Music of Europe
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The music of Europe includes a number of kinds of distinct genres of music, including traditional and modern folk, rock and alternative music, and some of the most widely-recognized classical styles in the world. Its variety reflects the variety of Europe in general, and individual countries and their regions may have very different styles of traditional or more modern music.
- Classical Music : Important classical composers from Europe include Hildegard von Bingen, Guillaume de Machaut, Pérotin, Guillaume Dufay, Orlande de Lassus, Jean-Baptiste Lully, J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart, Grieg, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, Wagner, Rimsky-Korsakov, Bruckner, Camille Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Falla, Granados, Albéniz, Rodrigo, Schoenberg, Bartok, Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar, Nielsen, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Puccini, Debussy, Rossini, Ravel, Stravinsky, Shostakovich and Penderecki. Luciano Pavarotti was a contemporary popular opera singer. Orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra are considered to be amongst the finest ensembles in the world. The Salzburg Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms are major European classical music festivals, and International Chopin Piano Competition is the world's oldest monographic music competition.
- Folk Music : Europe has a wide and diverse range of indigenous music, sharing common features in rural, travelling or maritime communities. Folk music is embedded in an unwritten, aural tradition, but was increasingly transcribed from the nineteenth century onwards. Many classical composers used folk melodies, and folk has influenced some popular music in Europe.
- Popular Music : Europe has also imported many different genres of music, mainly from America, ranging from Blues, Jazz, Soul, Pop, Rap, Hip-Hop, R'n'B and Dance. The UK has been most successful in re-exporting this type of music and also creating many of its own genres via notable movements including the British Invasion, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (that has been compared to Beatlemania.) and Britpop. Some major UK acts include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Elton John, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Sex Pistols, Eric Clapton, The Clash, Van Morrison, Dire Straits, The Police, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, The Who, Eurythmics, Dusty Springfield, The Cure, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Duran Duran, Oasis, Radiohead, Coldplay, Muse, Gorillaz, Robbie Williams, Seal, Bee Gees, Spice Girls, UB40, Adele, Jessie J, Amy Winehouse... Other popular European musicians are U2 (Ireland), Björk (Iceland), ABBA (Sweden), a-ha (Norway), Alizée (France), Andrea Bocelli (Italy), Julio Iglesias (Spain), Nana Mouskouri (Greece/France), Kati Wolf (Hungary), Boney M. (Germany), Daft Punk (France), Charles Aznavour (France), Johnny Hallyday (France), Mylène Farmer (France), Modern Talking (Germany), Scorpions (Germany), Rammstein (Germany), Ace of Base (Sweden), t.A.T.u. (Russia), Enya (Ireland), James Last (Germany), Doda (Poland), Jean Michel Jarre (France), Aqua (Denmark/Norway), Rasmus Seebach (Denmark), Roxette (Sweden). Main festivals: Glastonbury (UK), Wacken (Germany), Benicassim (Spain), Roskilde (Denmark). EMI is the largest European music company.
The Eurovision Song Contest, the world's largest music event, is a competition for European songs. It has been held every year since 1956.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Music of Europe" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
