Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Berlin State Opera)
9/7/2010
Berlin Music Today vs Berlin Music in the Past
• MUSIC IN THE PAST
9/7/2010
Music in Berlin during the 1700's used to be much different than what it is today. around the 1700 a new king came around to rule by the name of Frederick I. With his strong focus on military there wasn't that much money to be put towards entertainment and music. the music events played at the court could only be done on rare occasions such as on holidays or during lent. They also played during special ceremonies like in the presence of the kings mother..
Eventually music came back around and exploded into the scene again during the 18th century. This time was known as the "golden age" because of the huge uproar in music making for Berlin. Most credit for the big comeback in music goes to a new ruler after Frederick I named Frederick II. Back at his hometown he formed a group of musicians to come play in Berlin, this consisted of Carl Heinrich, Johann Gottlieb Graun, Franz and Johann Benda, Christoph Schaffrath, and Johann Gottlieb Janitsch. This turned out to be a great decision as it soon became one of the most successful Kapelles in Europe. Frederick II was also talented in music himself, would compose music and skillfully play the flute. In 1740 Frederick employed Johann Joachim Quantz, a very talented flutist along with 50 other musicians.
Stadtschloss
9/7/2010
Even though today music has changed so much compared to the days back then, Berlin still has opera houses around that still have classical music being played in them. Deutsche Opera, Berlin State Opera, and the Komische Oper are a few buildings still in use today for music.
Technology today has changed a lot since the 1700’s and thus musicians have taken advantage of it, especially the people in Germany. Berlin has a school that is known for having developed an electronic style of music. This is made up of electronic preloaded sounds on computers such as synthesizers, electronic drum beats, ambient noises, and occasional electric guitar riffs. Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Ashra are a few artists that made it big in Berlin playing this type of music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZt64_XOflk
The length of 1700’s classical music was insanely long compared to what we are used to. Some songs could last 15mins or more. This new age music that was developed in the 1970’s had that same thing in common with it, true vintage Berlin old school songs would sometimes last 20-30mins. This became a problem for most artists since they would want some songs to be continuous for 80mins. That wasn’t possible since everyone recorded on vinyl but once the compact disk came about they were able to change their style of music even further. Berlin has made a huge name for itself in the genre of Elecronica/Techno and New Age music.
9/7/2010
Literature
In the 20'sA German novelist Erich Maria Remarque wrote the book All Quiet on the Western Front in 1929. The novel was about a young soldier who was 19 years old named, Paul Bäumer, who was a German soldier fighting on the French frontline. This book has become one of the most widely known novels in the world with over one million copies being sold in 1929. The nazis thought this book gave the first World War a bad image on the Germans so they ordered all copies of the book to be burned. During this time Remarque also lost his German citizenship and the book was translated into 20 different languages around the world.
Herta Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2009. The latest book she wrote was called Everything I Possess I Carry With Me which was written in 2009. The novel is about the difficult life of a Romanian-German poet named,Oskar Pastior. Herta Muller was born in Romania but she was kicked out in 1987 because she did not agree with the governments rules. Since then she has lived in Berlin where she continues to write about literature involving serious topics such as the way Romanian-German immigrants were treated. She is known for having a strong way of using words to tell her stories and sending a powerful message.
Art
George Grosz was a famous painter, music artist, and writer who was born in Berlin in 1893. He painted his most famous artworks, Lovesick and Suicide in 1916. He was a rebellious artist who liked to draw pictures of images that would cause scandals about the government. He began writing music in in 1921 when he wrote the song, God With Us. He got into trouble with the government with this song because he was said to be defaming the army. He also started up a magazine called "Die Pleite" in 1919.
Berlin is one of the best places in the world to live in if you are an artist. Berlin contains over 170 museums and art galleries. The ensemble on the Museum Island is one of the sites found on the World Heritage Site. Berlin is also the home to 50 theaters, the most famous is the Deutsches Theater which has been used continuously since 1849 excluding a 1 year break during WWII. There are three major opera houses in Berlin, the oldest opera house, Berlin State Opera, which was opened in 1792.
http://www.berlin.de/international/museums/index.en.php
Located in North East Germany you will find the second most populous city in the European Union, Berlin. According to the 2008 census, Berlin has 3,426,354 inhabits. Berlin is Germany's Capital, it is 344 square miles and its located right by the Spree and Havel rivers. The most comparable U.S. state in size considering square miles would be Rhode Island with 1,545 sq mi. Berlin is very small, even though these aren't really comaprable, Rhode Island is the smallest state and therefore makes it the most compareable. 
