Rococo (1725-1775)
End of Baroque ---> 1750
Beginning of Classical - 1750 --->
Ornate - enchantment of the senses
Age of Enlightenment - desire to
systematize all knowledge
Composers of the Rococo
François Couperin - keyboard
Jean Philippe Rameau - Treatise on Harmony
C.P.E. Bach - 2nd son of J.S. Bach - Essay on
the True Art of Playing Keyboard Music
Christoph Willibald Gluck - opera - dramatic
truth and expressiveness
Baroque and Classical Styles
Chart on p. 191 (Machlis, Forney)
Continue your large chart on style
– Add new items or categories
• e.g. dynamics
Development of musical ideas
“Thinking, whether in words or tones,
demands continuity and sequence.”
(Machlis, Forney)
p. 193
Musical Ideas - motive
Beethoven, Symphony #5 in C minor
–
–
–
–
Opening motive (dah-dah-dah-DAH)
Repeated immediately (sequence)
Rising sequences - thematic development
Listening Example #17, pp. 238-241
Vocabulary
Theme
Thematic Development (expansion)
Motive (fragment)
Sequence
Ostinato
Repetition
Sonata Cycle
Sonata (Italian suonare, to sound)
Absolute (or pure) music
– No story line. Form is especially important
Instrumental Genre - 3-4 movements
– Concerto, symphony, string quartet, solo, duo
Sonata
 1st movement - Sonata Allegro form - dramatic
– Exposition. Development. Recapitulation. Coda (see
chart on p. 199, M & F)
– Also known as sonata form
 2nd movement - Variations or ABA - lyrical
 3rd movement - Minuet and Trio or Scherzo and Trio dance like
– See chart on p. 201, M & F
 4th movement - Sonata Allegro or Sonata Rondo, or
Theme and Variations - lively