1. What are the dates of the Classical period?

1750-1815

2. What marks the beginning and the end?

Death of Bach marks the beginning and the defeat of Napolean marks the end

3. What is the meaning of the term “classical”?

perfection

4. Which three composers did historians have in mind when coming up with the term “classical”?

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven

5. In what country does the style of the Classical period emerge?

Italy

6. At about what time?

1720s

7. In what country does the style develop?

Vienna, Austria?

8. What empire dominates music in this period?

Hapsburg empire

9. What is the style of the Classical period reacting to?

Baroque - a new way of thinking; more innovation

10. Why are public concerts becoming more common?

Because the economy is better and the middle and upper classes are larger

11. Where do public concerts take place?

Public buildings or taverns

12. What is melody like in this period?

Singable, not decorated

13. What is rhythm like?

Flexible, not motoric

14. What are dynamics?

Deal with volume to enhance expression; Volume = more expression

Crescendo - Going from piano to forte

Decrescendo - Going from forte to piano

15. Mention two terms used to describe dynamics.

Piano(p) - soft

Forte(f) - loud

16. Why are composers using dynamics so prominently?

Because they inhance expression

17. How large are orchestras in this period?

Larger than in the baroque and no harpsichord

40 instruments or less

18. Why are aristocratic families disbanding their private orchestras in the 1790s?

1. Orchestras are very big

2. Nobility doesn’t have the money they used to have before in the Baroque (they going broke)

   1. It is not an agricultural society anymore - land is not as valuable because it is now an industrial society

19. Besides strings, mention two wind instruments commonly used in this period, one woodwind and one brass.

Woodwind - Oboe

Brass - French Horn

20. To what family of instruments does the timpani belong?

Percussion

21. Why are violins the most numerous instruments in an orchestra?

They sing very well (play a melody very well)

22. Who is the concertmaster of an orchestra?

First seat of the first violins; the BEST violin player of the orchestra and the lead of the violins

23. Identify the sound of five of the following instruments (list will not be on the exam):

· Strings: Violin, viola, cello and bass.

· Woodwind: Flute, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon.

· Brass: Trumpet and French horn.

· Percussion: Timpani.

24. What is the most important genre of this period?

Symphony

25. How does the importance given to this genre reflect changes in society?

1. Secular and instrumental music

2. More instrumental pieces being composed

26. Give three reasons explaining its importance.

1. Many were composed

2. Spread from Italy to the rest of Europe

3. Used by composered to express complex musical ideas

27. What is its function?

Entertainment

28. What were the two venues were this genre was performed?

courts and public concerts

29. For whom in each of the two?

For the nobility and for the public upper middle class

30. Played by whom in each of the two?

Professionals played in courts and professionals and amatures played in public

31. From what section of an opera does this genre originate?

Overture

32. How many movements does the early symphony (Italy in 1720s) have? What is the tempo of each?

Three movements; Fast, Slow, Fast

33. What type of piece was added to it in Austria-Hungary c. 1750?

Added the Minuet; Fast, Slow, Minuet, Fast

34. Why was this piece chosen to become part of a symphony?

Most popular dance especially because of King Louis

35. How many movements does the symphony have? What is the tempo of each?

4 movements - fast slow moderate fast

36. Which are the longest and most impressive movements?

Movement 1 and the fourth (Movement 4)

WOW ok

37. What is the form of the first movement?

A B A’

38. What is the name of each of the sections of this form?

Exposition(Theme1,Transition,Theme2,Closing),Development, Recapitulation(Theme1,Transition,Theme2,Closing)

39. Explain what happens in each section.

Exposition - theme 1 transition, theme 2, and closing

Development - something develops

Recapitulation - theme 1 transition, theme 2, closing recapping

40. What is a “theme and variations”?

Presents a theme and melody and then variations after the presentation throughout the movement

Theme tends to be very simple and then is more complex in the variations

Concerto

41. What is a concerto?

3-movement instrumental piece for orchestra and soloist (FSF)

42. What is its purpose?

To entertain

43. What were the two venues were this genre was performed?

Courts by professionals and public concerts by whoever they could find

44. How many movements does it have? What is the tempo of each?

Three - fast, slow, fast

45. How is sonata form adapted to a genre that features an orchestra and a soloist? Explain.

Sonata Form: Exposition/Development/Recapitulation

Double exposition sonata form: used in concertos

ALL FOR MOVEMENT 1

• Exposition 1 (only orchestra, not soloist)

  • Theme 1 Transition 1

  • Theme 2

• Exposition 2 (Soloist & Orchestra)

  • Theme 1 Transition 1

  • Theme 2

  • Closing

• Development

  • Something develops

• Recap.

  • T1, Transition, T2,

  • Cadenza (Soloist spotlight) - the climax of the song

  • Closing

46. Who did W. A. Mozart write his concertos for?

For the hoes? HAHAHAHA

No, he wrote them for himself because he was failing and he was sad, I think

Bro what my answer makes more sense tbh

Took so much for me not to laugh

47. To play where?

To play in public concerts

48. What is a cadenza?

Climax of the Recapitulation

49. What is its purpose?

The moment for the soloist to shine

50. Where in the first movement is the cadenza located?

In between Theme 2 and the closing of the recapitulation in Movement 1

Chamber Music

51. What is chamber music?

Multi-movement works for 1 or a small group of players

52. Who performed chamber music during this period?

Amateurs

53. Where?

Home

54. For what purpose?

To study music for amateurs

Or for the enjoyment of playing with friends and family

55. Why is chamber music profitable for composers?

Because more amatures play chamber music and they can sell their publications

56. Where is chamber music performed TODAY?

In public concerts

57. What instruments play in a string quartet?

4 instruments - 2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 cello

58. Who is considered the “Father of the String Quartet”?

Haydn

59. Why?

Because he wrote many and because he came up with the structure that is modeled after the symphony

60. How many movements are there in a string quartet? What is the tempo of each?

Four movements:

1. Sonata form - fast

2. Slow

3. Minuet - moderate

4. Sonata form - fast

61. What genre is being used as a model for this format?

The symphony

62. What is the form of the first movement?

Sonata form

63. What do we mean when we say “The Lark” quartet is number 5 of F. J. Haydn’s Opus

This is the 5th string quartet of his 64th publication (Opus 64 no.5)

64. What is a sonata? DO NOT confuse “sonata form,” which is a form, with “sonata,” a genre.

Chamber music with ONE instrument and has three movements

65. What is the most common number of players in a sonata?

One

66. How many movements does it have? What is the tempo of each?

Three movements like a concerto

1. Fast/ sonata form

2. Slow/ ABA

3. Fast/ sonata form

67. What is the form of the first movement?

Sonata form

68. What do we mean by stating that operas are based on pre-existing stories?

Operas are very expensive to produce, so they choose books that people have read or a lot or famous stories so that they don’t fail.

69. Who composed the best-known operas in this period?

Mozart /

70. Give the name of one of them.

Don Giovanni or Cosi fan Tutti or Marriage of Figeuro

71. Mention five differences between opera in the Baroque and in the Classical period. Mention story, overture, male voices used, singing style, and structure of scenes.

1. Variety of stories set in the present time - no history and no mythology

2. Overture - music preview of the opera

3. Main males - used to be castrato, but is now tenors and basses

4. Singing Style - Not overly decorated anymore, singable melodies and more natural

5. Structure of Scenes - recitative + aria + ensemble and choruses → more variety than only recititatives and arias

72. What voices sing male roles during this period?

Tenors and basses

73. Why is Don Giovanni a complicated opera to perform after the #MeToo movement?

Don Giovanni is a sexual predator (not good) ; he was labeled as a womanizer back in the day and it wasn’t seen as a problem

He had mad rizz , this guys horny as well damn giovanni

My guy needs to keep it in his pants

74. Why is Donna Anna singing arias that resemble the decorated arias of the Baroque?

Because she is wealthier in the opera, she sings a more elaborate arias to show her social status

75. Why is Leporello a bass and a comic character?

He’s il basso buffo - he is lower class so he is funnier and sings lower

Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven

76. What language did these three composers speak?

German

77. In what city did they all live?

Haydn/Mozart - Austrian in Vienna

Beethoven - Bonn, Germany

78. Why did they choose this city?

All three moved to Vienna (Beethoven moves so Haydn could teach him)

Vienna very important at the time because it was the capital of an empire and had a large musical audience → a lot of money

79. Mention four genres all of them composed.

Symphony, Concerto, String Quartet, Piano Sonata

80. Who were the first teachers of Mozart and Beethoven?

Mozart’s father was a musician

Beethovan’s father was a private singer for the elector of Colón

Their fathers taught them at home

81. What did Mozart do from age 6 to 16?

Toured Europe as a child prodigy

82. Who was his “manager”?

Father

83. How did he feel about working for the church/nobility?

He hates working for the nobility because he don’t want to be told what do to - the archbishop fired him

84. Why did he struggle financially in Vienna if he was a musician in high demand?

He was a gambler and wasted lots of his money

85. How were his financial troubles interpreted in the Romantic Period?

They saw him as a talented musician who was misunderstood by a cruel society - they do not want to see him as a gambler

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, cont.

86. Where did Haydn receive his musical training?

He was a choirboy at the Vienna Cathedral and learned how to read/write music and how to play the piano and violin

87. Why do we say Haydn had “two lives”?

60 years working for the nobility

Famous after in the public musician realm

88. What were the “two lives”?

1. Servant for the Esterhazy family

2. Self-employed as an Artists; Hired by a music manager to go London and compose for the public concerts

89. What made his “second life” possible?

A music manager hired him to perform in London where he became a celebrity of sorts

90. Mention four of his duties as chapelmaster for the Esterházy family.

1. Write music

2. Rehearse

3. Perform daily

4. Take care of instruments

91. How was Beethoven seen by society?

Seen as an artist not as a servant

92. What brings about this change?

93. Did Beethoven see music as merely entertainment? Explain.

Music is not for entertainment, but to express meaningful ideas. He wanted the audience to engage in his music

94. Mention the four sources of income used by Beethoven to support himself in Vienna.

Teacher, Commissions, Publishing, Public concerts as pianist and conductor

95.What are four features that make Beethoven’s music different from that of Haydn and Mozart?

1. More intense

2. More depth

3. More demanding for the listener and player

4. More length (1 hour long compared to 30 minutes)

96. What is the Heiligenstadt Testament?

A long letter from Beethoven in Heiligenstadt to his brother about how hard it is for him to lose his hearing; Read as a suicide note

97. Why did Beethoven write it?

He wanted to express how painful it was to lose his hearing and was essentially a suicide note telling his brothers to split up his possessions

98. How can we explain the fact Vivaldi had 12 opus numbers, while Beethoven had 138?

Because there was a much higher demand because of the growth of the middle class

99. Why did the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven continue to be played after they passed away?