Review questions
• What is program music?
• What is a symphonic poem?
• What kind of piece is Smetana’s The
Moldau?
• What is this symphonic poem about?
• Why is it a nationalistic piece?
Review questions
• What types of works did Dvorak
write?
• What piece did we study by Dvorak?
• What is Dvorak’s significance for
American music?
Announcements
• Exam II postponed until April 8
• Exam will cover everything through
next Tuesday (4/1)
• Review sheet will handed out after
spring break- and posted on web site
tomorrow
• www.colorado.edu/music/Courses/em
us1832004
19th c. choral music
• Not the most important genre of
the period, but some great
examples…
• Like Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis
• And Brahms’s German Requiem
Johannes Brahms
• A more conservative composer
• Wrote absolute music in traditional
forms
• Known for symphonies, chamber
music, piano music, and the German
Requiem
Brahms: German Requiem
• The title Requiem refers to the
Catholic funeral mass
• But this is not the standard Requiem
text-it is based on a German
translation of Psalm 84
• Written after the death of Brahms’s mother
and his friend Robert Schumann (the
composer)
Brahms: German Requiem
• Text deals with death and the afterlife
German Requiem
• The entire work is in 7 movements
which form an arch
• 1-7, 2-6, 3-5 are alike
• Movement 4 is the centerpiece (Bach
also was fond of this way of structuring his
music this way viz. the Cantata #80 we
studied)
German Requiem mvt 4
• Listening guide 50
• Rondo form (with literal return of the
text)-what is rondo form?
• ABACA
• Sections contrast in texture and
character, and shifts from major to
minor keys
• Each section appropriate for text
Romantic Opera
• national styles...
• France
• Grand Opera- huge spectacles
• Opera comique/Lyric Opera--
smaller, with spoken dialogue
(Carmen)
Romantic Opera
• Italy-- Bel canto singing style-lyrical,
emphasis on singer
• Germany-- not too much
development until Wagner (next
class’s topic)
Guiseppe Verdi
• 1813-1901
• Most famous Italian opera composer
of the period
• Another composer with nationalist
sympathies: active in the Italian
independence movement
• His Hebrews chorus from Nabucco
(1842) became an anthem for this
movement
Guiseppe Verdi
• Also served in the Italian Parliament
• Wrote operas over a period of 50
years-last one written at age 80
• Big changes in style during this time
Verdi’s Operas
• Verdi’s music is divided into
“numbers” (arias, recit, choruses),
yet fluid drama
• Followed conventions for ariasrecitatives-ensembles
• Great emphasis of the singer: parts
were written with specific singers in
mind
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Listening guide 51
• Story…
• Based on Victor Hugo play, The King
is Amused
• Rigoletto is a court jester, enemies
place a curse on him
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Gilda is his daughter
• Duke is a nasty seducer of women an
he’s after Gilda
• Gilda gets abducted by Rigoletto’s
enemies
• Sparafucile is an assassin slated to
kill the Duke
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Gilda and Rigoletto watch as the
Duke seduces Sparafucile’s sister
• Gilda offers herself to be killed in
place of the Duke
• Rigoletto gets a body bag; thinks the
dke is inside, but it’s really Gilda
• Curse is fulfilled
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Act 3 excerpts...
• Duke-sings a famous tuneful
STROPHIC song: Woman is fickle--ha
ha
• Song captures the Duke’s character
perfectly
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Ensemble…
• classic ensemble technique: each
character responds differently to
situation; all sing together, but in
different styles (like Mozart’s Figaro
Verdi’s Rigoletto
• Listen for differences in style:
Maddalena and the Duke are
passionate, singing in long lyrical
lines..
• While Gilda is angry: her singing is
short and punctuated