Mcy 542 Midterm Review

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• Burney, Charles

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: early musical historian, wrote “A General History of Music” (1776-1789), 4 volumes, widely used
o Gives a lot of “first hand” documentation of many of the composers of this time

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• Monn, Georg Matthias:

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(1717-1750) born in Vienna
o Traditional Baroque/Classical composer, died of Alcohol OD
o Brother wrote symphonies as well

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• Fragonard:

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French Painter (“Swing”)
o Ambiguity in art, denotes hidden meaning with multiple messages
o Element of humor and a sexual nature

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• Neefe:

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primary musician of Bonn, Germany
o Beethoven’s first teacher

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• Prince Lobkowitz:

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one of Beethoven’s largest patrons
o Squandered his own family fortune (on Beethoven's services)
o Sponsors “Eroica” & the premier takes place at his palace

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• Scarlatti, Domenico:

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(1685-1757) born same year as Bach/Handel
o Father of Alessandro
o Wrote 500-600 keyboard sonatas
o Binary form, short & fast, very technical
o Written for harpsichord, one movement, Spanish flavor

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• Stamitz, Johann:

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(1717-1757), father of Carl
o Nuanced control of dynamics thru his school of writing and playing (full of may talented musicians)
o Established Manheim as musical center
o Made a larger orchestra more common
o Uniformed bowing (for string players)

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• Stamitz, Carl:

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wrote Symphony in D Major
o More classical than Monn (less baroque)

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• Haydn, Joseph:

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(1732-1809) born in Rohrau, Austria
o Did not come from musical family
o Credited with legitimizing the string quartet & symphony
• Gave each part important thematic ideas
o Worked for Esterhazy family (from Hungary) from 1761-1809
• Responsibilities: train musicians, compose, plan concerts, conduct the orchestra, fix instruments
• Patronage completely protected his job security, but he had a ridiculous work load
o Rulers were: Paul Anton, Nikolaus
• Anton: inherited throne in 1790, disliked music, continued to pay Haydn out of contract but did not ask anything of him
• Allows Haydn to take time to go to London to write symphonies

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• Vienna:

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musical center of classical/baroque development
o Most of the royalty was there, lots of patronage
o Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven,
o Salieri (taught Beethoven), court composer for Vienna
o Society: rigid hierarchy, conservative nature

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• “London” Symphonies:

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written in 2 groups for London audiences by Haydn
o 1791-1792 (#93-99)
o 1794-1795 (#100-104)
o Symphony #103 in Eb: begins with a drum-roll, revolutionary concept
o Influences Beethoven (Adagio introduction)
o Contains a reference to the Dies Irae

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• Piano Sonata in C Major, op. 53:

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Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest piano sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable sonatas of his middle period

Shows virtuosic piano performance
Variance in tempo/feel

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o Opera seria:




o Inter-mezzo: piece to be performed between 2 acts of opera
• Meant to be comical
• Eventually became the Opera Buffa

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serious, dramatic
• Subject matter usually of ancient gods and mythology, royalty

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o Opera buffa:

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Italian comic opera (gave us the word buffoon)
• Featured everyday characters, satire and parody
• “The Marriage of Figgaro” – more important characters are made fun of
• Features base role of basso buffa (Don Giovonno: Leporello)

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o Dramma Giocosso:

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dark comedy
• Don Giovonno

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o Singspiel:

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German comic opera
• Dialogue was spoken
• Usually 2 acts
Mozart wrote these (eg: Magic Flute)

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o Ballad Opera:

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from England
• Beggar’s Opera, featured common melodies known by all
• Led to decline of opera seria, was much more popular
• Led Handel to write Oratorios instead of opera seria

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o Gluck: (operatic influence)

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got rid of virtuosic displays of musicians
• Drama became most important
• Incorporated chorus, ballet and the scenes themselves
• Aria-recitative-all blended together

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• String Quartet: (genre)

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featured 2 violins, viola and cello (no instrumental variation)
o Legitimized by Haydn
o Very popular due to small ensemble size
USUALLY 4 MOVEMENTS!
o Features easier music, mostly for home-playing (not performances)
o First Movement usually in Sonata Form
o Late Classical, Second Movement is Slow
o Third movement is either Minuet and Trio or Scherzo
o Fourth movement is Rondo

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• Fantasia: (genre)

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musical composition with its roots in improvisation
o Lack of strict musical form

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• Imperial Bosendorfer:

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keyboard featuring 8 full octaves (97 keys)
o Extra keys colored black to differentiate between those of a normal piano

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• Baryton:

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stringed instrument love by the Esterhazys
similar to viola de gamba
Haydn wrote for this instrument

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• Minuet & Trio:

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usually written for dance
o Minuet is almost always in triple meter
o ABA (rounded binary)
o Minuet and trio can be in different keys, often a modulation
• Trio usually in subdominant (4th)
o Whole thing can be replaced by scherzo
o Typically the 3rd movement later on in Classical music, however started out as 2nd movement
o 2nd Movement is usually slower Sonata or Theme and Variations

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• Scherzo:

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“joke”, counted in 1, usually faster than minuet

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• Theme & Variations:

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a common theme with variations written upon it
o Time signature, key and length often vary
o Favorite form for 2nd movements
o Famous example from Classical period: Mozart’s “Oh I Will Tell You Mother” (in French)

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Absolute Music:

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music for the sake of music, doesn’t require anything else before it to make sense

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• Program Music:

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extra information behind it to make complete sense, eg: Beethoven 6th Symphony, each movement paints a picture of something

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• Rondo Form:

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from the classical period
o Features a repeating ‘A’ section with varying ulterior forms
o Usually in 5 parts (A B A C A), but can me more (and always odd)
o Most found in the final movement of String Quartets, Piano Sonatas, or Concertos (very common)

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• Alberti Bass:

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arpeggiated bass line (broken chords) found in Classical Period
o Serves as accompaniment
o Serves as a transition away from polyphony and towards one voice
o Much lighter than heavy or sustained bass

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• Manheim rocket:

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when notes jump up quickly (like a rocket!)
o Steamroller: when more and more instruments build up
o Crescendo: gradual crescendo from the Orchestra

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• Hauptsatz:

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“head”, or main sentence

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• Cadenza:

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(“cadence”) drawn out improvised solo (typical for a concerto)
o Usually found at the end, draws out the ending cadence of the song
o Mostly held on I6/4

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• Rubato:

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(“stolen”) taking time from one place and giving back at another
o Taking liberties with the tempo within a frame of context
o Associated with the Romantic Style (heavily incorporated in this period)
o Longer melodies made this more prevalent, as did:
o The predominance of the Piano Forte (added dynamics and sustain)

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• Age of Enlightenment:

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mindset of the Classical era
o Celebrated natural, humanistic matters
o Served as an optimistic transition valuing reason above all else
o Large interest in “how the world worked” and less on divine faith
o Important figures: John Locke, Voltaire (“Candide”), Rousseau (advocated simplicity, and wrote a bad (but popular) opera)
o Highlights a common man protagonist

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• Classical Period:

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(1750 to 1820)
looked back on classical ideology

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• Freemasonry:

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individuals who stood for a higher power (humanitarianism)
o All white men, believed in brotherhood
o Beethoven was a humanitarian influence

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• French Revolution:

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caused/inspired by previous/concurrent revolutions
o Took “revolting” to a new level, decapitated monarchs
o Roots of this revolution came from USA’s fight for independence
o Power came to the European people with full force

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Beethoven Symphony #1

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Key: C major

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Beethoven Symphony #2

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Key: D major

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Beethoven Symphony #3

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Key: Eb major
(Eroica)
-Pretty popular, but misunderstood
-Revolutionary musical ideas
-Was about Napoleon, but changed it to be about a general hero

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Beethoven Symphony #4

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Key: Bb major

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Beethoven Symphony #5

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Key: C minor
“Cyclic” form, Ideas from one movement are present in other movements. Ideas from the first are featured in the last movement. Famous intro, prominent rhythmic motive

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Beethoven Symphony #6

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Key: F major
“Pastoral” (Subtitle given to it b/c it paints pictures of nature), programmatic music.

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Beethoven Symphony #7

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Key: A major

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Beethoven Symphony #8

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Key: F major

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Beethoven Symphony #9

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Key: D minor
“Choral”, changes the aesthetic of what is acceptable in a symphony