What is "rhapsody"

Rhapsody \Rhap"so*dy\, n.; pl. Rhapsodies. [F. rhapsodie, L. rhapsodia, Gr. "rapsw,di`a, fr. "rapsw,do`s a rhapsodist; "ra`ptein to sew, stitch together, unite + 'w,dh` a song. See Ode.]

1. A recitation or song of a rhapsodist; a portion of an epic poem adapted for recitation, or usually recited, at one time; hence, a division of the Iliad or the Odyssey; -- called also a book.

2. A disconnected series of sentences or statements composed under excitement, and without dependence or natural connection; rambling composition. ``A rhapsody of words.''
   --Shak. ``A rhapsody of tales.''
   --Locke.

3. (Mus.) A composition irregular in form, like an improvisation; as, Liszt's ``Hungarian Rhapsodies.''

1540s, "epic poem," from Middle French rhapsodie, from Latin rhapsodia, from Greek rhapsoidia "verse composition, recitation of epic poetry; a book, a lay, a canto," from rhapsodos "reciter of epic poems," literally "one who stitches or strings songs together," from rhaptein "to stitch, sew, weave" (see wrap (v.)) + oide "song" (see ode). Meaning "exalted enthusiastic feeling or expression" is from 1630s. Meaning "sprightly musical composition" is first recorded 1850s.

n. 1 An ancient Greek epic poem (or part of one) suitable for uninterrupted recitation. 2 (context obsolete English) A random collection or medley; a miscellany or confused string of stories, words etc. 3 An exalted or exaggeratedly enthusiastic expression of feeling in speech or writing. 4 (context music English) An instrumental composition of irregular form often incorporating improvisation.

n. an epic poem adapted for recitation

A rhapsody in music is a one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour and tonality. An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation make it freer in form than a set of variations.

The word "rhapsody" is derived from the , rhapsōidos, a reciter of epic poetry (a rhapsodist), and came to be used in Europe by the 16th century as a designation for literary forms, not only epic poems, but also for collections of miscellaneous writings and, later, any extravagant expression of sentiment or feeling. In the 18th century, literary rhapsodies first became linked with music, as in Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's Musicalische Rhapsodien (1786), a collection of songs with keyboard accompaniment, together with a few solo keyboard pieces . The first solo piano compositions with the title, however, were Václav Jan Tomášek’s fifteen Rhapsodies, the first of which appeared in 1810 . Although vocal examples may be found as late as Brahms's Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53 (1869), in the 19th century the rhapsody had become primarily an instrumental form, first for the piano and then, in the second half of the century, a large-scale nationalistic orchestral "epic"—a fashion initiated by Franz Liszt . Interest in Gypsy violin playing beginning in the mid-19th century led to a number of important pieces in that style, in particular by Liszt, Antonín Dvořák, George Enescu, Ernő Dohnányi, and Béla Bartók, and in the early 20th century British composers exhibiting the influence of folksong composed a number of examples, including Ralph Vaughan Williams's three Norfolk Rhapsodies, George Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad, and Frederick Delius's Brigg Fair (which is subtitled "An English Rhapsody") .

Some familiar examples may give an idea of the character of a rhapsody:

• Hugo Alfvén, Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 (Midsommarvaka), for orchestra
• Béla Bartók, Rhapsody No. 1 and Rhapsody No. 2 for violin and piano (also arranged for orchestra)
• Johannes Brahms, Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, and Rhapsody in E-flat major, Op. 119, No. 4, for solo piano
• Emmanuel Chabrier, España, rhapsody for orchestra
• Claude Debussy, Première rhapsodie for clarinet and piano
• Claude Debussy, Rhapsody for alto saxophone and orchestra
• Ernő Dohnányi, Four Rhapsodies, Op. 11, for solo piano
• George Enescu, Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2, for orchestra
• Edward German, Welsh Rhapsody, for orchestra
• George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue, Second Rhapsody, for piano and orchestra
• James P. Johnson, Yamekraw—A Negro Rhapsody
• Franz Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsodies for solo piano
• David Popper, Hungarian Rhapsody
• Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, for piano and orchestra
• Maurice Ravel, Rapsodie espagnole, for orchestra
• Ralph Vaughan Williams, Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1, for orchestra
• Pancho Vladigerov, ''Bulgarian Rhapsody "Vardar"

In 1975, the British rock band Queen released " Bohemian Rhapsody", a bombastic mock-operatic rock song which is in the form of a four-part suite but performed with rock instrumentation (; ). Though described by its composer Freddie Mercury as a "mock opera" , it has also been characterized as a "sort of seven-minute rock cantata (or ‘megasong’) in three distinct movements" . It became one of the UK's best-selling singles of all time .

Rhapsody may refer to:

• A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time
  • Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry

Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service based in Seattle, Washington. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody relaunched as a standalone company, separate from former parent RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version of digital rights management enforced on AAC+ or WMA files. In the past, the service also sold individual MP3s without digital rights management restrictions.

Rhapsody was the code name given to Apple Computer's next-generation operating system during the period of its development between Apple's purchase of NeXT in late 1996 and the announcement of Mac OS X in 1998. It consisted primarily of the OPENSTEP operating system ported to the Power Mac along with a new GUI to make it appear more Mac-like. Several existing Mac OS technologies were also ported to Rhapsody, including QuickTime and AppleSearch. Rhapsody could also run Mac OS 8 in a "Blue Box" emulation layer.

Rhapsody (real name Rachel Argosy) is a fictional character, a mutant supervillainess in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in X-Factor #79.

Rhapsody is a 1954 American musical romance drama film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson, and Louis Calhern.

Rhapsody was an Australian female duo of Kymberlie Harrison and Cathy Ford. They had a minor hit (No. 95 on the ARIA singles chart) in the early 1990s called "Cowboy Lover" on BMG Records.

After the promoter and record label owner Gene Pierson's success with the soap opera actor Melissa Tkautz, who had a No. 1 hit in 1991 as Melissa, he came up with the concept for Rhapsody, styling the two models and creating the song that gave them success.

“Cowboy Lover” was originally a slow reggae song, but was remixed into a dance track by Filthy Lucre, famous for their dance remix of Yothu Yindi's "Treaty".

Prior to Rhapsody, Kymberlie Harrison was a producer for Melissa's hits "Read My Lips" and "(Sexy) Is The Word".

At the height of their popularity the duo posed in Playboy magazine, making the cover of the August 1993 edition.

Rhapsody was Ben E. King's eleventh album and tenth studio album, and his third record with Atlantic Records.

Many of the tracks in this album appear on the Let Me Live In Your Life album. Rhapsody is not easily found online and is made 60% obsolete with the newer album a year later. One known source for this album is Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks (link below).

Rhapsody is the second album by Mr. Mike, released on September 7, 1999 through Priority Records. The album was mainly produced by Mr. Mike and Battlecat, though Fredwreck produced "How Tha South Was Won".

Rhapsody is a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television from 1958 to 1959.

Rhapsody by Willson Osborne is a piece originally composed for solo bassoon and later adapted for clarinet. The composition was first published by Peters in 1958. It is the most frequently performed work in the solo bassoon repertoire.

Osborne recorded the rhapsody in collaboration with Sol Schoenbach for a 1952 radio program of contemporary American music run by WNYC in New York. The piece's working title was "Study for Bassoon", but Osborne intended to make it playable on clarinet as well. According to the composer the piece was written as "abstract music" using "the Oriental technique of variation, in which short song-like fragments are in turn developed". The work is notable for its extensive use of descriptive instructions: only two staves have no such markings.

Cry Young is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded in 1967 and released on the Cadet label.

Rhapsody is a 1915 piece for piano solo by the English composer John Ireland.

A performance takes about 8 minutes.

BBC Music Magazine (September 2010) called it "one of Ireland’s most important piano works". In the Gramophone Awards Issue 2010, Andrew Achenbach described it as a "magnificently stormy essay". According to Muso Magazine (August 2010), it "contains the sort of wacky virtuosity found in Debussy's L'isle joyeuse" (1904).

Rhapsody is a design book by American designer Kelly Wearstler. It was published on October 12, 2012 through Rizzoli.

Rhapsody is a one act ballet by Sir Frederick Ashton, based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The ballet premiered on 4 August 1980 at The Royal Ballet, and was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It has been revived twice since its 1980 premiere, in 1995 and 2011.

Rhapsody was created ten years after Ashton's official retirement, and has been described as a pièce d'occasion for the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was a friend of Ashton's.

The 1980 premiere was the last of Mikhail Baryshnikov's guest appearances with the Royal Ballet, and was the only role created for him at his time there. Rachmaninoff wrote no music specifically for ballet, but many of his scores have been used by choreographers, including Walter Gore, Ben Stevenson and Mats Ek. Rhapsody was choreographed with a small cast by Ashton, with six men and six women alongside the two principals.