The Symphony
The symphony is a large
piece for Orchestra
The Symphony
Symphonies are divided into 4 Movements
Each Movement:
•Is like a separate piece of music
•Has a beginning middle and end
•Starts and ends in the same key
•Is marked at a certain tempo
The Symphony
The usual order of the movements is:
1. Fast (Allegro)
2. Slow (Andante)
3. Fast (Minuet or Scherzo)
4. Fast – the exciting finale
The Symphony
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a sonata for Orchestra.
developed +made important by Haydn –
wrote 104
Mozart wrote 41.
By end of Classical period symphonies c 40
minutes long
subsequently considered to be major
undertakings, substantial works of musical
art.
“symphonic” = something on a creatively
large scale.
The Symphony
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The orchestra of the Classical period had become standardised
Woodwind:
2 flutes
2 oboes
2 clarinets ( a new instrument introduced by Mozart)
2 Bassoons
Brass:
2 or 4 French horns
trumpets - used sparingly at the loudest moments of the first
and last movements
Strings:
violins I and II, Violas, Cellos and double basses. Several on
each part, just like the string orchestra.
Percussion
Usually just timpani
The Symphony
New concepts discussed on the DVD
•Contrary motion
–Harmony parts moving in opposite directions
•Sonata form
–Usually used for first movements
–Exposition: 2 themes in two keys are introduced
–Development Themes are broken up and played by
different sections in different keys
–Recapitulation: themes return in original form but
both in home key
The Symphony
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MOZART SYMPHONY NO 40 in G minor
Towards the end of his life, Mozart's music
becomes more expressive and dramatic,
anticipating the Romantic period
Written in the Summer of 1788, 2 years
before his death his wife was ill and his
daughter Theresia had recently died
There are 4 movements as before:
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Allegro
Andante
Minuet and trio
Finale
The Symphony
First Movement
– uses a simple
motif as a
building block
for the whole
movement
which features
a semitone
(chromatic)
• Classical Concerto
• 3 movements:
– Allegro, ending with a cadenza- a solo section for
the solo instrument, showing off the players skills.
– Slow Movement
– Fast finale usually in Rondo Form:
• Rondo Form:
• The main theme keeps returning or “coming
round” again
Rondo form is used in symphony and sonata movements too.
Famous Concerti- Classical
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Mozart Piano Concerto in C
Mozart Clarinet concerto
Haydn trumpet concerto
Mozart Horn Concerto
Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony
Ode To Joy
Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony
Beethoven’s Symphonies were very
influential:
•He invented the scherzo
•He made Symphonies serious
compositions
•His 5th symphony is also very famous:
His 6th symphony was the first to tell a story
The Pastorale had 5 movements each one musically
describing a scene from the countryside
Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony
Beethoven’s Ninth was unusual in
several ways:
•He placed the scherzo second
•The movements are all linked
more obviously
•The last movement is Choral,
containing the famous tune Ode
To Joy
Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony
The order of Movements:
•Fast
•Scherzo
•Slow
•Choral finale Ode To Joy
Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony
Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony
Written in 1892
during a visit to the
USA
A mixture of nostalgic
Czech style melodies and
some Native American
Indian flavoured music
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony
Order of movements:
Allegro
Largo
Scherzo
Finale
Like Beethoven, in this Symphony
Dvorak uses the some of the same
tunes (themes) in different movements
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Dvorak’s 9th
Symphony
Largo
Played by a brass band,
the main theme from the
Largo was used for the
Hovis advertisements in
the early 1970s
The instrument playing the famous
theme is the cor anglais
A relative of the oboe but sounding a bit
lower
• The notes are
removed from
certain bars
• You need to
write them
back in, after
hearing the
music
• Usually the
missing notes
are a
repetition of
something
already played
• So, you need
to recognise
which bit of
the printed
music is being
played again
Famous Concerti- Romantic
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Beethoven: Emperor Piano Concerto
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2
Rachmaninov Paganini variations
Romantic piano music
• Piano was a very important instrument in the
Romantic period
• Used for solo pieces, Sonatas and “miniatures”
• Used for accompaniment of all other solo
instruments and voice
• Concepts associated with piano
– Speed change:
• Accelerando –making music speed up
• Ritardando/Rallentando/Ritenuto – slowing down
gradually
• Rubato – changing tempo (speed) for expressive effect
• Symphony
Concepts check
– Large, 4 movement work for
orchestra
• Chromatic
– Semitone scale
• Contrary motion
– 2 melodies going in opposite
directions
• Minuet and trio
– 3rd movement of classical
symphony-ternary form 3
beats to the bar, contrasting
“B” section
• Rondo
– ABACAD etc (scooby
sandwich)
• Programme music
– Music which tells a story
• Modulation to
Relative minor
– Change of key to
same key as chord 6
• Scherzo
– Compound time,
faster replacement of
Minuet in the
symphony in the
Romantic period.