Fine Art Music Exam 4 (Chung)

What are the dates for the Romantic Period?

1820-1900

What is Romanticism?

a new style of composition stressing emotion, imagination, and individuality

The Romantic Period saw a huge interest in ______ and _______. Artists were obsessed with things such as __________.

fantasy; imagination; the supernatural, the unconscious, far off lands, monsters, and other highly imaginative subjects

The Romantic Period saw a re-interest in the ___________ and __________.

Middle Ages; Renaissance

Due to the interest in ____________, much Romantic music was based off landmarks and landscapes.

natural world

What was the musical/cultural capital during the Romantic Period?

Paris, France

Who was a transitional artist between Classical and Romantic music? What did his success inspire?

Beethoven; his success inspired "free artists" everywhere

The Romantic Period highlighted composition for the sake of ______, not for financial gain.

art

What class was very strong during the Romantic Period? How did this influence music?

the middle class; led to the formation of professional orchestras and music schools/conservatories

Self-expression and _________ were popular during the Romantic period.

personal/individual style

What is nationalism?

love for one's country; music written with a specific national identity

What is exoticism?

fascination with foreign nations and far-off places

How were melody and thematic transformation expressed during the Romantic Period?

There were expressive, songlike melodies (consistent with the Classical period). In the romantic, melodies were restated in various ways and heard differently throughout the piece (varying dynamics, instrumentation, rhythm, tonality, mood)

How was harmony expressed during the Romantic Period?

colorful, unstable harmonies; a lot of tension and chromaticism

What did chromaticism allow Romantic composers to do?

create dissonance and instability

Name and describe two common forms of Romantic music.

1. monumental - expanded Classical form (large orchestras)

2. miniature - very small works for piano/voice, intimate (art songs/lieder)

How were dynamics extended during the Romantic Period?

they were expanded to the extremes, now ranging from pppp to ffff

What is rubato?

freely speeding up and slowing down, often at the discretion of the performer

What were virtuosic soloists? What did the rise of the virtuoso produce?

extraordinarily talented musicians; produced technical displays and celebrity status (Liszt, Chopin, Paganini)

Explain the development of the modern piano.

It was invented in 1776 and slowly standardized. Blurred the line between the fortepiano and piano. The modern piano had metal frames (rather than wood), tighter strings, and extended range

What was a sign of culture in the Romantic period?

a piano in the home

What is art song/lieder?

an expressive genre of music, normally for 1 voice and 1 piano (2 equal parts). Normally see settings of poetry with music and portrayed moods/atmosphere/imagery in an intimate setting

Who was best known for his composition of art song (aka lieder)?

Franz Schubert

What was one of Schubert's most famous art songs?

Der Erlkönig "Elf King" (German poem by Goethe)

What is an art song cycle?

a collection of art songs centered around a theme

What are some characteristics of Der Erlkönig?

the piano part indicates the wild ride and horse's gallop; the vocal part sings in three ranges (low = father, middle = elf king, high = son)

What is strophic form?

the same melody is repeated with new text (similar to a hymn)

What is through-composed form?

each stanza of the poem is set to new music

What are character pieces (aka piano miniatures)?

miniature, programmatic works for piano that portrayed a specific mood, character, atmosphere, or intense emotion

What is a nocturne? Who is known for them?

"nigh piece" meant to portray things that happen at night; Chopin

What are some common aspects of nocturnes? What is one of Chopin's most famous nocturnes?

elegant and graceful, full of chromaticism, lots of rubato; Nocturne in F-Sharp, Op. 15, No. 2

Contrast program music vs. absolute music.

Program music: instrumental music that draws its content from an extra-musical source (story, poem, idea, scene); depicts characters, emotions, events, and actions with sound; the title is very telling

Absolute music: instrumental music made "for music's sake"; no intentional story, poem, idea, scene created by composer; generic titles

List and describe the 4 types of program music.

1. Concert overture: independent, single-movement composition that depicts highlights from a story or narrative

2. Tone poem: tells a detailed story through explicit musical events

3. Incidental music: music intended to be performed during a staged production

4. Program symphony: multi-movement symphony for an orchestra that tells a story

Who was Hector Berlioz?

a French composer who was one of the most daring and creative Romantic composers. He was known for unconventional music (inner fire, over the top, unexpected)

Where did Hector Berlioz attend school?

the Paris Conservatory of Music

What was a significant aspect of Hector Berlioz's life?

he fell in love with famous Shakespearean play actress Harriet Smithson, who did not return his favor. This inspired him to compose Symphonic Fantastique, which Smithson attended. They were later married but separated after only a few years

What is Symphonic Fantastique?

a 5-movement program symphony written for a huge orchestra (over 100 instruments); tells the story of a young musician whose beloved has shunned him. the musician attempts to overdose on opium but the drug causes him to fall into a deep sleep filled with strange visions of his beloved taking the form of a melody/theme called the idee fixe (fixed idea), which appears at the opening of the work

What is the thematic transformation of Symphonie Fantastique?

the fixed idea appears in each of the movements, each time a bit more agitated/grotesque

What is the 4th movement of Symphonie Fantastique?

"March to the Scaffold" where the young musician dreams he has murdered his beloved, is condemned to death, and begins a march to the guillotine. Just before he is killed, he thinks once more of his beloved but is interrupted by the fall of the blade

Name some characteristics of the Romantic Opera.

-increased in popularity and scope (bigger and longer productions)

-combined art forms (subject matter from literary works and dance numbers added)

-orchestra became as important as the singing

-delineation between recitative and aria was blurred

-continuous music was common

Who is considered the greatest opera composer of all time?

Giuseppe Verdi

Who did Verdi write opera for? What did this lead to?

the general public, not a particular class; led to scandalous subject matter (murder, rape, suicide, and free love)

What is notable about Verdi's opera success?

his early operas were not successful; Nabucco was his first successful opera

What is Verdi's opera Nabucco about?

Jewish oppression by the Babylonians - a metaphor for Italian oppression by the Austrians

What was Verdi known for?

expressive and vocal melodies, decreasing differences between recitative and aria, and increasingly imaginative writing

What was Verdi's opera Rigoletto about?

based on a play by Victor Hugo about a hunchback named Rigoletto; Rigoletto's sole redeeming quality is his love for his daughter, Gilda; The Duke of Mantua, a reckless womanizer, posed as a poor university student, is attempting to woo Gilda

What is Verdi's Act III Aria in Rigoletto? What is it about?

La Donna e Mobile (Woman is fickle); strophic form, the Duke sings about his promiscuous ways

What composer was a lifelong fan of Verdi?

Giacomo Puccini

What were Puccini's operas characterized by?

verismo or "realism" (plots were true to life and emotional)

What popularity did Puccini's operas have?

he found quick success after a meager start to his career

What is one of Puccini's most well-known works? What is it about?

Madama Butterfly; set in Nagasaki, Japan and tells the story of a US sailor who falls in love with a 15-year-old geisha (Butterfly). the sailor leaves, vowing to return, but when he comes back a few years later he has a wife and discovers he has a son by Butterfly. Butterfly commits suicide with a samurai sword

Who was Richard Wagner?

a German composer of opera/"music drama," inspired by Beethoven; he was also a German nationalist and was openly antisemitic with ties to Hitler

What was Richard Wagner's personality like?

he was a terrible person, known for lying, cheating, living ind debt, manipulating, and having affairs

What is a "music drama"?

Wagner's term for his own compositions (drama was in the music as much as the narrative)

What were speech songs ("singspiel")?

vocal melodies inspired by the inflection and rhythm of the German language (used by Wagner)

What is a leitmotif?

"leading motive" - brief, recurring musical ideas that associate with specific characters, places, ideas, and moods

What is one of Wagner's most famous works?

The Ring of Nibelung ("The Ring Cycle"); a 15-hour, 4-part operatic work, the most ambitious opera ever written

What is possibly the most well-known song of Wagner?

Die Walküre (Ride of the Valkyries) - Act 3, Scene 1 of The Ring of Nibelung, the Valkyries' task is to recover fallen heroes from battle to be carried to Valhalla

What were some criticisms of The Ring of Nibelung?

-too dissonant (extreme chromaticism)

-too heavily orchestrated

-long-winded

-boring

Who was Johannes Brahms?

German composer who reinvented Classical forms and styles with Romantic influences (Neoclassical style)

What was Brahms known for?

Hungarian dances

Who was considered a forerunner to the 20th century style?

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Who was Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky?

a Russian composer of symphonies, ballets, and overtures

What is Tchaikovsky's most famous ballet?

The Nutcracker

How did Tchaikovsky die?

he has a very mysterious death - could have been cholera, suicide, or murder

What is Tchaikovsky's Overture 1812?

a patriotic orchestral piece written to commemorate Russia's victory of Napoleon's invading army in 1812

Which composer acted as a bridge between the Romantic style and the new style of the 20th century?

Gustav Mahler

Who was Gustav Mahler?

an Austrian conductor as well as a composer known for art songs and symphonies; he expanded art song to be voice and orchestra (not just piano)

Name some places Mahler was located

Budapest, Hamburg, Vienna, New York City

Which Romantic composer had both the longest and largest symphonies?

Mahler (longest - Symphony 3 at 1 hr 35 min; largest (Symphony No. 8 aka "Symphony of a Thousand" with an orchestra of 171, 8 vocal soloists, children's choir of 350, and two choirs of 250 each)

What centuries are considered the Contemporary Period?

20th and 21st centuries

What 3 important societal changes led to the style of the 20th century?

-music scholarship

-accessibility of music education (universities)

-technology

Name 4 influences of the 20th century music style

1. music of the past (early music societies)

2. folk music (nationalism)

3. world cultures (exoticism)

4. pop music (jazz, ragtime, etc.)

What was a vital piece of 20th century music?

tone color (the search for new timbres and color combinations)

What are 2 ways that percussion developed in the 20th century?

1. invention of new instruments

2. pieces for percussion only

What aspect of music had the biggest shift of the modern era?

harmony

How was harmony shifted in the modern era?

dissonance was freely used without consonance (no resolution), the power of the tonic chord weakened, questioning of the necessity of a tonal focal point

List some alternatives to tonality

polychords, fourth chords, tone clusters, bitonality, polytonality, atonality

What are polychords?

two chords at once

What are fourth chords?

quartal harmony, chords build in 4ths

What are tone clusters?

chords built from notes smashed together in close proximity

What is bitonality?

two keys at once (ex: two 5-tone scales played simultaneously)

What is polytonality?

many keys at once

What is atonality?

no tonal center at all

What did melody look like in modern music?

irregular melodies - no longer tied to tonal harmony or traditional chord progressions

What type of rhythms became popular with contemporary music?

unpredictable rhythms

What did electronic music do?

technological advancements made a whole new works of timbres possible

Who was Claude Debussy?

a French composer who studied at the Paris Conservatory, influenced by French impressionist painters

What is impressionism?

impressions of scenes, objects, and atmospheres, rather than realistic depictions

How is Debussy's music influenced by impressionism?

it evokes fleeting moods and misty atmospheres; he chooses chords/scales based on color but masks harmonic color by placing notes close together

What are 3 common scale types used by Debussy?

pentatonic, whole-tone, and octatonic

What is "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"?

a tone poem by Debussy written in the impressionist style (based on a poem by Mallarme about an intoxicated faun who encounters nymphs)

Who was Igor Stravinsky?

a Russian composer who escaped WWII by moving to America, revered for his ballet music, achieved international celebrity status (star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame)

What were Stravinsky's 3 periods of composition?

nationalism, absolute, and serialism

What is "The Rite of Spring"?

a ballet by Stravinsky that almost destroyed his career; depicts scenes of pagan religious rits=es from Primitive Russia

What is Primitivism?

complex harmonies, asymmetrical meters, unresolved dissonance, angular dance movements

Who was Arnold Schoenberg?

an Austrian composer (previously a baker) who fled Germany to the US in 1933, learned music (largely self-taught) from an early age, due to his unconventional education felt the freedom to ask unique questions (some of which led to atonality)

What artistic movement did Schoenberg identify with?

expressionism

What did Schoenberg invent?

the twelve-tone system

What is expressionism in music?

stresses musical dissonance, fragmentation of melodically material, unusual sounds and timbres, and avoids tonality; strives to reflect the depths of the darkness of human existence