Week 8 Classical Period Chapters 13-15 Terms and Questions

Chapter 13-1

  • Symphony:
    • Typically lasts around 25 minutes.
    • Multi-movement composition for an orchestra.
  • Sinfonia:
    • Originated in Italy.
    • One-movement to four-movement orchestral piece.
  • Symphony's Four Movements:
    • Fast, slow, minuet, fast.
  • Instrumental Families in Classical Symphony Orchestra:
    • Strings, Woodwinds, Brasses, and Percussion.
  • Köchel (K) Number:
    • An identifying number assigned to each of Mozart’s works.
  • Mozart composed 650 symphonies.

Chapter 13-2

  • String Quartet:
    • Standard instrumental ensemble for chamber music.
    • Consists of first and second violins, a viola, and a cello.
  • Like the symphony, the string quartet usually has four movements.
  • Joseph Haydn is known as the "father of the string quartet".
  • Playing string quartets together fostered a lasting friendship between Haydn and Mozart.
  • Haydn's string quartet:
    • The second movement's theme was his favorite.
    • Served as the basis for a theme and variations.
    • Became a national anthem and Protestant hymn.
    • The string quartet is called “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”.

Chapter 13-3

  • Sonata:
    • A genre of chamber music played on a solo instrument or accompanied by a piano.
  • The genre of a composition called a sonata is usually played on piano.

Chapter 13-4

  • Classical Concerto:
    • A large-scale, multimovement work for instrumental soloist and orchestra.
  • Double Exposition Form:
    • A form in which first the orchestra and then the soloist present the themes in a concerto.
  • Cadenza:
    • Unaccompanied fantasy-like improvisation in a concerto.
  • The section of the first movement of a concerto that is a fantasy-like virtuoso improvisation is called a Cadenza.
  • In a Classical concerto, the soloist signals the orchestra that the cadenza is about to end and to reenter by playing a trill.

Chapter 14-Intro

  • Vocal ensemble

Chapter 14-1

  • Mozart wrote dramatic operas with lightening quick changes in mood.
  • Singspiel:
    • A musical comedy that originated in Germany.
    • Features spoken dialogue, tuneful songs, and topical humor.
  • The opera called Don Giovanni tells the tale of an amoral philanderer who seduces and murders his way across Europe and is dragged down to hell by the ghost of a man he killed.
  • What type of tension-filled chord is used as the Commandant dies in the opera Don Giovanni? Diminished chord
  • Don Giovanni’s servant is Leporello.

Chapter 15-Intro

  • More of Beethoven’s symphonies, sonatas and quartets are performed in concert than any other classical composer.

Chapter 15-1

  • When Beethoven moved to Vienna, he began to study with Joseph Haydn.
  • Beethoven was showered with gifts, favors and an annuity from the Viennese nobility and saw himself not as a servant, but as the possessor of a unique artist genius that must be protected and nurtured
  • Opus:
    • A term that was adopted by composers to enumerate and identify their compositions.
  • Where did Beethoven usually play his virtuosic Piano Sonata, Op. 13, the Pathétique? in the homes and palaces of the Viennese aristocracy.
  • What adversity did Beethoven struggle to overcome during his adult life?

Chapter 15-2

  • Beethoven wrote 9 complete symphonies.
  • He wrote 6 of these symphonies during his “heroic” period.
  • Beethoven initially dedicated Symphony No. 3, "Eroica," to Napoleon Bonaparte.
  • Scherzo:
    • A rapid, jovial work in triple meter often used in place of the minuet.
  • A scherzo was usually the third movement of a symphony or string quartet.

Chapter 15-3

  • Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was the first time in history that a symphony included a chorus.
  • Ode to Joy was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.