3.14 Other Classical Genres

The Sonata

• %%Sonata%% not only represents a form, but a type of piece for 1 or another small number of instruments
  • In Classical, a sonata was a composition for 1-2 instruments only
• Not for concerts, relatively rare, for private performances (often amateur)
• %%Piano sonatas%% were just for %%solo piano%%
• %%Violin sonatas%% was for %%violin and piano%% (equally)
• 3 movements
  • Opening: fast/moderate tempo, sonata form
  • Slow: slow/very slow tempo; sonata form, variations, rondo form, or some other form (varied)
  • Closing: fast/very fast tempo, often in rondo form

The Classical Concerto

• More %%variety%% than Baroque
• Creating %%balance%% between a solo instrument and the orchestra was %%hard%%

Movements of the Classical Concerto:

Double-Exposition Form

%%Extended%% version of %%sonata%% form

Beginning to end:

• %%Orchestra Exposition%%
  • First theme then second group
  • Tonic key
• %%Solo Exposition%%
  • First theme, bridge, second group
  • Tonic key then second key
• %%Development%%
  • Themes developed then retransition
  • Unstable keys (modulations)
• %%Recapitulation%%
  • First theme, bridge, then second group
• %%Solo Cadenza%%
• Orchestra’s %%cadence theme%%

Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 (1786), First Movement

%%Gentle%% and songful (1st mvt.) to %%tragic%% (2nd mvt.) to exuberant and %%sunny%% (3rd mvt.)

The String Quartet

• Genre for 2 violins, a viola, and a cello
• Similar to %%symphony%% in %%movements%%, not equal in tone color/volume range

• %%Small informal audiences%%, or none at all
• Nuance, delicacy, and intimacy
• Haydn composed sixty-seven

Haydn, String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64, No. 5 (The Lark, 1790), First Movement

• First violin acts as a “%%songbird%%” with accompaniment for theme 1
• Theme 2 has syncopated chords
• Cadence theme has %%fast triplet scales%%

Other Types of Chamber Music

• %%Chamber music%% is music for 2-9 players
  • Supposed to be performed in a chamber (room)
  • Still has an intimate character
• A %%piano trio%% is for violin, cello, and piano
• %%String quintet%% is a string quartet with an extra low instrument

Opera Buffa

• %%Italian comic opera%%
• %%Lifelike%% quality of comedy
• Haydn wrote 12, Mozart wrote 6

The Ensemble

• Opera seria has recitatives and arias
• Opera buffa uses ensembles as well as solo arias
• An ensemble is a number sung by 2+ people

Mozart, Don Giovanni (1787)

• Technically %%opera buffa%%, has tragic elements
  • Might be considered “dark comedy” today
• Based around %%Don Giovanni%%, Italian Don Juan
  • Womanizer, sinner, goes to hell

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