"Cantata" is a musical composition typically featuring multiple vocal soloists, a choir, and instrumental ensemble, with the primary focus on interpreting literary or religious texts. This musical form is prevalent in classical music, particularly during the Baroque and Renaissance periods, but has also been widely developed in subsequent musical eras.
Key characteristics of a cantata include:
Prominent composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, have created many cantatas, with some of the most famous being his "Christmas Oratorio" and "Easter Oratorio". These works showcase the significance of cantatas in religious ceremonies and musical performances, enriching the diversity of classical music.
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, the predominant musical figure during the transition between the Classical to Romantic eras. He occupies an unprecedented dominance in the history of Western music history, and has been widely regarded as the greatest, most influential and most popular musician who ever lived.
Beethoven's music inherited the artistic atmosphere of Haydn and Mozart, penetrated the desire for dignity, vented the anger tortured by fate, and demonstrated his determination to fight with fate.
Compared to other musicians, Beethoven is effectively to interact the philosophy of life with audience through music. Although he was not a romantic, he had become the object followed by other romantics.
As a musician, Beethoven suffered from ear diseases. However, he was unwilling to succumb to fate, vowing to take fate by the throat, and continue to complete his career. In the last ten years of his life, without hearing any sound, his compositions influenced the development of music for nearly two hundred years.