Art and Music of the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was not only a time for people to start to question the role of government, art and music of the time began to change as well.
Wolfgang Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a classical composer born in Salzburg, Austria. He was a child prodigy, or someone who is very good at something from a young age. He wrote his first piece of music at age five. While he was still young, he moved to Vienna, Austria where he earned a living as a composer. He mixed classical and modern styles while writing requiems, operas, and symphonies. Mozart died at age 35. Some of his most famous works include The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute.
Johan Sebastian Bach
Johan Sebastian Bach was a German baroque composer. Baroque was a style of music that was popular from around 1600-1750. It is characterized as having contrasting parts transitioning from loud to soft, longer pieces, and different types of musical instruments other than the piano. Bach was the most prolific composer of organ music. Bach saw some success during his lifetime but he did not gain recognition for his music until about 100 years after his death.
Eugene Delacroix
Eugene Delacroix was a French Romantic painter born in France in 1798. Delacroix got his start as an artist painting religious scenes, but as he got older, he drew inspiration from a variety of sources. He gained much of his inspiration from the historical events going on at the time. His most famous work was “Liberty Leading the People,” in which he depicted a scene from the French Revolution. Delacroix was known for his emotionally vivid paintings.
Beethoven
Ludwig von Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most celebrated composers of all time and his works are often performed by classical composers today. He bridged the gap between classical music and romantic ages of western music. He was well known for his symphonies as well as his sonatas, or a piece of music with several parts.
Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya was a Spanish Romantic painter. He was very involved in the Spanish Enlightenment movement during the late 1700s. During his career, his work ranged from happy and joyful to the dark and the depressing. Goya is known for his documentation of the Peninsular War, which was a war between Spain and the invading French army. Goya sketched the horrors of war, which was very controversial for the time. His work was seen as a protest of war.