The Classical Period
(c.1750-1820)
• Composers of the Viennese School
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-
1791)
• Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
• Beethoven (1771-1821)
The Classical Style
• What was new about it?
• Texture: Homophonic, melody at the
forefront
• Melody: lyrical, with clear,balanced
phases
• Harmony: diatonic
• Chords don’t change as fast as in the
Baroque
Genres of Classical era
(1750-1820)
• Symphony
• String Quartet
• piano sonata
• concerto
orchestra
string quartet
piano
soloist/ orch. (3
movts)
all are SONATA CYCLES
Sonata cycle
• READ MACHLIS 228-35
• Order of movements (separate
•
•
•
•
sections) in a typical classical piece
1st movement: fast, and in SonataAllegro form (or just “sonata form”)
Second movement slow
Third movement Minuet & Trio
Fourth movement fast often Rondo
form (ABACA)
Classic 4-movement Design
Movement 1
Movement 2
Movement 3
Movement 4
FAST
SLOW
MODERATE
(Dance)
VERY FAST
SONATA Form
in "HOME key"
p. 105
- Ternary Form
- Theme & Varia.
OR
- Sonata form
in OTHER key
MINUET & TRIO
Form
MINUET:
in "HOME key"
TRIO:
in OTHER key
RONDO Form
in "HOME key"
Sonata cycle
• The example we will cover is Mozart’s
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
• Skip listening guide 25 in Chapter 31.
• Proceed directly to Chapter 32
Mozart(1756-91)
• child prodigy (his sister Nannerl was
too)
• pianist and violinist
• composer-- had written sonatas,
operas, symphonies by the age of 12
Mozart(1756-91)
• tours with his father as a very young
boy
• Paris, London, Munich
• visits Kings, Pope, Empress and
Emperor
• Showed off skill in playing, improvising
• 2nd set of tours as an adolescent
• same places: but less successful
Mozart(1756-91)
• work in Salzburg-- for archbishop
• not happy- bored in Salzburg
• Position in Vienna for Emperor
Joseph II
• not fully appreciated
• tragic death at a young age (35)
• last compositions both tragic and
serene
Mozart(1756-91)
• Wrote in every classical genre:
Symphonies, concerto, different
kinds of opera, etc.
Eine kleine Nachtsmusik
• Sonata cycle for double string quartet
or chamber orchestra
• written in Salzburg-- an example of
chamber music, or music for small
ensemble
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Listening guide 26
• Movement I
• I: Allegro- sonata form
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Three parts of sonata form…
• 1. Exposition: Introduces two main
keys and the important musical
themes
• 2. Development: Builds up tension by
frequent changing of keys, and by
manipulating the themes
• 3. Recapitulation: restatement of
themes in the tonic (main key)
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Listening to the First movement…
• Exposition introduces two
contrasting ideas-How would you
characterize theme?
• Theme 1, Theme 2, closing theme
• Here the exposition is repeated
• Development: How is it different in
character from the exposition?
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Recapitulation: release of tension
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Second movement….
• Andante (slow)
• Form: ABACA (Called RONDO form)
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Third movement
• Minuet-trio form
• A specific kind of ABA form...
• Minuet a dance in triple meter
• The trio is contrasting in character-
more lyrical-and originally had
reduced instrumentation
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
• Fourth movement...
• Sonata form• Two main themes and keys in the
exposition
• Which themes do you hear in the
development?
The Classical symphony
• Originally small
• Standard orchestra...
• Strings
• Smaller numbers of woodwinds (2
each
• Sometimes horns, but not always
• Trumpets and drums rare, no
trombones