Music History II

strophic form

typically one note per syllable. Text was meant to be heard. All verses or stanzas are repeated music material

modified strophic

music repeats for some strophs but others vary it or use new music

through composed

composed throughout, as when each stanza or other unit of a poem is set to new music rather than strophic.

character piece

a piece of characteristic music (ex. Schumann Carnaval)

concert etude

piece to develop skill and technique. concert if contained artistic content. (Ex. Chopin’s 27 Etudes)

Mazurka

Polish/Ballroom dance in Triple meter. Accent on 2 or 3. dotted note on 1.

Nocturne

Piano piece. short. highly embellished melody. evocative of the night.

Ballad

long narrative poem or musical setting of such poem. German poetic form imitating england/scotland. expanded lied in form and content. (Ex. Erlkonig)

Waltz

couple dance in triple meter. often stylized by piano piece. Johann Strauss was the Waltz King.

Polonaise

Polish processional dance in triple meter. Think Chopin.

Part Song

(1) song for more than one voice. (2) song for chorus. Parallel in function to style of lied. Unaccompanied. (Ex. Schubert Die Nacht)

Symphonic Poem

LISZT term for a single movement program work. orchestra piece for poetic idea, story, scene, etc.

Opera comique

FRENCH comic opera. used spoken dialogue. No recitatives. (Ex. Carmen by Rossini)

Tone Poem

STRAUSS Same as Symphonic Poem. (Ex. Death and Transfiguration)

Furiant

Fast Bohemian/Czech dance. alternating 2/4 and 3/4. (Ex. Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances)

Chaconne/passacaglia

Variations over basso continuo (Ex Brahms Fourth Symphony Finale)

Romanticism

music of the nineteenth century that is looser and more extended forms. more experimentation and nationalism lied

Lied

song with German words. monophonic or polyphonic or with piano accompaniment.

programatic music

music that has a story or narrative or sequence of events.

virtuoso

instrument specialist. Prodigy.

Absolute Music

music independent of words, drama or any kind of representational aspects. (MENDELSSOHN)

Organicism

concept that pieces should be organic

Rubato

technique where performer holds back or speeds up. stolen time.

transcription

arrangement of a piece for a separate medium than the original writing

Idee Fixe

Berlioz term for a reoccurring theme.

Recital

FRANZ LISZT solo piano performance term. now modern term for any performance by a soloist or small group.

Neve Zeitschrift fur Musik

Robert Schumann “New Musical Times”

Song Cycle

Group of songs in a sequence that tells or suggests a story.

Conductor

person who leads a performance by gestures

choral society

amateur chorus who sings for fun and pays dues.

nationalism

musical but of embracing elements in music that claimed national identity.

exoticism

19th century technique of writing music about foreign lands and cultures. (Ex. Madame Butterfly)

Scena

First section of an aria or ensemble usually in a recitative accompanied by orchestra

Caballetta

last part of an Aria or Ensemble. Lively and Brilliant. Usually a discovery is made or decision.

Tempo D’Attacco

opening section for duets or ensemble After the Scena and before the Cantabile.

Melodrama

WEBER passage of character speaking with musical accompaniment

Bel Canto

Beautiful singing.

Cantabile

Slow and expressive section after the scene in a solo or after the tempo d’ attacco in a duet or ensemble.

tempo di mezzo

structure in opera that is the middle section. changes tempo, modulates, and is usually an interruption or transition. Before the Caballetta.

Tristan Chord

chord used by WAGNER for plot development. DOES NOT RESOLVE.

realism

19th century movement of depicting real life and common people in art.

lyric poem

poem that is written for the purpose of being musically developed into a song or lied.

Florestan

Schumann’s imaginary character that represents his passionate and manic side.

Eusebius

Schumann’s imaginary character that represents his quiet, moody, and poetic side.

Cavatina

Short aria that refrains from repeated sections.

The Ring Cycle

Four dramas written by Wagner that were sequenced over four nights of performances. Represented German nationalism and culture.

Gesamtkunstwerk

WAGNER’S belief in total oneness of arts. created by one person in a singular idea.

developing variation

SCHOENBERG’S term for constant building on germinal ideas. inspired by Brahms’s technique in his piano quintet.

whole tone scale

scale that uses only whole steps. creates a dreamy sound. RIMSKY-KORSOKOV

New German School

Term created by Franz Brendel to group the newest developing composers. Included Wagner, Liszt, and Berlioz. German in spirit.

Dies Irae

Musical Symbol for death. ex. Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique

Patter

comedic, syllabic, fast paced singing in opera.

Industrial revolution

technological revolution that began in the late 18th century. changed ways of life in Europe.

Franz Schubert

(1797-1828) Lived in Vienna. Master of the romantic Lied and prolific composer in all genres. Studied under Salieri. Trout Quintet, Death and the Maiden, Gretchen am spinnrade, Erlkonig.

Robert Schumann

(1810-1856) Concert pianist and composer. After injury, turned to composition and criticism. Created the New Journal of Music. Many Mental Health issues. Carnaval, Album for the Young, Dichterliebe

Clara Schumann

(1819-1896) Distinguished pianist and composer. Child Prodigy. Continued to compose despite being a woman. Piano Trio, Op.17.

Felix Mendelssohn

(1809-1847) renowned pianist. organist, conductor, and composer. Believed that music did not need lyrics or titles to have meaning. Music has the ability to express things that cannot be expressed with words. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Violin Concerto, many chamber works.

Fanny Hensel

(1805-1847) Skilled pianist and composer. performed and composed in private. Married a Prussian court painter.

Fryderyk Chopin

(1810-1849) Polish Pianist and Composer. Was a private teacher. Composed almost only piano music. strong ties with Poland. Ballades, Scherzos, Nocturnes, Etudes, Preludes, Mazurkas, Waltzes, Polonaises, etc.

Franz Liszt

(1811-1886) Hungarian Piano Virtuoso and composer. Teacher that created the master class. several affairs. Hungarian Rhapsodies, Album d’un voyageur, Les Preludes, Faust Symphony.

Nicolo Paganini

(1782-1840) Italian Violinist Virtuoso. Inspired Liszt to accomplish similar things on the piano.

Hector Berlioz

(1803-1869) French composer. self taught composition but started learning in Rome. Fell in love with Harriet Smithson and wrote Symphonie fantastique about her.

Gioachino Rossini

(1792-1868) Italian composer of opera. Created new ways to do opera. The Barber of Seville, William tell.

Vincenzo Bellini

(1801-1835) Italian Opera composer. Wrote more serious operas. more prominent after Rossini retirement.

Gaetano Donizetti

(1797-1848) Italian Opera Composer. Composed oratorios cantatas, chamber and church music. Anna Boolean, Lucia di Lammermoor, and L’elisir d’amore.

C. M. von Weber

(1786-1826) German opera composer. created Der Freischutz which established Romantic German Opera. Involved regular people along with supernatural forces.

Giuseppe Verdi

(1813-1901) Italian Opera Writer and political activist. 26 operas. Nabucco, Macbeth, La Traviata, Aida, Otello, etc.

Giacomo Puccini

(1858-1924) Italian Opera Composer. Expert in Exoticism. Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Gianna Schicchi, La Boheme.

Richard Wagner

(1813-1883) German Composer. Believed in absolute oneness of drama and music. Racist. Hardcore Nationalist. The Flying Dutchman, The Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde, etc.

Georges Bizet

(1838-1875) French Opera composer. Combined realism and exoticism. Carmen, Les Pecheurs de perles, etc.

Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov

The mighty five

Mily Balakirev

(1837-1910) Russian composer within the “mighty five”. Only one with conventional training. Wrote very little, but taught the rest many things.

Aleksander Borodin

Russian composer in the Mighty Five. Was a Chemist by profession. Wrote a four act opera titled Prince Igor. Wrote two contrasting styles that represented Russians and Polovtsians.

Modest Musorgsky

(1839-1881) Russian part of the “mighty five”. Successfully portrayed realism and nationalism in compositions. Created Boris Godunov and Pictures at an Exhibition. Think of Whole-Tone scale.

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

(1844-1908) Russian Composer in the “mighty five”. Studied with Balakirev and had a career in the Russian Navy. Became a professor at the St. Petersburg conservatory. Wrote a manual on orchestration. Nationalist (Russian Easter Overture) and exotic (Scheherazade).

Cesar Cui

(1835-1918) Russian Composer in the “mighty five”. Composed 14 operas.

Antonin Dvorak

(1841-1904) Bohemian Composer. In Bohemia, known for nationalist and operatic compositions (Slavonic Dances). Known for instrumental music outside Czech areas (Ex. Symphony no. 9) Came to America to teach how to compose American music.

Johannes Brahms

(1833-1897) German Composer that lead in every field but opera. Dubbed as the next Beethoven. He was supported by the Schumann's'. Used metric ambiguity to clash simultaneous triple and duple divisions of the beat. Blended new and old concepts.

Richard Strauss

(1864-1949) German composer and conductor. Known for his tone poems. Dubbed the Waltz King. Don Juan, Don Quixote, Macbeth, Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788-1860) Philosopher who argued that music was the one art that embodied the deepest reality of all human experience. WAGNER INFLUENCE

E. T. A. Hoffmann

(1776-1822) Music Critic that believed that instrumental music was the premier mode of artistic expression.