I love music, and wonder why it's taken me so long to do a post (or whatever) on it. I was watching Disney's Mickey and the Beanstalk a couple days ago, and in it Donald and Goofy are singing about how they're going to eat and eat until they die (they're starving peasants). Disney was a good one for this, using classical music set to their own words, but Warner Brothers did it, too, both with great success.
In this particular one, it's Funiculì, Funiculà, written by Peppino Turco with set to music by Luigi Denza in 1880. I know the tune (to the wrong words) , but the 'real' words make a lot more sense. I hope they'll get the sound of Goofy singing out of my head.
Though I still don't know what funiculi', funicula' means.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/funiculifunicula.htm
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/funiculi.htm
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Women & Music
Thought I'd continue with my theme on music. It's an important part of daily life, then and now. How often do you turn on the radio, pop in a CD, or hum your favorite theme song? OK, maybe not that last, but sometimes those things get trapped in your head and then you're stuck for the day.
In Women Musicians in Victorian Fiction, 1860-1900 by Phyllis Weliver (ISBN: 0754601269), she begins with For nineteenth-century society, music was a means by which women could display their gentility, education, their physical grace and express their 'selves'. Novelists were quick to employ this recognized way for women to project their personalities, and fictional scenes featuring women musicians served to reinforce or explore and challenge traditional views of the place of both women and music in society.
This was very true. Many women took piano lessons for years, and were the 'entertainment' so to speak at social gatherings. They played all the latest music, from Gilbert and Sullivan to pop-culture songs, to Beethoven and Mozart.
And they sang. Whether in dance halls or their own conservatory, many trained their voices. Mostly. I'm sure there will always be those "American Idol" wannabes who think they can sing but really can't.
Still, no matter how I search the internet, it's incredibly hard to find books, sites, or lists of music from this era. There are operas and plays listed, but not much on the every day level. Typing in a general time, I got something from Wikipedia, but as always with that site, take its info with a grain of salt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1882_in_music
Anyone else have site or books on this topic?
In Women Musicians in Victorian Fiction, 1860-1900 by Phyllis Weliver (ISBN: 0754601269), she begins with For nineteenth-century society, music was a means by which women could display their gentility, education, their physical grace and express their 'selves'. Novelists were quick to employ this recognized way for women to project their personalities, and fictional scenes featuring women musicians served to reinforce or explore and challenge traditional views of the place of both women and music in society.
This was very true. Many women took piano lessons for years, and were the 'entertainment' so to speak at social gatherings. They played all the latest music, from Gilbert and Sullivan to pop-culture songs, to Beethoven and Mozart.
And they sang. Whether in dance halls or their own conservatory, many trained their voices. Mostly. I'm sure there will always be those "American Idol" wannabes who think they can sing but really can't.
Still, no matter how I search the internet, it's incredibly hard to find books, sites, or lists of music from this era. There are operas and plays listed, but not much on the every day level. Typing in a general time, I got something from Wikipedia, but as always with that site, take its info with a grain of salt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1882_in_music
Anyone else have site or books on this topic?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Music
The 'Victorian Era' is so long and encompasses so much, that it's nearly impossible to pick a trend or place or tune or much of anything. So I found a few sites on it, one really great one from the British Library. Or this one. This one is great (you need ActiveX to listen) Victorian Station.
Here are some children's songs, Nursery-songs.com. Again you can't listen to them only read the lyrics and see the illustrations. Worth it, but I'm not tune-ality inclined.
The Victorian Music Library allows you to borrow sheet music (at a cost). Here's their catalogue.
It was during this era that the gramophone came into use. Emile Berliner patented it, and records, in 1887. He was the first to use flat discs instead of cylinders. And was also the first to be able to mass produce them, making them cost effective and widely available. The first ones were made of glass, then zinc, and eventually plastic. [http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/a/gramophone.htm]
There are a lot of other musical inventions and I'm sure a lot of other websites out there with songs and recordings you can listen to. Anyone have a favorite?
Here are some children's songs, Nursery-songs.com. Again you can't listen to them only read the lyrics and see the illustrations. Worth it, but I'm not tune-ality inclined.
The Victorian Music Library allows you to borrow sheet music (at a cost). Here's their catalogue.
It was during this era that the gramophone came into use. Emile Berliner patented it, and records, in 1887. He was the first to use flat discs instead of cylinders. And was also the first to be able to mass produce them, making them cost effective and widely available. The first ones were made of glass, then zinc, and eventually plastic. [http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/a/gramophone.htm]
There are a lot of other musical inventions and I'm sure a lot of other websites out there with songs and recordings you can listen to. Anyone have a favorite?
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