MUS100 Exam Listening

Johann Stamitz - Sinfonia a 8 in E-flat Major: First Movement

Era: Classical (eighteenth century)

Genre: symphony

• Larger in scale than Sammartini’s symphonies

• Expanded dynamic range and increased rhythmic activity

• Features the ‘Mannheim Rocket’

  • a musical technique in which a rising figure (a scale or arpeggio) speeded up and grew louder as it rose higher and higher

Joseph Haydn - Symphony 88, First movement

Era: Classical (eighteenth century)

Genre: symphony

• Exemplifies the high classical style

• Features four movements:

I. Allegro (Fast sonata-form movement, with a slow introduction)

II. Andante Moderato (Slow movement)

III. Minuet and trio

IV. Allegro (Fast finale)

Ludwig Van Beethoven - Symphony 3 in E-Flat Major: First Movement

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: symphony

• Originally named “Bonaparte” after Beethoven’s idol Napoleon Bonparte

  • Napoleon crowned himself, Beethoven got mad, named it ‘Sinfonia Eroica’ (heroic symphony) likely after his patron Prince Lobkowitz.

• Prime example of ‘symphonic vastness’ and the sublime

• Emblematic of his heroic style

• Features subject and a narrative (celebrates heroic greatness)

• In sonata form

• First thematic group - reminiscent to a bugle call, heroic in character

Franz Schubert - Erlkonig

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: German Art Song (lieders)

The 3 Lieder forms:

Strophic:

• The most basic form, founded on a repeated patterns (AAAA, etc.)

• The same melody is repeated with each stanza of text

Through-composed:

• Unlike strophic, each stanza/verse is set to new music entirely, proceeding from beginning to end without any repetition of whole sections of music.

Modified Strophic:

• Some verses keep the same music, but others feature different music depending on the needs of the melody.

This specific lieder is THROUGH-COMPOSED

Fanny Mendelssohn - Das Jahr No. 12 “December”

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: piano cycle

• Character pieces which depict the 12 months of the year

Character piece: short works for piano which seek to musically convey or expressive a mood, atmosphere, or scene

Guiseppe Verdi - Nabucco, “Va Pensiero”

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: Risorgimento Opera

• Verdi’s 3rd opera, first success

• Opera is based on biblical themes (enslavement and exile of the Hebrews by the Babylonian King

• Features Risorgimento themes:

  • Patriotism

  • Religion

  • Holy warfare

• Unison chorus and choral numbers - in unison, but not monophonic

Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde, Prelude

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: German Opera

• Embraces Gesamkunstwek (total artwork, oneness)

• Based on a Celtic legend - 2 people falling in love after drinking a love potion

• The Tristan Chord - example of the Wagnerian leitmotive

  • symbolizes the unfulfilled longing of the 2 lovers

  • never reaches a resolution

Leitmotive: a musical theme whose purpose is to represent or symbolize a person, object, place, idea, state of mind, supernatural force, and has a clear symbolic representation within musical work

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique, V. Deam of a Witches' Sabbath

Era: Romantic (nineteenth century)

Genre: programmatic symphony

• Viewed as having inaugurated the era of programmatic Romanticism

• Has 5 parts - all parts unified by idée fixe meant to represent the protagonist’s beloved

• Berlioz wrote this after being rejected by Harriet Smithson (who played Ophelia)

Claude Debussy - Nocturnes No.1. “Nuages”

Era: early twentieth century

Genre: nocturne

• Impressionism

• One movement work of program music for orchestra that conveys a poetic idea, story, scene, etc.

• This one captures the unchanging appearance of the sky with the slow progress of clouds

Arnold Schoenberg - Pierro Lunaire, Op. 21: No.8 “Nacht”

Era: early twentieth century

Genre: melodrama

• melodrama = genre of musical theatre that combined spoken dialogue with background music

• heavily influenced by expressionism

• dissonant musical language, exaggerated musical imagery, use of speech inflections

• feature spechstimme

  • performer approximates the written pitches in the gliding tones of speech while following the notated rhythm

Arnold Schoenberg - Piano Suite, Op. 25: Prelude

Era: early twentieth century

Genre: piano suite

• uses the 12 tone method

  • A method of composing with twelve tones that are related only to one another.

• By using all twelve chromatic tones, the row avoids establishing any kind of tonal centre

Igor Stravinsky - Rite of Spring, Dance of the Adolescent

Era: early twentieth century

Genre: ballet

• exemplifies the marriage between russian folk nationalism with modernism

• very scandalous when first premiered in France

  • due to its ritualistic and 'primitive' qualities

John Cage - Sonata V

Era: late twentieth century

Genre: sonata

• Metal bolts, a piece of rubber, and metal furniture bolts preparations

• Each object creates a different timbre, sound, when the piano key strikes the strings that have been ‘prepared’

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Era: late twentieth century

Genre: minimalism

• example of early minimalism

• musicians divided into 2 groups

  • group 1 - regular + measured

  • group 2 - flexible with time

• very organized structure:

  • intro

  • 12 sections

  • conclusion

Edgard Varèse - Poème Électronique

Era: late twentieth century

Genre: electroacoustic

• music with electronic tech used to generate sound materials (loudspeaker is where the sound is played)

• originally composed for an exhibit sponsored by the Philips Radio Corporation for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair

• Has no score, no time signature, tempo, or metronome markings