Musicianship quiz 5

Romantic/Romanticism

The Western Art Music time period from roughly 1830 X number of years to about 1910 X number of years. For convenience, we are defining it as starting in 1830, which is late, but it approximates the death of Beethoven in 1827, so it's a nice musical mnemonic. One can—and many do—define the end of the Classical as anywhere from 10-20 years earlier, but we can be comfortable that it has definitely run its course by 1830 and we are definitely in the Romantic. On the other end, we use 1910, again for convenience.

Lied

German for song. A song with text in German, usually with piano accompaniment. This genre develops before the Romantic, but interest in lieder (plural) explodes during the time frame. Schubert wrote over 600, Schumann over 250, Brahms 200, etc. Lied is a specific type of art song, which, today, we think of as a song composed for its artistic merit v. popular appeal (in terms of audience).

song cycle

A collection of songs that are thematically related, that tell a story, or that otherwise for a single musical and poetic entity, as opposed to individual songs. Romantic composers like Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin (1823) and Winterreise (1827), and Schumann, Frauen Liebe und Leben and Dichterliebe (both 1840) compose important cycles.

program music

Music that seeks to portray physical actions, objects, or scenes in a narrative manner without the use of words. Music that tells a story through music. I.e., we're supposed to understand, rather than speculate about, what the music is representing. (contrast with absolute music)

absolute music

Music that is free of any association with a text or other extramusical idea such as a descriptive or pictorial "program." (contrast with program music)

Interlude/Intermezzo

A general term for music played or sung between the main parts of either a musical work or, occasionally, a non-musical event.

prelude

Literally, "to play before." Often the introductory movement to a suite or to a more involved section such as a fugue. In the 19th century the term came increasingly to be applied to the suggestive, mood-setting introductions that took the place of full-blown opera overtures and also to freestanding keyboard works, which were not as a prelude to anything, but often self- contained pieces with their own points of interest. (Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, and Debussy all composed important keyb

letifmotif

A musical representation of a specific object, person, or idea in a descriptive piece such as an opera, symphonic poem, or movie score, which is used not only as a thematic tag (indicating the object/person/idea in question) but as a substantive element of the overall musical discourse.

chromatic

In tonal music, a passage or piece characterized by the use of notes not belonging to the diatonic major or minor scale. By introducing notes that are outside of the given key, thereby destabilizing it, chromaticism has a tendency to produce a feeling of urgency, poignancy, and unrest. It has been a feature of expression within tonal music long time (to the foundations of the concept), but is taken to great extremes as we reach the end of the Romantic.

piano quartet

Chamber music featuring piano and three other instrument, often violin, viola, quartet)

nocturne

A piece suggesting night, usually quiet and meditative in character, but not invariably so. In the 19th century, it is often for piano, with composers like John Field (Irish) followed by Chopin (Polish) and others as the chief developers of the genre.

rubato

Musical directive referring to phrasing that involves a departure, for expressive purposes, the precise notated rhythm without a disturbance of the pulse. It can give the music's tempo/pulse a pushing-and-pulling effect.

stretto

An overlapping series of musical entrances in close succession;[2...the one we want in this context] Musical directive to adopt of a faster tempo in the climactic or closing portions of a musical section/piece.

espressivo

Musical directive to play expressively or with feeling

Praxis/ performance practice

The customs, conventions, and knowledge that
performers use when creating a performance. In the context of notated music, this includes many things that aren't necessarily spelled out unambiguously in the music itself, but are known, and often passed teacher to student, as relating to "that's how it should go." Praxis is a more formal, academic term, sometimes relating to the practical application of theory (in any context).

nationalism

In a musical context, nationalism refers to the use of musical ideas that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, often including folk tunes and melodies. As empires break up in the 19th century, music of different regions help support this or are allowed to flourish.

recording

A thing(noun): a recording of, or technology:(verb) to record,sound such that the exact audible (and now visible) phenomena of a performance can be captured and reproduced for others to listen to asynchronously. Recording technology developed in the second half of the 19th century, and by the mid 20th century, much of the art-music repertoire had been recorded, and today, recordings (audio and/or video) of performances of all types of music are ubiquitous and available easily.

dolce

Musical directive to play in a "sweet" or gentle manner

-issimo

A suffix (used in musical directives) that intensifies whatever it is
attached to. For example, piano (soft) becomes pianissimo (very soft). (pianississimo is extremely soft—
you keep adding "iss"s for every additional letter. ppppp would be pianississississimo)

-etto

A suffix (used in musical directives) that lessens/relaxes the effect/manner of whatever it is attached to. For example, allegro (lively, quickly) becomes allegretto (a little less lively, a little less quickly), or largo (slow and broad) becomes larghetto (not as slow as largo). (Sometimes -
ino is used: andante becomes andantino...same thing.)

come/ sopra

Musical directive to indicate "as above" or "in a similar manner as
before/previously"

orchestration

The art of employing instruments in various combinations, most notably in
the orchestra, and including understanding the various instruments' properties and capabilities. One who orchestrates is interested in timbres and their combinations and assigning which instruments to play which parts.

critic

A person who judges the merits of literary, artistic, or musical works, especially one who does so professionally.

NEUE ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR MUSIK

The New Journal of Music is a music magazine started in 1834, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, Friedrich Wieck, Julius Knorr, and Ludwig Schuncke. It featured commentary, criticism, and discussion of music. Journals such as these proliferate in the 19th century and feature criticism designed for a wider audience.

parallel period

a musical structure that consists of two phrases that are identical/almost identical/start the same way. In some instances, the phrases begin with the same structure and ideas but resolve differently, often with a less strong cadence in the first phrase and a stronger cadence in the second. (In this case, the first phrase is called the antecedent, and the second, the consequence).

embellishing tones

"Embellishing tones decorate chord tones in specific ways (e.g., as passing tones, neighbor tones, or suspensions). Though they may be consonant or dissonant, the majority are dissonant (from outside the underlying harmony), adding flavor and interest to the consonant intervals in the chords." (Continuing with Clendenning) There are many types of these (melodic embellishments or rhythmic displacements): passing tones (and chromatic passing tones), neighbor tones (and chromatic neighbor tones), incomplete neighbors (aka appoggiaturas or escape tones), double neighbors, suspensions, retardations, anticipations, pedal points, etc., and they have rules

tone poem/symphonic poem

A freestanding orchestral work, often in a single movement (but can be in multiple parts), based on a literary or descriptive program. They are popular in the Romantic. Liszt coins the term symphonic poem. The similar term tone poem is often applied to the works of Richard Strauss. Same concept—use them interchangeably in casual Advanced Musician chats. The Strauss works include Don Juan (1888-1889), Tod und Verklärung (1888-1889), Till Eulenspiegel (1894-1895), Also sprach Zarathustra (1896), Don Quixote (1897), and Ein Heldenleben (1897-1898)

sequence

The more or less exact repetition of a passage at a higher or lower level of pitch. If the repetition is of only the melody it is called a melodic sequence; if it is of a series of chords it is a harmonic sequence

Schubert (Franz) (1797-1828)

Time period: Romantic; Piece: "Erlkönig" -1815, Piece Details: lied (art song) that tells of the supernatural visit of the Elf King who tries to convince a child, travelling with his father in the woods, to come away with him. Composer Details: Austrian composer who was born and lived near Vienna

Schubert (Franz) exam title format

"Erlkönig," D. 328

Schumann,Robert (1810-1856)

Timeperiod:Romantic;Piece:"Trällerliedchen,"or"WilderReiter," from Album for the Young - 1848. Piece Details: These are pedagogical piano works, both homophonic in closely related keys and in ternary forms with parallel periods. Composer Details: German composer and critic. He was the son of a bookseller and studied law. As a performer he eventually gives up a path toward a virtuoso career, partly becomes of problems in his right hand

Schumann exam title format

"Humming Song" or "A Song to Hum" or "Trällerliedchen" from Album for the Young or op. 68, no. 3
▪ "The Wild Rider" or "Wild Rider" or "Wilder Reiter" from Album for the Young or op. 68, no. 8

Brahms (Johannes) (1833-1897)

Time period: Romantic; Piece: Intermezzo in A Major, op. 118, no. 2 - 1893. Piece Details: Work for solo piano; Large ABA; AMajor/F#Minor/AMajor (with chromaticism); 2 against 3 elements (Brahms uses this a lot); many "Romantic" musical directives of tempo and mood (teneramente, calando, espressivo, etc. Composer Details: German composer whose instrument was piano.

Brahms exam title format

Intermezzo in A Major, op. 118, no. 2 (preferred)
▪ Six Piano Pieces, Intermezzo in A Major
▪ Six Piano Pieces, Intermezzo no. 2

Wagner (Richard) (1813-1883)

Time period: Romantic; Piece: Prelude to Tristan und Isolde - 1859 (first performance 1865). Piece Details: Replaces the traditional opera overture and sets the stage for mood and drama of the opera and goes directly into the opera, which itself is made of a continuous music vs. aria/recitative format. Composer Details: German composer and conductor and author whose creation of opera is a watershed in 19th century musical thought. He develops the leitmotifto the extreme, brings chromaticism to its fullest, and strives to create Gesamtkunstwerk or a total unified work where music, drama, and lighting/staging all contribute to the overall work

Wagner exam title format

Prelude to Tristan und Isolde
▪ Prelude to Act I: Tristan und Isolde