Survey of Music Test 3 Composers

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

• From Vienna​

• Composed song “Gretchen amSpinnerade” inspired by Goethe’s Faust.​

• Composed 143 songs including “The Erlking” (Erlkonig).

• He wrote 179 works including two symphonies, opera and a mass.

• (he is writing like he is running out of time)

• Known for: ​

  over 600 songs, string quartets, piano pieces

Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)

​German Romantic composer known as “the master of song”

• Wrote emotional, autobiographical music mainly for piano and voice (Lieder)

• Important music critic who helped promote composers like Chopin and Brahms

• Used two writing personas, Florestan and Eusebius, to show different moods in his music

Clara Wieck Schumann (1819–1896)

• German Romantic pianist and composer

• Famous child prodigy and one of the greatest pianists of her time

• Performed and promoted Robert Schumann’s music

• Also composed her own piano and vocal works

• One of the first major female concert pianists in Europe

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869):

• French Romantic composer known for programmatic and dramatic orchestral music

• Pioneer of the symphonic poem and large-scale orchestration

• Famous for expressive, colorful use of the orchestra and expanded instrumentation

• Wrote Symphonie fantastique, a groundbreaking program symphony

• Known for intense emotion and innovative musical ideas

• Career Struggles:
  Often misunderstood, had to fund his own concerts, and worked as a music critic to support his family.

  Influence:
  Despite criticism, he inspired later Romantic composers with his bold emotional and orchestral style.

Berlioz’s Influence:

He helped shape the Romantic idea that emotional intensity, isolation, and “mad genius” were signs of a great composer.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901):

• Major Italian opera composer known for emotional, dramatic storytelling

• Wrote 28 operas combining powerful drama with simple, memorable melodies

• Famous works include Nabucco, Aida, and La Traviata

• Nabucco includes “Va, pensiero”; Aida features the Triumphal March

• Operas often deal with love, fate, and social hypocrisy

• “Viva VERDI” also symbolized support for Italian unification

Franz Liszt (1811–1886):

• Hungarian Romantic composer and piano virtuoso

• Known for extreme piano technique and showy, powerful performances

• Expanded the limits of piano music in the Romantic era

• Inspired audiences with highly dramatic concerts (sometimes overwhelming listeners)

• Key figure in developing Romantic virtuosity and innovation

Liszt Innovations

• Dark Program Music: Popularized dramatic, supernatural themes influencing later composers and film music.

• Virtuoso Piano: Extreme piano technique; helped expand piano construction and inspired flashy works like Grand Galop Chromatique.

• Impressionistic Influence: Created shimmering, atmospheric piano music that inspired Debussy.

• Symphonic Poems: Invented single-movement program music (e.g., Prometheus), influencing later orchestral and film music.

• Harmonic Experimentation: Used intense chromaticism, foreshadowing later 12-tone music (Schoenberg).

• Musical Nationalism: Used folk styles (Hungarian Rhapsodies), influencing nationalist music trends.

• Harmonic Influence on Wagner: Expanded chromatic harmony, helping shape Wagner’s dramatic operatic style.

Richard Wagner (1813–1883):

• German Romantic composer who transformed opera into “music drama”

• Wrote large-scale operas with mythological and epic stories

• Known for The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

• Used leitmotifs (recurring musical themes for characters/ideas)

• Created continuous music without clear breaks between arias and recitatives

• Used rich, intense harmony and highly emotional orchestration

• Built special staging ideas (Bayreuth Festival Theatre with hidden orchestra and dim lighting)

• Major influence on later opera, film music, and dramatic orchestral writing

Richard Wagner – Music & Opera Theories:

German composer of 11 operas and other works; wrote his own texts

• Moved from traditional “number opera” to continuous music without breaks

• Created Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art: music, drama, staging united)

• Gave orchestra an active role in telling the story (not just accompaniment)

• Used myths (Norse and Germanic) to explore big human ideas like love and power

• Used kenning technique in text (metaphorical language like “storm of swords” = battle)

• Transformed opera into “music drama” inspired by Greek tragedy

• Major work: The Ring of the Nibelung (4 operas, took ~36 years)

• Themes often compare forces like love vs. wealth

• Style influenced later works, including similarities to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings

Richard Wagner – Danger & Controversy:

• Used extreme chromaticism and unstable harmony, creating tension and lack of tonal “home”

• Parsifal (Grail story) includes complex characters like Klingsor and Kundry (shape-shifter figure)

• Some interpretations of characters were historically portrayed in problematic, stereotyped ways

• Held antisemitic views and wrote controversial statements about Jewish people

• His ideas and music were later strongly associated with Nazi ideology

• Bayreuth Festival Theatre was used symbolically by Nazi Germany as a cultural “shrine”

• Hitler admired Wagner’s music and claimed influence from Parsifal

• Wagner’s legacy remains controversial, and his music is still not performed in Israel

Light Entertainment (Paris vs. Wagner’s Bayreuth):

Popular 19th-century music in Paris (Offenbach, Strauss II, Bizet, Gilbert & Sullivan) focused on fun, dance, and operettas, contrasting Wagner’s serious, dramatic “music drama.”

Anti-Wagnerian Movements:

• Musical reaction against Wagner’s heavy, complex style, favoring simplicity and clarity

• Impressionism: Focused on atmosphere and color instead of dramatic intensity (Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Satie)

• Erik Satie: Promoted minimal, simple music (Gymnopédie No. 1) and rejected complexity

• French organ tradition: Composers like Franck, Fauré, Charpentier, and Saint-Saëns were trained on Bach’s works

• Overall goal: “declutter” music and return to lighter, clearer expression in contrast to Wagner’s dense style

Erik Satie

French composer known for simple, minimalist, and unconventional music (Gymnopédies), who rejected Wagner’s complex, heavy Romantic style and promoted clarity and simplicity in music.

Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849):

• Polish Romantic composer and pianist, known as the “poet of the piano”

• Wrote almost exclusively for solo piano, creating expressive, lyrical works

• Piano style inspired by bel canto (Italian opera singing style), making the piano “sing”

• Shy and introverted; preferred private salon performances over large concerts

• Educated at the Warsaw Conservatory under Józef Elsner, who used Polish folk influences

• Lived in Paris after the failed Polish uprising of 1830, joining artistic circles (Hugo, Balzac, Delacroix, George Sand)

• Became a legendary pianist despite only ~30 public performances

• Died of tuberculosis in 1849; funeral included Mozart’s Requiem and his own Funeral March

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904):

• Czech Romantic composer from Prague (Austrian Empire)

• First Bohemian composer to gain international fame

• Combined folk music with Romantic orchestral style

• Known for joyful, expressive music and Czech nationalism

• Directed a music school in New York (1892) to help create an American musical identity

• Encouraged use of African American and Native American folk melodies in American music

• Famous works: Symphony “From the New World”, Slavonic Dances, Gypsy Songs, and opera Rusalka

• New World Symphony inspired by American musical traditions; slow movement resembles a hymn/native-inspired melody

Russian Composers (Romantic Era):

• Russian music in the 19th century split between Western influence and Russian nationalism

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Russian composer known for Western-style Romantic music, ballets, symphonies, and emotional melodies

• The Mighty Five: Group of nationalist Russian composers who wanted distinctly Russian music

  • Modest Mussorgsky

  • Mikhail Glinka

  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (known for orientalism/exotic sounds)

  • Alexander Borodin

  • César Cui

• Before the 19th century, Russian music was mostly influenced by Italian and French musicians

The Mighty Five:

• Group of nationalist Russian composers who wanted distinctly Russian music

• Modest Mussorgsky

• Mikhail Glinka

• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (known for orientalism/exotic sounds)

• Alexander Borodin

• César Cui

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• Russian composer known for Western-style Romantic music, ballets, symphonies, and emotional melodies

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893):

• Russia’s most famous 19th-century composer

• Inspired by Western composers like Mozart, Rossini, and Verdi

• Supported by wealthy patron Nadezhda von Meck

• Known for emotional melodies, ballets, operas, and orchestral music

• Famous operas: Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades

• Famous ballets: Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty

• Also composed Romeo and Juliet overture-fantasy

• 1812 Overture celebrates Russia’s victory over Napoleon using cannons, church bells, French anthem, and Russian folk tunes

• Some critics thought the 1812 Overture was too loud and lacked artistic depth

Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881):

• Russian nationalist composer and member of “The Mighty Five”

• Former army officer and government worker

• Mostly self-taught composer with support from fellow Russian composers

• Wrote non-Westernized, distinctly Russian music

• Struggled with alcoholism and had a self-destructive personality

• Received little recognition during his lifetime but became highly respected after death

Impressionism in Music:

• Late 19th–early 20th century music style focused on mood, atmosphere, and emotion rather than detailed storytelling

• Inspired by French Impressionist painting, especially Monet’s Impression, Sunrise

• Emphasized color, texture, and feeling over strong structure or drama

Claude Debussy (1862–1918):

• French composer associated with Impressionism

• Inspired by Mussorgsky, Borodin, Chopin, and Wagner

• Grew up poor in Paris; talent supported by wealthy patrons like Nadezhda von Meck

• Graduated from the Paris Conservatory, though professors disliked his unconventional style

• Rejected the label “Impressionism” for his music

• Broke traditional Romantic harmony rules to create new sound colors and atmosphere

• Preferred older Renaissance music (like Palestrina) over dramatic 19th-century Italian opera

Claude Debussy – Music:

• Inspired by gamelan music and used pentatonic scales

• Focused on mood, color, and atmosphere (Impressionism)

• Major works include Clair de Lune, La Mer, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, Pelléas et Mélisande

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937):

• French composer and conductor linked to Impressionism (though he rejected the label)

• Influenced by Baroque music, Neoclassicism, and jazz

• Known for masterful orchestration and refined musical color

• Orchestrated Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

• Famous works: Boléro and opera L’Enfant et les sortilèges (Children and the Enchanted Magic)

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951):

• Austrian-American composer, painter, teacher, and music theorist

• Central figure of Expressionism and the Second Viennese School (with Berg and Webern)

• Wrote music to express intense, often dark human emotions and post-war anxiety

• Jewish composer who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s after Nazi persecution; became U.S. citizen in 1941

• Developed atonal music (no key center) and the twelve-tone (dodecaphonic) system

• Key works: Pierrot Lunaire (uses sprechstimme—speech-singing style) and A Survivor from Warsaw (memorializes Holocaust events)

Primitivism – Composers & Works:

• Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (ballet with intense rhythm and dissonance)

• Arthur Farwell: Navajo Dance No. 2 (influenced by Native American music)

• Heitor Villa-Lobos: Uirapuru and Amazonas (inspired by Brazilian nature and folk culture)

George Crumb – Black Angels (1970):

• Avant-garde American composition written in protest of the Vietnam War

• Uses experimental sounds, electronics, and unusual instruments like bowed water glasses

• Creates dark, eerie, and dramatic musical atmosphere

Krzysztof Penderecki – Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima:

Sonorist composition using clusters, soundmass, and experimental string techniques to create intense emotional impact

George Gershwin (1898–1937):

• American composer who blended classical music with jazz and popular styles

• Known for bringing jazz influences into concert and orchestral music

• Famous works include Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris

• Wrote the jazz opera Porgy and Bess, featuring the well-known song “Summertime”

Andrew Lloyd Webber:

Major composer of mega musicals like Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, and rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (JCSS)