有关音乐的高中英语演讲稿
Do not be bored. Classical music can be very stimulating. Classical music began in Europe in the Middle Ages and continues today.
Classical music is the art music of Europe and North America. When we call it art music, we are distinguishing classical music from popular music and folk music. Art music generally requires more training to write and perform than the other two kinds.
FROM ORCHESTRA TO SOLOIST
Classical music can be written for orchestras (large groups of musicians) and for smaller groups. Some classical music is written for people to sing.
Orchestras usually play in concert halls. A conductor leads the musicians in an orchestra. The number of players can range from about two dozen to well over 100. An orchestra has several sections made up of different instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
The string section of an orchestra consists of violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Woodwinds are flutes, clarinets, oboes, and bassoons. Brass instruments include trumpets and trombones. Percussion instruments include drums and cymbals.
Classical music for small groups is called chamber music because it was once played in chambers, or large rooms in people’s houses. Examples of chamber music are quintets (for five musicians), quartets (for four musicians), and trios (for three musicians).
Some classical music is written for a soloist, a single performer who may play an instrument, especially the piano, or sing. Opera is written for an orchestra and singers.
FROM OPERA TO SYMPHONY
Opera combines music and drama. It tells a story, and the singers must also act. Operas have lavish stage sets (scenery) and fancy costumes. Many operas also feature huge choruses, dance numbers, and brilliant displays of the singers’ voices.
Thrilling operas include Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Carmen by Georges Bizet, and Rigoletto and Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. These operas all have tragic endings.
Some operas are lighter in spirit and even comic. They generally end happily. Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is an example of a comic opera. The light operas of Gilbert and Sullivan and other composers are sometimes called operettas. In the United States, operetta changed into a popular form—the musical. The musical is a play that has songs, choruses, and dances in its story.
Many operas feature dances or long passages played by instruments that actually interrupt the action. That’s how the symphony originated. It started out as an instrumental introduction to 18th-century Italian opera. Symphonies then became all the rage in Germany and Austria.
The symphony is a composition written for orchestra. It generally has four contrasting sections, or movements. In a performance, there is plenty to look at because of the fantastic array of instruments.
Famous symphony composers include Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Peter Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, and Dmitry Shostakovich.
CLASSICAL STYLES
There are different styles in classical music, depending on when the music was composed. From earliest to most recent, these styles include baroque (1600s), classical (1700s), romantic (1800s), modern (early 1900s), and postmodern (late 1900s).
You’ll notice that classical appears as a separate style within classical music. The term classical can also describe music composed in the 1700s, primarily in Vienna. The leading composers of this time were Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. They were a brilliant group. You might begin listening to classical music with their works.
这是关于Music总的介绍：
Music is part of every culture on Earth. Many people feel that music makes life worth living. We can make music ourselves if we play an instrument or sing. We can hear music on CDs and on radio or television. Music gives us pleasure. It can cheer us up, excite us, or soothe us.
WHAT IS MUSIC?
Music can be happy, sad, romantic, sleepy, spine-tingling, healing—all kinds of things. But what is it? Some people define it as an artful arrangement of sounds across time. Our ears interpret these sounds as loud or soft, high or low, rapid and short, or slow and smooth. The sounds need to continue for a time in some sort of pattern to become music.
Music, like language, is a uniquely human form of communication. As with language, there are many different kinds. In North America, people listen to jazz, rock, classical, folk, country, and many other kinds of music. Each kind of music has its own rules and “speaks” to us in its own way.
What we think of as music depends on where we live. What Americans are used to listening to might sound strange to someone from another culture, and vice versa. It might not even sound like music. In Indonesia, gamelan orchestras play music on gongs, drums, and xylophones. These aren’t the instruments you’d find in a typical orchestra in North America.
Today, modern communications make it possible for us to listen to music from all over the world. Music from one part of the world influences music from another part. For example, gamelan music from Indonesia influenced 20th-century American composers such as John Cage.
WHO INVENTED MUSIC?
No one knows for sure when music began. Perhaps while people were working, they began to chant or sing to make the work go faster. People who were repeating movements—picking crops or rowing boats, for example—could sing or chant in time to the work. Navajo Indians, for example, had corn-grinding songs. Many cultures developed work songs.
Over time, people developed musical instruments. They might have started by clapping their hands and stamping their feet. Sticks and objects that rattled could have replaced the human body as early instruments. Both instruments and music became more complex with time.
Today, many cultures divide music into art music and music of the people. Art music, which we call classical music, is more complicated than the music of the people—folk music and popular music. Art music is generally harder to write and perform. Musicians who perform it need a lot of training. Popular and folk styles typically are easier to create, perform, and understand.
MELODY AND RHYTHM
Melody and rhythm are two basic elements of music. Melody is a series of notes. We know it as the tune.
Melody is based on notes that vary in pitch—that is, in how high or low they are. When several notes, or pitches, sound together, it’s called harmony.
Rhythm is the pattern of the notes. When notes are grouped together, they have a rhythm, or beat. The beat is what we tap our feet to. Rock music is known for its strong beat.
WHY IS MUSIC IMPORTANT?
Music goes along with many of our activities. We dance to music. We sing songs at school. Many of us exercise to music. Bands play at football games. We hear music in cars and stores. Music accompanies many important occasions. At a wedding, for example, the bride marches down the aisle to music.
Music has always been important to religious ceremonies. Music is heard in Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, Islamic mosques, and other places of worship.
Music entertains us. We listen to show tunes, spirituals, pop, opera, and rock. We have favorite performers. We hear music as the background in movies. Perhaps we go to the theater to see a musical—a movie or play with music, singing, and often with dancing. Music is part of our lives.
下面是有关贝多芬的介绍：
Ludwig van Beethoven may sound like a stuffy name. But this German composer was a star in his time, and he had many fans. He broke the rules for writing music. Most people consider Beethoven one of the greatest musicians of all time.
A TROUBLED LIFE
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. His childhood was unhappy. His father drank too much. Beethoven’s musical talent was obvious from childhood. He quickly became a talented performer on the piano. In 1792, he moved to Vienna, Austria, to study with Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. Soon Beethoven was playing music that he wrote himself. Many people admired his powerful, dramatic music.
Beethoven was often ill or depressed. He was unable to find a woman who would marry him. Just as he was becoming very successful, he started to lose his hearing. Deafness is the worst fate for a musician. Beethoven’s performing career was over.
Despite Beethoven’s hearing loss, he still wrote music. The music he wrote became even better. His music was richly expressive and revealed feelings such as joy and sadness. He created one bold masterpiece after another. Besides piano music, Beethoven wrote string quartets (pieces for four stringed instruments) and other kinds of chamber music. Chamber music is written for small groups, and people can play it in their homes or in small halls. Beethoven also wrote songs, two masses, an opera, and nine outstanding symphonies.
Crowds loved him and adored his music. Beethoven was famous, although not happy. In 1827, he got pneumonia and died in Vienna.
WHAT MAKES BEETHOVEN’S MUSIC SPECIAL?
Beethoven studied works by Haydn, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Then he broke their rules and made music that was like no one else’s. It was emotional and challenging. Beethoven wanted his music to express ideas as well as emotions. He wanted it to praise freedom and equality and other high ideals.
Some of Beethoven’s well-known achievements are the Moonlight Sonata for piano, the Fifth Symphony, and the Ninth Symphony. The Fifth Symphony has a famous four-note opening, da-da-da-dum. The Ninth Symphony ends with a triumphant chorus called “Ode to Joy.” Beethoven’s music set a standard that later composers measured their work by.
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