Popular Music Genres, MUN-ROM
Hey, what's that sound? Music pervades many aspects of contemporary everyday life; it appears in commercials, blares from speakers in stores and restaurants, accompanies commuters on the way to work, and energizes gym-goers when their motivation is flagging. Music festivals such as Lollapalooza (in Chicago) and the Sziget Festival (in Budapest) attract enormous crowds by featuring an extensive lineup of musicians over several days. Today's music can be divided into any number of categories and subcategories, encompassing genres such as pop, jazz, rock, alternative, country, electronic, rap, and much more.
Popular Music Genres Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Mundy, John
John Mundy was an organist and composer of choral and keyboard music. The son of the composer William Mundy, he......
Musgrave, Thea
Thea Musgrave is a Scottish composer best known for her dramatic concerti, operas, choral works, and chamber music.......
musical expression
musical expression, that element of musical performance which is something more than mere notes. Western music......
musical performance
musical performance, step in the musical process during which musical ideas are realized and transmitted to a listener.......
Mutter, Anne-Sophie
Anne-Sophie Mutter is a German violinist, who was a superstar in the world of classical music. Although she was......
Nardini, Pietro
Pietro Nardini was an Italian violinist and composer, one of the most eminent violinists of the 18th century. The......
national anthem
national anthem, hymn or song expressing patriotic sentiment and either governmentally authorized as an official......
Navarro, Fats
Fats Navarro was an American jazz trumpet virtuoso, one of the founders of bebop, who was distinguished by the......
Nelson, Willie
Willie Nelson is an American songwriter and guitarist who became one of the most popular and enduring country music......
Newman, Randy
Randy Newman is an American composer, songwriter, singer, and pianist whose character-driven, ironic, and often......
Nichols, Herbie
Herbie Nichols was an American jazz pianist and composer whose advanced bop-era concepts of rhythm, harmony, and......
Nikolais, Alwin
Alwin Nikolais was an American choreographer, composer, and designer whose abstract dances combine motion with......
noche de los Mayas, La
La noche de los Mayas, symphonic suite by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, composed for a film of the same......
Nono, Luigi
Luigi Nono was a leading Italian composer of electronic, aleatory, and serial music. Nono began his musical studies......
Noone, Jimmie
Jimmie Noone was an American jazz clarinetist noted for his lyricism and refinement of technique. He is one of......
Nordraak, Rikard
Rikard Nordraak was a Norwegian composer perhaps best known as the composer of the music for the Norwegian national......
North, Alex
Alex North was a U.S. film composer and conductor. North studied at the Curtis Institute and Juilliard. In the......
Novaës, Guiomar
Guiomar Novaës was a Brazilian pianist known especially for her interpretations of works by Frédéric Chopin and......
Nézet-Séguin, Yannick
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a Canadian conductor and pianist who was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra (2012–......
N’Dour, Youssou
Youssou N’Dour is a Senegalese singer known for his extraordinary vocal range and for introducing international......
O Canada
O Canada, national anthem of Canada. It was proclaimed the official national anthem on July 1, 1980. “God Save......
Oistrakh, David
David Oistrakh was a world-renowned Soviet violin virtuoso acclaimed for his exceptional technique and tone production.......
Oistrakh, Igor
Igor Oistrakh was a Ukrainian violinist noted for his lean, modernist interpretations. Oistrakh studied with his......
Oliver, King
King Oliver was an American cornetist who was a vital link between the semi-mythical prehistory of jazz and the......
Oliver, Sy
Sy Oliver was a jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who was one of the leading music arrangers of the 1930s......
Oliveros, Pauline
Pauline Oliveros was an American composer and performer known for conceiving a unique, meditative, improvisatory......
Ory, Kid
Kid Ory was an American trombonist and composer who was perhaps the first musician to codify, purely by precept,......
Otis, Johnny
Johnny Otis was an American bandleader, drummer, vibraphonist, singer, producer, and promoter of rhythm and blues......
O’Carolan, Turlough
Turlough O’Carolan was one of the last Irish harpist-composers and the only one whose songs survive in both words......
Pachmann, Vladimir von
Vladimir von Pachmann was a Russian pianist known for his performances of the music of Frédéric Chopin. Pachmann......
Paderewski, Ignacy Jan
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a Polish pianist, composer, and statesman, who was prime minister of Poland in 1919.......
Page, Walter
Walter Page was an American swing-era musician, one of the first to play “walking” lines on the string bass. A......
Paisley, Brad
Brad Paisley is an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist who was one of the genre’s most popular......
Palacio, Andy Vivien
Andy Vivien Palacio was a Belizean musician who used his music to help preserve the culture of the Garifuna (descendants......
Palmgren, Selim
Selim Palmgren was a Finnish pianist and composer who helped establish the nationalist movement in Finnish music.......
Palmieri, Eddie
Eddie Palmieri was an American pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader who blended jazz piano with various......
Panufnik, Sir Andrzej
Sir Andrzej Panufnik was a Polish-born British composer and conductor, who created compositions in a distinctive......
Parker, Charlie
Charlie Parker was an American alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was a lyric artist generally considered......
Parratt, Sir Walter
Sir Walter Parratt was an organist who exerted great influence by his understanding of Bach. At age 11, he was......
Partch, Harry
Harry Partch was a visionary and eclectic composer and instrument builder, largely self-taught, whose compositions......
Parton, Dolly
Dolly Parton was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface......
Pastorius, Jaco
Jaco Pastorius was an American jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader, considered one of the most innovative and......
Patton, Charley
Charley Patton was an American blues singer-guitarist who was among the earliest and most influential Mississippi......
Paul McCartney: A Life in Pictures
A masterful vocalist, skilled bass player, extraordinary melodist, and underrated lyricist, Paul McCartney joined......
Paul, Les
Les Paul was an American jazz and country guitarist and inventor who was perhaps best known for his design of a......
Pearl, Minnie
Minnie Pearl was an American entertainer and comedian who performed at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry for more than......
Peel, John
John Peel was a popular British disc jockey who for nearly 40 years, beginning in mid-1960s, was one of the most......
Penderecki, Krzysztof
Krzysztof Penderecki was an outstanding Polish composer of his generation whose novel and masterful treatment of......
Pepper, Art
Art Pepper was an American jazz musician noted for the beauty of his sound and his improvisations on alto saxophone,......
Pepper, Jim
Jim Pepper was an American saxophonist, singer, and composer known for a musical style that fused various genres......
Perahia, Murray
Murray Perahia is an American pianist and conductor who was perhaps best known for his sensitive recordings of......
Perkins, Carl
Carl Perkins was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose song “Blue Suede Shoes” was a touchstone of......
Perlman, Itzhak
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-American violinist known for his brilliant virtuoso technique. His refinement of detail......
Peterson, Oscar
Oscar Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist best known for his dazzling solo technique. In 1949 Peterson went to......
Petrassi, Goffredo
Goffredo Petrassi was one of the most influential Italian composers of the 20th century. He is known for incorporating......
Philipp, Isidor
Isidor Philipp was a French pianist who had a long, highly successful tenure at the Paris Conservatoire. Philipp......
Piazzolla, Astor
Astor Piazzolla was an Argentine musician, a virtuoso on the bandoneón (a square-built button accordion), who left......
Planté, Francis
Francis Planté was a French pianist active in Paris in the late 19th century. Planté made his Paris debut as a......
Pleyel, Marie-Félicité-Denise
Marie-Félicité-Denise Pleyel was a French pianist and teacher, one of the most-celebrated virtuosos of the 19th......
Plow That Broke the Plains, The
The Plow That Broke the Plains, film score by American composer Virgil Thomson for the 1936 Pare Lorentz documentary......
Pollini, Maurizio
Maurizio Pollini was an Italian pianist whose combination of intellectual seriousness and extraordinary technical......
Poulenc, Francis
Francis Poulenc was a composer who made an important contribution to French music in the decades after World War......
Pousseur, Henri
Henri Pousseur was a Belgian composer whose works encompass a variety of 20th-century musical styles. He wrote......
Powell, Bud
Bud Powell was a jazz pianist and composer who emerged in the mid-1940s as the first to play intricate, improvised......
Powell, Maud
Maud Powell was an American virtuoso violinist, recognized in Europe and the United States as one of the finest......
Preston, Billy
Billy Preston was an American musician who was the consummate sideman as a keyboard player, recording and touring......
Previn, André
André Previn was a German-born American pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor, especially sympathetic to French,......
Price, Sammy
Sammy Price was an American pianist and bandleader, a jazz musician rooted in the old rhythm and blues and boogie-woogie......
Prima, Louis
Louis Prima was an American jazz musician, songwriter, and bandleader best known for his exuberant onstage personality,......
Prince
Prince was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, dancer, and performer on keyboards, drums, and......
Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair was an American singer and pianist who helped shape the sound of New Orleans rhythm and blues......
Prokofiev, Sergey
Sergey Prokofiev was a 20th-century Russian (and Soviet) composer who wrote in a wide range of musical genres,......
Psycho
Psycho, film score by American composer Bernard Herrmann for the 1960 film of the same name, directed by Alfred......
Puente, Tito
Tito Puente was an American bandleader, composer, and musician who was one of the leading figures in Latin jazz.......
Pugno, Raoul
Raoul Pugno was a French pianist, organist, composer, and teacher renowned particularly for his chamber recitals......
Qaumi Tarana
Qaumi Tarana, national anthem of Pakistan, written in Urdu but with a strong Persian influence. Following the end......
Quantz, Johann Joachim
Johann Joachim Quantz was a German composer and flute virtuoso who left an important treatise on the flute and......
Rachmaninoff, Sergey
Sergey Rachmaninoff was a composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a......
Rafi, Mohammad
Mohammad Rafi was a legendary Indian playback singer who recorded more than 25,000 film songs in a career spanning......
Rahman, A.R.
A.R. Rahman is an acclaimed Indian composer, singer-songwriter, and music producer whose artistry and extensive......
Raitt, Bonnie
Bonnie Raitt is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose wide musical range encompassed blues, folk,......
Rampal, Jean-Pierre
Jean-Pierre Rampal was a French flutist who brought the flute to new prominence as a concert instrument and demonstrated......
Rawsthorne, Alan
Alan Rawsthorne was an English composer best known for his finely structured orchestral and chamber music written......
raï
raï, a type of Algerian popular music that arose in the 1920s in the port city of Oran and that self-consciously......
Red Pony, The
The Red Pony, film score and suite for orchestra by American composer Aaron Copland for the Lewis Milestone film......
Red Violin, The
The Red Violin, film score by American composer John Corigliano for the 1998 Canadian film of the same name. In......
Reed, Jimmy
Jimmy Reed was an American singer, harmonica player, and guitarist who was one of the most popular blues musicians......
Reich, Steve
Steve Reich is an American composer who was one of the leading exponents of Minimalism, a style based on repetitions......
Reinecke, Carl
Carl Reinecke was a German pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher who sought, in his works and teaching, to......
Reinhardt, Django
Django Reinhardt was a guitarist who is generally considered one of the few European jazz musicians of true originality.......
Revueltas, Silvestre
Silvestre Revueltas was a Mexican composer, teacher, and violinist, best known for his colourfully orchestrated......
Ricci, Ruggiero
Ruggiero Ricci was an American violinist known especially for his performances and recordings of Niccolò Paganini’s......
Rich, Buddy
Buddy Rich was an American jazz drum virtuoso who accompanied major big bands before forming his own popular big......
Richter, Sviatoslav
Sviatoslav Richter was a Soviet pianist whose technical virtuosity, combined with subtle introspection, made him......
Rick Dees
In the early 1980s, as radio became increasingly competitive—with every major music format fragmented to serve......
Riegger, Wallingford
Wallingford Riegger was a prolific U.S. composer of orchestral works, modern dance and film scores, and teaching......
Roach, Max
Max Roach was an American jazz drummer and composer, one of the most influential and widely recorded modern percussionists.......
Rodgers, Jimmie
Jimmie Rodgers was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, one of the principal figures in the emergence......
Rollins, Sonny
Sonny Rollins was an American jazz musician and tenor saxophonist who was among the finest improvisers on the instrument......
Romero family
Romero family, family of Spanish guitarists prominent in the 20th-century revival of the classical guitar. They......