Appendix IV: Cultural and Historical Development—Classical to Modern Era
This appendix provides musical, visual, and literary examples that trace the development of art from the
Classical era to early Modernism for more advanced students. There is background information about the
composers, the political climate in which they lived, and the cultural life of their city. The examples are
organized chronologically and give the students an opportunity to see how art movements relate across
media. In addition, the emotions or questions that come up by looking at a painting or poem may help the
students articulate their feelings about the music, which is often a more abstract means of expression.
Artistic and Intellectual Movements in Europe 1750 – 1925
Human society has changed dramatically in the past two hundred years. One of the best ways to track and
learn about the change is through artistic creation and innovation. Up until the 18th century, European
states were ruled by absolute monarchs with strict class separations that prevented virtually anyone at the
bottom of society to advance their position. Thankfully, the end of the 18th century brought the Age of
Enlightenment, a time of great intellectual activity, inquiry, discovery, and experimentation. People came to
believe that the mechanics of everything in nature, even the universe itself, could be understood through
the collection and study of facts. Artists and scientists developed a strong interest in everything having to
do with the world of Ancient Greece.
That ancient world embraced the ideas of balance, harmony, and proportion and served as the model for
Classical values. Rather than emotion, intuition, or faith, reason became the guiding principle behind artistic
and scientific work. Artists sought to create a balance between form and content that expressed a sense of
order, often through the use of geometric shapes and symmetry.
The experience of the enlightenment brought about a growing middle class as well the opportunity for
people of all classes to enjoy good living, modern conveniences, and cultivated artistic taste. With this
growing need and appreciation for artistic output, Haydn and other composers began experimenting with
new instrumental combinations and means of expression. Composers no longer intended their music to be
simple background diversions (divertimenti), but to be examined and appreciated attentively. It was during
this time that genres of string quartet (2 violins, a viola, and a cello) and piano trio (violin, cello,and piano)
were invented and the intellectual musical conversations of chamber music began to take shape.
Due to a variety of political problems and general turmoil, family life and domestic responsibility became the
central components of everyone's life at the time. There was a growing market for books, music, and
concerts as well as gatherings and societies for artists and other intellectuals to express themselves among
those they could trust. It is in this cultural community that Franz Schubert lived and worked. Much of his
chamber music, piano solos, and lieder were written with the intent of home performance and instruction for
amateur musicians. Having been raised in the classical tradition, Schubert's music contains balanced and
symmetrical forms while beginning to develop new artistic values which will lead into the Romantic period.
Personal freedom and emotional expression would soon take precedence over form and balance.
With all of the scientific enlightenment, major industrialization, and political unrest of this period, artists
began to develop a more personal and highly emotional style. After using science and reason to explain the
world, people turned to mysticism, spirituality, and personal attachments. Composers expanded their
concepts of musical forms and harmonies and turned to medieval chivalric tales and autobiographical
experiences for inspiration. During this time, national identity also became more important, giving voice to
experiences and emotional qualities for people of a common cultural background. In the German musical
tradition, Beethoven and Schubert transition us into the Romantic style which peaks in the later 19th
century in the music dramas of Richard Wagner.
By the end of the 19th century, the most popular form of music in Vienna was the waltz, a style that
represented high aristocratic culture and a desire for fun social gatherings. In more intellectual pursuits, the
artistic community of Vienna was searching for a way to extend the Romantic tradition and advance into the
20th Century. Arnold Schoenberg was the man that drew the German classical tradition into the 20th
Century by pushing tonal harmony past the limits of Wagner and Liszt and eventually into the realm of
atonal and serialist music. In visual arts these advances came about through Impressionism, Cubism, and
eventually fully abstract painting.
Anton Webern was one of Schoenberg's most prominent students who began composing in the hyper
Romantic and advanced tonal style that can be heard in the Langsamer Satz. This piece is his first virtuoso
chamber work and shows a connection to the highly developed string quartet tradition while pushing the
boundaries of tonal harmony. As Webern developed his style, he scaled back from the large ensembles
and forms of the Romantic period and distilled the emotions to create miniature pieces of a more abstract
nature. The Five Pieces for String Quartet are an example of this expressionist style in which grand
emotions are expressed in short outbursts and sweet lyrical lines. Rather than trying to fit his musical ideas
into a prescribed form, Webern used all of the notes and techniques at his disposal to craft unique personal
expressions with a variety of colors and harmonies.
Discussion Questions
The examples featured here come from the classical, romantic, Biedermeie, impressionist, expressionist,
and cubist artistic movements. The goal of the questions is to help students find the relationship and
influence of different artists even when they are working with different modes of expression.
What does something “Classical” look like?
symmetry, order, geometric shapes, ancient greek scenes
Where does our idea of “Classicism” come from?
Ancient greeks, parthenon, greek plays, early discoveries in science and math
Painting 1: Parnassus, 1760, Anton Raphael Mengs, German
Do you see classical elements in this painting?
What is the subject of the painting?
Apollo and the muses in natural setting
mythological characters, non-human, grand view of nature
Does this painting give you a strong emotional reaction?
Do you relate to the characters or the action?
no, but we can see the order and logic that makes it aesthetically appealing even if
we do not connect emotionally
What does “Classical” sound like?
major/minor tonality, 4 or 8 bar phrases, strong cadences, strict forms
MUSIC EXAMPLE A: Haydn String Quartet, Op. 75, No. 6
How does this piece fit into the classical style?
repeating phrases, “normal” sounding harmonies, set forms
Do you feel strong emotions in this piece?
Does this piece sound like background music or something you need to focus on to appreciate?
What does the word “Romantic” mean?
love, heros, life and death, mythology, stories, discovering nature
Painting 2: The Raft of Medusa, 1819, Theodore Gericault, French
What do you see in this painting?
People on a raft, in a storm, nature over takes man, humans struggling for survival
Do you feel any connection to the people in the image?
It shows pain and struggle, emotions that people can identify with, not gods
Poem 1: Faust, 1808, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
This is an excerpt from the last scene of Faust, a long epic poem based on a German legend, in which a
man goes to extraordinary means to achieve his personal goals.
As the rocky chasm at my feet
On the deep abyss weighs at rest,
As a thousand gleaming streams flow
To the terrible plunge of the flood’s foam, As with its own great strength
The trunk is born up into the air So is almighty Love
That forms all, preserves all.
There is about me a wild rushing, As if forest and rocky ground shook, And yet there rose, in lovely sound,
The waters to the abyss,
Called as it were to water the valley;
The lightning that flaming struck
To clear the atmosphere,
Took the poison and vapour in its bosom - They are Love’s messengers, they tell What ever-creating
surrounds us.
My inner being it too must charm Where the spirit, confused, cold, Tormented in the limits of dull senses,
Feels the sharp pain of chains.
O God! Quieten my thoughts, Bring light to my needy heart!
What are subjects and feelings in the Faust excerpt?
Intense emotions, love and loss, the strength of nature, exclamations to God
What is an allegory?
Can this grand tale with exaggerate emotions and mythical characters be used to teach lessons to people
in everyday life?
by seeing what happens to the main character we can learn about how we should act and what we
can do as humans without supernatural help
MUSIC EXAMPLE B: Langsamer Satz, 1905, Anton Webern, Austrian
This piece represents a high romantic style during the transition to Modernism
How does this piece differ from Haydn?
sounds more complicated, wider range of dynamics and emotions, more fluid tempo
What emotions come up for you during this piece?
How does it relate to the excerpt from Faust or the Gericault painting?
it shows human emotions taken to an extreme, the height of passion and feelings
Do the musical phrases surprise you or meet your expectations?
Are the phrases all the same length? Is the harmony very chromatic?
The Metternicht Era was a time of spying and secrecy so people spent a lot of time at home with their
family. If you and your family had to spend most of your time at home without going out a lot, what would
you do? Would your family get along? What would you talk about? What kind of music would people want
for playing in the home?
Chamber music, lieder, pieces for children, solo piano
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Painting 3: Christmas Morning, 1844, Ferdinand George Waldmuller, Austrian
What do you see in the Waldmuller painting?
Biedermeier art takes us more into the realm of real life people and home activities.
Portraits of the middle class and scenes of peasants in the countryside.
Real people and scenes not grand emotions or allegorical images
Are people outwardly expressing their emotions?
Everything is kept hidden during this time, including emotions.
The people in the painting are at home in a pleasant holiday spirit
MUSIC EXAMPLE C: Schubert, String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, I. Allegro molto moderato
How does Schubert incorporate aspects of Classical enlightenment, Romantic passions, and Biedermeier
intimacy?
classical forms and phrase structure, romantic harmonies and dynamic range, a quiet chamber
group that could play in a home
Where do you imagine this piece being performed? Big concert hall? Someone's home?
Do you feel a greater range of emotions than in Haydn?
Are there surprises in this piece? Or does it always go where you expect?
Based on the elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, phrasing, dynamics) does this piece fit more
into the classical or romantic style? Why?
Schubert was transitional, there is no technically correct period to place him in, but he is generally
considered a Romantic composer
In the end of the 19th century, painters in France were beginning the transition to Modernism in a movement
known as Impressionism. During this time, music was in its high Romantic style and would transition to
Modern techniques later than painting.
Painting 4: Woman with a Parasol, 1875, Claude Monet, French
Painting 5: Basket of Apples, 1895, Paul Cezanne, French
What main differences do you see in Monet's painting compared to earlier paintings?
Not realistic, see brushstrokes, variety of colors, different angles of light,
personality of the artist, different perspectives
What are the subjects of these paintings?
Nothing special, a woman in a field, still life
What do you think about when looking at these paintings?
Do you feel an emotional connection to these paintings?
can't relate emotionally to the subject but there is an overall effect
Are you seeing Cezanne’s basket of fruit exactly as he saw it?
No, it is about changing perspective, light coming from different angles, an overall
"impression"
Poem 2: The Throw of the Dice (excerpt), 1897, Stephane Mallarme, French
What do you see in Mallarme's poem?
Liberating language from form, blank space, free verse, graphic design
What happens to individual words in this form?
Each word is a symbol and takes on a lot of meaning
In this excerpt human and nature come together
How does this poem relate to the impressionist paintings?
not presenting words exactly in their meaning, like the paintings not showing a realistic depiction
How is this poem different from Faust?
It is not telling a whole story, it is about specific ideas
Painting 6: Improvisation (Dreamy), 1913, Wassily Kandinsky, Russian
This painting shows the beginning of complete abstraction in the visual arts and is part of the abstract
expressionist movement.
What do you see in this painting?
What is improvisation?
How is the artist expressing himself?
Showing his emotions through color and shape, not by depicting a specific image
Why would someone paint something abstract?
To express emotions without confining them to a specific form
Painting 7: Guitar Player, 1910, Pablo Picasso, Spanish
What do you see in this painting?
If this is a guitar player, what has Picasso done to the image?
Broken it down into small pieces and put them together without matching,
intersecting planes and images
Does this painting look technical? Mathematical? Emotional?
Picasso knew exactly what he was doing and could draw realistic images before
deconstructing them
What does this painting borrow from Impressionist paintings? From Classical and Romantic paintings?
From Kandinsky?
Poem 3: 9., E. E. Cummings, American
there are so many tictoc
clocks everywhere telling people
what toctic time it is for
tictic instance five toc minutes toc
past six tic
Spring is not regulated and does
not get out of order nor do
its hands a little jerking move
over numbers slowly
we do not
wind it up it has no weights
springs wheels inside of
its slender self no indeed dear
nothing of the kind.
(So,when kiss Spring comes
we'll kiss each kiss other on kiss the kiss
lips because tic clocks toc don't make
a toctic difference
to kisskiss you and to
kiss me)
What is Cummings doing in his poem?
Playing with words, breaking up sentences, putting words out of order, no
punctuation
What is Cummings expressing?
Clocks are mechanical and can symbolize modern life
they also represent time moving forward constantly
love is universal and has been around for all of time and still impacts people
How does this poem relate to the Picasso painting?
Repetition of words, putting things out of order, talking about one idea and not telling a story
MUSIC EXAMPLE D: Five Pieces for String Quartet, 1909, Anton Webern, Austrian
What painting and poem would you relate this to?
Does it feel like improvisation?
Is there a wide range of emotions?
Does it flow logically or does it seem randomly assembled?
Does this piece follow the rules of tonal harmony?
What musical elements does it have in common with Classical and Romantic music?
Conclusion
By looking at these examples we can see the styles of art flow from one period to another. Classical
structure and form gave way to a greater freedom and expression in the Romantic period. Impressionists
took away strict forms and changed the context of melody and harmony, color and light. This gave way to
Modernism which includes complete abstraction, improvisation, and fluid expression without the need to
adhere to tradition. As the 20th century progressed artists took abstraction even further and then started
looking back to the tradition to create something new. Contemporary artists and composers combine many
different styles to create unique works that don’t necessarily fit into a specific category.
The City of Vienna
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During the Enlightenment the Austo-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire had become a sort of melting pot,
attracting a variety of the nobility of Central and Eastern Europe. Such diversity of wealthy patrons had a
great impact on the empire's cultural life, earning special distinction through music in the capital city of
Vienna.
As the 19th Century moved on, the population of Vienna grew rapidly resulting in overcrowding, bad
sanitation, declining standards of living, and increased poverty. This was also a time of political unrest,
frequent wars, and the redrawing of national boundaries in Europe. Vienna became a place of government
censorship and artistic repression in the name of protecting the state. Corruption reigned throughout the
government and neighbors spied on each other in hopes of gaining valuable information. As a result of the
secrecy and deceit, the middle class retreated into their homes for much of the first half of the century.
Artists in the dirty and crowded city began to idealize rural life for its simplicity and lack of corruption,
creating works that expressed this simple pastoral experience. The worsening of living conditions also
made death and disease such a common experience and frequent subject for artists.
By the end of the 19th Century Vienna was growing rapidly as the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In 1857 the city walls were razed to give way for the Ringstasse, a street that circles the City Centre with
theaters, museums, government buildings, and the university. The city boundaries expanded and by 1910
the city reached its largest population in its history.
The waltz was the ultimate musical representation of Vienna at this time, symbolizing the love of high
culture and the desire for enjoying life. During the beginning of the 20th Century technology and music
were progressing quickly and the Viennese were wary of change that would alter their rich cultural tradition.
In the visual arts a movement grew called the Secession whose members took influence from the French
Impressionists and literally seceded from the Academy if Art. These artists wanted to be free to create
without the constrains of a strict tradition.
In music, composers were hearing new styles such as jazz, gamelan, and Impressionism and were forced
to question the classical tradition that originated in Vienna. Arnold Schoenberg developed his serialist
method of composition as a way to continue the tradition of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms while still
moving forward into the 20th Century. To this day the people of Vienna remain rooted in their musical
tradition while experimenting with different methods of innovation.
Vienna and the Bay Area:
Vienna became an important cultural center in the world for many reasons. It was the political Capitol of a
large empire and is still an important center for politics and international relations. Through the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th century people immigrated to Vienna from all over Europe making it a melting
pot of culture and ideas. Similarly, the San Francisco Bay Area has had large influxes of immigrants
bringing a variety of cultures and new ideas. Combined with its location on the coast and its beautiful
natural surroundings the Bay Area melting pot has become a major cultural hub in the United States and
the world.
Between 1880 and 1910 the population of Vienna and its surrounding area more than doubled. Similarly,
the population of the San Francisco Bay Area has doubled in the last fifty years.
How does such a population increase contribute to a significant musical and artistic output?
What do new immigrants bring to a city's cultural life?
Early 20th century Vienna gave us artistic and musical innovation as well we scientific theories on
psychology and sociology. What contributions has the Bay Area made to the world in the past thirty years?