50 question from Music Appreciation book

Elements of Music

Melody – a succession of tones in a musically expressive order; the capacity of music to be able to impress itself quickly and clearly on the memory.

Staff – the five lines and four spaces on which music is written.

Ledger lines - can be used above or below the staff to expand the range.

Accidentals: markings are called accidentals when used only with in a measure and not already in the key signature. In such a case they apply only to the measure they are in.

Sharp - # raises the tone ½ step.

Flat - lowers the tone ½ step.

Natural - cancels a flat or sharp.

Key/tonality – the central tone around which all others function. Each key has its own “signature” indicated at the beginning of the staff line. Any sharps or flats listed in the key signature apply throughout the entire piece unless cancelled by a natural sign.

Modulation – the process of changing keys within a piece of music; used for contrast or dramatic effect.

Transposition – the changing of a piece of music from one key to another, usually to accommodate a singers or instruments range.

Properties of Melody

Pitch – description of a tone as being high or low. Western music notates pitch by the placement of a note (representing a tone) on the staff. The pitch at which the staff is to be read is indicated at the beginning of the staff by a clef sign.

G/Treble Clef - adaptation of scripted letter G because the center circles the G

line on the staff . Used for women’s voices, some tenor lines,

higher instruments and the right hand of a keyboard instrument.

F/Bass Clef - Top circles the F line, used with lower men’s voices, lower

instruments and the left hand of a keyboard instrument.

Intervals – the distance between two pitches

Scales (modes) – consecutive tones on which the melody and harmonic structure of most music is based. Western music is based on a diatonic system of whole steps and half steps i.e. 2 whole steps – ½ step – 3 whole steps- ½ step = a major scale.

Types of Scales: Major – early in music history, used to show happiness.

Minor - “ “ “ “ , “ “ “ sadness.

Modes – 8 tone scales originally used in medieval and renaissance music

Pentatonic/whole-tone scale – 5-tone scales used largely in the

Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Indian - used in India and based on 22 micro-tones instead of 7 steps (12 semi-tones) as in western music.

Notation

TWO BASIC FACTS ANY SYSTEM OF NOTATION MUST CONVEY : the pitch of a tone and its duration.

In our western music a notes position on the staff determines its pitch and the shape of the note, its color (hollow or solid), the stem attached to it, and the flags, if any, on the stem determine its value. It also allows for rests ( silences in music) to be of a specified length.

Meter – the beats and their grouping within the piece. This is designated by a time signature at the beginning of the piece.

i.e. 6/4 = 6 beats per measure with the quarter note receiving 1 beat.

6/8 = 6 beats per measure with the eighth note receiving 1 beat.

Examples of different meters:

March = duple meter

Waltz = triple meter

“O Come All Ye Faithful” – quadruple meter

(Early plainsong had no set meter – relied on word stress.)

Rhythm – the most basic element in music – concerned with the movement of music thru time.

Tempo – the rate of speed at which a piece is to be played. Usually designated by a word or m.m. marking i.e. Andante; m.m.125.

Metronome – a device which shows, via sound or light, the tempo of a piece; how many beats are to be sounded per minute in a given piece.

MUSIC BEFORE 1600

Our music history actually begins around 6-7C A.D.

The Church and royal courts became the cultural centers.

All notated music was Church music.

By the beginning of the 11thC. Church services were fairly standardized. The centerpiece of the liturgy was the Mass.

Earliest medieval church music was called “plainsong” a.k.a. “Gregorian chant.”

Plainsong – a single line of text and melody sung either by a priest or several voices of the choir in unison. Characteristics are: smoothly flowing melody following the rhythm of the text, naturally falling into separate phrases with breaks for punctuation. Based on Church modes and relied on heavily by medieval composers.

Syllabic chant – chant having only one note per syllable of text.

Melismatic chant – chant having more than one note per syllable of text.

Early plainsong had no staff just signs called neumes written above the syllable of text. Only the direction of the neume and its position relative to its neighbors showed the shape of the melody.

Rising

Descending

Beginning in the 13C a more precise staff notation was developed using square note shapes:

breve semi-breve long

minim semi-minim

Plainsong formed the basis for religious music in the medieval and renaissance periods.

SECULAR MUSIC

From the end of the 11thC through the 13thC secular music enjoyed real popularity. The main entertainers were minstrels (a.k.a. troubadours, trouveres and minnesingers) who traveled between the feudal courts or Europe. The common aim was to express words and music on the ideal of courtly love. Lyrics idolized women – very different from the austere spirituality of the time. The best know of these singers were the troubadours –

Virtuoso poets/musicians active mainly in southern France. Two of the most famous were

Bernart de Ventadorn and Adam de la Halle.

Song forms were based on the poetry of the period:

lai ballade/chanson rondeau viralai

AAB ABAB ABAA

These and the secular motet became the principal secular vocal forms of the 14th-15thC.

POLYPHONY & THE MOTET

Monophonic – Greek for single line of melody

Polyphony – Greek for many sounds

Organum – a style of vocal music in which 2 melodic lines, both based on the plainsong, move in exactly the same rhythm in parallel motion (a 4th-5th apart). Later a 3rd and 4th voice were added 1 oct. above or below the other two.

Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris – in the forefront of sacred music development. In the 12thC a large group of composers and musicians gathered there and it became known as the Notre Dame School.

Developments of the Notre Dame School:

1. Recognized the 2-fold importance of plainsong – the long tenor notes provide the structural foundation for the piece and allow the composer to be more inventive in the upper parts; its spiritual significance because of its original importance in the liturgy.

2. Music written during this time was soaring, magnificent and resonant to match the soaring Gothic architectural style. Laid the foundation of polyphonic style which flourished for 400 years.

3. Developed the concept of rhythmic meters based on the rhythm of the text.

Motet – basic vocal piece which could have a secular or sacred text.

Cantus firmus – (fixed voice or fixed melody) usually a plainsong or popular melody in the tenor part – used as the foundation of a piece.

Guillaume de Machaut – most important composer of the 14thC. Statesman, poet and Secretary to the King of Bohemia. His music looks back to the 13C and ahead to the 15thC and Renaissance.

Style characteristics:

1. One of 1st to produce polyphonic secular music, often 3-4 parts.

2. Earliest to composer complete polyphonic setting of the Mass.

3.Able to achieve smoothness and sweetness in his music by using consonant intervals between voices – lacking in most medieval music.

4.Used clashing sonorities which Stravinsky would later use in his 1948

Mass.

Religious symbolism gradually gave way to worldly expressions of feeling.

In Italy, although problems developed between the Church and States, it was a time of great artistic activity especially in the area of secular poets and writers – Petrarch, Boccacio and Dante.

Landini – the greatest Italian composer of this period (1325-1397). Most of his compositions were simple and dance-like in style.

In general, Italian polyphony of the period was lively and reflected the light-hearted mood of the text. Favorite forms included the madrigal, balata and caccia – all poetic forms.

Unlike sacred music the important melodic material is in the top voice and the lower ones play a secondary role.

RENAISSANCE

The term means “rebirth” and the time frame extended from around 1450 through 1600 with all facets of culture affected. Gone was the darkness and mysticism of the Middle Ages. The new focus was on human beings – their individuality and emotions. Inspiration was taken from the ancient classics.

Academies were founded where intellectuals could meet to discuss the classics and the implications for the arts of the times.

The Renaissance originated basically in Italy – especially in art – Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Titian were the leading artists. Few significant Italian composers. Italian courts became centers for artistic patronage and attracted talent from France and Belgium.

2 especially powerful courts were at the court of Lorenzo il Magnifico (one of the Medici’s) which trained artists and also the Court of Burgundy.

Change was gradual – not really noticeable musically until the late 15th C as artists began to add a sense of depth to pictures, realistically relating a person to his or her context. Similarly, in an audible depth, were the developments in music. Renaissance composers began composing voice parts in careful relation to each other, successions of harmonies leading to the beginning of western harmony.

The classical style of Renaissance voices – entering successively with the same phrase so that the polyphony becomes increasingly rich and interwoven. This “imitative” technique would be the forerunner of the Bach fugues.

HUMANISM

New movement toward the secular instead of the sacred. Power moved from Church to Courts.

REFORMATION

The biggest change originated in Germany with Martin Luther as its leader. He felt, among other things, that music should be a vital part of the worship service actively participated in by the congregation and services should be in the language of the people.

Luther established a repertory of hymns or chorales that took the place of the “plainsong” in the Catholic Church. Additional changes took place throughout N. and E. Germany and Scandinavia. France and Switzerland would be influenced by Calvin, who advocated austere unaccompanied music. Henry VIII would establish the Anglican Church in England with English speaking services and anthems and the congregation participating.

COUNTER REFORMATION

A move, by the Catholic Church, toward greater piety began in the 1540’s. A revival of

Catholic principles. Music had a new “simplicity” and more emotional content.

Guttenberg printing press (1452) music 1st printed around 1473 – book of liturgical chants.

1501 – 1st polyphonic music printed was a book of French and Flemish chanson by Ottaviano Petrucci in Venice – very popular.

Until this time, music was only available in manuscript form. All types of music were now printed – vocal, instrumental, secular and sacred.

International exchange of ideas possible as Ren. spread.

Music making became popular among the upper middle class in the 16th C. People learned to read music, sing and play instruments and a demand rose for music and instruments that could be bought for home use and could be performed by small ensembles. These pieces were never intended for public performance, simply as entertainment for family and guests.

Types of Renaissance Music

Types of secular song:

Madrigal – Italy, Eng. N. Europe

Chanson – France

Polyphonic Lied – Germany

Mass – unity brought to Mass settings either by starting all movements with similar openings or by basing entire work on existing melody/cantus firmus (usually a plainsong or secular piece) this made the music more popular. All great composers of the period wrote masses usually for 4-6 voices in imitative counterpoint.

Leading composers: Dufay, Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd

Motet – almost as important as the Mass by 15th C; a polyphonic setting of a Latin religious text, 3-4 voices or more; sometimes cantus firmus based; written in imitative style usually known as “motet style.” With the Reformation – superseded in England by anthems in the English language.

Chanson – oldest of the polyphonic secular forms – dates back to Middle Ages. Found in France and the Netherlands; settings of French text for 3 voices.

Leading composers: Dufay and Josquin

Madrigal – Italian counterpart to the chanson - refers to 14th C. 2 verse form popular with Landini et al. Written for 1-12 voice, 4-5 the norm, made up a large percentage of repertoire of 16-17th C. Poetic inspiration from poetry of Petrarch. Used imitative counterpoint, great textural variety and sensitive and intense word expression.

Leading composers: Palestrina and A. Gabrieli

By the end of the century the madrigal style became more elaborate and stressed “color”

Leading composers: Monteverdi (It.)

English style : Byrd, Morley, Weelkes

Ayre – form of song for 1 voice with lute or viols; popular in England.

French version – air de cour or courtly air; Italian version – aria – meaning song. All are characterized by: melody in top line, usually sung by 1 or more voices, lute or viols and bass supply lower parts.

THE BURGUNDIAN SCHOOL

15TH C court of Burgundy, France – major cultural center.

GUILLAUME DUFAY (1400-1474)

1. Most significant composer of this period.

2. Born in northern France.

3. Spent several years in Italy and traveled extensively between the two.

4. Fused late medieval French style with early Italian Renaissance style.

5. Most striking features:

a. singable melodies

b. clear even phrases

c. often used secular cantus firmus

d. parts related

e. regular rhythm

6. Wrote secular polyphonic chansons on subjects linked to political and social events.

7. His greatness lies in the wide variety and consistently high quality of his output.

JOSQUIN DESPREZ (1440-1521)

1. Greatest composer of the central years of the Renaissance.

2. N. Frenchman but spent most of adult life in Italy.

3. Before leaving France he composed in a reserved sober style like his teacher Ockeghem.

4. Exposure to the Italian style gave his music a more fluent, flexible quality – influenced by lighter, secular forms.

5. Best music came from later period; very prolific and wide ranging in style.

6. Differences between his music and regular 14thC style:

a. Free flowing melodies with wider ranges

b. Varied rhythms

c. Richer, better written harmony

d. Imitative counterpoint is interrupted by chordal passages

e. Dissonance contributes to effect of piece

7. 1st great composer to express emotion in music in a consistent way.

GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA (1525-1594)

1. His music is considered to be the summit of 16th C polyphony.

2. Served as composer and music director to the Pope in Rome; wrote in a

very traditional style.

3. Extremely prolific – wrote several secular pieces but concentrated mostly on church music: 100 masses (most of any composer of the period); 400 motets and other sacred works.

4. Legend in his own time; music widely published

5. Basically conservative in his musical outlook because of his presence in Rome at the center of the Counter-Reformation; less able to experiment.

6. Palestrina did not mind these restrictions – rather than attempting new methods he refined and perfected existing ones and produced some of the most glorious music of the period.

7. Ultimate master of imitative style which was the backbone of 16th C polyphony and most characteristic feature of Renaissance music.

8. Style characteristics:

a. Step-wise melody

b. No awkward leaps

c. All dissonances prepared and resolved traditionally

d. Phrases overlap – few full cadences

e. Equality of voice gives impression of perfect balance.

9. Because of its restrained yet expressive style, Palestrina’s music is regarded as the classic model of Renaissance polyphony.

ANDREA & GIOVANNI GABRIELI

1. Andrea – 1st great Italian composer at St. Mark’s in Venice in the 16th C.

2. Developed individual style to fit the needs of St. Mark’s for ceremonial music.

Used balconies of cathedral to divide his players and singers into groups so the listener would hear sound coming from all directions. The “spaced chorus”

Technique was not exclusive to St. Mark’s but was developed there.

3. Giovanni followed his uncle as music director.

4. In 1587 he published a volume called Concerti containing church music, madrigals and other works by himself and Andrea – mainly for use by “opposing players and singers. This was the earliest use of the word concerto.

5. Giovanni used dialogue technique with great freedom and variety and with specific and colorful instrumental writing.

6. Actually Giovanni belongs both to the later years of the Renaissance and the

early years of the Baroque.

English Music

William Byrd

1. Greatest English composer of the 16th C

2. Counterpart of Palestrina

3. Range, versatility and outstanding quality of work – far above contemporaries

4. Last great English composer of Catholic church music and 1st of “golden” Elizabethan age of secular and instrumental music.

5. Organist at Lincoln Cathedral than joined Royal Service and stayed there until his death. Granted Royal monopoly on music printing and the printing and supply of manuscript paper in England.

6. After Catholicism of Mary Tudor, England became protestant under Elizabeth I and many Catholics feared persecution but the Queen tolerated Byrd’s Catholic sympathies and allowed him to write for both churches. For the Catholic Church he wrote masses and motets. For the Anglican Church he wrote services and anthems usually accompanied by organ and other instruments.

7. Early music restrained and expressive but as he got older he became more cheerful and wrote more joyful pieces.

8. Father of British Music.

Thomas Weelkes

Although madrigals were dying in Italy, they enjoyed popularity in England. Around 1570 a printed anthology of Italian madrigals circulated with translated texts. The Elizabethan age encouraged literary accomplishments (Shakespeare, etc.) Music music was made in the home. One popular form of the madrigal was the “ballet” a dance-like piece with a repeated verse and often a “fa-la-la” refrain (like “Deck the Halls”) Chief composer of these types of madrigals was Thomas Weelkes.

FORMS OF THE BAROQUE

Opera – combined the recreation of Greek drama with music and elaborate court entertainment using music, drama, dance, scenery, special stage effects and elaborate costumes. Supported by 3 different groups”

1. Court and nobility (in box seats)

2. Wealthy merchants

3. Upper middle class

1st opera house was in Venice, Italy; leading composer – Monteverdi

France – Lully established French Grand Opera in Paris in the 1670’s. Supported by

Louis XIV. Style characteristics:

1. 1st full orchestra in opera ( woodwinds and brass added to strings.)

2. Extensive use of chorus and ballet

3. Prologue and 5 acts

4. Stories concerned with love, glory and duty

5. Dignified, conservative and aimed at a small artistic audience

6. Much of the music based on dance rhythms.

Germany – 1st opera house built in Hamburg in 1678

England and the rest of Europe – Italian opera dominated with Handel as its principal composer (30 operas in Italian for English audiences.) English opera evolved from “masques” – court entertainment with elaborate costumes, staged dances and scenery. Semblance of a plot, dialogue, solo songs with orchestra accompaniment usually based on classical myth and history. Kings and Princes were portrayed in a noble light and virtue had its proper reward.

Structure of an Opera

Recitative – heightened speech – sung in a conversational manner, it furthers the plot and comes in 2 types:

Secco – lightly accompanied, usually by harpsichord or organ

Accompagnato – full orchestral accompaniment

Aria – the main unit in a large vocal work; lyrical and flowing, it expresses the characters feelings and is more dramatic. During the Baroque period the most prominent form was the Da Capo aria (ABA form). Da Capo means “from the beginning” in Italian. This type of aria was used extensively by Handel and Bach.

If the chorus was used it was only in a minor way and not important to the plot.

Types of Opera

Opera Seria: succession of arias linked by recitatives. Heroic topics. Cast: hero -

Castrato and heroine – soprano (prima donna = first lady)

Opera Buffa: comic opera – more humorous, no castrati, faster paced, less grandiose,

Concerned ordinary people and bumbling servants. Plot – lovers separated

By misunderstanding.

Singspiel – German version – play with music, sung and spoken

Opera comique – French version

Ballad Opera – “pop” tunes with rewritten lyrics sung by actors

Other Types of Vocal Music

Oratorio – Sacred counterpart to opera, means – prayer hall. Arose at the time of the

Counter-reformation. Not part of the liturgy. It originated in Rome in the mid 17th C. Works based on Bible stories or historic Biblical characters. Almost like an opera but no stage, costumes or scenery and chorus has a more important role.

Musical structure:

Recitative – narration (solo)

Aria – lyrical expression of emotion (solo)

Choral music – chorus

Handel was considered THE MASTER – traveled thru Italy as a young man and carried the Italian tradition back. In the 1730-40’s he developed a new dramatic style of the oratorio in English with arias, recitatives and choruses. His greatest masterpiece – The Messiah.

Passion – type of oratorio – the telling of the story of the Passion of Christ ( through the

Crucifixion.) The narrative is sung in recitative by the “evangelist,” arias for principal characters; chorus for populace and participating groups; chorales

For the congregation and large scale choruses for everyone.

Bach is the most important in this area. 2 main ones – The Passion according to St. Matthew and the Passion according to St. John.

Other Sacred Music –

Polyphonic mass settings as well as motets relied on greater use of instruments as

Well as solo and choral singing.

Main composers:

Italian: Monteverdi, Gabrieli

English: Purcell – verse(solo), anthem (chorus)

Cantata – a piece to be sung – Bach principal composer – writing over 200 for the Lutheran Church. Consisting of an opening chorus, 2-3 arias and a closing choral all linked by recit.

The madrigal was replaced by the secular cantata – a composition for 1-2

musicians and continuo or more instruments. Typically consists of 2-3 arias

proceeded by recits. Themes of love and betrayal.

Concerto – began as vocal music for “opposing” singers and later instrumental soloist against a group. Developed in Italy and expanded throughout Europe.

Leading composers: Gabrieli, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel.

Other Instrumental Music:

Overture/sinfonia (Italian symphony) 3 mvts. F-S-F

French overture – always in binary form often followed by 1 or more mvts. In

dance rhythm forming a “suite.”

Dance Suite – 1 of 4 main types of keyboard works in the 17-18C. and consisted

Of dances performed in pairs usually S-F in sets of 4

Gavotte/allemande/minuet/bouree courante saraband gigue

Moderato fast slow fast

Chamber Music –

Sonata – piece to be sounded (not sung)

1st type – trio sonatas – 2 solo instruments and continuo in 2 formats:

church sonata – 4 mvts. S-F-S-F

chamber sonata – based on mvts. In dance suites

Principal composers: Handel and Bach

THE COMPOSERS

Monteverdi

Based in Venice.

Wrote both secular and sacred.

First opera – Orfeo

“He was able to capture the height and depth of human emotion with greater power than ever before.”

Purcell

Characteristics:

Melody took rhythm and shape from the text

Daring use of harmony for force and color

Split time between theatre and church music

Wanted to modernize English church music

Wrote 1 opera – Dido and Aeneas

Died at age 36

Greatest English composer in writing songs of grief and despair.

Vivaldi

Characteristics:

Fresh melodies

Rhythmic energy

Clarity of form

Logical flow of musical ideas

Vivaldi wrote over 500 concerti in his lifetime, creating its F-S-F form; establishing tension between the soloist and the orchestra and is skillful in his treatment of solo and orchestral tone color. He, more than any other composer, impressed on the 18thC and succeeding ones, the idea of instrumental sound in which the effect of solo/orchestral contrast is important. Vivaldi was one of the most important composers in the transition from the late Baroque into early Classical style.

Handel

Career facts:

1. He was an accomplished organist and harpsichordist and played violin and oboe

2. 1st opera – Almira, premiered in Hamburg in 1705. Handel was 19.

3. 1706-1710 – spent in Italy

4. The foundation of Handel’s style, including his masterly grasp of choral

technique, was laid by the time he left Italy ay age 25 for a position as music

director at the Electoral Court of Hanover.

5. Most important instrumental music – The Royal Fireworks and Water Music

6. Became a naturalized citizen in 1726 and spent the majority of his adult life in London.

7. Gave annual Lenten season concerts and would improvise on the organ or

Harpsichord during intermission. His music became very popular and the

prevailing music in English life for nearly half a century

8. Primarily thought of as an oratorio composer but 35 years of his life was spent

Composing opera. He was better at it than most of his contemporaries and

Many of his operas are still heard throughout the world today.

9. Arias are written to show off the singers abilities. No appreciable difference

Between his opera and oratorio arias except in language. His music has the

Power to create a mood or effect.

10.Greatest single work – the oratorio The Messiah. Most famous chorus from this is The Hallelujah Chorus . Debuted in Dublin in 1742.

Bach

Bach marks the highest point of the Baroque and its end. His working life can be divided into three primary sections:

1. The Weimar period – 1708; organ works, concert master and court organist

2. Cothen – 1717; Music Director at the Court of the Prince of Cothen, instrumental works.

3. Leipzig – 1723; Cantor of St. Thomas School, Music director for the Churches of St Thomas and St. Nicholas, cantatas, “instruction books.”

Bach’s musical development was controlled by 5 factors:

1. The family tradition of craftsmanship

2. Assimilation of all styles by copying scores

(He studied the music of other composers through the customary method of copying and arranging their scores, a habit he retained though-out his life. In this way he became familiar with the styles of the foremost composers of France, Germany, Austria and Italy, assimilating the outstanding characteristics of each. He composed in all forms of the Baroque except opera.)

3. 18th C system of patronage

4. His own religious conception of the function of art and the duties of an artist.

5. Most importantly – he was a genius!

One of Bach’s outstanding characteristics was the orderly and systematic way he approached the art of composition – blending Italian drive and French grace with the German contrapuntal texture.

He was not considered to be an outstanding composer in his lifetime. He regarded himself as “ a conscientious craftsman doing a job to the best of his ability for the satisfaction of his superiors, for the pleasure and edification of his fellow man and to the glory of God.” Bach dedicated a book of chorale preludes to “the most high God” and inscribed at the beginning of his scores for cantatas and Passions the letters “J.J.” (Jesu, juva/ Jesus aid) and at the end “S.D.G.” (soli Deo Gloria/to God alone be glory). In short,

He admitted no difference between secular and sacred art, both being for “the glory of God,” and would sometimes use the same musical theme for secular and sacred works.

Three compositions are in a class by themselves and are the result of Bach’s desire was to realize all the possibilities inherent in a musical situation.

1. The Well Tempered Clavier –In this instance the well tempered clavier is a set of 24 preludes and fugues in each of the major and minor keys that a keyboardist would have to play in.

2. A Musical offering – based on a theme proposed by Fredrick the Great of Prussia on which Bach improvised while visiting there. Upon returning home he wrote out the pieces and dedicated them to the King. It contained 3 and 6 part ricercar for keyboard, a trio sonata for violin, continuo and flute (which the King played) and 10 canons.

3. The Art of the Fugue – composed in 1749-50 and left unfinished at his death; it is a systematic demonstration of all types of fugal writing and consists of 18 canons and fugues in strict style arranged in increasing order of difficulty.

“We begin to understand the central position Bach has in the history of music when we realize:

1. He absorbed into his music all the variety of styles and forms current in the early 18thC and developed the potential of each to its fullest extent.

2. In his music the opposed principles of harmony and counterpoint; melody and polyphony are maintained in a balance found in no other composer before or since.”

Comparison of Baroque and Classical Music

Musical Aesthetics

Baroque Classical

Impact, intensity of emotion Emotions in balance, dealt with simply.

Don’t overwhelm the listener.

Concentration on grandeur, Light, simple, clear, pleasant,

size and length of piece well-proportioned, tasteful,

orchestra or chorus easily understood, short.

Quick harmonic rhythm – in Bach Slower harmonic rhythm –

Changed every quarter note. sits on same harmony 4-8

measures. Simpler, clearer structure.

Deals with communication of emotion “Doctrine” too artificial, hesi-

Technique used called the “Doctrine of tation to deal with emotions

Affections” which was a code of musical at all and when done to use

forms taught to composers to convey “innocent emotions” in a

emotion. Simple way. “Innocent

luxury” not “soul moving.”

Text & Procedures

Compose by 1 motive working out all Compositions contrast 2 ideas

possibilities: i.e. fugue – no concentration themes of equal importance –

on contrasting themes. 2 keys, 2 tempi, etc. 2 equally

important opposites.

Themes not symmetrical Symmetrical balanced phrasing –

Four 8 - bar phrases or 2 sets of

4 - bar phrases.

Counterpoint – 2 to 4 lines of equal 1 important theme heard at a time.

importance going at the same time.

Opera

Stereotyped characters. 3 acts Naturalism, simplicity; in comic

Italian dramatic and melodic style opera – shorter single acts

Characters: Greek myth, Roman and Use “modern people,” fewer

or medieval history characters or crowd scenes.

Motivation: pure and noble Plot: mix of comedy and tragedy

Never a current plot or common people. voices match characters

Plot: tragedy, serious, unfortunate ending In opera buffa spoken dialogue

Usually death. No light-heartedness. Hero at times replaces recits. Fast

Undone by a character flaw. moving simple tunes, arias

Conflict – duty and love – worked out Not virtuosic.

musical events not character Plots poked fun at nobility

1 male and 1 female lead; secondary pair Middle and lower class represented

Castrati no castrati

No chorus Chorus reappears

Comparison of Haydn and Mozart

Haydn Mozart

Thematic ideas – uses less, develops more. Thematic ideas – uses more

Melody – preferred motivic structured melodies, Melody – more lyrical, flowing Italian

used counterpoint, spinning out (fortspinnung) style melody and accompaniment.

of themes, wanted something interesting going Not innovative but masterful in

on in all parts. treatment of established forms.

Wrote diatonically. Used more chromatics.

Experimented with non-traditional forms Used traditional forms

Self-taught, patient, persistent worker, Precocious genius of unsettled habits

Modest, excellent conductor but no virtuoso. and disposition; a born showman,

Precise and practical in the conduct of his affairs virtuoso pianist and consummate musical

and the last eminent composer to live, on the dramatist. Helpless in most of the practical

whole, contentedly, under the patronage system. areas of life.

Long career and life Short life (died at 35 years of age) and

career.

Successful in court and public career. Successful in neither.

MOZART

(1756-1791)

Child prodigy – performing at the age of 6

Life divided into 3 phases:

6-16 – traveled thru-out Europe

17-25 – Salzburg – unhappy period, tried to follow in Father’s footsteps, hated Salzburg,

the Archbishop and the discipline of his Father. Went to Vienna.

25- Vienna, composed greatest masterpieces.

Composed 1st:

Minuet – age 6

Symphony – before 9th birthday

Opera – age 12

As of 1862 over 600 compositions were catalogued by L. von Koechel and is periodically updated because of new research.

Young Mozart was brought into contact with all types of music written and heard through-out

Europe. He imitated and improved on the models and the ideas continued to grow and “bear fruit” in his mind. His work is a synthesis of national styles and has a more cosmopolitan quality than Haydn’s which was more exclusively Austrian.

Mozart was able to completely fuse Italian and German styles in all aspects and types of music:

Italian German

Taste Knowledge

Music entertained Music expressed

Light Serious

Vocally oriented Instrumental

Melody Counterpoint

** Mozart’s musical style is based on a trait called “ absolute musicality. ” In Mozart’s music it is hard to find any specific traces of hardships and disappointments in his life or to draw any conclusions about his attitude toward nature or great historic events of his life and times i.e. the French Revolution and its aftermath. His abilities were not affected by events of his life. Some of his lightest, most brilliant works came at the lowest points in his career.

Compositions

Piano concerto – 3 mvts. F-S-F. The tradition of the classical concerto was perfected by Mozart and he made the greatest contribution of his musical career in the area of concerti. It is the most important type of composition in Mozart’s works and greater than those of any other composer in the 2nd half of the 18th C.

Mozart took the standard Baroque concerto, put it in sonata form with contrasting keys and thematic material but integrated it by:

a. having the orchestra develop the theme with instrumental obligato in the background.

b. Contrapuntally combining piano and orchestra

c. The orchestra does not present all the themes, some are let for the piano.

The most fascinating aspect of his concerti is that he treated the piano and orchestra as equal protagonists not solo with accompaniment.

Mozart doesn’t develop melodic figures. He is more interested in playing with textures. He uses other instruments to emphasize contrapuntal lines. He also uses very dramatic dynamic markings “sfz” and

“fp.”

Mozart wrote 21 concerti in all. Each was written to provide band new works for concerts. His popularity can be traced through the number of concerti written each year.

1782-83 3 1786-87 1

1783-84 4 1787-88 1

1784-85 4 No more until 1791, the last year of his life

1785-86 3 for a concert arranged by a friend.

Mozart’s last concerto (January 5, 1791) is a work of “serene, transcending beauty; the testament of a musician who must have felt himself to be already beyond the struggles and the triumphs of this life.”

Chamber Music – wrote both quartets and quintets but his genius with the contrapuntal texture is most evident in the quintets.

Opera – wrote both old style Baroque opera seria and his contribution – a mixture of all new features of the late 18th C known as “opera buffa.” The characters are carefully differentiated, real 3-dimensional people thanks to Mozart’s psychological penetration and genius for musical characterization. The characters “voices” are retained not only in the arias but also in the ensembles. Ensembles combine realism and dramatic action.

Comic operas were not simply funny but infused with new humanity and depth of feeling. Opera seria appealed to the King and Royalty because it was most stylized. The singspiel developed from the English ballad opera and dialogue is spoken between musical numbers; often old songs were rewritten with new lyrics.

In the Abduction from the Seraglio Mozart became the first composer to fashion the musical line to fit the German language and in 1 stroke elevated the singspiel from a more folk oriented opera to great art without changing any of its features.

Marriage of Figaro – the epitome of 18th C. comic opera – lively and amusing libretto, beautiful arias and masterly ensembles.

Don Giovanni – the character of Don Juan is taken seriously as a romantic character who rebels against authority, very bold and unrepentant. Mozart’s music, not the words, build up the characters. The overture implies themes and actions used in the opera. Servants open the opera complaining about their lives and sarcastic about nobility (this is a major no-no in the Baroque.)

Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) – outwardly a singspiel - spoken dialogue replaces recitative; actions are full of symbolic meaning (free masonry and universal brotherhood). The music is profound and rich and it is regarded as the 1st and one of the greatest modern German operas.

BEETHOVEN

Beethoven’s place in musical history is on the top of a mountain – looking back on the Classical period and ahead to the Romantic.

He freed music from servitude. His music embodies the spirit of the French Revolution – liberty, equality and fraternity; emancipation of the individual; political and intellectual freedom. Although he was master of the Classical tradition, he personalized his music, elevating the individual over tradition. His music was more emotional, using freer forms and working out of ideas.

Beethoven established a new relationship between musicians and nobles ( he felt musicians were above noblemen.) He was subsidized by nobility rather than employed by them. The principles of the French Revolution affected his music and influenced him personally throughout his life.

3 Style Periods

I. Clearly traditional classical style – 1st three sonatas published in Vienna in 1796 are reminiscent of Haydn but sonatas 2 and 3 have 4 mvts. He replaced the Minuet movement with a Scherzo. Key of Sonata #1 is f minor – not a popular tonality of the period. Used fuller textures and unusual modulations.

His string quartets show Beethoven learned from but did not imitate Haydn’s teaching. Beethoven tends to use one motivic idea in different ways throughout all movements of the piece.

Symphony #1 – is the most classical in style; technical features stem from Haydn – 4 mvts. Textbook model of classical symphony. Beethoven’s originality is evident not in large formal outlines but in the details of his treatment, unusual prominence is given to woodwinds, character of the third movement is labeled a “Minuet” but is actually a “Scherzo.” Careful attention to dynamic shading is an essential part of Beethoven’s style. He personalized the symphony by expansion of the symphonic framework (from within) and intensifying its content.

Beethoven wrote only 9 symphonies in comparison to Haydn’s 104 because he perfected everything he wrote.

#1 (1799-1800) #1 and 2 were imitative of Haydn, closest to classical “ideal” but hints at future

#2 (1802) changes.

#3 (1803) #3-8 - “Period of Externalization” – goes beyond style of Haydn and

(Eroica) Mozart to new styles.

#4 (1806)

#5 (1805-07)

#6 (1807-09)

(Pastoral) 5 movts. All with titles which are not descriptive but show feelings or

paint a picture:

1. Awakening of Impressions on Arriving in the Country

2. Scene by the Brook

3. Jolly Gathering of Country Folk

4. Storm

5. Joy of Feeling after the Storm

#7 (1812)

#8 (1812)

#9 3rd style period. Only symphony completed during this time.

1st time voices used; longest symphony to date 1 hr. 20 min.

Beethoven first came into contact with Schiller’s poem “Ode

To Joy” in 1792 and the ideals expressed in it affected his entire life.

2nd Style Period

Within a dozen years of coming to Vienna, Beethoven was acknowledged throughout Europe as the foremost pianist and composer for the piano of his time and as a symphonist who rivaled Mozart and Haydn. One critic complained, ”The singular and the original seem to be his main object in composition.”

He established a different relationship to patrons than Haydn and Mozart. He had good friends among the highest noble families in Vienna; had devoted and generous patrons; didn’t cringe before Princes to seek their favors – treated them naturally and sometimes even rudely but they responded with offers of financial support. He drove hard bargains with his publishers and managed to leave a comfortable estate at his death. Most important – he never, in his life, had to write music at anyone else’s command and seldom had to meet a deadline. It is because he wrote for his vision of an ideal universal audience, and not for a patron or particular function, that his music seems so strongly personal, ‘the direct expression of himself and of his historical epoch as he interpreted it.’ He wrote what he wanted when he wanted and was able to think, polish and refine with no deadline to meet.

Sym. # 3 (Eroica/Heroic) – intense, emotional experience; unlike any symphony to date; 60 min. long instead of the standard 30. Originally titles “Bonaparte” in honor of Napoleon’s deed’s in France but after he declared himself emperor Beethoven scratched his name off the cover and changed it to “Eroica.” The 2nd mvt. Is a funeral march. The most remarkable thing about the symphony is the way in which all the material is propelled constantly along,” one theme seeming to unfold out of another in a study dynamic growth that mounts from one climax to the next and drives to the end. This capacity to organize a large amount of contrasting material into a unified whole is one of the chief marks of Beethoven’s greatness.

Sym. #4 and 5 composed at the same time; in fact the ist and 2nd mvts. Of the 5th were done

before the 4th was completed.

The 5th sym. is a musical projection of Beethoven’s resolution, ”I will grapple with

Fate; it shall not overcome me!” Starts in C minor but ends in C major to symbolize the struggle to victory. 1st sym. to use trombones, piccolo and contra-bassoon.

Sym. #6 given the descriptive title “Pastoral” suggesting a scene from life in the country. The titles foreshadow programmatic music in the classical period. Beethoven warns that the descriptions are not to be taken too literally – calls them “expressions of feelings rather than depiction.” i.e. “By the Brook” – woodwinds used to imitate birds.

Sym. #7 both completed in 1812. The 7th sym. is sometimes called the “symphony of rhythm”

and 8 because of the fast tempos in the 1st, 3rd and last mvts. The 2nd mvt. Was such a favorite with audiences it was encored at its first performance.

Fidelio Beethoven’s only opera. He knew how to write for voices and wrote many lieder but found operatic texts “too petty” to set to music. The opera had 4 overtures and its

theme was based on the principals of the French revolution – liberty, equality and

fraternity.

Sonatas 2nd period showed a wide range of style and forms – “Moonlight,”

“Waldstein,” ”Appassionata.” The latter, composed in 1804, shows Beethoven’s changes to the classical sonata – still 3 mvts. But expanded from within by the force of Beethoven’s musical imagination. The sonatas express powerful themes on an up to now

unknown structure of tension and concentration. Mozart was willing to write in the

accepted order but Beethoven was a revolutionist – submitting only where he pleased

and elsewhere creating a new order, one growing out of the old but resembling it only externally. Wrote 32 sonatas all together and did more for the piano sonata than any other composer of his time.

Concerto wrote 5 piano concerti in total – all for his own use. The greatest and last, “The Emperor” was composed in 1808-09 and 1st performed by Carl Czerny in Vienna in 1812. (Carl Czerny was a student of Beethoven’s who would go on to be a famous pianist and piano teacher in Vienna and wrote and published many books of piano studies still used today.) Retained division of 3 mvts. and general outline but expanded framework and intensified contents.

Violin concerto – 1 written in 1806. The solo part is interwoven with the orchestra.

Beethoven stopped performing in 1808.

3rd Style Period

Deafness became more and more of a problem. It caused him to lose contact with others, retreat into himself, become more irascible and suspicious of others. Family problems, ill health and unwarranted fears of poverty plagued him. It did not diminish his creative powers, however, and he composed his last 5 piano sonatas, the Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations and the 9th symphony. At his death in 1827, he had plans for a 10th symphony and many other works.

Compositions of this period were more meditative. The former urgency to communicate was replaced by a feeling of tranquility. He finally accepted the fact that the only possible source of happiness for him was in the soundless tones that existed in his mind. His musical language became more abstract – extremes met – the sublime and the grotesque side by side as in the Missa Solemnis and 9th Symphony.

One historian states, “Classical forms remain as the former features of a landscape remain after a geological upheaval – recognizable here and there under new contours, lying at strange angles underneath the surface.

Characteristics of the last period:

1. Deliberate working out of themes and motives to their utmost potential

2. Blurred dividing lines – (a) within the piece by concealing or shifting cadence points;

(b) making the introduction part of the 1st mvt. (interpenetration within the mvt.)

© interpenetration of movements – 1st mvt. theme appears in the 2nd. etc. gives a feeling or vastness.

3. More use of contrapuntal material. He had a lifelong reverence for Bach and began

Writing fugal movements. The 9th sym. has 2 double fugues in the finale.

4. New sonorities – new ideas required new alignments of sound again to produce

unaccustomed affects.

One critic wrote, ”The ideas seem to big for human capabilities to express but whether one approves or condemns these passages, there is not the slightest reason to suppose that Beethoven, even had his hearing been perfect, would have altered a single note, either to spare tender ears among his audience or to make things easier for the performer.

His 33 Variations on a Diabelli Waltz surpasses anything in this form since Bach and is the only theme and variation work of the last period. They differ from any variations up to this point because they are made up not of straightforward alterations in the theme but transformation of the character. Beethoven takes Diabelli’s little waltz and expands it into a world of varying moods – solemn, playful or mysterious. Each is built on motives from some part of the theme

Altered in rhythm, tempo, dynamics or context to produce a new design. They stand as the model for the Romantic period variations of Schumann, Brahms and others.

Instrumental Works:

2 of his last string quartets and 2 of his last piano sonatas retain the usual 4 movements. The rest dispense with even this bow to tradition. Sonata #11 – 2 mvts.; Quartet Op 131 – 7 mvts.

Most important works of the last period:

1. Mass in D (Missa Solemnis)

2. Symphony #9

Except for Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Beethoven’s is the greatest interpretation of the text. Beethoven considered it his greatest work – a deeply personal yet universal confession of faith. He designed it to be a pictorial and symbolic representation of the mass. A symphony in 5 mvts.

One on each of the main divisions of the Ordinary of the Mass. He seizes every phrase or single word that offers him a possibility for dramatic expression.

The 9th Symphony was first performed on May 7, 1824.

It’s most striking quality – the use of chorus and soloists in the last mvt. Although Beethoven began thinking about setting Schiller’s text “Ode to Joy” to music as early as 1792, he did not decide to write it as the choral ending to the 9th until 1823. The text shows Beethoven’s ethical ideals in that in choosing which stanzas to use, he selected those that emphasize 2 ideas:

1. The universal brotherhood of man through joy

2. The basis of that joy is the love of an eternal Heavenly Father

The text itself was based on the principles of the French Revolution – liberty, equality and fraternity.

The form of the last movement was unusual and dictated by the problem of introducing the voices:

1. a brief dissonant intro.

2. review and rejection of themes (orch. recit.)

3. suggestion and acceptance of the “joy” theme

4. orch. exposition of the joy theme in 4 stanzas

5. recurring dissonant intro. Leading to Bass solo recit.

6. choral/orchestral exposition.

According to legend, Beethoven was seated on stage and beat time during the performance. When the symphony was over it got a standing ovation but he did not realize it until one of the soloists turned him around so he could see it!

ROMANTIC PERIOD

By now you’ve realized that the names of historical periods in music have 2 meanings:

1. denotes a certain style of music

2. denotes a certain period of time during which that style dominated.

“Classical” refers to something finished, perfect, exemplary – a standard against which later productions could be measured.

“Romantic” – refers to an original idea, something far off, imaginary ideal, fantastic, not of the actual present day world.

There is actually more continuity between these two styles than contrast.

Classicism Romanticism

group conformity individualism

traditionalism/formalism experimentation

intellectual control emotionalism

balance and proportion exaggeration

objectivity subjectivity

repose unrest

economy rhetoric

Romantic Composers (partial list)

Conservative Radicals

Brahms Liszt

Mendelssohn Schumann Berlioz

Schubert Chopin

Wagner

Sources & Characteristics of the Romantic Style

Romanticism is a complex mix of individual styles having elements in common. It was developed by musicians who had to resolve certain basic conflicts between their art and their environment.

Classical sources:

Haydn – The Creation, The Seasons – oratorios which depict the pleasures of nature.

Mozart – Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute – operas depicting the inner life of the

Individual.

Beethoven – Sym. 5,6,9 – pleasure in depicting nature (6); Faustian aspirations

and storming of the ideal (5,9).

Romantic sources of inspiration:

1. 19thC age of “landscape painting” in the visual and musical arts.

Romantic composers felt a kinship with nature and looked on it as a refuge,

source of strength, inspiration and revelation.

2. 19thC saw a rapid expansion in exact knowledge and the scientific method –

thinking beyond the rational borders into the supernatural. The music of the

period constantly thrusts beyond the borders of the rational consciousness. Takes

subject matter from dreams or myths (Sym. Fantastique).

3. Composers are mainly secular and materialistic – even liturgical music is not

Written for church purposes.

4. Political influences – the goals of the French revolution – liberty, equality and fraternity;

shunning of aristocratic patrons; conflict between Nationalism and the beginning of the supra-neutral socialist movements. Marx and Engels write the “Communist Manifesto.”

In music – differences in national styles are accentuated, folksongs are venerated as the

“spontaneous expression of the rational soul.” Especially flourished in Germany where national sentiment had been suppressed. Exotic cultures, especially the Middle and Far East

would influence composers and artists.

5. Preoccupation with music of the past – rise of historical musicology. The concentration of

population in the cities, as well as providing a new public for the arts, causes people to

yearn for the country, simpler times and the beauty of the countryside.

6. Literature – especially the poetry of Petrarch; composer and writer E.T.A. Hoffman; the German writer Schlagel, who drew attention to the Ring of the Nibelung in Norse mythology.

The effort to find a musical language capable of expressing these new and strange ideas led to new use

of harmony melody and orchestral tone color.

Traits of Romantic Art:

1. Remote or strange quality

2. Boundlessness – transcends time and space

3. Cherishes freedom

4. Movement, restlessness

5. Passion

6. Pursuit of the unobtainable

Because goals can never be reached, Romantic are is haunted by a spirit of longing, yearning for an impossible fulfillment.

Characteristics of Romantic Music:

1. Less vital and varied rhythms

2. Interest directed to melody

3. Classical forms broken down

4. Tonal ambiguity

5. Complex chords

6. Avoidance of distinct cadences

7. The most remarkable achievement of the 19thC composer lay in the development

Of harmonic technique and tone color:

a. new sonorities; dissonances in piano music

b. new instruments invented

c. old instruments redesigned to be more sonorous and flexible

d. new combinations of instruments produced different colors and effects.

Forms of Music

The personality of the artist became merged with the work of art. This period, more than any other,

gives us the “unsociable” artist who separates himself from his fellow men, “driven by isolation to seek

inspiration within himself. He writes wither for infinity/posterity or for some unimaginable audience or,

like Schubert, for a small circle of kindred spirits – pouring out innermost feelings considered too fragile

or precious to be aired in the crude light of a concert hall.” The composer is often portrayed as a heroic

figure struggling against a hostile environment.

Accent on the individual dominates the period. The best vocal music is written for solo

voice, not chorus.

This would be the era of the great virtuoso performers – Paganini, Liszt, Chopin – instrumentalists who

were the best performers of their generation or future ones.

There would be a sharp distinction between the amateur and professional musician as professional

Performance standards improved.

Family music making would be a constant feature of the 19th and early 20thC.

All of these elements influenced the types of music produced during the Romantic period.

Symphony –

Either no trombones or trombones prominent; 4 French horns, contrabassoon.

Sharp dynamic changes

Different themes introduced by different timbres of instruments.

Standard 4 movements.

Gradual movement from 1 tempo to another started by Beethoven and carried on

by Schumann and Mendelssohn.

Symphony became bigger, weightier and the composer did not write as many.

Programmatic Music –

Started with Beethoven’s 6th sym, music which has an association with a poetic, descriptive or narrative subject. Program music does not have to “tell” a story but runs parallel to it. A tone poem is a type of programmatic music.

Berlioz – Sym. Fantastique

Smetana – The Moldau

Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain

R. Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra

Overture – written for concert use – a mini symphonic poem.

Mendelssohn – A Midsummer Nights Dream – inspired by the play but not intended

to be performed with it. It depicts elements of the play.

Mendelssohn – Hebrides Suite – depicts island scenery off the west coast of Scotland.

Tchaikowsky – Romeo and Juliet – depicts elements of the story.

Concerto -

A virtuoso vehicle – soloist against the orchestra (hero battles world and triumphs.)

Started with Beethoven violin and piano concertos (3 mvts.)

Principal composers: violin – Mendelssohn, Brahms, Tchaikowsky

Piano – Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikowsy

Piano Music- moves away from sonata toward “genre” piece – used to capture a mood,

Emotion or atmosphere.

Chamber Music- moves out of the drawing room and into the concert hall. Music more difficult,

required a professional. Heavier textured forms; quintet, sextet not quartet (strings plus piano); 4 mvts.

retained abstract character. Mainly written by composers with Classical ties: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Mendelssohn.

Vocal Music

Requiem – about the only music written for church during this time; a highly dramatic view of death typical of the 19thC. Passion, fire and brimstone on a colossal scale in the Requiems of Berlioz and Verdi.

Opera – countries individualized

Germany – Weber – early period; Wagner – climax of period; wrote large scale works – with

a continuous musical line so there was no break between arias and recits.; basically did away

with recitative; unification of all arts into one ( gesamtkunstwerk ). Style carried into 20thC

by Richard Strauss.

Italy – comic genius – Rossini; dramatic genius – Verdi – powerful handling of drama,

appealing use of the voice, comparable in stature to Wagner but Verdi’s music is

more widely admired.

France – Bizet – Carmen – sung in French but setting and musical feel of Spain.

Operetta – light opera intended for a less intellectual audience.

Principal composers: Johann Strauss Jr. – Vienna

Jacques Offenbach – Paris

Gilbert & Sullivan – London

Songs

Germany – lied – tradition started with Mozart and Beethoven but made into an art form by

Schubert, a balance of words and music; German lieder would also be composed by

Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Strauss and Mahler.

France – the “art song” was written by Debussy, Faure and Ravel.

SCHUBERT

Born to peasant parents.

Amateur musical family.

Father wanted him to be a teacher.

First musical work performed publicly – Mass in F in 1814.

By 1815 he had composed 2 sym., 1 opera, 4 sonatas, various choral and piano pieces and 146 lieder including the Erlkoenig which opened up new ideas in song writing.

Left teaching in 1816 and relied on generosity of friends.

By 1820 he had written more than 500 works but only 3 had been performed publicly.

After 1824 his only income came from random performances of his music – about $500.00.

He and Schumann were also known for their song cycles – a group pf songs by one poet or on one theme

2 greatest symphonies - #8 (Unfinished) and #9 (Great in C Major).

Also composed chamber music – string quartets and quintets.

Died in 1828 at age 31.

Style characteristics:

Expansive melodies

Special piano effects

Accompaniments usually suggested by text

Use of chromatics

Usually in verse form

Complex modulations

600 lieder ranging from folksong-like to intense and dramatic

MENDELSSOHN

Virtuoso pianist – considered “another Mozart” but not exploited by parents.

Genius with “musical landscapes:”

The Hebrides Suite

Sym. #3 – “Scottish”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Had 2 large visions:

Restore the neglected music of J.S. Bach to the world

Found a conservatory – which he did in Leipzig in 1843

Happily married.

Favorite composer of Queen Victoria.

Fused spirit of the Classical with the Romantic: fused Classical structure, harmony and counterpoint to

Romantic feeling, tenderness and sentiment.

Music critic once described Mendelssohn’s music as “light and airy, fairy music…in which he has never been surpassed.”

Died at 38 years of age.

SCHUMANN

Never gained anything in life without a struggle.

Mother wanted him to be a lawyer, fought for 20 years.

Father was an author and publisher who taught him to love the written word.

Began piano lessons at age 6 and began writing almost immediately.

Influenced by classical composers and the songs of Schubert.

Married pianist Clara Wieck Schumann.

Wanted to be concert pianist but injury to hand prevented this. Switched to composing and being a music historian and critic. Found manuscripts of Schubert’s 9th sym. and Bach’s Passions and first to

Recognize the genius of Brahms and Chopin.

Emotionally unstable – probably manic/depressive.

Style characteristics:

Totally unpredictable harmonic patterns

Gets away from the “tyranny of the bar line”; obscures downbeat by using dotted rhythms.

Germanic style – pre-eminence of motive.

Lieder – Schubert’s successor but more romantic in style; restless quality, melodic line warm and expressive but almost equal to accompaniment in importance. Some of finest lieder were love songs –

Dichterliebe and Frauen Liebe und Leben.

BRAHMS

Considered the successor in symphonic and chamber music to Beethoven and strove not to fall short of this standard.

Considered the successor to Schubert and Schumann in the area of lieder – writing 260 in all but

the accompaniment never overwhelms the melody.

For Brahms, inspiration was not enough – ideas had to be worked out and brought to a final perfect form. Because of this quality, his music has a feeling of repose which sets it apart from many Romantic composers. He is known as the “great conservative” of the Romantic period.

Style characteristics:

Music has a feeling of restrained passion.

Accompaniments usually not pictorial.

Bases melody on chord structures.

Combines classical counterpoint and motivic development with romantic warmth and feeling.

Likes variations and doubling of melody line.

Avoids descriptive titles in instrumental works.

Piano works are modeled after Beethoven and Schumann.

Preludes are directly linked in style to Bach.

BERLIOZ

Leader of radical wing of the Romantics – 1st composer to respond to the influence of Beethoven in an original way.

Father of modern instrumental conducting.

More concerned with melody and effects.

New approaches to:

Harmony and tonality

Form

Rhythm

Thematic development

Instrumental composition of the orchestra

Most significant work – Symphony Fantastique – music drama without words.

Idée fixe – recurring theme; unifying device heard in all mvts.

1st symphony to use harp, piano and valve trumpet

Requiem and Te Deum – 2 dramatic symphonic works for orchestra, chorus and soloists; based on liturgical texts but not for church use.

CHOPIN

Style characteristics:

Style reflects back to Mozart – delicate, introspective, intimate.

Clearly defined formal outlines.

Nationalistic Polish influence both in tone and style – use of Polish dance names

like Mazurka and Polonaise as well as nocturne, waltz, prelude and etude. Use of raised 4th

scale degree and minor keys typical of Polish folk music.

Etude – learning piece; combined technical development with tone poem. 1st composer to

realize the potential of combining technical aims with a significant piece of music.

Harmonic turns and form grew naturally out of basic musical idea.

LISZT

Court music director at Weimar – encouraged Romantic mvt.. by conducting performances of many important new composers including Wagner, his future son-in-law.

Style characteristics:

Hungarian heritage – national inspiration, Gypsy music, volatile temper.

Early Germanic training – pre-eminence of motive.

Influence of Parisian literary Romantics- influenced by works of Petrarch.

Influences of Berlioz’s ideas of program music – nearly everything Liszt wrote had a

programmatic title or could have had one.

Greatly influenced by Paganini whose fabulous technical virtuosity on the violin pushed

the instrument to its limits. Liszt wanted to do the same thing on piano – not just show off.

Comes from the Beethoven style of playing – full chords, dynamic contrasts.

Also influenced by Chopin’s lyrical melodies, piano effects and harmonies.

Transcribed many instrumental and operatic works for piano.

OPERA

FRENCH OPERA

The combined influence of the composer Gluck and the Revolution of the Napoleonic empire made Paris the operatic capitol of Europe in the early 1800’s and inspired the rise of a certain type of serious opera which combined the heroic figures of the great Gluck operas with the popular “rescue plot” idea and turned it into a big display of solo, choral and orchestral magnificence.

With the rise of the middle class after 1820, new kinds of opera came into being geared to the relatively uncultured middle class. Meyerbeer was the composer who set the style with Robert le Diable and

Les Huguenots. It was French Grand Opera as in Lully’s time, an occasion for spectacle. Librettos were designed to exploit every possible opportunity for ballets, chorus and crown scenes. Meyerbeer captured the most popular elements of the Italian and French style. The public cared most for sentiment and sensationalism and the librettist and composer seemed willing to sacrifice dramatic and musical integrity to please them. Berlioz’s Les Troyens culminates the French Grand Opera tradition and contains 5 acts.

Side by side with grand opera was Opera Comique – used spoken dialogue instead of recitative, only 3 acts, less pretentious than grand opera requiring fewer singers and musicians; written more simply musically and presented as straight forward comedy or semi-serious drama instead of the huge historical pageantry of grand opera.

Opera buffe – (different from 18thC opera buffa) – emphasized smart, witty and satirical elements of comic opera. Appeared in Paris around 1860. Founder – Jacques Offenbach. Revolt against 5 act grand operas. His work influenced Gilbert & Sullivan (London) and Johann Strauss II (Vienna). Aka: operettas.

A romantic type of opera comique became known as Lyric Opera – lies somewhere between true opera comique and grand opera. Main appeal – melodic; subject matter is romantic drama or fantasy; larger than opera comique but not as huge as grand opera. Examples include Faust – Gounod and Samson and Delilah - Saint-Saens.

Landmark in the history of French opera - Carmen by George Bizet. Classified as an opera comique because of spoken dialogue but later set in recitative by another composer. The stark dramatic realism and rejection, by Bizet, of a sentimental or mythological plot was significant of a small but important anti-Romantic movement in the late 19thC. However, in its Spanish setting and musical atmosphere it exemplified the 1 trait that went all thru the Romantic period – exoticism.

ITALY

Opera was the only important musical outlet during this period. The genius of the entire nation largely concentrated on this. Italian composers were less affected by the Romantic traits. They felt opera was an orderly evolution of an established tradition so used changes only where and when they wanted to.

ROSSINI

Principal Italian composer in early 19thC; gift for melody, stage effects, rhythmic variety. Master of characterization and situation comedy. Wrote out cadenzas rather than letting a singer improvise so they didn’t get carried away. Italian opera was deeply rooted in the belief that an opera is the highest manifestation of an intensely cultivated art song. It’s primary purpose – to delight and move the listener by music that is melodious, unsentimental, spontaneous and popular. (William Tell; The Barber of Seville.)

VERDI

Brought Italian opera to a point of perfection not seen since. 26 operas, 1st in 1839- last in 1893. His evolution is toward refinement of aim and technique; never broke with past or experimented radically.

Nationalism is the only basic issue in the Romantic period that had any effect on Italian music. Verdi had a deep appreciation for this – felt each nation should cultivate the kind of music that was native to it and maintained his own independence in his musical style.

Style characteristics:

Adherence to ideal of opera as human drama, not German concept of emphasizing nature or

myth.

Revered Beethoven above all – also influenced by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti.

Learned harmony and orchestration from Meyerbeer but assimilated them into his own style.

His libretti required strong emotional situations, contrasts and speedy action. Most plots are

violent “blood and thunder” melodramas with improbably characters and ridiculous

coincidences. Plenty of opportunity for writing exciting, lusty melodies.

Each opera is either 4 acts or a Prologue and 3 acts. Acts 2 and3 have ensemble finales,

usually big ensembles in 3rd act; 4th act commonly opens with a prayer usually sung by

the heroine and sometimes accompanied by the chorus. Many of his early operas are

better known for their choruses.

Around 1849 his style changed. His characters had finer psychological distinctions, emotions became less raw. The characters, dramatic unity and melodic invention combine in his masterpiece Rigoletto.

Thru-out 2nd period there was some slight experimentation – new harmonies introduced; orchestra treated with great care and originality. In Un Ballo in Maschera and La Forza del Destino – recurrence

of distinctive themes and motives at crucial plot points to produce both dramatic and musical unity. All this culminated in Aida (1871.)

Otello – culmination of Italian tragic opera

Falstaff - “ “ “ comic “

Verdi is essentially more Classical than Romantic but his classicism is attained not by triumphing over the Romantics like Brahms did, but by ignoring it. His attitude toward nature – there to be used not worshipped; interested in humanity. Only successful composer in history who was also a successful farmer.

GERMAN OPERA

No established tradition – tended to favor experimentation.

Characteristics of German Romantic operas:

1. Plots drawn from medieval history, legend or fairy tale.

2. Story involves supernatural beings and happenings.

3. Stress on wild and mysterious nature.

4. Supernatural incidents and nature entwined in characters fates.

5. Human characters are not just individuals but representatives of supernatural forces of good and evil. Hero eventually must triumph over demonic powers. This triumph often is interpreted as salvation or redemption – a vaguely spiritual note.

6. Importance of spiritual and physical background – unlike Fr. and It. operas.

7. Use of German folk-like melodies.

8. Strong reliance on harmony and orchestral color for dramatic expression (emphasis

On inner voices rather than Italian preoccupation with melody.

WAGNER

Wagner has a 3-fold significance:

1. Brought German Romantic opera to consummation (Verdi counterpart).

2. Created new form – musical drama.

3. Harmonic ideas of his late works – carried tonality to the limit; became starting point

of developments which led to 20thC atonality.

For Wagner, the function of music was to serve the ends of dramatic expression. His only important compositions were for the theatre (opera).

LEITMOTIF – leading motive – basic way of linking music and drama. In mature works – some kind of brief theme associated with every significant idea in the drama – people, objects, thoughts, places, states of emotion etc.

3 Goals:

1. To use music to communicate emotional and psychological feelings.

2. To elevate music to an almost “holy” state and make German music the greatest music

in the world. (His music influenced such leaders as King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Hitler.)

3. Gesamtkunstwerk – unification of all the arts into one. To accomplish this:

a. Revolutionized opera orchestras – enlarged, added new instruments and assigns

new roles to different sections of the orchestra.

b. The orchestra sets moods, feelings, creates the drama. It’s really more important

Then the voices which simply have one of many lines running thru-out. Vocal lines are part of the polyphonic texture not arias and accompaniment. The music is continuous thru-out. No recitative or arias. Everything is told in the music – the actions and words only add to it.

The Ring of the Nibelung – a four opera cycle made up of:

Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold)

Die Walkure (The Valkyrie)

Siegfried

Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods)

This was Wagner’s most important work – subject of Norse mythology. Wagner felt myths suitable not only because they offered lots of opportunities for effective theatre but also they embodied, in concentrated form, certain philosophical issues fundamental in human life.

The ruling ideal of Wagner’s form absolute oneness of the music and drama (gesamtkunstwerk)

Action and drama controlled by inner and outer aspects; inner – instrumental music/orchestra; outer – sung words which make clear the events and actions.

Wagner had 2 principal ways for achieving articulation and coherence:

1. Use of the leitmotif – an association is established by sounding the leitmotif (usually in the orchestra) at the 1st appearance or mention of the object and by its repetition at each subsequent appearance or mention. It may also serve to recall the idea of the object in situations where the object is not present; may be varied, developed and transformed in

accordance with plot development.

2. Wrote Acts in sections (AAB or ABA forms) not obvious to listener.

Tristan und Isolde

Uses complex chromatic alterations of chords, constant key shifts – which produce ambiguous tonality. ‘The evolution of harmonic style (and destruction of tonality) from Wagner, Mahler and Strauss to Schoenberg, Webern and Berg to later 12 tone composers, can be traced back to Tristan.’

“Above all, his music impressed itself on the late 19thC because it was able by its sheer overwhelming power – to suggest, arouse and create in the hearers – that all embracing state of ecstasy, at once sensuous and mystical, toward which all Romantic art has been striving.”

NATIONALISM

A departure from and reaction to German tradition. Strongest in countries which had no established musical tradition: Russia, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, England and the USA.

Style characteristics:

Orchestra: extensive use of tone color

Woodwinds stand out – string don’t

Rhythmic – folk tunes and dances used

Modal influences – whole tone scales etc.

Not too contrapuntal, more theme and variations

Principal composers:

England – Elgar

France – Debussy and Ravel

USA – MacDowall

Scandinavia – Grieg, Sibelius

Czechoslovakia – Smetana, Dvorak

Russia – “Big Five” and Tchaikowsky

RUSSIA

The Mighty Handful/Big Five/Big Heap

1. Balakirev – founder and only professional composer/musician

2. Cui – interested in the Orient

3. Borodin – more classical in style

4. Mussorgsky – genius of the group; music dictates the form

5. Rimsky-Korsakov – lively fantasies; bright orchestrations with lots of tone color.

All of these men wrote more short programmatic pieces, few symphonies.

Tchaikowsky – most cosmopolitan of the Russian composers. Wrote 6 symphonies – the first 4 on folk themes. Most composers went out in search of folk songs (especially in Scandinavian and Eastern European countries) but Tchaikowsky tried to combine Russian folksongs with an overall Germanic style. Dvorak would do the same with Czech music.

Style characteristics:

Themes remain in tact until the melody is firmly established and then is broken into motives.

Folksong traits are obvious – non-traditional scales, narrow range, simple repetitive rhythm.

Ballets:

Swan Lake

Sleeping Beauty

The Nutcracker

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Smetana – influenced by Liszt; nationalistic subjects for program music and opera; melodic freshness and spontaneity with traces of folk tunes and dance rhythms.

Dvorak – takes elements of Brahms style and reinterprets them. More interested in melody than harmony; emphasis on strings; use of 2 against 3- favored by Brahms and other nationalistic composers to obscure the beat.

SCANDINAVIA

Sibelius – best at writing symphonies and symphonic poems. Not typical nationalistic composer. Doesn’t build work on folk tunes but does capture the character and spirit of Finland. Uses unconventional forms. Takes fragments and finally unites them into a whole theme. Character or the music is somber and bleak, inspired by his love of the aspects of nature in the north countries. Revered Finland’s literature and used it as a basis for vocal works and symphonic poems.

Grieg – virtuoso pianist with delicate style like Chopin. Vocal songs on Norwegian texts. All-pervading influence in all Grieg’s music is his Norwegian heritage – folk songs, dances, modal turns of melody and harmony.

Turn of the Century

RICHARD STRAUSS GUSTAV MAHLER

Celebrated conductors and composers who stretch the idea of tonality to the breaking point. From the more radical line of romantic composers.

1. Wrote mainly symphonic poems and 1. Wrote mainly symphonies and vocal opera music.

2. In opera – used leitmotif to a limited 2. Interested in the “associative” powers extent. of music – included a laendler dance

and military trumpet calls audience would be familiar with.

3. 2 kinds of symphonic poems: 3. Many symphonies included choirs and soloists as well as huge orchestras.

Descriptive – illustrate musically .

a non-musical event. 4. Last of the line of German (in the German

Philosophical – unattached to particular style) symphonic composers beginning with

incidents. Haydn and extending through Mozart,

Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann,

Mendelssohn and Brahms to Mahler.

DEBUSSY

Deliberate rejection of German principles.

Influence of Russian and French tradition (Mussorgsky and Berlioz), Eastern and Oriental art and literature.

Interest in harmony and sonority- few themes per se. Emphasis on tone color.

Became one of the great innovators in music - freed chords from relationship to one another; used whole tone and unusual scales.

Wrote largely piano and vocal works with a few instrumental compositions.

Influenced by the Impressionist painters – music doesn’t try to tell a story but to create an atmosphere.

Debussy’s piano music, along with that of Ravel’s, is considered by many to be the most important addition to the piano repertoire in the 20thC.

PUCCINI

Led Italian opera into the 20th C – added naturalism and sentiment to the Verdi tradition. Wanted most of all to touch the heart.

Influenced by Verristic school - dealing with contemporary life in a more candid way. His operas are not set in the present but the emotional content reflects the verristic style.

Master of orchestral technique and writing for voices but always seeking new effects and styles.

Fascinated by Eastern and Oriental music and sounds.

Operas are standard repertoire in every opera house in the world and influenced contemporary musical theatre – La Boheme became the basis for Rent and Madam Butterfly for Miss Saigon.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

Music of this period (early 1900’s) was largely rooted in the Romantic style with some composers breaking away to experiment.

The greatest changes came between WWI and WWII. Contributing factors included:

World wide economic depression

Increasing state of international tension – especially between dictatorships in Russia,

Italy and Germany.

Rise of Fascism around 1930

The social history of this time can be divided into 2 types:

Postwar (WWI) PREWAR (WWII) Rebellion New adjustments toward moral,

Unshackled experimentation political, social and economic

Radically expressive music questions and concerns.

Called “ars nova” – new art

1900-1930 – emphasis on features that were a total rejection of the accepted principles of tonality, rhythm and form.

1930-50 – gap narrowed between old and new to a synthesis of the two.

Government censorship in Russia and Germany after 1930 tried to shield the public from the “deleterious effects” of the new music. “Proletarian” music in Russia – propaganda film background music scored by 1st rate composers like Prokofiev.

On the other hand, special efforts were made during the interwar period in all countries to bring music to all people. “Getrauchmusik” – work day music for schools and factories, especially in Germany.

There were 3 main tendencies in music from the 1st half of the 20thC.

1. Continued growth of musical style which employed elements of folk ideas.

2. Rise of movements like neo-classicism, which aimed at incorporating the new discoveries of the early 20thC into new musical styles connected to the past especially thru form and technique.

3. Transformation of German Post-Romantic ideas into the 12 tone (dodecaphonic) styles of

Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.

Schoenberg

Born – Vienna 1874

Left permanently in 1925 to teach at the Prussian State Academy of Music

When Nazi’s invaded – went to Paris then on to the USA for the rest of his life.

Taught in NY and Boston but hated the climate so moved to California where he taught at USC and UCLA.

3 style periods – musical personality stays the same but techniques change.

Schoenberg and his students, Berg and Webern, were the chief representatives in a new movement (also a painting style) called expressionism. This movement was an outgrowth of Romanticism which attempts to portray man as he exists in the modern world and is described by 20thC philosophy as “isolated, helpless in the grip of forces he does not understand; prey to inner conflict, tension, anxiety, fear and in rebellion against established order and accepted forms.”

Period I

Schoenberg’s early works (best example: Verklarte Nacht) are based on the chromatic idiom derived from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. His symphonic poem Pelleas and Melisande is reminiscent of Richard Strauss.

A huge choral work of this period – the Gurrelieder was begun in 1901 but he did not complete the orchestration until 1911. It included 5 soloists, narrator, 4 choruses and a large orchestra.

Schoenberg outdid Mahler in the size and complexity of his score and outdid Wagner in the violence of his expression.

Period II

Schoenberg turned away from post-romantic gigantism to small instrumental combinations or if he uses a large orchestra, he uses soloistic treatment, swift alteration or orchestra color rather than massive blocks of sound.

Compositional techniques used:

Pointillism – fragmented motivic ideas

Klangfarbenmelodie – sound-color-melody; a colored musical line.

Increased rhythmic and contrapuntal activity.

Fragmented melodic line

Moved from a chromatic line based on tonality to atonality.

Atonality – music in a which a composer systematically avoids references to a tonal center either harmonically or melodically. Much of the late Romantic music, especially Wagner, was unconsciously heading toward this. Chromatic lines and chordal progressions, even in Wagner, left no tonal center but these ideas were short in duration and anchored with a “tonal” piece.

Style characteristics:

Extreme ranges

Wide leaps

Free dissonances with atonality not tonality obscured by chromaticism

All 12 notes in scale equal in rank.

Expressionistic music is characterized by a desperate intensity of feeling and revolutionary types of sound. Most characters in Schoenberg’s Erwartung* and Pierrot Lunaire** are in this style. ‘They are neither pretty nor realistic but he is dedicated to using the most penetrating means imaginable, no matter how unusual, to communicate the particular complex of thought and emotion he wanted to express.

*Ewartung – opera – Freudian melodrama – soprano and orchestra – ½ hour long. Story of a woman seeking the lover who abandoned her, walks thru woods, stumbles over his body. In recalling their relationship she alternately kicks and caresses the body (rage to tenderness.)

By 1923 Schoenberg formulated a method of composition with 12 tones, related only with one another.

12 Tone Technique (Dodecaphonic)

1. The basis of each composition is a “row” or “series” consisting of the 12 tones of the octave arranged in any order the composer decides. The tones of the series are used either successively (melody) or simultaneously (as counterpoint or harmony) in any octave or rhythm.

2. The row may also be written in inversion, retrograde or retrograde-inversion form or in

Transposition of any of the 4 forms.

3. No note may be used in the composition that doesn’t appear in a succession identical to one

of the forms of the row.

4. No note can be repeated until all 12 are used.

The style is thus chromatic with no scale base.

In actual practice modification and compromise take place but it was used as a “unifying device” with the tone row serving as 1 main key; the work must have a variety of rhythm, texture, dynamics and timbre and could be thought of as a perpetual variation on a basic row.

Some Schoenberg pieces of the 1920’s used tone rows and most of his pieces after coming to America in 1933 did. He became a master of contrapuntal technique, especially canons which he used as a means to unify pieces because he could not rely on key and chord relationships to do it.

This music is difficult to listen to because of:

1. dissonances

2. lack of tonal center

3. lack of comprehension of style

4. feeling that this music is mechanically constructed and not emotionally significant.

Actually, Schoenberg felt it was a matter of developing the listening audience to accept and adapt to the changes since the perception of dissonance lessons with hearing and both the “emancipation of dissonance” and “lack of a tonal center are a natural evolution of music since all other avenues have been explored.”

Pierrot Lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot) 1912

Best known work of the pre-war era. The figures are from the Comedia del’Arte and Pierrot is involved in grotesque, very bloody ideas. Originally from a work of 50 poems by the Belgian poet Giraud, Schoenberg selected 21, had them translated to German and divided them into 3 groups of 7 each:

Grp. 1. Pierrot – moondrunk, mystic poet

Grp. 2. Pierrot – crimes, guilt and punishment

Grp. 3. Pierrot – cruelty, gloom and homesickness

The songs are for women’s voices and chamber ensembles. Each song is accompanied by different instrumental combinations and are between 13-53 measures in length. In his 2nd period Schoenberg was unable to write lengthy works because he had not yet developed a technique to hook everything together.

He accentuated atonal impression by use of “sprechstimme” – speaking voice; instead of singing actual tones of fixed pitch, the voice only suggests the pitches then immediately moves away from them.

Rhythm is strictly notated. The approximate pitch is indicated by . Later replaced staff with a single line.

Schoenberg became the master of contrapuntal technique, especially canons, and used it as a means to unify pieces since he could not rely on key and chord relationships to do it.

Period III

Perfected 12 tone technique. Music became more traditional, especially in terms of formal structure – used sonata, variation and rondo.

Schoenberg’s main professional activity was as a teacher. His 2 most important students were Berg and Webern. He encouraged the development of their own styles (2nd Viennese School) and, as a consequence, their styles are total contrasts. Berg represents Schoenberg’s Romantic potential and Webern represents his Classical potential.

BERG

Born in 1885 in Vienna

Family was wealthy and encouraged musical ability. He received a legacy in teens so he could devote himself to his music.

Shy and introverted but the most successful of the three in terms of the number of performances of works due to the success of his opera Wozzeck.

Berg adopted most of Schoenberg’s method of construction but used them with more freedom. He constructed tone rows that allowed for tonal sounding chords and harmonic progressions and combined it with warmth of Romantic feeling which, according to some, makes this music easier to listen to.

His style tried to link contemporary with the past.

Chief works: string quartet, violin concerto and 2 operas.

Wozzeck – outstanding example of expressive opera. The story is of a soldier, Wozzeck, a hapless victim of his environment; despised, betrayed in love, driven finally to murder and suicide. The forms are all based on traditional ones – rhapsody, march, rondo, symphony, inventions, use of sprechstimme.

WEBERN

Represented Classical potential – atonality without Romantic expressiveness. Never wrote an opera.

**Ruling principle in his work – economy and extreme concentration.

Style characteristics:

Uses imitative counterpoint not imitation.

Use of “generating cells.”

Complex rhythms

Most remarkable in area of instrumentation – melodic line distributed between several instruments to give different “color” to melodic line. Ex. Sym. Op. 21 – for 9 solo instruments.

Pieces are short because everything is compressed.

Most works are in chamber style – ½ instrumental and ½ vocal.

Total output is small – recorded on 4 long-playing records. (Although some early music has recently been found.) Little known during his lifetime. Importance grew after his death at the end of WWII. His music would be the catalyst to launch new developments in Italy, Germany, France and the U.S.

STRAVINSKY

His works exemplify nearly every significant musical tendency in the 1st half of the 20thC. He influenced three generations of composers – as great as, if not greater than Wagner’s influence on the composers of the late Romantic period.

Born in Russia in 1882.

Came to Paris in 1911 to compose for the Russian Ballet under Sergei Diaghilev.

After the Russian Revolution, music had to serve the political goals of the regime.

Lived in Switzerland until 1914; Paris – 1920. Eventually came to the U.S. and lived in California and finally New York until his death in 1971.

Buried on an island off the coast of Venice.

Period I

Principle early compositions: ballets for Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Russian ballet. The Russian tradition had an exotic sound and the orchestrations were rich. His teacher was Rimsky-Korsakov.

3 most famous ballets:

The Firebird

Petrushka

**Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) – subtitled “Pictures of Pagan Russia.” Most

Most famous composition of the 20thC. Represented the upsurge of spring, everything reborn

Culmination of the primitive style (raw emotion, barbaric quality with driving rhythms.)

It is unique in its use of rhythm, unheard of orchestral effects and chordal combinations.

“It had the effect of an explosion that so scattered the elements of musical language that they could never again be put together as before,” stated one review. Riots broke out in Paris after it’s first performance.

Period II

1913-1923 – during WWI ballets were restricted. Style changed – more emphasis on woodwinds, clear organization, diatonic materials, Baroque and Classical forms used. Possibly due to the economy of war time, large ensembles were replaced by smaller ones. Compositions included short piano pieces, songs, ballets and chamber works.

Period III - Neo-Classical

1924-51

Adherence to classical principles of balance, coolness, objectivity and absolute music (as opposed to the program music of the Romantic period) ie: 1st Symphony written during a period of great personal tragedy but it was the peak of neo-classic style.

Characteristics of style:

Rhythm: denies bar line; introduces irregular against a regular rhythm; uses silence strategically.

Harmony: organized around tonal centers; major and minor triads played together or right after one another; use of modes.

Orchestra: written for unusual groups of instruments; uses piano conspicuously for color; around 1920 works avoided “warm” string sound.

BARTOK

Better known as a composer outside Hungary. Immigrated to the U.S. in 1941 but spent a difficult time here – could not continue teaching and had financial difficulties. Declined teaching position at Curtis Institute in composition because he felt composition could not be taught. Worked at Columbia U. in the anthropology dept. – primitive music – and lived on his salary and royalties from his music. Fame spread after his death.

3 Style Periods:

Period I

Affected by Nationalistic Leanings.

1903-06 collaborated with Zoltan Kodaly on arranging 20 Hungarian folksongs.

From 1906 on he set out gathering folksongs and during his lifetime transcribed and

recorded over 8,000 of which over 2,000 were published. Began a comparative study of folksongs from the Baltic and Middle East.

Affects on composition:

1. Free from major and minor – used modes, pentatonic and wholetone scales

or unknown patterns. Typical “Bartok” scale:

C D E Eb F F# G# A Bb C Db

2. Broke away from symmetrical rhythmic structure – absorbed and synthesized

essential elements of folk music.

His style continued to evolve until 1908 although it was still rooted in the Nationalistic period.

Major types of pieces – string quartets and piano compositions.

Influences in style:

Debussy

Wholetone scales

Quartal chords (based on 4ths)

Folksongs

Polytonalities (one key on top, another on bottom)

Tonal centers often a Tritone apart (+4)

Bartok’s ideal: to express in 20th C terms – Bach’s texture of contrapuntal fullness; Beethoven’s art of thematic development (generating cells) and Debussy’s discovery of the sonorous value of chords (their sound not their function.)

Period II

1908-1928 – emphasis on material and spirit of folk music but experimented with new sounds, rhythms and harmonies.

Prolific period – many piano pieces which were structurally complex, harsh and dissonant

harmonies, expressionistic in style and tone; many used as teaching pieces.

Allegro Barbaro – famous piano piece of the period; excellent example of primitivism.

Beginning of the Mikrokosmos – 153 graduated pieces from easy to difficult, for piano. The hardest were suitable for public performance.

Stage works all date from this period:

1 opera – Bluebird’s Castle (1 act, 1 hour)

2 ballets – The Wooden Prince

The Miraculous Mandarin

Period III

1928- 1945 – Synthesis and Retrenchment

Music is not as dissonant, stronger tonal orientation, mellower harmonies. Period of greatest masterpieces – 25 compositions in all still with rhythmic drive and melodic energy.

Bartok is important for three reasons:

1. Published folk tunes and wrote books and articles on folk music and its techniques which

gave rise to the study of ethno-musicology.

2. Virtuoso pianist and teacher. The Mikrokosmos is not only a work of great teaching value

but also a summary of Bartok’s own style and developments in European music in the

first half of the 20thC.

3. He is one of 4-5 composers active between 1910-1945 whose music is likely to endure.

PROKOFIEV

Able to create a large body of works universally admired.

Brilliant pianist who lived outside of Russia from 1918-1936 (including in the U.S. but not successful here.) Few Nationalistic influences on the music of this time but overall music had a Nationalistic flavor.

Wrote large amount of film music and mass choruses:

War and Peace Cantata

Alexander Nevsky (film)

Love for Three Oranges (opera)

Lt. Kije (film)

Peter and the Wolf (narrated symphonic story)

1936 – returned to Russia and recognized as leading Russian composer but criticized by government for living abroad.

Other works include: chamber music, piano pieces, operas, ballets, concertos and symphonies.

Style – mixture of national and modern; search for innovation, unique harmonic language and pandiatonicism (simultaneous use of major and minor/playing in 2 keys at once.)

AMERICAN MUSIC

The influence of African-American Music:

Instruments:

1. Ad hoc instruments (ie. Jugs, spoons, washboards etc.)

2. Homemade instruments

3. Instruments which produced percussive sounds.

4. A lack or drums and drumming which was strictly forbidden by slave holders.

5. A significant deficiency in instrumental music due to social, economic,

political and geographic conditions of the time.

Song Forms

1. Antiphonal (call and response)

2. Spiritual

3. Work song

4. Field holler

5. Street cry

6. Song sermon

7. Sorrow song

8. Ring shout

9. Songs of allusion

Scales

1. Use of blues notes (flatted 3rd and 7th)

2. Flexibility of pitch

3. Use of diatonic, pentatonic and modal scales

Vocal Style/Tone Quality/Ornamentation

1. Open, resonant voice quality

2. Wide variety of tone quality

3. Common types of ornamentation:

a. rising attack

b. falling release

c. glissando

d. bends

e. dips

f. rhythmic grunting

g. shouting/singing

h. upward break

4. Percussive quality in sound

Rhythm

1. Primacy of rhythm, despite forced acceptance of Western practices.

2. Handclapping, stomping, etc. provide rhythmic impetus in lieu of instruments,

particularly drums.

3. The music is somewhat less rhythmically complex than African music, but

considerably more rhythmically complex than Western music.

Miscellaneous

1. Improvisation – an important element.

2. Heterophony – independent variation on a single melody by 2 or more voices

Comparison Between Ragtime and Early Jazz

Ragtime Early Jazz

1. White or European in essence, though 1. Black music

most of its practitioners were black.

2. Composed music 2. Improvised music

3. Conceived of as themes able to stand 3. Themes are incomplete until

alone. improvised on.

4. Piece played same way every time. 4. Duplication of performance was undesirable.

5. Printed music for the piano 5. Permanent illustrations of jazz are recordings.

6. Oriented toward classical concert 6. Oriented toward African American music

music.

7. Predictable harmonies 7. Blues changes; flexible harmonic structure

8. Multi-thematic 8. Mono-thematic

9. Re-creative music 9. Creation in improvisation.

10. Machine-like and impersonal 10. Personalized

11. Meticulous precision 11. Communication above all

12. Dependent upon publishers and 12. Not dependent upon publishers and

urban areas could exist in non-urban areas

MUSICAL THEATRE

Traced back to 18th C.

1790 – theatre contained more musical entertainment than drama. Music societies were established, concerts in homes, etc. The 1st all- American show premiered in 1796 and was based on the William Tell story.

In the 19th C many different categories of shows were produced:

1. Pantomime – a French import, used as an opened; not silent; elaborate effects; actors plus harlequin characters.

2. Extravaganza – another French import – provided the foundation on which the structure of the American musical theatre is based – dancing, music, special effects, lighting effects,

elaborate costumes and set design, plots of an ‘around the world” nature.

3. Comic Opera – (opera bouffe) focuses on music. Gilbert & Sullivan were the best

representatives of this style. Their HMS Pinafore* helped determine the course and shape

of the popular lyric stage in England and the U.S. for the final ¼ of the 19th C.

4. Farce Comedy – dialogue predominated; play with songs added.

5. Burlesque – originally family entertainment – music “ripped off” from opera and

ballet; chorus line developed; satirized current stage attractions, popular fiction and well

known public figures.

6. Minstrelsy – pure unadulterated American entertainment. Performed by native born black

Americans or white people in “black-face;” songs by American composers and comedy

based on “down home” American ideas. The musical Revue and Vaudeville were

outgrowths of minstrelsy.

* HMS Pinafore arrived in 1878 from a successful run in England but because there were no copyright laws in existence here, illegal productions of it had already taken place. To prevent this from happening

again, Gilbert & Sullivan premiered The Pirates of Penzance here. Their plots were simple and funny with quips, rhymes and turns of phrase as funny today as it was then. Each lyric, passage of dialogue or song was complete. Everything was written from the audience’s point of view so they could remember the songs and sing them at home.

This opened the door for music “transatlantic” music including the Viennese operettas of Franz Lehar and Johannes Strauss II, the comic operettas of Offenbach etc. It also influenced foreign born American

composers:

Rudolph Friml (Czechoslovakia) Rose Marie

Victor Herbert (Irish/German) Babes in Toyland , Sweethearts etc.

Sigmund Romberg (Hungarian) Desert Song, The Student Prince

GEORGE M. COHAN

1.Wrote in a style that appealed to the “blue-collar” workers.

2. Although competing with silent movies, their lack of color, sound and music insured live theatres survival.

3. His musicals were “preachy,” patriotic, speedy and direct with lots of “ginger.”

4.Greatest hits included: “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and “Over There. ”

VICTOR HERBERT

1. Born in Dublin, Ireland; raised in Germany.

2. Cello virtuoso who came to America to play cello in the pit orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera where his wife had been hired as an opera singer.

3. Fell in love with American popular music and was accepted by the American public as one of their own once they heard his compositions.

4. His philosophy of composing: “I believe that which is not popular is not of much benefit to

the world.”

5. Originally music was written in heavy German style but gradually lightened in style because

singers were less and less willing to devote years of study to the voice and those that did

were reluctant to strain it 8xs a week.

6. Around 1914 Herbert named his successor – Jerome Kern – after hearing his song “They

Didn’t Believe Me.” This song is generally accepted as the model for future musical

comedy songs.

7. Herbert wrote to fit the characters. He was the Greatest Orchestrator the Musical Theatre

Has Ever Known. Music was always appropriate to the setting ie. Romany Life set in a

gypsy camp – the music is based on gypsy melodies and rhythms.

Great Trinity of Composers our musical stage has produced since 1894 –

Victor Herbert

Jerome Kern

Richard Rodgers

Five Greatest Lyricists:

Ira Gershwin

Lorenz Hart

Cole Porter

Oscar Hammerstein II

Stephen Sondheim

IRVING BERLIN

1. Born – Israel Baline in Russia in 1888.

2. Moved with family to NYC in 1892

3. Father died when he was 9.

4. Earned money singing in clubs and “plugging” songs.

5. “Backed” into song writing when the owner of the café he was singing in asked him and the pianist to write a song for a contest. Their song, “ Marie from Sunny Italy ” won, got published

and he changed his name to Irving Berlin.

6. Wrote words for another song but the publisher would pay $25 for words and music – so he

wrote a tune for it.

7. 1st big hit – “Alexander’s Ragtime Band ” which also got him the title – “King of Ragtime.”

8. Most of his songs are famous on their own and not part of shows: “ White Christmas ,”

“Easter Parade,” “God Bless America.”

9. Greatest musical – 1946 “ Annie Get Your Gun. ” Produced by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome

Kern was originally set to write it but died of a stroke so R & H asked Berlin to write it. One of

The most memorable songs in the show was “ There’s No Business Like Show Business .”

COLE PORTER

1. Born – June 9, 1893 in Peru, Indiana

2. Mother began his music education early – violin at 6, piano at 8.

3. Grandfather wanted him to be a lawyer; went to Harvard Law School but ended up writing

Music on the side, including for the school shows.

4. 1st show flopped so he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and would travel to different

posts in Africa with a small portable piano strapped to his back and would entertain the

troops.

5. Finally settled in Paris and developed the reputation as a wealthy playboy and gracious host;

entertaining lavishly and writing racy songs for his guests entertainment.

6. By 1930’s his style as a composer/lyricist had crystallized. His lyrics combined skillful

versification and a debonair manner, sprinkling chic names, places and cultural allusions

throughout. Essentially he wrote ‘drawing room musical comedies with principals in

Evening gowns and black ties.’

GEORGE GERSHWIN

1. Born in Brooklyn, NY 1898.

2. Tried to strike a balance between classical and “pop” music.

3. Loved ragtime, Irving Berlin and jazz. Felt American popular music could become

an important art form if composers were thoroughly trained first.

4. Big break came when Max Dreyfuss, head of Harms Publishing, gave him $35.00

A week just to write songs and submit them to him.

5. One of his biggest musical shows was Girl Crazy (the basis for the Tony award winning

show Crazy for You.) Ginger Rogers made her debut; it was Ethel Merman’s first big show and,

although her part was small, she introduced the song that would make her a star –

“I Got Rhythm.” The pit orchestra included musicians who would go on to be the

next generation of musical giants:

Benny Goodman – clarinet

Glenn Miller – trombone

Red Nichols – trumpet

Gene Krupa – drums

6. His lyricist was his brother, Ira.

7. Gershwin made music history with his 1st symphonic work Rhapsody in Blue. Introduced at

Aeolian Hall in New York on Feb. 12, 1924 with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, it was the first of

several large works in the jazz idiom.

8. Gershwin’s music was not pure jazz. The essence of jazz was using a melody as a starting point

and improvising not only on the melody line but on the tempo. Gershwin took peculiar melodies,

special harmonies and bluesy modulations, staccato and excited tempos or laid back blues tempi.

9. Gershwin became a colossus in the music industry – 1 foot in the concert hall and 1 foot in Tin

Pan Alley. After 1935 – wrote strictly for Hollywood musicals, especially those of Ginger Rogers

and Fred Astaire. Major point of jazz age musicals including those of Rodgers & Hart, Cole

Porter, Irving Berlin and Gershwin, was the quality of the songs not well integrated plots and

good story lines.

10. Porgy and Bess – “Musical Theatre lifted to its highest status of powerful and moving folk art.”

The first and most significant American opera. Written in 1935, it was his most ambitious and

final Broadway production. The idea came to Gershwin after reading DuBose Heyward’s novel

Porgy. He wrote Mr. Heyward expressing interest and it was decided to collaborate on an opera,

however, other commitments got in the way and the project was postponed. It was not until 1933

that Heyward notified Gershwin that the Theatre Guild wanted to adapt his play into a musical

with Al Jolson starring and Jerome Kern doing the music!

It was successful in Boston but had mixed reviews in NY. Closed after 124 performances.

Gershwin never wavered in his conviction that he had produced an important work but did not

live to see his faith justified. Its revival in New York, Jan. 22, 1942, ran for 8 months – the

longest run up to that time – of any revival in NY history. Critics reversed themselves and

all over the world it was recognized as “among the masterworks of lyric theatre.” Unfortunately

Gershwin had already died of an inoperable brain tumor in 1937.

JEROME KERN

1. Born in 1905 in N.Y. Loved music, but his father wanted him to join the family furniture

business. However, after almost bankrupting his father, he was finally allowed to study music.

He traveled to Europe, finally settling in London, where his first hits came. He eventually

returned to the U.S. where Max Dreyfuss discovered and encouraged him and got him his

first Broadway assignment.

2. First wrote with P.G. Wodehouse, 1 of the finest lyricists of the period, and teamed with Guy

Bolton to write the book. During the late teens and early 20’s the characters became more

developed and matured during the course of the play.

3. Most important work – Showboat (1928) – written with Oscar Hammerstein II and based on

the Edna Ferber novel of the same name. It was the 1st totally American operetta. Although

Kern was not as adventuresome as Hammerstein in breaking new ground, he did expand his

writing style to match what Hammerstein was doing with the story and lyrics. Colloquialisms

were used in lyrics a dialogue (a Hammerstein trait); the story was more securely tied together by

enlarging the character of “Joe” who functioned as a one man chorus philosophizing on life

around him. Joe’s principal song, “Ol’ Man River,” captures musically the sadness, bitterness and determination in Hammerstein’s lyrics. Kern also introduced some blues coloring and the love

ballad changed from a ¾ waltz back to 4/4 time.

RICHARD RODGERS

1. The only one of the “giants” to successfully bridge the 1st half century of the musical theatres

existence and to write for all kinds of shows. Best songs were written with Lorenz (Larry) Hart –

i.e. “My Funny Valentine,” “Blue Moon,” “Isn’t It Romantic?” Style was light, bittersweet,

popular and sophisticated. Best music written with Oscar Hammerstein II – serious, sincere,

ardent and sentimental; “People Will Say We’re in Love,” “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,”

“The Sound of Music.”

2. Hammerstein teamed with Rodgers in the early 40’s because Kern was going to Hollywood to

write for movies and Larry Hart was battling emotional and alcohol problems. Also, neither

Kern or Hart were interested in adapting a play called “Green Grow the Lilacs” into a musical.

So Rodgers left his partner of 25 years to form a new partnership with Hammerstein that would

last 17years, until Hammerstein’s death in 1960 from cancer.

3. They went on to revolutionize the American musical theatre, changing a lot of minds as to

what was feasible in a musical and what a musical could use as a subject. They wanted to

stimulate the audience to think and feel something. Although Showboat preceded it by 16 years,

the theatre wasn’t ready for a change; Oklahoma – which opened in 1943, during WWII, was the

show that would be the catalyst for change. It was an all-American patriotic show that the public

loved.

4. Innovations:

A. real 3-dimensional characters

B. Tighter story line – stayed as close to the play as possible even “lifting” whole scenes and

set descriptions for use as lyrics and dialogue.

C. Full integration of book, music, lyrics and dance; Agnes DeMille choreographed dances to

further the plot of the story. Dances and music had western flavor.

D. Rodgers used bits of melody like Wagner used leitmotivs, to identify certain characters.

E. Opening scene is not a flashy dance number with chorus girls, the curtain opens on an

empty stage with a woman in silhouette churning butter.

F. First recorded cast album.

G. A secondary but important character is killed.

H. The lyrics held humor, warmth and connected with the plot – you only learn a characters

real thoughts and feelings in their songs.

I. Still as popular today as in 1943 with at least 700 productions playing around the world

each year.

The reaction by their peers was immediate. Movie giant Sam Goldwyn (MGM) exclaimed, “You know

what you should do next?” “What?” said Rodgers “Shoot yourself, because you’ll never be able to top

this!” Cole Porter said, “Those 2 have made it harder for everyone else. The stories are more tightly knit

and the lyrics follow the story line.”

5. Rodgers and Hammerstein felt they were musical dramatists and preferred their shows were

called musical plays as opposed to musical comedies.

6. Other innovations in future shows:

A. Carousel – no overture, the show begins in an amusement park with a working carousel

playing a waltz; opening scene is choreographed and directed with little or no dialogue to set

the story line; male lead dies; “Soliloquy” is one of the greatest pieces of theatre music ever

written – a stunning 7 minute baritone “aria” for the male lead that reveals his thoughts on

becoming a father. It is extraordinary that such a pensive number, rather than an exuberant

one, is such a show-stopper. The music is almost continuous throughout and intertwines with

the drama. This brings an operatic element to popular theatre and would be a tremendous

influence on future writers especially Stephen Sondheim and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber .

B. South Pacific – won Pulitzer Prize in drama; based on James A. Michener’s Tales of the

South Pacific. The most important song in the show, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,”

met ideas of prejudice and racism head-on. They were advised to pull it from the show

because of the furor it caused, but they refused. The show had no chorus line, no choreographer

and little dancing which the director, Joshua Logan, staged himself. There were no blackouts –

the action was continuous on different parts of the stage.

C. The King & I – one of the most revived and performed; deals with the universal issues of

leadership, human frailties, parenthood and male/female relationships; 2 leading characters

never have a love scene; one of them dies in the end; mainly an oriental cast with only

4 “English” characters.

D. The Sound of Music – their last musical dealt with a young nun becoming governess to a

Captain’s 7 motherless children; based on the book The Trapp Family Singers. It became the

most popular movie musical of all time; shot on location in Austria and starring Julie

Andrews. The last song this team would ever write was a simply little “jewel” called

“Edelweiss.:

Richard Rodgers continued to write for the stage after Oscar Hammerstein’s death but never achieved

the quality of shows he wrote with Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers daughter, Mary, is an established

composer on Broadway with her biggest hit to date, Once Upon a Mattress. Her son, Adam Guettel, is

currently writing musicals and his newest creation, A Light in the Piazza, recently premiered here in

Chicago.

Bibliography

Brown, Dr. Malcolm, Lecture notes, Indiana University School of Music 1977-78

Caswell, Dr. Austin, Lecture notes Indiana University School of Music 1973-78

Greene, Dr. Peter, Lecture notes M203, Indiana University School of Music, 1973

Grout, David, A History of Western Music, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1973

Noblitt, Dr. Thomas, Lecture notes M 204, Indiana University School of Music 1974-78

Parrish, Carl, A Treasury of Early Music, W. W. Norton & Co., New York 1958

Parrish, Carl and Ohl, John F., Masterpieces of Music Before 1750,

W. W. Norton & Co. New York, 1951

Sadie, Stanley, Brief Guide to Music, Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey, 1993

Tischler, Dr. Hans, Lecture notes M403, Indiana University School of Music, 1977

Ulrich, Homer and Pisk, Paul A., A History of Music and Musical Style,

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1963