9th-15th century: Middle Ages MUSICAL CONTENT Liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, Gregorian Chant, was the first common Western European body of music, although regional traditions were still important. A theory of its usage was written during this time. Additions were made to the body of chant. Methods for its embellishment were developed. This impulse led eventually to the revolutionary rise and growth of polyphony, the most important development in Western music. As part of this development, the act of composition replaced improvisation, the norm during earlier periods. With this came a need for notation, a system of preserving sounds. Individuals began laying claim to their musical work and we have the first names of composers in Western music history. By the end of the period composers had learned to construct large-scale, complex musical works of sophisticated forms, melodies and rhythms. The feudal system, which developed during the Middle Ages, provided a cultural balance to the hegemony of the Catholic Church. Feudal courts fostered developments in secular music, which celebrates earthly pleasures. The creation of a courtly poetic tradition flourished, as did music to accompany it. Instrumental music and stylized dances also came to be important. As was probably also true of religious music, folk music was influential. The 14th century applied techniques learned in the composition of sacred music to the writing of nonreligious music. Secular music’s inherent immediacy fueled the development of an extraordinary vibrant polyphonic tradition, the Ars Nova, or New Art. HISTORICAL CONTENT The period immediately before the turn of the millennium saw the groundwork laid for the building of modern-day Europe. That work began in 800 when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, thus consolidating much of Europe under one rule. By the 11th century, the power of the Empire had dissipated to the point that there was a final schism in 1054 between Eastern and Western Churches. Nevertheless, there was prosperity in Western Europe, an increase in population, and the beginning of modern cities. The Norman Conquest in England in 1066 brought the English into Europe. Intellectual vitality is manifest in the beginnings of the university and scholastic philosophy, the first translations of Arabic and Greek literature and the rise of Romanesque architecture. The 12th and 13th centuries were the times of the Crusades, the building of the Gothic cathedrals, chivalric poetry and song, and the economic, political and social system known as feudalism. The decline of feudal aristocracy and the rise of urban middle classes began in the 14th century. It was also the time of the initial separation of church and state and between religion and science. Political dissension in the Church resulted in 2, sometimes 3 claimants to the papacy. It was the century of the Great Plague (13481350) and the 100 Years War (1337-1453). As a result, the population of Europe was significantly smaller at the end of the century than at the beginning. Significant literary activity reflected the thought and spirit of the period in the works of Petrarch, Dante, Boccaccio and Chaucer, who with others developed the novel and vernacular epics. Above all was a pervading sense of humanism, after centuries of domination by the Church. Gregorian Chant – principal religious music of the Roman Catholic Church for about the first 1000 years. Plainchant theory (early Middle Ages) – church modes (authentic – plagal). Roman Catholic Liturgy (Divine offices – Mass, Ordinary, Proper). Frech Secular Songs (troubadours, trouveres, virelai, ballades) German Secular Songs (Minnesingers, Meistersingers, minnelied) Latin Secular Songs (conductus, goliards) Early Polyphony – Organum (toward the end of the first millennium of the Christian Era) Organum – Florid, duplum, Notre Dame Conductus –polyphonic, first half of 13th century Motet Leonin - Perotin Ars Antiqua (mid 12th- end of 13th centuries). Paris – musical center, further development of polyphony, appearance of independent secular forms. Polyphony (three voices, cantus firmi, meter – tempus perfectum, metric schemes, rhythmic patterns – long, short -, harmonic intervals – fourths, fifths, octaves and dissonant ones too -) Ars Nova – 14th century France: 1) More secular than sacred music 2) Tempus imperfectum 3) More complex and diversified rhythms 4) Cantus firmus used less often 5) Melodic and rhythmic interest at the top voice 6) Harmonic thirds and sixths 7) Landini cadence Isorhythmic motet Ballade Rondeau Virelai Guillaume de Machaut – Philippe De Vitry Trecento – Italian polyphonic music in the 14th century. Madrigal Caccia Ballata Francesco Landini – Jacopo da Bologna Squarcialupi Codex RENAISSANCE: A general view The Renaissance (1450-1600) was not a musical style, it was a period in history that was marked by the rediscovery and renewed influence of ancient Greek and Roman culture, led by the movement called humanism. Although no ancient music was known, many ancient writings on music were rediscovered during the 15th century. Ancient writers’ descriptions on the emotional effects of music caused some in the Renaissance to criticize the lack of such effects in the music of their own time. Several theorists made important contributions, such as Johannes Tinctoris (Book on the Art of Counterpoint, 1477), who laid out strict rules for controlling dissonance, Franchino Gaffurio, who incorporated ancient Greek theory into his treatises, the most influential of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Also, Heinrich Glarean’s Dodechachordon (1547) added four new modes (authentic and plagal modes on A and C) to the earlier eight modes. And last, the Harmonic Foundations (1558) by Gioseffo Zarlino codified the rules for dissonance treatment, counterpoint and emotional expressivity. Although thirds and sixths were treated as consonances in music, the traditional Pythagorean tuning system rendered them out of tune so that the perfect intervals would be pure. In the 15th and 16th century new tuning systems were introduced that allowed imperfect intervals to sound well, such as just intonation and mean-tone tuning. This was in accord with the humanist insistence on pleasing the ear, rather than making it subservient to an abstract ideal such as the creation of consonance through simple rations. Composers also began to explore accidentals beyond G# and Eb on the circle of fifths. Humanism encouraged composes to pay increasing attention to the meaning, sound, form and rhythm of the texts they set. Whereas text underlay had often been left to the singers, 16th century composers sought to fix it precisely, for good accentuation. There was not one musical style in the Renaissance, but a general search for means to please the human senses and express human emotions. Humanism and the arts thrived particularly in Italy, where rulers of small city-states and principalities sought to outdo each other in their patronage of literature and the arts. Many of the composers they employed were from France, Flanders and the Netherlands, particularly from the former Burgundian lands. These composers were influenced by the simple popular music of Italy, and the combination of northern and Italian elements helped to produce the international style of the 16th century. Johann Gutenberg developed the art of printing words from movable type in 1450, and by 1473 books of chant were being printed the same way. Ottaviano de Petrucci (14661539) of Venice was the first to print polyphonic music from movable type, using three impressions, for the staff lines, for the notes and for the text, to create beautiful and clear books. Pierre Attaingnant (1494-1551) was another well-known printer from Paris, who used a more complex type that allowed printing in a single impression. Printing allowed wider distribution of music at a lower cost and less time spent recopying by hand, creating the first real market for music as a commodity. Composers of the 16th century began to work out all the voices simultaneously, sometimes using a score to see all the parts at once. This happened because now that the use of imitative counterpoint was spreading, it was difficult to keep to the old method of writing the voices separately. This new practice of working out all the voices at the same time was called simultaneous composition. Most prominent composers in the period 1450-1550 came from Flanders, France of the Netherlands. Some of them are : Johannes Ockeghem (1420-1497), Jacob Obrecht (1452-1505), Josquin des Prez (14401521), Heinrich Isaac (1450-1517). Characteristics: The Franco-Flemish school came to the fore in the late 15th century. Its techniques spread throughout Europe, establishing a style that later dominated 16th century music. First of all, four-voice writing became more common from the middle of the century. To the tenor was now added a lower part. The conventional designation of parts from top to bottom was now cantus, altus, tenor and bassus. Also, there was more stylistic equality among parts, creating a more balanced polyphony. Imitation played a more prominent role than ever before. New types of canons were created. Great attention was paid to representing the normal speech patterns of the text, or to accurate declamation of the text. In general, composers of the late 15th and early 16th centuries initiated a more expressive style, which they called musica reservata, that was intended to reflect as powerfully as possible the nuances of the text. There were new types of canons, such as mensuration canons, double canons, canons in retrograde motion etc, and they were mainly employed in settings of the mass and in some motets. There were also new types of Mass, such as the cantus firmus mass or cyclical mass, in which the same melody was used for each successive section of the Ordinary. Motets were composed for the Proper of the mass and some of the offices. FrancoFlemish motets often included sections in homophonic style, in duet style, in imitative style and in free nonimitative counterpoint. The chanson continued to be the principal type of secular music. It became less sectionalized, as it had been in the earlier rondeaux and virelais, and had a more cohesive structure. Monophonic and polyphonic secular songs in Germany called Lieder flourished from the late 15th century to the end of the 16th century. 16th CENTURY: The 16th century was an era of great achievement in all the humanities. In music, vocal polyphony reached a pinnacle of expressiveness that stands among the highest in the history of western music. Among the most important musical developments were: 1) Although Franco-Flemish techniques continued to dominate both sacred and secular music throughout Europe, other national schools emerged over the course of the century. 2) The technique of vocal polyphony was highly developed 3) Vocal style was dominant, but the beginning of an independent instrumental style was evident. 4) Religious music was still dominated by the Roman Church but Protestant music, principally in Germany, France and England began a development that culminated with the end of the Baroque. 5) Secular music rose to a new eminence under the patronage of the nobility. 6) Modality still influenced both sacred and secular music, but the trend was strongly toward major and minor tonalities. 7) Triadic, chordal structures came to permeate 16th century music. 8) Textures varied from homophonic to contrapuntal and were generally characterized by balanced polyphony with equality of parts. The music was mostly diatonic but later on in the century chromaticism began to appear. New form of Mass was the parody or imitation Mass. In this form, part of a preexistent motet or a secular chanson was musically altered to fit the liturgical text. The motet construction did not change appreciably from that employed by FrancoFlemish composers early in the century. In imitative motets each successive phrase or line of text introduced a new musical motive that was then imitated in other voices, permeating the texture. Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594), is one of the best known Franco-Flemish composers. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) was at the head of Catholic music in Rome. His name is traditionally synonymous with the perfection of sacred polyphony. Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) was one of the principal Spanish school composers. The Venetian school’s most important composers were Adrian Willaert (1490-1562) and Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612). The English school, who’s representatives created an extensive literature of Catholic masses and motets, as well as Protestant and secular music, has as a leading composer William Byrd (1543-1623), and also John Taverner (1505-1572) and Thomas Tallis (1505-1585). REFORMATION: The most cataclysmic event in the history of the Christian Church was the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Although Roman Catholicism dominated church music during the century, Protestantism also stimulated musical creativity. The Reformation movement dates from Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, and subsequent political and theological attacks on the Roman Church. A musician of some stature, Luther believed strongly in the value of music in worship and thought that the congregation should participate in the service, including hymn singing. The most important musical contribution of the Lutheran Reformation was a new type of religious song called chorale. It was monophonic at first but then it was set in simple four-part harmony with the chorale melody uppermost, and then chorus used it in more elaborate contrapuntal settings for performance. In France the Huguenot movement produced an important literature of psalms set to music. They were intended for unison singing by the congregation and for use at home. In England, in addition to the Service, there were two Protestant forms of polyphony: 1) The cathedral anthem (or full anthem), which was like the Catholic motet but with an English text and 2) the verse anthem, in which solo and choral sections alternated, and organ or string accompaniments were used. SECULAR MUSIC: The current of Renaissance secular polyphonic music, which began in the 15th century, continued its course into wider geographical areas. It became more diversified in form and style. Secular music again in the 15th and 16th century rivaled sacred music, but now also because nonreligious poetry was flourishing. Also, the rise of national schools was even more pronounced in secular than in sacred music, although the influence of FrancoFlemish composers was still strong. Secular music thrived in all European courts under the patronage of the nobility. Renaissance secular music was intended as entertainment for amateur performers rather than as concert music. In the late 15th century, we have vocal canzoni, frottola in northern Italy, villanella in Southern Italy. All those were usually in four parts, strongly metrical with dancelike rhythms and predominantly homophonic and they were the forerunners of the 16th century madrigal. The 16th century Italian Madrigal developed also into the 17th century and it became more stylized, more contrapuntally elaborate, with more exaggerated emotional content. French secular music was a little influenced by Italian models. Its basic form was the polyphonic chanson. Secular English music flourished somewhat later than on the Continent and continued to develop until nearly the middle of the 17th century. The English madrigal received its initial impetus from Italy when a collection of Italian madrigals with English translations was published in London in 1588. The English madrigals usually employed a five-voice texture and were mostly in a light and gay style. Other terms: canzonet and ayre. German secular music was in the form of the polyphonic lied, a four-voice texture with imitative counterpoint, based often on popular songs. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: The period 1450-1550 saw an increase in instrumental music and the beginnings of independent styles and forms of writing for instruments. Earlier, instruments accompanied or substituted for voices in vocal works, played transcriptions of vocal works and performed dances, fanfares, and other instrumental works from memory. But now instrumental music was written down more often, reflecting an increase in status (and perhaps in musical literacy) for instrumentalists. Books on instruments were published throughout the century; these were practical manuals, describing the instruments, how to tune and play them and how to embellish a musical line in performance. Wind instruments included recorders, shawms, krummhorns, transverse flutes, cornets, trumpets and sackbuts. The main type of bowed string instrument was the viol, which had frets, six strings and a delicate tone. Keyboard instruments included the organ, the clavichord and the harpsichord. The most popular household instrument in the Renaissance was the lute. It was notated in tablature, which showed the player which string to play and where to stop the string to produce the correct pitch. Social dancing was important to Renaissance society and thus a great deal of the instrumental music of the time is written for dancing or based on dance forms. An important theatrical dance form was the ballet. Renaissance musicians were trained in improvisation, both in embellishing a given line and in adding contrapuntal lines to a given melody. The chief keyboard genre in improvisatory style in the second half of the 16th century is the toccata. Finally, we have the development of the Sonata form during that period. The year 1600 is only an approximate marker for the end of the Renaissance. Some Renaissance traits continued into the 17th century and several aspects of Baroque music are already evident before 1600. The texture of similar voices in counterpoint was characteristic of the Renaissance but was increasingly replaced by homophony during the 16th century. Smooth vocal parts, full triadic harmonies and a strong projection of the mode marked sacred polyphony. BAROQUE PERIOD (1600-1750) Prima/seconda pratica: IN 1605, Monteverdi distinguished between a prima pratica and a seconda pratica (a first and second practice). The first practice denoted the style of vocal polyphony codified by Zarlino. The second was the adventurous style of the modern Italians such as Rore. In the first musical practice the musical values prevailed over the words, while in the second practice the text dominated and dictated its musical setting. The seconda pratica not only used dissonances more freely but also broke many of the old rules of counterpoint in order to express the words more effectively. Affections: The goal of vocal and instrumental compositions was to express a wide range of feelings vividly and vigorously. Composers sought musical means to express the affections – then considered states of the soul – such as rage, excitement, grandeur etc. They were not trying to express their personal feelings; rather, they wanted to represent in a generic sense, the range of human emotions. Rhythm: Either very regular or very free. Music after the 17th century was written in measures separated by bar lines, implying regular patterns of strong and weak beats. Baroque composers used regular, patterned rhythm to arouse a particular affection and irregular, flexible rhythm when writing speechlike recitative and improvisatory solo instrumental pieces. Basso Continuo: The typical texture of the Baroque period was a firm bass and a florid treble, held together by a discreet harmony. There was a new emphasis on the bass and the highlighting of the treble. Basso continuo was the system in which the composer wrote only the melody and the bass, leaving the players to fill in the rest. (also known as thorough bass). Figured bass: Above the bass notes, the keyboard or lute player filled in the required chords, which were not written out. The composer often added interval numbers (figures) or accidental signs above or below the bass notes to guide the performer. Realization: The realization – the actual playing – of figured bass varied according to the type of piece and the skill and taste of the player, who had a good deal of room to improvise within the given framework. Giolamo Mei: (1519-1594) A learned Florentine scholar who had edited a number of Greek tragedies. Giovanni Bardi: (d.1591). Count Bardi hosted an informal academy at his palace in Florence, where scholars and artists discussed literature, science and the arts, and musicians performed new music. Florentine Camerata: The gathering that was described above. Vincenzo Galilei: The father of Galileo Galilei. He wrote the Dialogue Concerning Ancient and Modern Music (1581). He proposed to revive the ancient style of monody. Ottavio Rinuccini: (1562-1621). Poet, who, with Jacopo Peri (1561-1633) experimented with Rinuccini’s poem Dafne, and produced the first opera type work in Florence in 1597. Giulio Caccini: Singer and singing teacher. Him and Peri had similar approaches to theatrical music and both aimed for a type of song halfway between spoken recitation and singing. He wrote two types of solo songs – airs and madrigals. He also published a collection in 1602 called Le nuove musiche. Le nuove musiche: Collection of airs and madrigals published in 1602 by Giulio Caccini. Recitative: A manner of singing approaching speech. Opera: Dramatic stage composition, ordinarily in two or more acts. Intermedio: Pastoral, allegorical, or mythological interlude of vocal and instrumental music performed before and between the acts of a spoken comedy or tragedy. Monody: Accompanied solo song. Air: English or French art song with lute or viol accompaniment, tuneful song in a French stage work usually in a dance meter. Strophic. Antonio Cesti: One of Monteverdi’s pupils (1623-1669), along with Pier Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676). Cesti’s opera Orontea (1649), became one of the most frequently performed in the 17th century, not only in Venice but also in Rome and other cities. Bel Canto: A form introduced in the 17th century opera. It is a new vocal idiom, in which smooth, mainly diatonic lines and flowing rhythm gratifying to the singer. Sacred Concerto: Sacred vocal work with instruments. It is a composition on a sacred text for one or more soloists and instrumental accompaniment, with chorus (grand concerto) or without (concerto for few voices). Cori spezzati: The medium of divided choirs that encouraged homophonic choral writing and broad rhythmic organization. Polychoral motet: Giovanni Gabrielli (1553-1612) wrote polychoral motets, in which there are two, three, four even five choruses, each with a different combination of high and low voices, mingled with instruments of diverse timbres, answered one another antiphonally, alternated with solo voices, and joined together in massive sonorous climaxes. Grand Concerto: The works of Gabrieli and the Venetian school inspired the grand concerto. It was a sacred work, for huge groups of singers and players. Johann Herman Schein: (1586-1630). German composer, who published an important collection of concertos for few voices in Leipzig in 1618 and 1626, entitled Opella nova. Opella nova: Collection of concertos for few voices published in Leipzig in 1618 and 1626 by Schein. It consists chiefly of duets and a few solos on chorale texts; they set a precedent for a long series of similar works by Lutheran composers of the seventeenth century. Denis Gaultier: (1603-1672) French lute composer of the 17th century. His collection of compositions entitled La Rhetorique des Dieux contains twelve sets of highly stylized dances. Each set includes an allemande, a courante and a sarabande, with other dances added apparently at random. Johann Jakob Froberger: (1616-1687). He established the allemande, sarabande and gigue as standard components of dance suites, carried the French style to Germany. He was also one of the first to imitate lute music on the harpsichord. Partita: Single variation of a theme or a set of such variations. Composers of the early 17th century often used the term partite (divisions or parts) for sets of variations; only later was it applied to sets, or suites, of dances. Sonata: This term is the vaguest of all designations for instrumental pieces in the early 1600s, but gradually came to mean a composition that resembled a canzona in form but that also had special features. Early 17th century sonatas were often scored for one or two melody instruments, usually violins, with a basso continuo, while the ensemble canzona was traditionally written in four parts that could be played just as well without the continuo. Moreover, sonatas took advantage of the idiomatic possibilities offered by a particular instrument. They had a somewhat free and expressive character. Canzona: A piece for ensembles, in several sections or tempos. It had live and more markedly rhythmic melodic material with emphasis on the division of the piece into sections, betraying its origins in the French chanson. Style brise: Technique in lute and keyboard composition or performance of splitting a chord into a succession of individual notes. Agrements: Ornament in French music, usually indicated by a sign. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Three Periods: 1st: up to 1802. Beethoven was assimilating the musical language of his time and finding his own voice as a composer. Works: Six String Quartets Op.18, the first 10 piano sonatas (through Op.14), the first three piano concerti and the first 2 symphonies. 2nd: 1802-1816. Beethoven’s abrupt individualism asserted itself. Works: Symphonies Nos3-8, the incidental music to Goethe’s drama Egmont, the Coriolan Overture, the opera Fidelio, the last two piano concerti, the Violin Concerto, the Quartets Op.59, 74 and 95 and the Piano sonatas through Op.90. 3rd: 1817-1827. Beethoven’s music became more reflective and introspective. Works: Last 5 piano sonatas, Diabelli Variations, Missa Solemnis, 9th symphony and the last great quartets. Basic Traits of each period 1st period: 3 first piano sonatas dedicated to Haydn. 4 movements. Replacement of the minuet with a more dynamic scherzo (in Nos2 and 3). Basic traits of these three sonatas were the extensive use of the minor mode and the bold modulations. Sonata op.7 (1797): Characteristic, with its eloquent pauses in the Largo and the mysterious perpetual arpeggiations that appear in the minore trio of the third movement. Op.10 No1 (1798) and Op.13 (Pathetique, 1799) are both in C minor, have outer movements of a stormy passionate natire and a calm and profound slow movement in Ab. The Pathetique has features that foreshadow the “cyclical” inter-movement connections in Beethoven’s later works. Beethoven also makes frequent use of octaves and thick full texture in piano writing. Muzio Clementi-Vladislav Dussek: May have inspired Beethoven with their sonatas, when it comes to the use of octaves and full texture in the piano writing. Quartets Op.18: (1798-1800)Art of developing motives and animating the texture contrapuntally (Haydn’s example). Frequent unexpected turns of phrase, unconventional modulations, some subtleties of formal structure. First Symphony: (1799-1800). 4 movements very regular in form. However, there is unusual prominence given to the woodwinds, in the character of the 3rd movement (scherzo labeled minuet) and especially in the long and important codas of the other movements. Careful attention to dynamic shading is essential to Beethoven’s early style. Second Symphony: (1802). Long Adagio that introduces the first movement. It also contains a long coda that includes extensive new development of the principal material. The rest of the symphony has large dimensions, plenty of thematic material held together in perfect formal balance. The Larghetto is especially remarkable, with multiplicity of themes and rich singing melody. The Scherzo and finale are full of energy and fire. The finale is in an enlarged sonata form with suggestions of a rondo. 2nd period: Eroica Symphony: Important work, very long and complex. Marked a radical departure in Beethoven’s symphonic writing. Not purely absolute or abstract music. It has a subject (celebration of a hero). Expansive movements. Dramatic flair. Dramatization of themes (first theme treated like a character in a play). Second movement is a funeral march that links the work with France. Fidelio: Also Revolutionary atmosphere. Idealization of the principal character. 3 versions (original, 1805, 1814). Four different overtures for it. Rasumovsky Quartet: (1806) Dedicated to the musical amateur Count Rasumovsky. Russian melody introduced as the principal theme for the finale of the 1st quartet and another one in the 3rd movement of the second quartet. New style. The first movement of the Op.59 No1 is changed with idiosyncrasies (single double and triple pedal points, frequent changes of texture, horn imitations, unmelodious passages, extreme ranges, fugues out of nowhere etc). Middle Symphonies: The 4th, 5th, 6th Symphonies were composed between 1806-1808. Joviality and humor à 4th symphony. Musical projection of Beethoven’s resolution regarding Fate à 5th symphony. The finale of the 5th Symphony adds a piccolo and a contrabasson as well as trombones to the normal orchestra. The 6th Symphony has 5 movements, each of which have a descriptive title suggesting a scene from life in the country. Beethoven inserted an extra movement (Storm) that serves to introduce the finale (Thankful feelings after the storm). Coda of the Andante movement, flute-oboeclarinet imitate bird calls. Programmatic character. 7th Symphony: 1812. It opens with a long slow introduction with remote modulations, like the2nd and 4th. Second movemetn in the parallel minor key of A. Third movement, in F major, scherzo. The trio in D major recurs a second time like in the 4th Symphony, expanding to a five-part form (ABABA). The finale is a large sonata-allegro with coda. Festal quality. 8th Symphony:1812. More standard dimensions (long codas on the first movement and finale). It is the most unstable of all nine symphonies, extremenly condensed forms. Third movement is a minuet. Overtures: Related in style to the symphonies, usually taking the form of a symphonic first movement. Of major importance are Coriolan (1807_, inspired by a tragic drama and Egmont, composed together with songs and incidental music for an 1810 performance of Goethe’s play. Piano sonatas: Beethoven composed 10 piano sonatas between 1800-1805. Op.26 with the funeral march, Op.27 Nos1 and 2 (quasi una fantasia). Op 31 No2, the whole opening section of the first movement has the character of a recitativo obligato, anticipating that of the 9th Symphony. The introductory largo arpeggio returns in the develompent and in the beginning of the recapitulation each time in expanded form. The finale is a moto perpetuo in rondo form. Waldstein sonata: (1804). Named after his patron. Appassionata Sonata (1805). Both have 3 movements, exhibit patterns of sonata form, rondo or variations. Stretched formal schemes. Other Sonatas: Op.78 in F# Major, programmatic sonata Op.81a “Les Adieux”, inspired by the departure from and return to Vienna of Archduke Rudolph. Piano concerti: First three date from his early years in Vienna. His two largest works in this genre are the 4th op.58 in G Major (1805-6) and the 5th in Eb Major op.73 (Emperor, 1809). Czerny first performed them. Beethoven retained Mozart’s division of the concerto into three movements and the general outline of the classic form, while greatly expanding the music’s expressive range and dimensions. Unexpected harmonic turns of the melodies. Virtuosity demanded in the solo parts. In Concertos No4 and 5 the soloist enters with a cadenza before the orchestral exposition. Technique also applied in the Violin concerto Op.61 in D major (1806). 3rd period: Last 5 piano sonatas between 1816-1821. Missa solemnis (1822), Diabelli Variations (1823), 9th Symphony (1824) after long years of labor. Final quartets *182526). By 1816, he had risigned himself to living in a soundless world. His compositions were more and more of a meditative character. Feeling of tranquillity and calm affirmation. More abstract and concentrated language. Extremes meet: sublime and grotesque in the Mass and 9th Symphony, the profound and the naïve in the last quartets. Classical forms remained. In his late composition he deliberately worked out themes and motives very much. Variations: Variations appear within the slow movements of the Piano Sonata Op.106, String Quartet Op.132, finale of the Ninth Symphony. The Thirty Three variations on a Waltz by Diabelli Op.120 1823 surpass any such work since the Goldberg Variations. Beethoven transformed the very character of the theme, thus setting these variations apart from earlier ones. Varying moods (solemn, brilliant, capricious, mysterious). Contrast, grouping, climax. Each variation is built on motives derived from some part of the theme, but altered in thyrhm, tempo, dynamics or context so as to produce a new design. Another feature of Beethoven’s late style is a continuity achieved by intentionally blurring the divisions between phrases as well as divisions between sections in sonata forms and other movement types. Improvisatory character in some passages (Introduction to the Rondo in the Waldstein sonata). Instrumental recitative like (sonata op.110 –Adagio). Various transitions, such as the one preceding the finale of the 9th Symphony. Beethoven’s late style has use of fugal texture. Numerous canonic immitations and learned contrapuntal devices in all the late works. (finale of Op.101, Op.106, 110, first movement of Quartet Op.131, Grosse Fuge in string quartet Op.133, and the two double fugues in the finale of the 9th Symphony). Beethoven commanded new sonorities in his last works (widely spaced intervals in Op.110). As far as form is concerned, two of the last quartets and two of the final sonatas retain the external scheme of four movements but the rest even do not have this trait of tradition. The Op.111 has only two movements and the quartet Op.131 has seven movements. The most imposing works of the last period are the Mass in D (Missa Solemnis) and the 9th Symphony. Mass = personal but universal confession of faith. Written to celebrate the elevation of Archduke Rudolph to archbishop. Debt to Handel: The choral treatment owes something to Handel. Handel’s oratorios were conceived as a series of independent numbers, without interconnecting themes or motives and without any definite plan of musical unity in the work as a whole. By contrast, Beethoven’s Mass is a planned musical unit, a symphony in five movements, one on each of the five principal divisions of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Santus, Agnus Dei). It resembles the masses of Haydn in this respect. It freely combines and alternates choruses and solo ensembles in each movement. His attention to musical form occasionally led him to take liberties with the liturgical text, such as the rondo-like recurrences of the word “credo” with its musical motive in the third movement. 9th Symphony: The work’s most striking innovation was the use of chorus and solo voices in the finale. He had thought as early as 1792 if setting Schiller’s Ode to Joy, but more than 30 years went by before he decided to incorporate a choral finale on this text in his 9th Symphony. Consistent with his ethical ideals and religious faith. 9th Symphony finale form: • Brief introduction (recitativo obligato) • Review and rejection of the themes of the previous movements – proposal of the “joy” theme. • Orchestral exposition of the theme in 4 stanzas – coda • Return of the opening measures. • Bass recitative. • Choral – orchestral exposition of the joy theme – long orchestral interlude (double fugue) – repetition of the first stanza. • New theme, for orchestra and chorus. • Double fugue on the two themes. • Prestissimo choral coda, bringing back the Tukish percussion, the joy theme is repeated. Economic situation/social circles: Beethoven had patrons throughout his life that supported him and financed him. He never had a financial problem. The social circles which he was in were always members of the nobility. Several members of the Austrian, Bohemian and Hungarian aristocracy encouraged and supported him. For a while he lived in one of the houses of Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. Other supporters of Beethoven were Prince Lobkowitz, Prince Kinsky, Archduke Rudolph and Count Ferdinand von Waldstein, as well as Baron van Swieten. Deafness: Beethoven began to lose his hearing around 1796 and by 1820 he was almost completely deaf. This caused him to get isolated from the rest of the world because of his complex regarding his disability. Helligenstadt Testament: Beethoven wrote a letter now known as the Helligenstadt Testament, which he intended to be read by his brotheers after his death. IN it he describes in moving terms how he suffered when he realized that his malady was incurable. Social/political context: 1792 – George Washington was president of the United States, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were imprisoned by the leaders of the new French Republic. Viennese life, not yet under Napoleonic rule, presented an atmosphere of gaiety. 1804 – Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor. 1805/1809 – Napoleon occupies Vienna. 1821 – Greek Revolution. Immortal Beloved: Beethoven wrote an impassioned letter to a woman in the summer of 1812. This woman was addressed by him as the Immortal Beloved, and her identity was a riddle for generations of Beethoven biographers. The letter was found among the composer’s belongings after his death. One of Beethoven’s biographers, Maynard Solomon, claims that the woman was Antonie Brentano, a beautiful Viennese matron with four children whom Beethoven met in 1810. ROMANTICISM - Instrumental music without words Orchestral music 1770 – 1900 - expression of feeling more intimate/personal form/tonal regions exceeded limits imagination Lied: Union between music and poetry (Schubert, Schumann, Brahms etc) Program music: Instrumental music accompanied by a printed concert program that laid out a poetic description or narrative subject. COMPOSERS Schubert (1797 – 1828) 9 symphonies 22 piano sonatas Short piano pieces for 2 of 4 hands 35 chamber compositions 200 choral works (incl. 6 masses, 17 operas and singspiels) 600 lieder Unfinished Symphony: 1st trully romantic symphony. BERLIOZ (1803 – 1869) Imagination 1st Symphony (Fantastique) à musical drama without words (1830) Idee Fixe: obsessive image of the hero’s beloved. Recurring theme – unity -Harold en Italie (1834) -Romeo et Juliette (1839) -Damnation de Faust (1864) à dramatic legend Berlioz: - Enriched orchestral music - New form - Recurrent theme à cyclical symphony forms later - Founder of modern orchestration MENDELSSOHN (1809 – 1847) - Symphony No3 “Scottish” (1842) - Symphony No4 “Italian” (1833) Overtures: - Hebriden (1832) - Ruy Blas (1839) - Midsummer night’s dream (1826) LISZT (1811 – 1886) - programmatic music 13 symphonic poems (continuous form with sections contrasting) content suggested by poems, statues etc (ex. Orpheus, Prometheus, Hamlet etc) Thematic transformation: Method of univying a composition by transforming a single motive to reflect the diverse moods needed to portray a programmatic subject. - Les Preludes (1854) Faust Symphony (1854) Dante Symphony (1856) Influence on composers such as Smetana, Franck, Saint-Saens, Tschaikovsky etc. BRAHMS (1833-1897) - Symphony No1 op.68 in C+ (1876) Symphony No2 op.73 in D+ (1877) Symphony No3 op.90 in F+ (1883) Symphony No4 op.98 in E- (1885) – Finale is a 32-variation passacaglia/chaconne. Academic Festival Overture op.81 (1881) 2 piano concerti, Violin concerto, Double Concerto for violin and cello. DVORAK (1841-1904) - 9 symphonies (No7 the best, No9 “New World” most known, with Native American themes – Negro spirituals). Cello concerto SOLO, CHAMBER AND VOCAL MUSIC IN THE 19th CENT. - Enlarged piano structure New ways of writing for piano Chamber music, lied SOLO PIANO MUSIC - dance forms (waltzes, mazurkas and polonaises) characteristic short lyrical pieces (ballades, nocturnes, impromptus, scherzos etc) Principal large works: concertos, variations, fantasias, and sonatas. Schubert - 6 moments musicaux 8 Impromptus 11 piano sonatas and a Fantasia in C major (1822) Last three piano sonatas 1828 – Finale of D960 à finale of Beethoven’s Quartet op.130. Mendelssohn - Andante and Rondo Capriccioso Cappricio in F# minor 48 pieces Liede ohne Worte (miniature pieces) Schumann (1810-1856) - Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik (New Journal Of Music) Master of Miniature à Papillons, Carnaval, Phantasiestucke, Kinderscenen, etc. Different faces of Schumann’s personality: Eusebius, Florestan and Raro. Chopin (1810-1849) - 51 Mazurkas Polonaises Introspective and clearly defined formal outlines, quality of improvisation. Tempo rubato 24 Preludes Nocturnes, impomptus 4 Ballades, 4 Scherzos 24 Etudes Liszt - Cosmopolitan style, national melodies, fiery temperament. Rubato. Influenced by Paganini Lots of piano transcriptions of orchestral and opera pieces. National elements, Hungarian Rhapsodies 2 piano Concerti, Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Melodies, Totentanz Sonata in B Flat Minor (1853) – cyclic strategy of the symphonic poem Experimentation with more modern harmonies in late works CHAMBER MUSIC Schubert: - Trout Quintet (1819) Quartettsatz (1820) 3 Quartets D804 – 810 – 887 (1824-28) Brahms - Successor of Beethoven in chamber music 24 works string quartets, quintets (incl. 1 with clarinet), sextets, piano trios, quartets (various instruments) Sonatas for violin, cello or clarinet with piano Piano Quintet Op.34 (1864) Developing variation Trios op.87 (1882), op.101 (1886), Quartet op.111 (1890), Clarinet Quintet op.115 (1891). 3 violin sonatas, 2 cello sonatas, 2 clarinet sonatas LIED - Ballad: New type of song, usually based on fairly long poems alternating narrative and dialogues in a romantic and adventurous tale. The ballad expanded on the lied in its form and the range and force of its emotional content. Schubert - Harmonic color, complex modulations Many in strophic form or with slight variation Rich piano accompaniments Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814), Erlkonig Texts: Geothe, Muller, Heine Winterreise Schumann - Less spontaneous than Schubert Love songs – Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und leben (1840) Clara Schumann - piano concerto (1835-36) piano trio (1846) piano pieces lieder (op.23, 1853, No3 Secret whispers Here and There) OPERA, MUSIC DRAMA AND CHURCH MUSIC IN THE 19th C - French Grand Opera (spectacle and music) Italian Opera (grounded in the life of the nation) German Romantic Opera (singspiel) – Music Drama (Wagner) FRENCH OPERA - Leader: Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) – Robert le Diable (1831), Les Huguenots (1836) Francois Auber (La Muette de Portici 1828) Rossini (Guillaume Tell 1829) Jacques Halevy (La Juive, 1835) Opera Comique - Much simpler, less singers, less players, plot was usually comedy. Francois Auber (Fra Diavolo, 1830) Opera Bouffe - Satirical nature Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) Orphee aux enfers (1858) – can can Strauss Jr (Die Fledermaus, 1874) Lyric Opera - between opera comique and grand opera Gounod’s Faust Carmen (G. Bizet, 1875) opera comique Berlioz (La Damnation de Faust 1846) – symphonic drama, Les Troyens (1856-58) ITALIAN OPERA Rossini (1792 – 1868) - Principal Italian composer of the 19th century - 32 operas, among his best were Tancredi (1813), Otello (1816), La donna del lago (1819) - Excelled at writing comic opera - Italianna in Algeri (1813), Cenerentola (1817), Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) - Style: Inexhaustible flow of melody, animated rhythms, clear phraseology and wellshaped structure. - Grand Opera “Guillaume Tell” (1829) Donizetti (1797 – 1848) - Lucrezia Borgia (1833), Lucia Di Lammermoor (1835) - Opera comique “La fille du regiment (1840) - Opera bouffas “L’ elisir d’ amore” (1832), “Don Pasquale” (1843) Vincenzo Bellini (1801 – 1835) - 10 operas - Most important: “La Sonnambula” (1831), “Norma” (1831), “I Puritani” (1835) Verdi (1813-1901) - 26 operas Carried Italian opera to its greatest heights Believed that each nation should cultivate its own native music. Independence in his own musical style - He depicted the human drama directly and primarily through the human voice Three periods 1st period: early operas (Il Trovatore – 1853, La Traviata – 1853, Rigolleto – 1851) Four acts, or three acts with a prologue. Choruses 2nd period: Grand opera (Les Vepres siciliennes – 1855, Aida – 1871). More free combination of ensembles, choruses and solos. Comic roles (Ballo un Maschera – 1859, Forza del Destino – 1862). Reminiscence motives 3rd period: 2 works, “Otello” (1887), “Falstaff” (1893) GERMAN OPERA - Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), “Der Freischutz” , melodrama Usually humble folk caught up in supernatural incidents against a background of wilderness and mystery. Increasingly chromatic harmony. Wagner (1813 – 1883) - Function of music was to serve the dramatic expression Rienzi (first triumph, 1842) Flying Dutchman Tannhauser Lohengrin Published Oper und Drama (1851) Ring of Niebelungen Tristan und Isolde Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg Last work: Parsifal (1882) Gesamkunstwerk = total of composite artwork Letimotif: a musical theme or motive associated with a particularperson, thing, emotion, or idea in the drama. Endless melody: Coninuity of line. Wagner’s influence: Great influence especially with Tristan and Isolde. CHURCH MUSIC - Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem, 1837), Te Deum (1855) Liszt: Festival Mass (1855) Cecilian movement: named after St. Cecilia, the Bruckner (1824-1896): Suceeded to unite the spiritual and technical resources of the 19th century symphony with a liturgical approach to sacred texts. 2 Masses Rossini : Stabat Matter and Petite Messe Solennelle Verdi: Requiem (1874) - Romantic Oratorio: Use of chorus, descent from Handel. Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” European Music from the 1870s to WWI German Tradition Hugo Wolf (1860 – 1903) - Continued German tradition of the solo song, with piano accompaniment. 250 lieder (1887-1897), 6 collections regard for the text equality between words and music followed Wagner to a point achieved balanced fusion of voice and instrument without sacrificing either to other. Beautiful effects in a sensitive diatonic style Spanishes Liederbuch (1891) Gustav Mahler (1860 – 1911) - admirer of Wagner symphonies and orchestral lieder 5 song cycles for solo voices and orchestra (best known: Das Lied von der Erde, 1908). 9 symphonies, 10th unfinished Symphonies: long, formally complex and programmatic. 8th symphony: “symphony of a thousand” (large amount of players) Great imagination, daring combination of instruments. Use of unusual instruments (mandolins, sleigh bells in 4th symphony etc). Programmatic content of symphonies 8th symphony tribute to Bach Use of voices in 4 symphonies (2nd – Resurrection, 8th) 4th symphony starts and ends in different keys. Also 5th, 7th, 9th. Kindertotenlieder (1901-4) Das Lied von der Erde: based on a cycle of 6 poems translated from Chinese. Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949) - Student of Hans von Bulow Followed the footsteps of Berlioz and Liszt in cultivating the symphonic poem 2 kinds of program: - a) philosophical program (general ideas – emotions, Liszt) b) descriptive program (representation of non musical events, Berlioz). Strauss Symphonic Poems: Death and Transfiguration (1889), Also sprach Zarathustra (1896), Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks (1895), Don Quixote (1897), Don Juan (1889), A Hero’s life (1889). Zarathustra à philosophical program (Nietchze). Till Eulenspiegel à comic program. Don Quixote: adult comedy, dramatization. Operas: Harmonically complex, stranger than ever, dissonant musical idioms, greatly influenced 2 later developments: the growth of musical expressionism and the dissolution of tonality in German music. Operas: Salome (1905), Der Rosenkavalier (1911) NATIONALISM -Emphasis on literary and linguistic traditions, interest in folklore, patriotism, identity. RUSSIA – Glinka (1804-1857), Tschaikovsky (1840-1893) – Borodin, Moussorgsky, Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov Moussorgsky - Night on Bare Mountain (1867), Pictures at an Exhibition (1874), song sycles (The Nursery, Sunless, Songs and Dances of Death), Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina - Effects by repetition and accumulation of single impressions. Rimsky-Korsakov – nationalist, experimentation with whole-tone and octatonic scales Symphonies, chamber music, choruses and songs, symphonic poems and operas. Lively fantasy and bright orchestral colors. - Works: Capriccio espagnol (1887), Scheherazade (1888), Russian Easter Overture (1888), Sadko (1897), The Golden Cockerel (1909). Rachmaninoff – late Romantic. Not interested in the national movement. - Works: 4 piano concerti, Paganini Rhapsody, Isle of the Dead (S. poem), Symphonies Skryabin – Influenced by the chromaticism of Liszt/Wagner and impressionism - complex harmonic vocabulary of his own - nocturnes, preludes, etudes, mazurkas ala Chopin - 10 piano sonatas, last five drift toward atonality - Prometheus, Poem of Ecstasy (symphonic poems) - Strange, colorful sound effects BOHEMIA - Smetana (Bartered Bride, Ma Vlast) - Dvorak (9 symphonies, cello concerto, chamber music etc) - Janacek (Czech) NORWAY - Edvard Grieg (Short piano pieces, Lyric pieces, four Psalms, four sets of piano arrangements of folksongs, Slatter, Piano concerto, Peer Gynt) FINLAND - Jean Sibelius (Violin concerto, Filandia) – elemental music, love for nature ENGLAND - Edward Elgar (The Dream of Gerontius, Enigma Variations) Ralph Vaughan Williams Gustav Holst (Planets) SPAIN - Felipe Pedrell (Los Pirineos) Isaak Albeniz (Iberia suite) Manuel De Falla (La vida breve, El amor brujo, Nights in the Gardens of Spain) NEW CURRENTS IN FRANCE National Society of Music (1871) – to give performances of French works, rise in quantity and quality, of symphonic and chamber music – Revival of French music of the past. Schola Cantorum (Paris, 1894) – broad historical studies in music - - 3 lines of development: Eclectic, cosmopolitan tradition, specifically French tradition, later tradition Cosmopolitan Tradition: Franck, conventional instrumental genres, enriched homophonic texture by contrapuntal means. Introduced mildly chromatic innovations in harmony and systematically applied the cyclical method. French Tradition: essentially classic, music as sonorous form. Order and restraint are fundamental. More lyric or dancelike music. Economical, simple, reserved. SaintSaens – Gabriel Faure (Requiem, Pelleas et Melisande, Promethee, Penelope, cycle of songs “La bonne chanson”, “L’ Horizon chimerique”). Third Tradition – Debussy: One of the most important influences of the 20th century Impressionism, painters and poets had impact on him Piano music, Soiree dans Grenade (influenced by Spanish music), Images Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune, Nocturnes, La Mer (symphonic sketches) - Orchestration: large orchestra, not loud sound. Winds in solos. Various percussion instruments. Piano music: Blending effect of the damper pedal, color, pianistic effects: Estampes, Images, Preludes. Suite Bergamasque, suite Pour Le Piano, Children’s Corner, String Quartet, Pelleas et Melisande (symbolist play by Maeterlinck). Influence: influenced many composers of different nationalities. Impressionism: Term initially applied to a French school of painting (last quarter of 19th century – Monet). Generally, the style was characterized by an attempt to capture fleeting moments painted directly from nature. Impressionism in music aimed to evoke moods and sensuous impressions through harmony and tone color. Programmatic music. Maurice Ravel: - Piano music, Pavane pour une infante defunte, Meuet Antique, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Sonatina etc. Adopted some impressionist techniques, but was more attracted to melodic contours, distinct rhythms and firm structures. Functional harmonies. Mozart-like transparency. Known piano music: Jeux D’ eau, Gaspard de la Nuit, Miroirs, Sonatina, Orchestral: Rhapsodie Espagnole, Daphnis et Chloe Piano concerto, Piano concerto for left hand, La Valse, Bolero – different elements. ITALIAN OPERA Verismo: One of the most characteristic movements of the late 19th century. (Truthism). Libretti in opera presented everyday situations and people. - Examples: Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) PUCCINI: Tosca, Il tabarro, appropriate style to the verism libretto. Paid great attnetion to mood, psychological and external (Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Boheme). European Mainstream in the 20th Century - 2 World Wars (1918-1939), international tension. Bold musical innovations 1914-1930 Exotic scales, pentatonic, whole tone, complex meters, alternating duple and triple, novel rhythmic irregularities. Imitation of traditional music. Technological factors (recordings, radio, television – increasing audience). Germany: Gebrauchsmusik (workaday music) Soviet: Proletarian music Ethnic Contexts - Distinctive ethnic music in Central and Eastern Europe (1st half of the 20th century) Bela Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly Bela Bartok (1881-1945) - Important contributions as a music ethnologist, performer and composer. - Published nearly 2000 traditional tunes (Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia) - Wrote books and articles on music, arranged works. - Folk elements in his music. - Mikrokosmos (153 pieces in 6 books, 1926-1937) - Early works: First-Second Quartets , Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (opera), Allegro Barbaro - Late works: Quartets 5-6, Mikrokosmos, Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta, Sonata for 2 pianos and Percussion, Divertimento for string orchestra, Piano Concerto no3, Violin Concerto no2, Concerto for Orchestra - Style: Combination of counterpoint, thematic development. Characteristic rhythms, imitative, fugal and canonic techniques. - Harmony: Develops from the melodies. Diatonic, chromatic scales, pentatonic, octatonic etc. Added dissonant major or minor seconds to a chord. - Polytonality: Writing simultaneously on two or more harmonic planes. Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) - National music - Psalmus hungaricus (tenor soloist, chorus, orchestra), Singspiel Hary Janos - Similar to plainchant, Renaissance and Baroque polyphony and ethnic Hungarian music. - Influence in music education. (method of teaching children, movable-do solfege system). SOVIET UNION Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) - Scythian Suite, The Love for Three Oranges, Classical Symphony, 3 piano concertos, Peter and the Wolf, Romeo and Juliet, Symphonies Nos 4 and 7. - Formalism: music that did not celebrate the revolutionary ideology - Clarity of structure, lyricism, refinement. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1985) - 15 Symphonies (5th and 10th the most prominent) - Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (opera) Post-Soviet Music: Glasnost = openness, interest in foreign developments. Alfred Schnittke (b.1934) - film music chiefly - polystylistic approach, incorporates music from Baroque to today. - Concerto Grosso No1 (2 violins, harpsichord, prepared piano and string orchestra) à recalls Baroque genres. Sofia Gubaidulina (b.1931) - Works of spiritual dimension, Christian inspiration - Introitus, In croce, Offertorium, Jubilatio, De profundis. - Sonata for violin and cello Rejoice! (1981) ENGLAND Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) - 9 symphonies, orchestral pieces, songs, operas, many choral pieces. - Inspiration from national sources and European traditions of Bach, Handel, Debussy and Ravel. - Editor of English Hymnal, Musical Autobiography. - Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis (double string orchestra and string quartet). - London Symphony (program symphony) - Pastoral Symphony Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) - A boy was born, A Ceremony of Carols, Spring Symphony - Operas: Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw - War Requiem GERMANY Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) - The Craft of Musical Composition (general system of composition and analytical method) - Teacher at many universities - Influences from Bach, Handel, Schutz, 16th Century German lied composers etc - Composed gebrauchsmusik (music for use) - Klaviermusik (reminiscent of Bach’s clavier pieces) - Ludus Tonalis (modeled from Bach’s Well Tempered Clavichord) - Operas: Mathis der Maler (example of German expressionism), Die Harmonie der Welt - Symphonic Metamorphoses on themes of Weber - Requiem Kurt Weill (1900-1950) - Opera composer in Berlin and Broadway composer in NY - Gebrauchsmusik in Berlin - 2 Operas (Brecht): Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, The Threepenny Opera. - Operettas: Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, One Touch of Venus, Street Scene - Musical Tragedy “Lost in the Stars” - Four Songs of Walt Whitman NEO-CLASSICISM IN FRANCE Neo-classicism: Going back to Classic genres, styles and forms and also imitation of earlier models from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) - “Symphonic movement” Pacific 231 (aiming to translate into music the visual and physical impression of a speeding locomotive). - 5 symphonies - Oratorio King David Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) - Suite provencale for orchestra (Andre Campra) - Immense quantity of music. Piano pieces, suites, chamber music (18 quartets), sonatas, symphonies, film music, ballets, songs, cantatas and operas. - Ballets: Le Boeuf sur le toit, Le Train bleu, La Creation du monde - Opera-oratorio: Christophe Colomb - Sacred Service Saudades do Brasil (orchestral dances) Frequently employed polytonality Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) - Works of ingratiating harmonic idiom: grace of Parisian chansons, satirical mimcry to fluent melody. - Opera Les Mamelles de Tiresias - Concert Champetre for harpsichord or piano and small orchestra (spirit of Rameau and Scarlatti) - Mass in G for chorus a cappella, motets, choral works, songs - Three-act opera Dialogues des Carmelites STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) - The Firebird, Petrushka, Le Sacre du printemps (ballets) - Primitivism (Sacre): novelty in rhythms and also in the previously unheard orchestral effects and chordal combinations. - 1913-23: L’ histoire du Soldat , Les Noces, Pulcinella, Octet for Wind instruments, Piano Rag music, Ebony Concerto (later). - Opera: The Rake’s Progress (neoclassic approach) - Later discovery of the past (turned to music by Pergolesi etc) - Symphonies, Cappricio for Piano and orchestra, Mass - Opera-oratorio “Oedipus Rex”, “Symphony of Psalms” (choral works) - Pandiatonicism: Diatonic kaleidoscope, different vertical combinations of pitches. - Sergei Diaghilev: Founder and director of the Russian Ballet, commissioned the first ballets of Stravinsky. - In Memoriam Dylan Thomas: Song of the 1950s period, when Stravinsky adapted some techniques of the Schoenberg school. - 1950s: Septet, ballets Agon and Threni, Movements, Orchestra Variations. Atonality, Serialism and Recent Developments - Atonality Twelve-tone Serialism: Schoenberg’s method of arranging all twelve tones of the chromatic scale in a series (12-tone row) that avoids establishing consonant or harmonic relationships. Discovery of electronic resources and technologies Indeterminacy: Tendency that leaves room for change and the element of chance. Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) - Had composition students, among which Alban Berg and Anton Webern. - 4 periods of music: tonal, transitional – atonal, serial, stylistically diverse. - Tonal period: originated in German romanticism, Transfigured Night (sextet), Pelleas und Melisande (symphonic poem), Gurrelieder (symphonic cantata) - Transitional-atonal period: First two Quartets, first Kammersymphonie, Five Orchestral Pieces Op.16, 2 sets of short piano pieces, a cycle of songs with piano, the Book of the Hanging Gardens (soloist and orchestra), Expectation, The Lucky Hand (dramatic pantomime). - Atonality: treating all twelve notes of the octave as equal. Piano pieces op.11, op.19 - Pierrot Lunaire: 1912. Setting of twenty-one songs drawn from a larger poetic cycle by Albert Giraud. - Sprechstimme: Speech-voice; also called Sprechgesang or speech-song. Approximating the written pitches but closely following the notated rhythm. - Twelve-tone method: The basis of each composition is a row or series consisting of the twelve tones or pitch classes of the octave arranged in an order the composer chooses. (Piano pieces op.23, Serenade Op.24, Suite for Piano op.25, Wind Quintet, op.26, Third Quartet, Variations for Orchestra) - Stylistically diverse period: Suite for String orchestra, String Trio, Fantasyfor violin and piano (serialism). - Moses and Aron: Schoenberg’s 3-act opera. Sprechstimme - Variations for Orchestra: Mixing traditional procedures with 12-tone technique. Alban Berg (1885-1935) - Shoenberg’s famous pupil, adopted most of his teacher’s methods of construction. - Chief works: Lyric suite (string quartet), Violin concerto, 2 operas, Wozzeck and Lulu. - Wozzeck: expressionist opera. Music unified by several leitmotifs. Anton Webern (1883-1945) - Constructive side. Economy and extreme concentration. Imitative counterpoint, often strictly canonic. - Most remarkable is Webern’s instrumentation. Special effects, color, clarity. - Six Bagatelles for string quartet, Five Pieces for Orchestra, Symphony,String Quartet. - 3 periods: later-Romanticism, free atonality, organization by tone-rows. Concerto for 9 instruments, Piano Variations, Variations for Orchestra.
