Music History

Nicea Term Study Guide

Baroque

1600-1750

• doctrine of affections

• embellishment

• ritornella

• cantata

• Vivaldi concerto orchestra

• Operas

Classical

1750-1820

• Clarity and Contrast

• Sonata Allegro

• Chamber music

• Symphony

Romantic

1820-1900

• Self-expression

• Chromaticism or formal expansion (expanding the forms of the Classical era)

• Narrations, especially instrumental pieces

• Mendelhossen

Impressionism

1860-1930

• Music that makes and leaves an impression

• navel

• removed from the music (distanced feeling)

20-21st Century

20-21st century

• music of psyche

• atonality

  • Black Angels by George Crumb

• the Russian guy

Which of these unusual instruments is NOT included in the percussion section of Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony?

Which section in Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony is marked to be played “in gentle ecstasy”?

According to his diary in 1911, Strauss associated what idea with An Alpine Symphony?

After the premiere of Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony, why was it unlikely that there would be many further performances?

What makes a tone poem or symphonic poem different from a symphony?

Who was the originator of the symphonic poem?

Franz Liszt

Strauss biographer Michael Kennedy reads into the ending of An Alpine Symphony a farewell to____.

Pre World War 1 extravagance.

Which section of Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony features the largest instrumentation?

Thunder and Tempest

What are the three large sections of sonata form?

Exposition - Development - Recapitulation

What is the conventional movements of a classical symphony?

Fast - Slow - Minuet - Fast

Ternary form

a three part, ABA structure

Binary form

a two-part structure

Sonata form

A structure featuring and exposition, development, and recapitulation

Rondo

A structure featuring multiple returns of A, ABACA

If a sonata cycle only has three movements, which movement is usually skipped?

A minuet movement

What aspect of a secondary theme appears in the recapitulation, what is always different?

It is in a different key.

What are two things that make Beethoven’s 5th “Romantic”?

Use of theme and variations in the slow movement.

Expansion and modification of inherited forms for dramatic reasons.

The “Eroica” symphony

3rd

What two things make Beethoven’s 5th symphony “Classical”?

Expression of personal struggle

movements = fast - slow - minuet (or scherzo) - fast

The “Fate motive” symphony

5th

The “Choral symphony”

9th

“Driving rhythm and famous slow movement” Beethoven symphony

7th

'“Pastoral” Beethoven symphony

6th

Which two America orchestras did Mahler conduct?

New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera

How was Mahler’s conducting described?

“Dynamism, precision, expressivity, and tyrannical perfectionism…”

Which of his own works does Mahler expensively quote in his First Symphony?

The Wayfarer

How many of Vivaldi’s concertos are for orchestra and one soloist?

350

A double exposition occurs after combing which procedures in a Classical concerto?

Ritornello form and Sonata form

Ritornello form

A recurring theme played by the orchestra that alternates with solo passages.

In a Classical-era concerto, when during the first movement does the cadenza typically happen?

After the recapitulation.

What is the difference between a typical Classical-era string quartet and a Classical-era symphony?

Instrumentation.

What set of pitches express Dmitri Shostakovich’s musical signature?

D-Eb-C-B

Which two movements in Black Angels are a tribute to Medieval music?

Sarabanda de la Muerta Oscura and Pavana Lachrymae

Strauss

• 1864-1949

• An Alpine Symphony

• Romantic Composer

Haydn

• 1732-1809

• Classical Composer

• “Papa” Haydn

• Surprise

• Esterhauzie Court

Beethoven

• 1770-1827

• Classical

• 5th or Eroika Symphony

Mahler

• 1860-1911

• Romantic Composer

• Symphony No. 1 in D major

Mendelssohn

• 1809-1847

• Romantic composer

• Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Vivaldi

• 1678-1741

• Classical Composer

• Concerto No. 6 in A minor

Dvorak

• 1841-1904

• Romantic Composer

• String Quarter in F Major

Mozart

• 1756-1791

• Classical Composer

• String quartet in D minor

Crumb

• 1929-2022

• Impressionist Composer

• Black Angels

Ravel

• 1875-1937

• Romantic Composer

• String quartet in F major

Shostakovich

• 1906-1975

• Impressionist Composer

• 8th string quartet

What three way must we listen to music?

• Sensual - sense, how does it make you feel?

• Expressive - what does the music express?

• Musical - (technical) analyze the music in time

Sonata Allegro form is…

A B A in the 1st movement

A: Exposition in home key, primary tonic →2nd dominant theme

B: Development, secondary theme. In dominant

A: Return to A

4 Aspects of Music

• Timefulness: rhythm

• Omniceness: multiple things happening at once

• Causelessness: abstract, not on a canvas

• Mysteriousness: don’t really know what’s going on

Modulation

Switching keys

History is..

Governed by cycles and patterns in a spiral movement through time. Your theology shapes your view of history and how you compose music.

Atonality

Cannot repeat pitches until all 12 have been used.

Concerto

• Soloist vs. orchestra

• ritornello

• PT is played by orchestra

• ST played by soloist

• Exposition, Tutti, Development, Cadenza, Recap, Coda

Sentence

Presentation:

• Basic Idea repeated twice

• only one cadence

Continuation:

• develops and keeps moving

• ends in PAC: full cadence

4 measures + 4 measures

Period

Antecedent:

• four measures

• ends on 5 chord (dominant chord)

• ends on Half Cadence

Consequent:

• four measures

• ends on perfect cadence

Profundity requires talking about…

dark stuff because without it we cannot really have a profound discussion in music or literature.

Characteristics of Profundity

• sublime

• beautiful

1st Viennese School

Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart2

2nd Viennese School

Stransburg, Schubert, Maltier, Wagner

Figured bass

intervals above the bass note

Pentatonic scale

d r m s l

Cadence

coming to a conclusion or resting place