Music History 2 Unit 2

Romantic, Romanticism

term comes from the medieval romance: a poem or story about heroic people and deeds; individuality, subjectivity, expression of the self, originality, extremes

absolute music

instrumental music with no progrmamatic or descriptive aspects; refers to nothing but itself; idealized

program music

instrumental music that recounts a narrative, sometimes provided to the audience in an accompanying text

organicism

interlinked relationship of themes and movements, derived from common source

Lied (plural: Lieder)

German art song with words for voice and piano

song cycle

a group of art songs performed in succession that tells or suggests a story

modified strophic form

Variant of strophic corm in which the music for the first stanza is varied for later stanzas, or in which there is a change of key, rhythm, character, or material

character piece

a short instrumental piece suggesting a mood or personality, often indicated in the title

nocturne

short piano piece marked by highly embellished melody, sonorous accompaniments, and a contemplative mood

program symphony

symphony that tells a story or follows a narrative/sequence of events, spelled out in an accompanying text

idée fixe

coined by Hector Berlioz; melody that is used throughout a piece to represent a person, thing, or idea, transforming it to suit the mood and situation

parlor songs

Song for home music-making, sometimes performed in public concerts as well

(French) grand opera

Appealed to the middle class; spectacle of machinery, crowd scenes, ballets; leading composer: Giacomo Meyerbeer

exoticism

music that evokes feelings and settings of foreign lands and cultures

bel canto

"beautiful singing", Italian style of music

cantabile-cabaletta structure

main slow, lyrical portion - fast, virtuosic, more melodically active, often repeated with embellishments

Gesamtkunstwerk

"total work of art"; union of music and drama, involving poetry, scenic design, staging, and music

Leitmotive

"leading motives": a theme or motive associated with a character, object, emotion, or event

Tristan chord

the Ring cycle

Four dramas, titled Der Ring des Nibelungen; composed over 26 years, Wagner

virtuosity

performer who dazzles audiences with their technical prowess in singing or playing an instrument

étude

an instrumental piece designed to develop a particular skill or performing technique

symphonic poem/tone poem

one-movement work of program music for orchestra that conveys a poetic idea, story, scene, or succession of moods by presenting themes that are repeated, varied, or transformed

developing variation

the process of deriving new themes, accompaniments, and other ideas throughout a piece through variations of a germinal idea

chaconne/passacaglia

variations over a repeated bass line or harmonic progression in triple meter

nationalism

trend in music in which composers were eager to embrace elements in their music that claimed a national identity

verismo

19th century operatic trend that presents everyday people in familiar situations, often depicting sordid or brutal events

Franz Schubert

Born and stayed in Vienna; songwriting prodigy with gift for beautiful melodies, with piano enhancing the mood and imagery; 600 Lieder and 9 symphonies; Erlkonig (1815), Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814), Der Lindenbaum from Winterreise (1827); died at 31

Robert Schumann

First important Lieder composer after Schubert; virtuoso pianist, but turned to composing and music criticism after a hand injury; founded New Journal of Music; fell in love with Clara Wieck, the daughter of his piano teacher; composed over 120 songs in 1840 and married Clara; Carnaval (1834-35)

Clara Schumann

child piano prodigy; age 20, was well known as a leading pianist and did touring concerts in her teenage years; musical friendship with Mendelssohn, crossed paths with Chopin and Liszt; married Robert in 1840 and had seven kids; continued to perform and promote Robert's music after his death; composed many piano pieces and the Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17, third movement (1846)

Fryderyk Chopin

Born near Warsaw; Polish but lived in Paris as a pianist and composer; rarely performed publicly, but often in salons; composed almost exclusively for the piano and stylized dances; Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2 (1835)

Hector Berlioz

Born in southeastern France; self-taught in harmony; music critic and virtuosic conductor; obsession with literature, plays, and operas; Symphonie fantastique (1830)

Giuseppe Verdi

Wrote for the mass public; plots targeted the passions, extremes of human emotion; memorable melodies that capture character and emotion; wrote successful operas for Milan's opera house; dominant opera composer in Italy after Donizetti; use of reminiscence motives; La traviata, Act 3 Scena and Duet (1853)

Richard Wagner

central figure of 19th century culture and one of the most influential composers of all time; Leipzig, Germany; began composing operas in 1830s; worked as musical journalist in Paris; fled Germany after supporting the insurrections, then returned a decade later; patron of King Ludwig II of Bavaria; Tristan und Isolde (1857-59)

Franz Liszt

Most important piano virtuoso of his time with a long, successful career; first pianist to give solo concerts in large halls and introduced the term recital; gave over 1000 concerts over 8 years then retired to compose, teach, and conduct; Concert Étude No. 3, Un sospiro (1845-49)

Johannes Brahms

German composer rooted in classic music traditions; forged classic and romantic elementsSymphony No4 in E Minor, Op. 98, fourth movement (1884-85)

Antonin Dvořák

Symphony No. 9 ("From the New World") (1893)

Amy Beach

Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67, third movement (1907)

What is the origin and meaning of the term "Romantic"? What are the primary characteristics of Romanticism in music, and the arts more generally?

How are the Classicism and Romanticism distinguished from each other? How did people of the early 19th century understand the difference between "Classic" and "Romantic"?

How did composers earn a living during the 19th century? How was this different from previous areas?

In what ways is Beethoven a transitional figure between Classicism and Romanticism? What characteristics define Beethoven's late style? How did Beethoven influence 19th century composers?

What is the difference between absolute music and program music?

Understand the lives and careers of Robert and Clara Schumann. What was the primary instrument for both of them? How did Robert earn a living after his hand injury? How did Clara promote her husband's music?

What is the theme of Robert Schumann's Carnaval? What do the titles of movements represent?

What changes took place in the orchestra and its instruments during the 19th century?

Describe the role(s) and development of the piano in the 19th century.

What was Berlioz's inspiration for composing the Symphonie fantastique? What scene is depicted in the fifth movement? Who is represented by the "idee fixe"?

What is "bel canto" singing? Which composer helped to create this style? Describe the melodic style of the solo sections of "Casta Diva."

Which opera composer became identified with Italian nationalism and the Risorgimento?

What characters were particular to German Romanticism and how did these influence Wagner's operas?

What was Wagner's perspective on Beethoven, and which of Beethoven's works did Wagner believe was most significant?

What were Wagner’s primary influences in creating the libretto for Tristan und Isolde? How does the harmonic language of the prelude to Tristan und Isolde create a feeling of yearning? How does this relate to the opera’s plot?

What is the Ring cycle and what were Wagner's sources for its plot? Where and in what venue was this performed?

Compare and contrast, in general terms, the style of Verdi's and Wagner's operas. How does each composer use the voice and the orchestra? What are each composer's dramatic and musical goals? What sources did each composer draw on for plots and librettos?

What were the main styles and genres of Chopin's piano compositions?

What are the musical characteristics of a nocturne?

Who was Niccolò Paganini, and what influence did he have on Liszt?

What cultural shifts took place in the second half of the 19th century?

Discuss some examples of emerging dichotomies in the later 19th century: absolute vs. program music, old music vs. new music, classical vs. popular music. How did "light" or "popular" genres such as the parlor song, march, and waltz differ from "serious" genres such as the symphony and Lied?

How many symphonies did Brahms write? What is the form of the finale (fourth movement) of Brahms's Fourth Symphony?

What are Tchakovsky's major works and genres of composition? What are the titles of Tchaikovsky's ballets?

What styles and ideas influenced Dvořák's Ninth Symphony? In what ways do Dvořák's compositions follow in the tradition of Beethoven and Brahms?

What trends and forces shaped classical music culture in the 19th-century United States?

What advantages did Amy Beach have that enabled her to devote her time to composition? What social factors hindered her?

What other composer's music influenced Amy Beach's Piano Quintet?

Mellodrama

When characters speak rather than sing over expressive instrumentation

Describe several examples of organic connection in multi-movement musical genres. Name

specific works that illustrate this principle and explain how the organic unity occurs in

each case.

Beethovens 5th Symphony uses a “short short short long” motive throuought the entire symphony that unifies it. Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique uses a reoccuring theme called the idee fixe, which represents the girl he is in love with throuought the piece.

Discuss the contributions to Romantic music of three different historical figures who were not

musicians themselves.

Goothe wrote many novelistic poems that would be used in lied compositions, like shuberts use of the poem Der Erlkonig. Hoffman was a writer and critic that isnpired schuman to write music like a story rather than directly telling, as well as saying that Beethoven captured the essence of romanticism. Schiler was a writer who wrote ode to joy, which was used in beethovens 9th symphony (movement 4).

Explain several different ways in which the lives of Romantic composers affected their

compositions.

Robert Schumann suffered from metnal dissorders. He wrote a piece called carnival, bassed on different characters in his head. The character “Eusebius” represents his depressive mood while the Character “Florestan” represents his manic mood.

Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder is a piece about the death of children, which was written after he lost his child.

Berlioz was in love with Hariet Smithson, which inspired his Symphony Fantastique.

How were the conventions of Classic musical structure suited to adaptation to the

characteristic and programmatic musical styles of Romanticism?

Mendelson’s overture to a midnight summer’s dream follows the sonata form, where many characters represet different themes of the sonata form, such as Puck for primary.

Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique Is a multi-movment structure inspired by sonata form, each telling a different part of the story. Also the use of the Idee fixe as a primary theme throuought.

Discuss in what ways the “music of the future” movement in the late nineteenth century

rejected the musical assumptions established in the Classic phase of musical style, and in

what ways it remained based on those assumptions.

Wagner and Lizst started the new German school with the idea that music no longer has to rely on conventions like the classical era upheald.

Both Russian and American composers in the late nineteenth century found themselves

geographically at the periphery of the mainstream European cultural tradition. How and

why did their approaches to musical style differ?

Both American and Russian approaches to musical style because of nationalism. In Russia, German and Italian styles where common, but overtime during the rise of nationalism, they started to incorperate their own style. Mikhail Glinka for example, started incorperating more russian topics into his operas. Also Chaikovsky, who mostly composed in a very germanic style, but also had a very Russian element with serious, introverted, and introspecting themes. The biggest move away from western styles in Russia was with the “Mighty Handful” who incorperated heavy use of folk music and style into their composition.

In America, composers also incorporated folk music into their compositions, such as Edward MacDowell’s “Indian Suite” which incorporates Native American melodic material. the second New England school created the move away from western traditions during the rise of nationalism. Composers like Amy Beach and Whitefield Chadwick used folk styles and music in their compositions, with Chadwick using African American songs.

Bohemia / Czechia Nationalist composers

Antonin Dvořák,

Russian Nationalist composers

Mikhai Klinca, The Mighty handful (Boris Godunov)

Scandinavian nationalist composers

Peer Gynt (Mountain King)

English Nationalist Composers

Edward Elgar

Spanish nationalist composers

Issac Albeniz (classical guitar)

United States nationalist composers

Amy Beach, John Paine, (francis johnson, James resse, John Phillip Sousa)