Vocal Music in Two Worlds
prelude
- musical life in the early classic period reflected the international culture that spread throughout europe during the enlightenment
- shared humanity mattered more than national and linguistic differences so the ideal musical style was made up of the best features from all nations
- galant style became the foundation for the classical style
where does classical music start
- pre 19th century - mozart duh, haydn is okay, then beethoven, then everyone else
- 19th century - bach is the father of all great german music and most great music is german
- early 20th century - did anyone write good music between bach and mozart? nah
- 20th century - hold up
general characteristics of the new style
- focus on melody
- periodicity - frequent resting points break the melodic flow into related segments * musical ideas were articulated through phrases that formed periods * creates a structure marked by frequent cadences and unified through small motivic correspondences
- musical rhetoric - terminology borrowed from rhetoric * compared melody to sentences or composition to a speech
- alberti bass * arpeggiated underlying chords in simple repeating pattern
- form * coherence, differentiation of material according to its function * beginning, middle, or ending gesture; levels of relative strength
- koch wrote the most thorough guide to melodic composition based on rhetorical principles
- division of melody into phrases and periods is supported by harmony and shaped by weaker and stronger cadences, slower harmonic rhythm animated with rhythmic devices such as alberti bass
- differentiation of musical material by function - each segment was recognizable as a beginning, middle, or ending statement
- understanding that emotions were constantly changing introduced contrasting moods within phrases, movements and themes
opera buffa
- more open to innovation because it didn’t have such a strong hold on tradition
- opera buffa * full length sung through, satirical, comic cast complemented by serious characters * dialogue in rapid and sparsely accompanied recitative * arias in galant style * plots entertained, served moral purpose * focused on normal people * stock characters - often parodied commedia dell’arte and aristocrats
- intermezzo * another form of italian comic opera with two or three contrasting or parodying musical interludes inserted between acts of a serious opera * alternating recitatives and arias * comic plots, two or three people, contrast the serious drama of the main plot * pergolesi - la serva padrona, relies heavily on humour, contrast, musical style is evolving to reflect humans’ internal dialogue
- comic opera took different forms in different countries * homegrown comic opera librettos were always written in the national tongue and musical idiom * comic opera librettos written in the national tongue * accentuated national musical idioms * historical significance - comic opera responded to widespread demand for naturalness and anticipated the trend toward musical nationalism
- opera comique * french opera buffa counterpart * consisted of pop music (vaudevilles) or simple melodies until an italian comic opera troupe visited paris and generated a mixed italian-french style (ariettes), which gradually replaced vaudevilles altogether * used spoken dialogue instead of recitative, dealt with social issues * gluck, gretry
- ballad opera * rose to popularity in england after the beggar’s opera by john gay * music consists of popular tunes (ballads) set to new words and a few numbers that parody familiar operatic airs * signaled a general reaction in england against foreign opera * the entire genre is just to make fun of opera seria
- german singspiel * success of english ballad opera inspired its revival * librettists adapted english ballad operas * translated or arranged french comic operas
the new world
- opera didn’t become popular in the new world for a while because settlers had little time for entertainment, resources were scarce, population was scattered
- puritans had disdain for theater and distrust of pleasure
- spanish colonies carried on theatrical productions
- early american music grew out of the religious traditions of settlers * villancicos in spanish colonies, french Catholic music in canada, english hymns in anglican churches in british north america
- puritans of new england * calvinist - metrical psalms, rhyming, easily singable * published psalm books - bay psalm book, first book published in north america * singing schools were established and the availability of singers invited composers to write new music * billings new england psalm singer
- moravians of pennsylvania and north carolina * cultivated sophisticated genres of german speaking protestants * concerted arias and motets in current styles * substantial sacred and secular music libraries * performed chamber music and symphonies
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