UOM Test 3 - Classical + Romanticism

Classical Period (1750-1825)

Musical Characteristics

The American and French Revolutions, and the Napoleonic Wars

Vienna

Patronage System v. Free-Lance System

Musical Characteristics: Universal, noble/pure, expressive within bounds (of "good” taste + in the eyes of intellectuals), natural, sings well 

The American (George III) and French Revolutions (Shattered Power of French Monarchy): increased nationalism, Napoleonic Wars: Beethoven dedicated Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon but rededicated it to fallen heroes after Napoleon declared himself the emperor of France

Vienna: music center for Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

Patronage System v. Free-Lance System

Haydn: Symphony Number 56, in C Major

Classical

Symphony - Sonata Form (Exposition, Development, Recapitulation, [Coda])

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Early

Middle

Late

Early: In the style of Haydn and Mozart

Middle: “Heroic,” such as Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”

Late: "Spiritual,” (or introspective) such as Piano Sonata No. 31

Beethoven: Symphony Number 3, in Eb Major, Op. 55

Classical (w/ a mix of Romanticism), uses classical devices (ex. fugato) for non-classical ends

Symphony - Sonata Form

Hemiolas: when rhythms work at cross-purposes with the prevailing meter (triple-meter starts to sound as though it is in duple meter)

Fermata 

Coda - functioned as a second development section

Beethoven embodied the heroic through following stormy, turbulent passages with triumphant, noble themes.

1st movement: sonata form

2nd movement: funeral march

3rd movement: minuet into a scherzo (joke)

4th movement: fugues (episodes + coda)

Beethoven: Piano Sonata Number 31, in Ab Major, Op. 110

Classical (w/ a mix of Romanticism) 

Piano - Sonata Form

Arpeggio: notes of a chord played in succession, either ascending or descending

Embodies Romantic Period due to deeply personal emotional expression, freer and more expressive treatment of classical forms, song-like lyricism, + spirtually charged journey from lament to triumphant fugue. 

Romantic Period (1820-1900)

Definition

Musical Characteristics 

The Artist and the Public (“Bohemian Existence”)

Definition: A certain, unexpressible something - unexplainable

Musical Characteristics: Individual feeling, self-expression, passion, excess, love of nature + literature, fascination with the unknown - esp. the mystery and power of evil in the world (Faust Legend), pursuit of the unattainable, self-styled genius vs. social convention

Romantics celebrated martyrs to the religions of art, those who died young for having been misunderstood or adhering too closely to their ideals and uncompromising genius

Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade

Romantic

Art Song/Lied (German for song, Lieder is the plural): the musical setting of a poem, usually performed by solo voice and piano, in which the performers contribute significantly to the artistic effect of the poetry. 

Miniature Composition

Strophic Treatment: repetitive stanzas

Faust Legend: greed, selling the soul to the devil in exchange for worldly pleasure

R. Schumann: Waldesgesprach (“Forest Conversation”)

Romantic

Art Song/Lied

Miniature Composition

Through-Composed (with an intro + coda): non-repetitive stanzas

C. Schumann: Fugitive Piece No. 1

Romantic

Piano (solo)

Miniature Composition

Character piece: a piece meant to capture a single mood or atmosphere (intuitive compared to program music which has a specific program provided by the composer)

ABA Form w/ small-scale variation

Chopin: Nocturne in F-sharp

Romantic

Piano (solo)

Miniature Composition

Virtuosic

Rubato (“Robbed” time): the free treatment of meter in performance

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

Romantic

Symphony

Grandiose Composition (many musicians, five movements)

Program Music: program provided by the composer

Idée fixe theme: Harriet Smithson

Dies irae (“Day of Wrath”): Gregorian chant from requiem Mass

Witches motifs, etc. execution after believing he killed his wife (good vs. evil, life after death

Bellini: Norma, Act I, scene 4

Romantic

Opera

Bel Canto Style (“Beautiful Song” - extreme grace)

Two-tempo aria: three-tempo work, each section allows the singer to embrace a distinct affect

Banda: a group of instrumentalists who appear on stage forming part of the action

Bellini followed “Code Rossini” using arias w/ long melismas before cadence points and wrote 10 serious operas for the soprano, Giuditta Pasta. 

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelung, Die Walküre

Romantic

Musical Drama: a type of opera in which music and drama are fused together into one continuous flow, avoiding separate “numbers” (seamlessness), using leitmotifs (short musical ideas linked with a person, emotion, etc.) + integrated orchestra

Grandiose Composition (power and stamina)

Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork): the fusion of all the arts at their highest perfection (music, poetry, drama, staging, + visual design)

Will (underlying reality - emotions + drives) vs. Appearance (reality - ideas, morals, and reasons)

Linear Chromatic Harmony: polyphonic lines that create harmony w/ pitches outside, moving chromatically. Creates a yearning sensation that suggests an urgent but frustrated search for stability

Music of the Future: art is seen as a philosophical + spiritual experience, breaking traditional boundaries (followed by Wagner) vs. Nationalism: art is used to express national pride + cultural identity 

• Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, steals gold from the Rhine maidens and forges the ring, cursing it so that it will bring death and betrayal.

• The gods, led by Wotan, desire the ring to consolidate their power, but their schemes and manipulations set the stage for tragedy.

• Siegfried, a heroic mortal, becomes the central figure who gains the ring, defeats dragons, and wins the valkyrie Brünnhilde.

• Hagen, Alberich’s son, schemes to seize the ring for himself. He manipulates Gunther and Gutrune, using a magic potion to make Siegfried vulnerable.

• Siegfried is betrayed and killed by Hagen during a hunt, fulfilling the curse.

• Brünnhilde, realizing the destruction caused by the ring and the gods’ corruption, rides into Siegfried’s funeral pyre. She returns the ring to the Rhine maidens.

• Her act triggers the destruction of Valhalla and the gods, symbolizing the collapse of the old world built on greed and power, and clearing the way for a new, morally renewed world.