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Classical Music
(There follows some basic information which you might
find interesting or helpful regarding this particular musical era. It is
my hope that you may glean from this materials, two types of learnings;
a) an understanding of this primary era of music, and b) ways to
incorporate music from this era in your classroom)
The Classical Era 1750-1825
The World:
The "Enlightenment" - revolt of the spirit
.....against supernatural religion - for
practical morality
.....against metaphysics - for common sense
.....against formality - for naturalness
.....against authority - for freedom of the
individual
.....against privilege - for equal
rights-opportunity-universal ed.
SECULAR - SKEPTICAL
- PRACTICAL - LIBERAL - PROGRESSIVE
Profound
Affect/Effect on Society & the Arts
A Primary Voice of the Enlightenment
.....Rousseau
Other Leaders included
.....Locke-England
.....Voltaire - France
.....Montesquieu-France
Two Basic Concepts
.....faith in applied, experimental knowledge
.....faith in the value of common, natural
feeling
the individual was
the alpha and omega of all universal truths
Four Aspects of Importance of the Enlightenment
.....cosmopolitan age [inter-mixing
of nationalities]
music should be
accepted/recognized as great by all
.....humanitarian age - social reform
universal
brotherhood
.....popularization of the arts/learning
rise of middle
class [ general public instead of nobility]
.....prosaic age - clarity,
animation, good taste, proportion, elegance
no massiveness,
grandeur, passion, etc.
By 1750 the monarchies of Europe were facing the ire of the
middle class - oppressed lower
classes starting to fight for a cause/themselves - doctors,
lawyers, etc. wanted music/music education for children. This led to
the.....
.....American Revolution -1776
.....French Revolution -1789
Classical Music
General Goals
.....order, structure, clarity/ control-discipline
....."plainer is better" -
"less is better"
....."meet listener on his own
ground"-not make an effort to understand
To a "Classicist" music must:
.....please by agreeable sounds
.....move the soul [by imitating feelings]
Never Astonish
.....never puzzle/confuse [leave out that
which is very complex]
older composers of
earlier eras [i.e. Bach] absorbed with musical tricks-fugues
taken with "search" for what
is difficult
Ideal Music Should: [according to classicists]
.....have universal appeal [no
national boundaries]
.....be noble as well as entertaining
.....be expressive within the boundaries
of decorum
.....be natural [without undue technicality]
Influences of/upon Classical Music
.....standardization which came as the
result of the industrial revolution
.....rise of middle class
.....standardization of musical forms
.....less expensive instruments
.....demand for printed music
.....teachers to give lessons on these
instruments
Mannheim School - Influences
.....standardization of instrumental ensembles
string quartet
[2-violins, 1-viola, 1-cello]
piano trio [violin,
cello and piano]
classical orchestra
I
violins, II violins, viola, celli, string basses
2-flutes,
2-clarinets, 2-oboes, 2-bsns,
2-f.
horns, 2-trumpets, 2-timpani [+optional percussion.]
Four Movement Form: Fast, Slow, Dance, Fast
.....Allegro, Adagio, Minuet, Allegro
[rondo]
Sonata Allegro Form
Can be thought of as
"intellectual warfare" - antagonism between two dissimilar
objects - "two contrasting melodies/in contrasting
keys-styles"
The Form
optional Introduction [slow as
a rule]
Exposition [Statement] - "A
Theme" in Main Key - "B Theme" in
Secondary Key
Development - both themes [part or whole]
presented in various keys - by various
instruments
Recapitulation - A or B theme [main key]
- B or A theme [main key
optional Coda
Classical Concerto Form
.....work for solo instrument [violin, horn, piano, etc.]
with accompaniment [orchestra, harpsichord or
piano-forte]
.....usually three movements
[fast-slow-fast]
.....cadenza at the end of the first
movement
brief passage where
soloist plays alone
originally
improvised, but today played from
composed
manuscripts-used as a showcase for
performers
technical brilliance
Theme and Variation Form
.....A, A1, A2, A3, etc.
.....basic idea - make some music, then say
the same thing
a different way.
Alternations of: major/minor, size
of the intervals used
speed may increase
or decrease, different instruments used
different harmonies
used, ornamentation may be added
Minuet and Trio Form
....."usually" third movement of a
classical symphony
.....provided nice contrast to other
movements in 2 or 4 [duple meter]
.....stately 3/4 waltz-like [triple meter]
.....generally ABA [ternary] form
.....pleasing/nice break after slow movement
and before faster 4 movement
Rondo Form
.....ABACABA, etc.
.....continually repeated "A theme" [Mozart a Master of the
Rondo Form]
arch form usage
during the classical era
classicists
preferred balanced use of rondo
Super-Heroes of the Classical Era
Franz Josef
Haydn: 1732-1809
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 1756-1791
Ludwig von Beethoven: 1770-1827
Franz Josef Haydn: 1732-1809 - Thumbnail
Biographical Sketch
.....poor parents, born in Rohrau [Eastern
Austria-near Hungary]
.....went to live with uncle at age 6 -
began musical study
.....showed musical promise/interest at an
early age
.....choir boy at St. Stephen's cathedral in
Vienna
.....some education at the cathedral school
.....left St. Stephen’s when his voice
changed
.....odd jobs, some composition, teaching to
support himself
.....signed on permanently with Esterhazy
family in 1761
Prince Paul and
Prince Nicholas [brothers]
fabulously wealthy
Hungarian Family
worked for them for
29 years
based in Vienna and
Eisenstadt [Austria] mostly
magnificent
country estate
2
concert halls, theater for dramas, opera theater
many
performances for which Haydn was responsible
generally
2 operas and 2 concerts per week
additional
works for special events/services
.....because of remoteness/had to be
original
.....last great benefactor of patronage
system
.....possessed of humor, strong
work-ethic, well-liked friend and mentor
.....was able to experiment/immediately
heard compositions
Works Included
.....104 symphonies [approximate]
"Named"
Symphonies include:
Surprise, Clock, Military, London Symphonies,
et al
.....50 sonatas [approximate]
.....300 arrangements and songs
[approximate]
.....massive amounts of chamber music
.....Oratorios
The Creation
The Four Seasons
.....others works too numerous to mention
.....Nicholas died/Anton [Nicholas II] took charge of
Esterhazy/Family
.....Haydn goes into semi-retirement
.....Haydn hired by Johann Peter Solomon
went to London
.....tutored young Beethoven and many others
.....Works of Note
Creation & Four Seasons, Surprise
Symphony, Military Symphony
Clock Symphony, London Symphonies, Prussian
Quartets
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 1756-1791 - Thumbnail
Biographical Sketch
.....great giant of all musicians
.....ability surpasses all other known
musicians
.....spectacular piano performer - virtuoso/prodigy
at all levels
.....violin/piano recitals by age six
.....Salzburg - Home - today home of the
"Mozarteum"
.....Father - Leopold - Sister- Nannerl
.....Exploitation of Father Leopold?
.....touring Europe as a prodigy by age
seven
.....by age 10 had written over 30 works
.....wrote first operas when he was 12 - La
Finta Semplice
.....studied music a little in Italy when in
early teens
.....Sammartini-Italian; influences of Haydn
.....glory and bucks as a child prodigy/less
later
.....continuing domination of his
father/exploitation
.....left patronage system -
Archbishop of Salzburg
.....tried free-lance musician/hard life
.....poverty, lack of esteem, early death
.....most magnificent compositions - Operas
& Requiem [perhaps]
.....composed in all music forms, piano, vocal, chamber, etc.
.....one and only in the known universe
- miracle stories
.....Wife - Costanza [Weber] - loved sister
.....Anton Salieri-relationship
.....Kochel "K" numbers and
listings
.....Works - over 600
.....Operas: Lorenzo da Ponte - librettist
Well-Known Operas
Marriage of Figaro
Cosi Fan Tutte [Thus Do They All]
Don Giovanni
Abduction from the Seraglio-German Singspiel
Cosi Fan Tutte
.....40+ Symphonies [Jupiter & G Minor-#40]
.....4 Horn Concertos
.....Clarinet Concerto
.....Numerous Serenades - Incidental Music
Eine Kleine Nacht
MusiK
.....Mozart Requiem-unfinished at his
death
"Greatest
Piece of Music Ever Written" [??]
.....Unhappy-Tormented-Poverty-Excess-Strangeness
.....Died & Buried in un-marked
"pauper’s grave" in Vienna
Ludwig von Beethoven: 1770-1827 - Thumbnail
Biographical Sketch
The Great
"Titan" of Music
.....General Discussion:1750-1825 - dates of classical
.....change beginning to take place at turn
of the century
more personal
expression
longer forms
bigger mediums
music as art/holy
object
flowing
emotion/expression
Universal
Brotherhood
Mr. Beethoven - The Giant of all
Music-Making
.....rare as he was a transitionalist
started and
succeeds in one artistic era
changes occur in
society and the art form
he then
has a maturation of his own art
Beethoven was a prime "mover and
shaker"
in combining the control of the
classical era with the
freedom and individuality of the
romantic era.
Contributions to the Art of
Conducting
Contributions to the "Music Business"
Childhood
.....born in Bonn
.....prodigy at almost the level of Mozart
[not quite]
.....father was a poor musician and drunkard
.....Father tried
to exploit young Beethoven like the young Mozart
.....left Bonn when he was 11, became
full-time keyboard player at 13
.....studied with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, Salieri
.....in 1787 played a short program for
Mozart, who predicted success
.....when 19, mother was dead, father a sot,
responsible for 2 brothers
brothers Karl &
Johann
Early Adulthood
.....moved to Vienna
.....scarred at this time, seldom able to have enduring friendships
.....as a composer
craftsman-like, laborious, The Sketchbooks,
Music from the Soul
.....evolution of conducting/conductors
.....popular-with public and publishers
transitional figure which straddles classical and
romantic eras
Mr. Beethoven's basic philosophy
.....revolutionary
.....universal brotherhood
.....music which transcends all boundaries
.....idealist [longed for a perfect world]
.....innovator
Mr. Beethoven's life generally divided into three
"periods" or "eras"
First Period - early-pure classical forms [@1790-1802]
.....at 25 was established as a free lance
musician in Vienna
.....enlightenment ideals of "universal
brotherhood" struck him
.....although helped by several rich and
powerful in Vienna
.....never under the full patronage
system/not a servant
.....came on scene at a good time
.....inherited the classical forms from
Haydn and Mozart
.....lived at a time when powerful forces
were abroad in world
Napoleon, etc.
affected by French Revolution, etc.
.....music never fully classical or romantic
always just Beethoven
.....genius caused people to flock to hear
his music-though he could be unpleasant
.....popular with publishers because his
work would sell
.....good businessman
.....always enjoyed relative financial
security [his poverty is a myth]
.....by 1798, he was 28, knew he was losing
his hearing
four years of depression wrote
the "Heligenstadt Testament"
describing to brothers why he would not commit suicide
though at this juncture he knew he was very deaf and it was a
"lasting malady"
readings from the Heligenstadt
Letter
Second Period - middle-transitional [@1802-1814/15]
.....personal life deteriorated as deafness
grew
.....continued masterwork after masterwork
with pain-staking work
.....description of note books, sketches,
etc.
.....desire to overcome his tragedy is felt
in all music.
Third Period - late-move towards romantic forms
[@1815-Death]
.....transition to largely much romantic
forms
musical forms were
larger
music was much more
expressive
forms were
extended/enlarged
.....1824 completed the Ninth Symphony
[Choral Symphony] in d minor
.....largest symphony written to date
included vocal
soloists and chorus
used Schiller's Ode
To Joy text - universal brotherhood
orchestra
reviewed and rejected previous themes
then eventually
settles on the Ode to Joy melody
full discussion of the 9th symphony
Complete Works of Mr. Beethoven
.....9 symphonies
.....11 overtures
.....5 piano concertos
.....16 string quartets
.....9 piano trios
.....10 violin sonatas
.....1 violin concerto
.....5 cello sonatas
.....30 piano sonatas
.....1 opera
.....2 masses
.....1 oratorio
.....some few assorted incidental and
chamber works
Selected Works & Specific Names
III Symphony - Eroica [originally dedicated to
Napoleon]
VI Symphony - Pastoral
IX Symphony - Choral or "Ode to Joy" -[Schiller’s Text]
Piano Sonatas
Moonlight
Pathetique
Appassionata
Violin Concerto
Concerto in D
Five (5) Piano Concertos
No. 5 Emperor Concerto
Mass
Missa Solemnis in D Minor
Opera
Fidelio
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