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Music is the art of arranging sound. It is one of the universal cultural aspects of all human societies. Music may be defined with styles that emphasize, de-emphasize, or omit common elements of organized sound, such as rhythm, volume and pitch. Rhythm may be specified with tempos, sometimes organized using meters, and often coordinating the variation and juxtaposition of pitch. Individual sounds possess timbres or texture, which heavily contribute to the music's overall character.
The relationships and divisions between genres are inexact and sometimes hotly contested, as in taxonomy. The mere existence or legitimacy of a genre may be a topic of controversy. It is sometimes more valuable to categorize music by era, scene, intent, or artistic inspiration. Individual periods of music are separated into pieces, which can be categorized into numerous traditions, such as songs, tracks, symphonies, or so forth. Pieces may be composed and performed using a vast range of instruments, including the human voice. There are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces, pieces that combine singing and instruments, pieces with no sound, randomly generated pieces, and even pieces merely specifying an environment with no further sonic organization.
In some musical contexts, a performance or composition may be to some extent improvised. For instance, in Hindustani classical music, the performer plays spontaneously while following a partially defined structure and using characteristic motifs. In modal jazz the performers may take turns leading and responding, while sharing a changing set of notes. In a free jazz context, there may be no structure whatsoever, with each performer acting at their discretion. Music may be deliberately composed to be unperformable, or agglomerated electronically from many performances. Music is played in public and private areas, highlighted at events such as festivals, rock concerts, and orchestra performance, and heard incidentally as part of a score or soundtrack to a film, TV show, opera, or video game. Musical playback is the primary function of an MP3 player or CD player and a universal feature of radios and smartphones. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that when public radio stations aired Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the bass voice of Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live from Frankfurt and recorded from Auckland?
- ... that the Polish soprano Zofia Kilanowicz appeared as Roxana in Szymanowski's King Roger in Paris, and recorded Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs?
- ... that Luigi Gaggero conducted the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra in Germany in April 2022, restoring Lyatoshynsky's Symphony No. 3 to its 1951 version, with the last movement themed "Peace will conquer war"?
- ... that New York's Wieting Opera House burnt down and was rebuilt on three separate occasions by its proprietors, John Wieting and Mary Elizabeth Wieting?
- ... that at age 22, Yoel Gamzou from Tel Aviv conducted an orchestra that he had founded, playing his completion of Mahler's Tenth Symphony in Berlin?
- ... that AJ Glueckert appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Erik in 2017, described as a "clarion sensitive tenor", and at the Oper Frankfurt as Flamand in 2018, with "passionate power"?
Today's Birthdays
- Birthdays in Music: July 6
- Gene Chandler, American singer, turns 85.
- Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian conductor, turns 85.
- Jeannie Seely, American country music singer, turns 82.
- Rik Elswit, American guitarist for Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show , turns 77.
- John Bazz, American bassist with The Blasters, turns 71.
- Rick Braun, American trumpeter, turns 68.
- John Jorgenson, American country musician, turns 67.
- John Keeble, Brit drummer for Spandau Ballet, turns 63.
- Stuart Garrard, English guitarist of Delirious? fame, turns 59.
- Tim Bricheno, Brit guitarist, turns 59.
- Heather Nova, Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet, turns 55.
- Inspectah Deck, American rapper with the Wu-Tang Clan, a musical collective, turns 52.
- 50 Cent, (born Curtis James Jackson III) American gangsta rapper, turns 46.
- Kate Nash, English singer-songwriter, turns 35.
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WikiProjects connected with music: WikiProject Music – Songs – Albums – Alternative music - Classical music – Composers – Contemporary Christian music – Contemporary music – Electronic music – Emo music – Hip hop – Instruments – Led Zeppelin - Metal music – Jazz – Musicians – Opera – Panic at the Disco – Powderfinger (band) – Punk music – Record Labels – Record Production – Rock music – R&B and Soul Music – Terminology – The Beatles
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