Bellringer
Answer the following
questions for the image seen
on the right.
1) Name this artwork.
2) Name the Artist
3) What is happening in this
painting? Why is it
significant?
Bellringer-
1) The Death of Marat
2) by Jacques Louis David
3) Journalist in bathtub, sent hundreds to the guillotine,
Charlotte Corday wanted to save her country, stabbed
Marat to end Reign of Terror
The Classical EraClassical Music
BEAUTY IS FOUND IN ORDER AND SYMMETRY
1750-1825
Copyright © 2005 - Frankel Consulting Services, Inc.
Classical Music
Baroque music was too religious and dramatic.
Distinguished by the growth of popular audience for serious
music.
Vienna, Austria was the center of classical music
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As public concerts became more popular in the 18th century, the average
person’s experience with and appreciation for music increased.
Adopted Neoclassical ideals of order, symmetry and
equality (sort of)
Composers gained fame by reshaping old forms like the
concerto and establishing new forms (symphony)
Classical Music
Patronage
Often commissioned by aristocratic EVERYDAY
families, rather than royalty or nobility
 Supported themselves by offering music lessons,
printing books of instruction, and writing simple pieces
to be played at home
 Not as rich, but free in composition
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http://oboeclassics.com/~oboe3583/ambache/wMartinez.htm
Classical Music
Women
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Made music in the home
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to entertain families, suitors, and close friends
Traditional instrument in the home:
Harpsichord
 Professional Musicians for the first
time:
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Marianna Martinez (1744-1812)
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Studied with Haydn
Full length works earned her acclaim
Classical Music
Characteristics: References to Greco-Roman Art, clarity of form,
balanced design, emotional restraint
How did music change?
Form: order, symmetry, clarity
 Timbre: New/more instruments = more instrumental
music
 Texture: Polyphony gives way to Homophony
 Melody: distinct patterns and duality
 Dynamics: Changes more subtle and dramatic
 Types: sonata, string quartet, symphony, overture.
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Symphony
Four parts that follow a predictable pattern
An extended work for orchestra - 20 - 40 min. in length.
Characteristics of Form:
 First Movement: Allegro-Dramatic
 Uses the sonata-allegro form
 Second Movement: Adagio/Andante- Reflective
 Theme and variation/rondo/sonata-allegro
 Third Movement: Moderato (popular dance)- Stately and Elegant
 Minuet/trio (ABA)
 Fourth Movement: Allegro- Happy
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Sonata-allegro form
The Sonata
This word is used in two different ways:
A one-movement piece for a solo instrument,
usually accompanied by a piano
Sonata allegro form (first movement of a
symphony)Exposition
 Introduces themes
 Development
 Modifies themes
 Recapitulation
 Returns to the main theme
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The String Quartet
A composition for four solo string
instruments:
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2 Violins
1 Viola
1 Cello
Each part is equally important.
Haydn was the first to write one - he also
mastered them.
Piece usually has four movements similar to
that of the symphonic form.
Opera
Opera is a combination of music, drama, scenery,
costumes, dance, etc., to create a complete art form.
During this period and the one that followed that
most of the most famous operas were written including:
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The Magic Flute
The Marriage of Figaro
Don Giovanni
 Mozart
Instruments of the Classical
Period
Modern Flute
Clarinet
French Horn
Valved Trumpet
Trombone
Percussion
Piano
Famous Classical Composers
Haydn
Mozart
Beethoven
Franz Joseph Haydn1732-1809
-Court musician for Prince Esterhazy for 30
years
-When Esterhazy died in 1790, son
disbanded orchestra.
-Moved from Vienna to England in 1791
-Received at Royal Court
-Awarded an honorary doctorate at Oxford
-Began to receive financial benefits
-Here he wrote “London Symphonies”
-“Papa Haydn”
-Basic form of sonata, symphony, and
string quartet
-Wrote more than 100 symphonies
HaydnSurprise Symphony
Characteristics of music:
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clarity, balance, restraint
Set guidelines for classical style
while adapting to patron’s needs
Transition from court to public
music
- Song to Identify :
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Surprise Symphony
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart1756-1791
-Born and raised in Salzburg
-Father was first music teacher
-Child prodigy
-Played the violin and piano at the AGE OF FIVE!!!!
-As an adult
-Suffered from depression and
illness
-Difficult time securing an income
-Wrote more than 600 works
-41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos,
nine concertos
-Died at 35 in serious debt
Mozart- Requiem Mass
-Characteristics of Work:
-Combination of German and Italian
styles
-Shows a wide range of emotions
-Wrote some of the most famous
operas, still performed A LOT:
-The Marriage of Figaro
-The Magic Flute
-Don Giovanni
-Song to Identify :
- Requiem Mass-Lacrimosa
- Composed: 1791 (In Vienna)
- Most enigmatic pieces of music ever
composed, unfinished before Mozart’s death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2muDZksP4
Ludwig Von Beethoven
1770-1827
Ludwig Von Beethoven
1770-1827
Born and raised in Bonn, Germany
 Had to practice late at night for a drunken father
 21- moved to Vienna and remained there
Known as prodigy on piano and his improvisational skills
Innovative and creative composer:
 Changes music from being a function of objective laws to music
that expresses one’s inner feelings
Supported himself solely through composing and performing his
music
1800: starts going deaf/1815- mostly deaf
Nearly commits suicide (1802- Heiligenstadt testament)
Beethoven
Characteristics of Work:
 32 sonatas, nine symphonies
 Tension between Classical and Romantic
 Three periods
 Until 1802: Classical style
 Stuck to Haydn’s rules
 Middle Period (1803-14): “Heroic Phase”
 Works are more dramatic, longer, stretch
Classical form
 Compositions modulate between gentile and
appealing melodies and dynamic and forceful
writing*
 Final Period (1815-1827)
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New music territory and spiritual profundity
Beethoven- Moonlight Sonata
Composed: 1801
Form: Sonata (piano)
* does not follow the traditional
sonata pattern
Additional information:
- Three movements:
Adagio sostenuto: written in truncated sonata form
where the melody is played mostly by the right hand.
- Pianissimo to mezzo-forte.
Allegretto: is a relatively conventional minuet and
trio; a moment of relative calm written in D-flat
major.
Presto agitato: The stormy final movement (C-sharp
minor), in sonata form, is the weightiest of the three
Classical Composers Activity
Composers Assignments:
Assignment One: Mind Map
 Assignment Two: Sensory Figure

Complete one and two on any composer of
your choice. Write a summarizing statement
of how the composer you left out relates to
the others.
Conclusions
Most of the most famous composers in
history come from this era.
By 1825, the modern orchestra was almost
fully in place (except for the tuba and low
woodwinds).
It was during this era that many of the most
famous pieces of music were written,
including symphonies and operas.
Exit Slip
On Opener, Article Sheet
1) Name one fact (composer) and one characteristic (music) of the
following composers: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
2) Listening Quiz: composer and song title
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