline – This form of music passed through several stages. It has its roots ingrained in medieval times, even dating back to ancient Greeks. The form has evolved a lot in the present age. It still has major time divisions like the Medieval (476 – 1400) and Renaissance (1400 – 1600). Then there is the common practice period that includes Baroque (1600 – 1750), Classical (1730 – 1820) and Romantic Periods (1895 – 1910). The modern contemporary period includes 20th Century Classical (1900 – 2000) and contemporary classical (1975 to current).

The form of music which is preserved as classical is primarily a written musical tradition. These written works are then given expression in the form of recordings, oral transformations and musical notes. Music plays an effective role in transmitting classical notations. The written instructions, however, do not have explicit instructions. But, music does help to build the mood of a classical masterpiece. It helps in better understanding of the masterpieces.

A great influence of the classical form of music lies in its cultural durability. It is interesting to note its evolution from past to the present form. The form has taken materials from popular music and folk music. Yet it retained its originality and showed up as updated versions of the classical masterpieces.

The commercialism of classical music has popularised it among the people. Now, DVDs of the latest versions of classical music are available in retail stores. The prices of the DVDs are kept low and so all income group people can buy the DVDs from the Classical Music Stores. People now need not go to a theatre to watch a performance. In-fact, theatre comes to home in the form of the DVDs.The classical music CDs have made it very simple for people to get acquainted to classical forms of music. Most of the current masterpieces are compiled in CDs and sold in the market. This has made it possible for people to have a library of the classical form of music at their homes.

Alden Jerry is an expert writer. Visit to know more about classical music at online music store


Article from articlesbase.com

Find More Classical Music Articles

Filed Under: Classical Music Tagged With: , ,