place_of_birth martin stadtfeld
___MASK60___ , officially the Federal ___MASK35___ ___MASK75___ ___MASK60___ , is a federal parliamentary republic in central - western Europe . It includes 16 constituent states , covers an area ___MASK75___ , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With about 82 million inhabitants , ___MASK60___ is the most populous member state ___MASK75___ the European Union . After the United States , it is the second most popular immigration destination in the world . ___MASK60___ ' s capital and largest metropolis is Berlin . Other major cities include Hamburg , Munich , ___MASK68___ , Frankfurt , Stuttgart and Düsseldorf . A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means ___MASK75___ a keyboard . It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed . The ___MASK59___ ( literally ' Western ___MASK96___ ') is a low mountain range on the right bank ___MASK75___ the River Rhine in the German federal states ___MASK75___ Rhineland - Palatinate , Hesse and North Rhine - Westphalia . It is a part ___MASK75___ the Rhenish Massif (" Rheinisches Schiefergebirge " or Rhenish Slate Mountains ). Its highest elevation , at 657 m above sea level , is the Fuchskaute in the High ___MASK59___ . Classical music is art music produced or rooted in the traditions ___MASK75___ Western music , including both liturgical ( religious ) and secular music . While a more accurate term is also used to refer to the period from 1750 to 1820 ( the Classical period ), this article is about the broad span ___MASK75___ time from roughly the 11th century to the present day , which includes the Classical period and various other periods . The central norms ___MASK75___ this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900 , which is known as the common - practice period . The major time divisions ___MASK75___ Western art music are as follows : European art music is largely distinguished from many other non - European and some popular musical forms by its system ___MASK75___ staff notation , in use since about the 16th century . Western staff notation is used by composers to indicate to the performer the pitches ( e . g ., melodies , basslines , chords ), tempo , meter and rhythms for a piece ___MASK75___ music . This can leave less room for practices such as improvisation and " ad libitum " ornamentation , which are frequently heard in non - European art music and in popular - music styles such as jazz and blues . Another difference is that whereas most popular styles adopt the song ( strophic ) form , classical music has been noted for its development ___MASK75___ highly sophisticated forms ___MASK75___ instrumental music such as the concerto , symphony , sonata , and mixed vocal and instrumental styles such as opera which , since they are written down , can sustain larger forms and attain a high level ___MASK75___ complexity . A pianist is an individual musician who plays the piano . ___MASK48___ forms ___MASK75___ Western music can make use ___MASK75___ the piano . Consequently , pianists have a wide variety ___MASK75___ repertoire and styles to choose from , including traditionally classical music , Jazz , blues and all sorts ___MASK75___ popular music , including rock music . ___MASK48___ pianists can , to a certain extent , play other keyboard - related instruments such as the synthesizer , harpsichord , celesta and the organ and keyboard . Perhaps the greatest pianist ___MASK75___ all time was Franz Liszt , whose piano mastery was described by Anton Rubinstein : " In comparison with Liszt , all other pianists are children ". A Verbandsgemeinde ( plural Verbandsgemeinden ) is an administrative unit in the Germanfederal states ___MASK75___ Rhineland - Palatinate and ___MASK24___ - Anhalt . A synthesizer ( often abbreviated as synth , also spelled synthesiser ) is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals that are converted to sound through instrument amplifiers and loudspeakers or headphones . Synthesizers may either imitate instruments like piano , ___MASK57___ organ , flute , vocals ; natural sounds like ocean waves , etc .; or generate new electronic timbres . They are often played with a musical keyboard , but they can be controlled via a variety ___MASK75___ other input devices , including music sequencers , instrument controllers , fingerboards , guitar synthesizers , wind controllers , and electronic drums . Synthesizers without built - in controllers are often called " sound modules ", and are controlled via MIDI or CV / Gate using a controller device , often a MIDI keyboard or other controller . Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music ___MASK56___ . These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training . It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or " folk " music . Art music was historically disseminated through the performances ___MASK75___ written music , although since the beginning ___MASK75___ the recording ___MASK56___ , it is also disseminated through recordings . Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally , or to smaller , local audiences . The piano is an acoustic , stringed musical instrument , in which the strings are struck by hammers . It is played using a keyboard , which is a row ___MASK75___ keys ( small levers ) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs ___MASK75___ both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings . Invented in about 1700 ( the exact year is uncertain ), the piano is widely employed in classical , jazz , traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances , accompaniment , and for composing , songwriting and rehearsals . Although the piano is very heavy and thus not portable and is expensive ( in comparison with other widely used accompaniment instruments , such as the acoustic guitar ), its musical versatility ( i . e ., its wide pitch range , ability to play chords with up to 10 notes , louder or softer notes and two or more independent musical lines at the same time ), the large number ___MASK75___ musicians and amateurs trained in playing it , and its wide availability in performance venues , schools and rehearsal spaces have made it one ___MASK75___ the Western world ' s most familiar musical instruments . ___MASK9___ is a town and the district seat ___MASK75___ the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland - Palatinate , Germany . At the same time , it is also the administrative centre ___MASK75___ the " Verbandsgemeinde " ___MASK75___ ___MASK9___  a kind ___MASK75___ collective municipality  to which 24 other communities belong . The town is known throughout the country for its strikingly yellow castle and its InterCityExpress railway station on the ___MASK68___ - Frankfurt high - speed rail line . The Westerwaldkreis ( direct 1 : 1 translation : Western ___MASK96___ District ) is a district (" Kreis ") in the east ___MASK75___ Rhineland - Palatinate , Germany . Neighbouring districts are ( from north clockwise ) Altenkirchen , Lahn - Dill , Limburg - Weilburg , Rhein - Lahn , the district - free city ___MASK10___ , Mayen - ___MASK10___ and Neuwied . Rock music is a genre ___MASK75___ popular music that originated as " rock and roll " in the United States in the 1950s , and developed into a range ___MASK75___ different styles in the 1960s and later , particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States . It has its roots in 1940s ' and 1950s ' rock and roll , itself heavily influenced by blues , rhythm and blues and country music . Rock music also drew strongly on a number ___MASK75___ other genres such as electric blues and folk , and incorporated influences from jazz , classical and other musical sources . The celesta or ___MASK40___ is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard . It looks similar to an upright piano ( four - or five - octave ), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller sized cabinet , or a large wooden music ___MASK34___ ( three - octave ). The keys connect to hammers that strike a graduated set of metal ( usually steel ) plates or bars suspended over wooden resonators . Four - or five - octave models usually have a damper pedal that sustains or damps the sound . The three - octave instruments do not have a pedal because of their small " table - top " design . One of the best - known works that uses the celesta is Tchaikovsky ' s " Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy " from " The Nutcracker ". ___MASK100___ - Palatinate ( German : " Rheinland - ___MASK47___ ") is one ___MASK75___ the 16 states ( German : " Länder ", lit . " countries " however better translated as " state ") ___MASK75___ the Federal Republic ___MASK75___ Germany . It has an area ___MASK75___ and about four million inhabitants . Its state capital is Mainz . ___MASK100___ - Palatinate is located in western Germany and borders Belgium , Luxembourg and France , and the German states ___MASK75___ North Rhine - Westphalia , Hesse , Baden - Württemberg and Saarland . Gackenbach is an " Ortsgemeinde "  a community belonging to a " Verbandsgemeinde "  in the Westerwaldkreis in ___MASK100___ - Palatinate , Germany . It belongs to the " Verbandsgemeinde " ___MASK75___ Montabaur , a kind ___MASK75___ collective municipality . Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian pianist , composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Saint ___MASK18___ Conservatory . He was the elder brother ___MASK75___ Nikolai Rubinstein who founded the Moscow Conservatory . Martin Stadtfeld ( born November 19 , 1980 in Gackenbach ) is a ___MASK52___ pianist . Stadtfeld gave his first concert at age 9 , and at age 14 enrolled at the Frankfurt University ___MASK75___ Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt under the tutelage ___MASK75___ Russian - American professor Lev Natochenny . He completed his Abitur in 2000 at Landesmusikgymnasium Rhineland - Palatinate . Stadtfeld is currently under contract with Sony Classical .