German Songs - Classical Music: Sixteenth Century To The Present

Classical Music: Sixteenth Century To The Present

Germans have played a leading role in the development of classical music. Many of the best classical musicians such as Bach, Handel, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, or Schoenberg (A lineage labeled the "German Stem" by Igor Stravinsky) were German. At the beginning of the 15th century, German classical music was revolutionized by Oswald von Wolkenstein, who travelled across Europe learning about classical traditions, spending time in countries like France and Italy. He brought back some techniques and styles to his homeland, and within a hundred years, Germany had begun producing composers renowned across the continent. Among the first of these composers was the organist Conrad Paumann.

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