Music History II Final - Listenings

Orfeo ed Euridice, “Chorus of the Furies,” Act II, Scene I

1762, Christoph Willibald Gluck
Culmination of the opera reform ideals, elimination of secco recitative, which would break up action, a more fluid, continuous, dramatic style, naturalistic staging/lighting, simpler vocal melodies, DRAMA

String Quartet in E flat Major, Op. 33 No. 2, Movement IV

Joseph Haydn, 1781
The Joke quartet, written right after Haydn’s contract renegotiation, rondo form, humor (main theme spills over past the downbeat, false endings, unfulfilled suspense)

Symphony No. 104 in D major, “London,” Movement IV

Joseph Haydn, 1795

Exemplifies “Father of the Symphony” - development of symphony form, quintessentially Haydn, final symphony, finale is in spiritoso form (drone base gives folk feel, Croatian folk song?)

Piano Sonata in F Major, K. 332, Movement I

Mozart, 1781-83

Sonata-allegro form, themes (songlike - Italian influence, stream-of-consciousness, theme GROUPS), style diversity (singing tune, hunting call, sturm und drag), style and form contrasts

Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter,” Movement IV

Mozart, 1788

Sonata-allegro form, quintessential Mozart symphony, theme groups, learned counterpoint AND 5-voice fugue, opening motive comes from Fux’s Gradus ad Parnussum, invertible counterpoint in the coda, stile galant + learned counterpoint

Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, “Waldstein,” Movement I

Beethoven, 1804

Middle period, grand/heroic piano writing, sonata-allegro but expanded, chromatic mediants in theme 1 and theme 2, super hard - one section unplayable on modern pianos

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Movement IV

Beethoven, 1824

One of the most famous pieces of music of all time, CHORUS, text comes from Enlightenment ideals (poet was a Freemason), musical representation of the Universal Brotherhood, finale = symphony within symphony, legends about the premiere bc reception was WILD, no composers knew what to do after

Der Doppelganger

Franz Schubert, 1828

Perfected art song genre, myth = super Romantic, textpainting!! (Open 5ths = empty house, ostinato = house in the same place, climax = when narrator sees his own face, loudest and highest section where ever-present D isn’t present anymore)

Carnaval, Nos. 5 and 6

Robert Schumann, 1834-35

Collection of character pieces at a masked ball, Eusebius (5) and Florestan (6) show contrasting sides of Schumann’s personality (Eusebius is shy wallflower but poet and Florestan is super extra and social), ASCH = musical cipher, the town his fiancee was from, in every movement!

Nocturne in D flat Major, Op. 27 No. 2

Fryderyk Chopin, 1835

Influenced by vocal nocturnes and Bellini arias but also Irish composer (so cosmopolitan), modified strophic, harmonizations by 3rds and 6ths, chromaticism

Trois etudes de concert: No. 3, Un sospiro

Franz Liszt, 1849

Concert etude (explores technical problem and tries to “solve” it,) super virtuosic

Technique - melody played by both hands (alternating out of dense texture)

Harmony - harmonic decoration to prolong dissonances, circle of major thirds

Symphonie Fantastique, Movement V, “Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath”

Hector Berlioz, 1830

New genre - program symphony, idee fixe = beloved theme that means his beloved is present, piece based off of a dream he had while high on opioids, piece takes place in hell (his beloved is there but idee fixe is distorted bc it’s a bad thing his loved one is in hell), tritones, DIAS IRAE

Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, Movement I

Felix Mendelssohn, 1844

Friends with virtuosic violinist Ferdinand David (wrote it for him), memorable melodies/deep expression, virtuosity, sonata-allegro form, first theme RIGHT AWAY instead of long orchestral intro, CADENZA that is written all the way through???

Il barbiere di Siviglia, “Act I, No. 7, “Una voce poco fa”

Gioachino Rossini, 1816

Bel canto, cantabile-cabaletta structure, quintessential Rossini (memorable tunes, vocal virtuosity + embellishment, expression, focus on voice over orchestra)

Lucia di Lammermoor, “Spargi d’amaro pianto”

Gaetano Donizetti, 1835

Lucia’s mad scene, bel canto (cabaletta section), super hard soprano piece, quintessential Donizetti (pushes drama forward by avoiding cadence resolution, blurring lines between scenes/continuity), super Romantic (set in Scotland, tragedy, female struggle under oppression)

Tristan und Isolde, Prelude

Richard Wagner, 1859

Gesamtkunstwerk, he wrote his own libretto based on 13th-century Romance, leitmotives (like opening chord - TRISTAN CHORD!), chromaticism, shifting tonal centers, “suffering” and “desire” motifs clash at heartwrenching places

La Traviata, Act III, Scene and Duet

Giuseppe Verdi, 1853

One of the first modern-set tragic operas, realism, vivid characterization and strong emotions, catchy melodies, reminiscence motives, orchestra deepens the drama, standard Rossini structure (scena, temop d’attaca, cantabile, tempo di mezzo, cabaletta), Violetta and Alfredo are reunited, but then Violetta dies from illness

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Movement IV

Johannes Brahms, 1885

Combines Classical traditions with Romantic innovations, chaccone/passacaglia (Baroque inspiration from Bach and Buxtehude), influenced by Eroica Symphony (SUPER similar ostinato, sonata-ish structure), exclusively Brahmsian (soaring melodies and developing variation)

Quintet for Piano and Strings in F minor, Movement IV

Johannes Brahms, 1864

Was first a string quintet, then 4-hand piano, now piano and strings (thanks to Clara Schumann), developing variation all traces back to measure 1